village days

one of my favorite things to do when we go to benin is to visit in the village of tourou. this is our first village that we "adopted" and it has a huge piece of my heart. for the past two years it is the only village that we have worked in, until now. this trip we added sanson and badekporou, so we had the opportunity to spend time in these villages as well. a foundational belief of PfP is that there is power in relationship and visiting these villages is a key in the development of that. when you walk through the village you are stepping directly into their lives and experiencing their culture, it is awesome. it is taking time to share life. although we don't speak the same language there is a connection that takes place that can not be described. for example, when we drove into tourou for the first time on this trip a group of kids ran out to greet us. a few of the boys ran up to us motioning the hang loose and i love you hand gestures that andrew taught them last summer, andrew had shared life with them and they had hung on to it. through out the week we painted faces, which they could not get enough of. some of them were getting their faces painted, wiping it off, and then waiting in line for 15 minutes to get it painted again, and to think i hate waiting in line for 5 minutes at target, no way would i sit in a cramped line while others pushed me in the hot african sun to have my face painted, but they did and would have done it all day. it is the small things that they love and appreciate and more importantly find satisfaction in. so it is the small things that we love to do that has a big impact. sorry, rabbit trail. so we did face painting, passed out stickers, and played games. there is a sense of freedom and joy that you feel in the air as if they don't always get play time, as if for that time the burden of poverty is gone and they get to be 100% kids.

we sat together cheering tourou on to victory in the soccer tournament, kids fighting to sit as close to us as possible, they were like little african heaters. as we walked back to homes we were visiting, we would have four or five kids holding each of our hands, they would each get a finger, they just wanted to be noticed, to be loved. one of the most difficult times of the trip is telling them good bye and this time was no different. one little boy stands out in my mind, mary and i were telling them all good bye and there was this little boy about four or so years old, cute as can be. he ran between mary and i, giving us these huge hugs one right after another. it was like he was trying to get as many as he could before we left, soaking them all in as if it were his last, he could not get enough love.

a cultural difference that is glaring is the lack of affection that is given to these kids. you do not see them getting hugs and little love pats from their mothers and especially not their fathers. i can not imagine having such a distant relationship with my parents, i have always loved spending time with them and their approval, love, and affection was and continues to mean the world to me, so knowing that those kids are missing out on such an experience is difficult to realize. it is heart breaking to see them watch their mom or dad walk all around them and never acknowledge them or show them affection. but that all changes while we are there, it is hugs and high fives all around. they soak up the affection like sponges and so you give them all you can in hope that it will last until the next time you see them.