A Dream Come True, Part 2

3 days had passed since I arrived in Freetown, Sierra Leone. It was Saturday morning and I woke up early to get ready for the 20 DOVE orphans to arrive at the compound for "Saturday program". It was to be the first time I met the kids and I was excited and nervous.

I soon heard the familiar sound of Phil's Trooper clamboring up the bumpy road and honking outside the gate to the compound. He had gone to pick the kids up at the various spots they lived around the city. I made my way outside to meet them, full of anticipation for the weeks I would spend with them. This was it! This is why I had come.

Phil pulled up by the house and out piled 20 boys and girls aged 4-16, who immediately spotted me there waiting and made a dash for me. They were excited to meet their new "Auntie" as they loved having DOVE volunteers come to Freetown to be with them. Soon they all surrounded me, beaming at me with huge grins and shaking my hand, the little ones unabashedly throwing their arms around me. I was soon trying to learn and remember all of their names. I then met Pastor Francis and his wife Zainab, who along with Pastor Daniel who I mentioned in my previous entry, are the national DOVE staff that are now the houseparents in the DOVE home. It was a very warm welcome and I felt very accepted by them all.

As it was the middle of the rainy season and looking like it was about to pour, we all piled under the shelter of the corner of the DOVE house, which made a kind of outdoor classroom. Pastor Francis called them all to attention--it was time to sing! He began leading the children in various worship songs.

I stood at the back and listened to their passionate young voices. Outside the shelter the rain started to pour down in buckets and made a beautiful background cadence. Then it hit me-I vividly remembered another group of 20-some orphans, the African Children's Choir from Uganda, that I had first watched when I was 12 and adored listening to, beginning to dream about going to Africa when I grew up to care for orphans myself. Ever since seeing them on TV I had talked of this dream to my family and friends. And now, here I was, in Africa at last, with this group of orphans. It was a powerful moment of realization of the faithfulness of God and how personal He is, that He would use the silly little dream of a 12 year old girl in Canada to bring me half way across the world to help care for these children. My dream had come true, and I couldn't stop my quiet tears of joy that joined the African rain that day.

It was to be the best summer of my life. My favourite part was just spending time with the kids, getting to know them. When I met them, they still visibly bore the emotional scars of the trauma they had suffered during the 10 year rebel war, when they each lost their parents. They were very needy children and I counted it a privilege to be there with them, extending love and friendship and helping them in practical ways. They were so full of life and joy, in spite of what they had suffered and they inspired me.

One of my main jobs was to plan and implement a series of health and hygiene lessons for the kids. I enjoyed it immensely and had fun teaching them about things like preventing infection, dehydration, and nutrition. Looking back on it now through the experience and training I've gained since, I can see that my lessons left much to be desired but I think the kids learned something and I learned a lot in the process! I also helped to look after the kids who became ill while I was there, but as a student nurse, I really couldn't do much and that was frustrating and made me anxious to complete my nursing training and do some tropical diseases study.

I was also able to put to good use some of the skills I had gained through my training and experience in Japan teaching English as a second language. The DOVE kids had very poor literacy skills and were really struggling in school so I became involved by tutoring them in small groups, a couple sessions a week.

I also helped Pastor Daniel with the weekly "Monday Program", a weekly kids program in a very poor area of Freetown where 5 of the DOVE kids lived with guardians. Every Monday, anywhere up to a hundred kids pile into a small school shack made of corrugated metal, where Pastor Daniel teaches them a Bible lesson and leads them in singing. While I was there, I taught the Bible lessons, with Pastor Daniel translating. Again, reflecting on it now, I think my lessons were lacking in many ways, but I've decided that we have to start somewhere, and learn from our mistakes!

My days were busy, filled with rain, heat, sweat, noisy children, hours of lesson planning, crowded taxi rides to get to the school, but I was loving it, and at the end of the day I could tuck in my mosquito net, collapse on my bed, and fall asleep under the coolness of the soothing African rain.