Katesh - Eventually the Rhythm is Gonna Get Ya!

Saturday would be our last visit to a Compassion project.  We visited a center in Katesh.  The children in Tanzania attend school throughout the week so Saturday is a typical attendance day for the centers.  Where at previous visits there was a smaller group of children present, today would be a full attendance day.  We arrived at the center and were greeted by 175-200 children and staff. 

More wonderful singing by the choir.  It was interesting to see the difference at the centers in the dancing that the kids did.  Quite possibly that was connected to which tribes were prevalent in the area.  I remember at this center that it was especially spirited.  There were several boys in particular that really got down with it!

I had discovered that in the face of language barriers that smiles and laughter were a common bond.  There was also another common bond….music.

Our group would be leading VBS-type activities for the children.  We were divided into 4 teams:  recreation, crafts, worship, & bible story.  I was on the worship team.  We had several songs we planned to teach the children.  All the songs had motions to them, and since we had a language barrier,that’s what we were focusing on.  We taught the songs and of course being the person that I am, I made sure that I was doing the motions “over-the-top”.  I figured that they might not remember the song, but I’m sure they got a laugh about the silly white woman.  In fact, at one point, I was leading a conga line of 30 Tanzanian children through the church while waving rhythm shakers around singing “Hakuna Mungu Kama Wewe”!  There may or may not be a video of this.  I’m sure if it does exist it’s quite special.. HA!

We shared lunch, toured the center, and were presented with a DVD of the choir to take home.

Again there were a couple of girls that stayed with me most of the day.  One of them was Ana.  I had a few bracelets with me that our pastor’s daughter, Lauren, had made on her Rainbow loom and sent with me.  At the end of the day I thanked her for being my friend for the day and slipped one of the bracelets on her arm.  I managed to quietly hand out a few more of the bracelets without causing a riot. 

We said our goodbyes and made our way to Maramboi Tented camp, where we would spend the night before the much anticipated safari.  We arrived to a wonderful resort that almost seemed like Eden….but not before we dealt with this!