The Children of Bbira

One of our first authentic African experiences came with the chance to meet the kids of Bbira. We went there after the church service at Watoto Church. We were told we would get to eat a traditional African meal with a family there and hang out with the kids for a few hours. This was the first glimpse of the place we would be working all week. I couldn't wait to get off the bus and meet/play with the kids!!
These were the girls in the house that I ate with. I found out after lunch that only two of the girls actually lived there, the other two (one not in this picture) had just followed me in and wanted to eat with me. The whole village is one big family, and the mom of the house was more than fine with the extra mouths to feed in her home! The homes in the village typically have a mom, four boys, and four girls. They call each other brothers and sisters, and if you were to ask them if they have a dad, they would look at you crazy and say OF COURSE! God is my daddy!! They KNOW this to be true and it is evident in how well He takes care of them that He cares so deeply for each of His children!
This is Mum Joyce. She is the mother at the house that Brooke, Don, and I ate in. She is so sweet and generous and was so thankful for us being there. She fed us as many helpings as we could eat of:
It was delicious!! There were potatoes, meat, beans, bananas, tortilla-like chipati (I think), and posha (similar to rice). This next picture is probably my favorite from the whole trip:
After dinner, Mum Joyce had the little girls sing for us:

and the older boys taught (well, tried to teach) us how to dance!

They couldn't stop laughing at us, so we didn't get too far :) I tried again a little later:


The children were not shy. They came right up to us as we got there. The younger ones latched on right away, and the older ones were very friendly and great conversationalists. This young man below came around our group quite often and answered a lot of our questions. It was very evident which children had been on tour with the choir before because their people skills were incredible!

Mark 10:14b
Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

These guys loved having their picture taken, and I am all about the silly faces :)
Alvin and John quickly became my buddies, and they took my camera around after I took this picture and took a bunch of pictures for me! Note to self: Alvin and the Chipmunks is not widely known in Africa. I think I scared Alvin when I whipped out the ALLLLLVVVVVVIIIIINNNNN!!!

After lunch, we were able to just spend some time with the kids outside. We played a lot of football (soccer), which they LOVED because all of the big mzungu (white) guys we brought were hilarious and most of the boys there just ran circles around them :) We also just got to play around and interact with the kids. I really wish we had stayed on the same property as them or at least have been able to spend more time with them!

James 1:27a
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress...