No day is the same here. After getting up early (which seems to be what I do here), and eating breakfast which was bread with butter (accompanied by an amazing cup of coffee given me by an American friend), I headed to the prayer room for children's prayer. This is a prayer time where the children come voluntarily to pray before school on Tuesdays and Fridays. Entering the room I was so impressed by how it was full of children eager to pray. There were probably 60 or 70 children there, and it was amazing to see one after the other choose to pray for their families and people who are sick, and other subjects on their little hearts. It was so great and an experience that I will carry with me for a long time.
After prayer it was "Shoprite" time, which meant piling into a bus with other visitors and missionaries for the weekly shopping trip. I didn't quite know what to expect, but I had a few items to buy and hoped it would be a stress-free experience. As we drove along I had an amazing conversation with a lady who has been here for many years. It was so great to connect with her, and at the same time observe the streets and city from outside the walls of the centre. So many impressions filled my mind as I tried to capture and store what it looks like here, as it's dangerous to take my camera outside of the base. On arrival I found that the supermarket was very well stocked (it even had piri-piri sauce from Nando's), and I spent an hour strolling around ticking off my list and getting more things than were on it.
In the afternoon it was shoe distribution time. The girl's dorm has 70 girls in it, and so once a week the missionary there does an afternoon of clothes and shoes to part of the group. I was more than happy to help with the shoe part. I set out a selection of donated shoes in different styles and sizes, and in groups of two they came in and chose what shoes they wanted. It was really interesting as some would put on a pair and if they fit, they were happy, and were done in 5 minutes. Others would spend a long time and wouldn't find anything they liked that fit, and so we ended up having to just give them some that fit. It was so sweet to get to interact with the girls in that way, and help them to try on shoes and choose the ones they liked the best (funnily enough boots were the most popular choice, although going into summer here, we disuaded them from choosing the warmest winterboots that had been donated). While we were doing shoes, some of the older girls were looking through huge plastic bags of donated clothes for some new clothes; trying on different ones and being just normal girls. It was such a great reminder that truly these girls are just girls. Most of them have experienced things no-one should have to live, and yet at the same time they are also just girls who love nice clothes, and who want to pick the shoes they want, and who occasionally get into a strop if they don't get their way. Girls who need to be told again and again how precious and beautiful and valuable they are. Girls who deserve to become everything they were created to be.
As dinner time approached I popped up to the toddler house. A house where they have 36 toddlers aged 1-5 years staying. I got there as they were all sitting down eating dinner, and I pulled up a chair and sat with them. They are so sweet. Full of smiles and wanting to chat and explain and interact- mostly all at once. And yet at the same time the longing for attention is not unhealthy, as they do get good attention from those who work with them. After they had finished eating their dinner of rice and chicken with some vegetable bits in it (on one little table they were all picking out the green pepper bits, and so I challenged them to eat it, and they would all show me they were eating the green pepper and were so proud of it), it was TV and bath time. As you can imagine getting 36 active little ones ready for bed at the same time is a huge challenge. So what they do is they all sit down in front of children's television, and as they are enjoying that, 3 or 4 of them are called at a time for shower and pajama. It was so cute to see them all come back from their showers in their onzies. I'd put two of them on my lap and they loved the attention. And yet at the same time, when I'd put one down to give another one a chance, there was no screaming or fighting. They seem secure where they are, and the Mozambican women who care for them have so much love for them and are so good with them (both when it comes to affection and boundaries).
Back at the visitor's area it was lovely to have a shower and get some dinner after an eventful day. It was getting a bit chillier so a cup of hot earl grey at the end of the day was very welcome.