Today was our last day at the center before our two days of rest, but even in our short time here, it’s amazing how much progress I’ve seen. I’m working on the computer team, so for the last four days, I’ve gotten to work with three different boys: Kondwani, Isaac, and Emmanuel. They’re all super fast learners, and they’ve picked up the material so quickly that I’m running out of things to teach them! Today, I ended up teaching them how to play chess on the computers. They’re so eager to learn, and it’s so encouraging to see them smile when they do something right. When Isaac came in this morning, he said “Hello, friend!” to me, and it honestly made my day :)
After lunch, we get to just hang out with the kids. I’ve been spending a lot of time with a girl named Joana, and she is so much fun. She loves to play basketball, and I even taught her to dribble behind her back. She loves to hold my hand, and we always sit together. I showed another boy named Plumis how to make lanyards, and we worked on them together this afternoon. A bunch of other kids saw me, so I got to show others how to make lanyards too.
Dinner at the Hosteria was amazing as always, and we also had an impromptu karaoke session in the bus ride home! During our daily debrief meetings back at Annie’s, I love hearing the highlights of everyone’s day. It’s so amazing to see how these kids’ joy can bring us so much joy. They’ve taught me so much about respect and appreciation, without even knowing it. And to be honest, I was initially pretty worried about teaching in the computer group, but their excitement and pride at success is more than enough reward for me.
Our team has been SO much fun. Before the trip, I had a feeling we would all click pretty well, but I didn’t expect us to bond as much as we have so far. Even as I’m typing this, I’m sitting on a table in a dark room because we’re having a movie night. Two words: Princess. Bride.
Malawi has been such an amazing experience so far. There have been a couple bumps in the road, but I’m so excited to see where God takes us on the rest of this trip.
See you soon!
-Natalie Chen
No comments:
Post a Comment