the party at Chikumbuso

Today was the party at the chikumbuso school. it was so amazing they had a sign when we came in welcoming us to the school. all the children were there, and most of them were wearing their pawcatuck T-shirts, or if not, alot of the girls had dresses on. it was really cute. Linda coats and mrs. steinagel arived this morning. Linda dropped us off at the school and then picked them up from the airport, to then bring them back to the party. Tomorrow Sarah, a girl from Ohio who has been volunteering at the school for six months is leaving, so they did a lot at the party to say thanks, and give their goodbyes to her. is was so sweet, the widows sang, multiple classes sang to her, and it was so sweet. i started to cry when a class of about 10 kids were singing a song to say good bye, and one girl started crying, and couldn't finish singing. it just really touched me to see how much Sarah affected these orphans lives, and how it was hard to let her go when she helped change their lives.
when Linda came back with Jeane and Linda, i was playing outside with the children, i was helping to re size the students bracelets that they received from voluntown. it was so cute how i got bombarded by all the students because they just wanted their friendship bracelet to fit, alot of them were too big, so i had to make them smaller to accommodate for the children. when they showed up we were placed in these chairs outside the school like royalty. all the students were sitting all around us, but there was an area for the performances to take place like a stage right in front of us. first Linda introduced us all and had us each stand up so that everyone would show their appreciation. then the show started( by the way we have most of it on camera so when i get back i will try to make it so that everyone can see their dancing and songs) the children sang the welcome song, then the widows danced and sang multiple songs, then the theater group put on a performance, then there were dancers and the boys played the drums, then 4 boys and 4 girls did a little "dance off", where they each danced and then chose their "wife" or the one they liked the best. it was so special to see what they all put together for us.
THEN WE TRIED THE FOOD!!!! I'm not gonna lie i was really scared! the nishma is not at all like i expected it. they put a huge "slice/glob" of it on your plate and then here were a bunch of other cooked vegetables and sauces to go with it. when i got to the end of the line i was confused that i hadn't found any thing to eat with! a asked Maureen one of the widows, what do we eat with? she said we eat with our hands! they showed us that you roll the nishma in your hand to make a ball, and then dip it or stick it to the other food on your plate. it was different, not my favorite, but good for the circumstances.
we then just bonded with the widows and orphans. we brought along Katherine( who is the little girl i met at lindas daycare yesterday, who got attached to me, she is Linda's workers daughter!) and she was with us all day, she is so cute! We bought some toy cars that one of the orphans made out of wire to bring back home, they were really cool, he cut flip flops to use as tires, and they attach a long piece of wire, shape it as a steering wheel, and can move the car around with it. its hard to explain but i will show you it when i get home.
i had an awesome day today, i don't want to leave!