Welcome to Bumala!!

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What a day!! It was too much to take in, and I don’t think there is any writer out there that can adequately describe it. We videotaped most of it, so you’ll all have to check it out. We decided to leave the 4 suitcases full of laptops and supplies we brought with us at the hotel for the day. It’s Saturday, and the kids are coming to school just to greet us, so there’s really no point arriving late, sweaty and exhausted. We left the hotel around 8:30, and as Saturday is market day, the town was already bustling with people setting up their wares. A little intimidating with all the motorcycles, cars and matatus zooming around, fully expecting you are paying attention and will get out of the way on time. And then there was the fact that we are the only 3 white people in the town. Everyone asks “How are you?” as a greeting. Little kids run up to you shouting “Mazunga, how are you? How are you?” (Mazunga means white person) So we got thru the market, then there’s a peaceful 5 minute walk. We were walking down the quiet, shaded path and then we can hear it, “Wel-come, welcome……Wel-come, welcome”. We get thru the trees, you can see the school at the top of the hill and around 230 little yellow and blue-clad kids jumping up and down, running down to the gate. It took your breath away. As we climbed the hill to the gate, the dancers (older kids that can sure swing those hips) met us and escorted us in to meet the teachers. There were so many names and things going on that I didn’t remember any of them, except for Charles - he’s the only man outside at the time, and I’ve seen a ton of video with him. He’s the one that met with Todd and started our project in Kenya, actually got Todd to start One Child’s Village for this project.

We got the grand tour, especially of the new buildings that Todd hasn’t seen yet. At the moment they have Baby class, Nursery class and then Classes 1-4 (equivalent to our Grades 1-4). As each year comes, we add another class at the bottom and the rest move up. So right now we’re filling all of the classrooms, as one of them is a sewing/computer room. That means that as soon as we leave, Charles gets to start the next addition. The volunteer centre was just finished last month, and only took about a month in total to build. It’s a little more rustic than I’d imagined, plywood for walls, but Todd was thoroughly impressed, so I guess that was the plan. There’s a flush toilet, the shower will have warm water, we’ll fit it out with a microwave, toaster, it’s already got a TV and DVD player. Oh, and the electricity to the school got hooked up 3 days ago. It’s amazing what they can do out here in the middle of nowhere. So after a lunch of rice, beans, maize and stewed plantains, one of the tastiest meals I’ve had even though everything’s only boiled and has a little salt and oil, the real fun began. If you’ve ever watched the videos of welcomes from Todd’s previous trips, it was the same process, but the video doesn’t capture any of the raw emotion and energy that’s in that room. A selection of kids from each class came and sang songs or recited poems. All very personal and pertinent to their plight as HIV/AIDs orphans. Very inspirational and full of hope and gratitude as well. Then the dancers from before, from Class 4 came in. We enjoyed a few minutes of their performance, but then the headmistress pulled us up to join them. I thought “oh, I can swing my hips like that and make that grass skirt twirl like that”, but after a few swings, my back was sore, I was out of breath and the skirt wasn’t twirling at all. The whole performance lasted over 20 minutes, and those kids went full speed the whole time. Us 3 mazungas were dripping sweat, ready to pass out, and those kids were still rocking it. Absolutely amazing.

After the kids went home for the rest of their day, there was a torrential downpour, and the rain on those tin roofs was deafening. One of the sweetest girls, and one of Todd’s favorites from his first visit 4 years ago, Godliver, had stayed behind, and although she was shy at first, she opened up quickly and I think will be my new best friend. We were talking/shouting and she said that class doesn’t stop when it rains, the teacher just “teaches very loudly”. Simple as that I guess.

We got back to the hotel and re-watched the video of the dancing. We couldn’t stop talking about the day and our adventure is only beginning.

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