fake reality

7:00AM Lodwar Wed 2.9.09

I'm swinging in the hammock to the sounds of distant birds chirping, kids speaking Turkana and watching the sun come up. Last night I thought the evening in Lodwar was the most impressive site I'd seen but then I wake up and find that the morning has its own unique glory to it. The sky blends with the trees and all seem as if its been freshly painted a hazy deep blue.

The stories I heard while in Soweto yesterday were tear inducing. Most of the stories centered on how the kids came to be orphans and the women who saved them. These women who had come to God through the Pentecostal church felt a responsibility to follow Joshua's plan and start rebuilding the town of Lodwar one child at a time. Each women has one to 4 foster kids, some with almost 10; while having at least one biological child already at home. One of the ladies who was interviewed by our team is sick with AIDS and has two kids of her own and a foster kid to take care of; I'm anxiously awaiting the completion of the interview.

Moses, during lunch yesterday, was describing a funny story to us about what his parents would do when they weren't able to provide food for the day. They would tell the kids who were hungry that if they kept playing outside they would slaughter a goat for dinner and they would get to eat its right leg. Moses said they found out this is what they'd tell them to keep them going during the day but they would know no food would be coming that night. Sometimes they would get one meal a day - this is the norm in Lodwar. That one meal would always be dinner. They would play all day and then get to eat a meal before bed because its hard to sleep on an empty stomach. The way he tells us this is in a joking manner, laughing as if it is a funny story he's making up. For a second we laugh along with him, his smile is infectious, until the realization finally dawns on us of what he's saying. Your stomach tightens up and its hard to swallow as the tears threaten to stream down your face. All the while he's saying this you reprimand yourself for being hungry for lunch that day after having a large breakfast that morning. You scream at yourself for feeling tired, for your body betraying you by the growling in your stomach. The body that is used to the comforts of your world and has no idea how it would feel if you only got a glass of water at night because there wasn't enough to drink when you were thirsty all day. Their bodies have become accustomed to not drinking water.

The children interupt his story by chanting my name to come out and play with the football we brought them. They love to chase me and have me chase them. They have so much energy to play in the scorching sun that I try to keep up but I'm burning up. There has been a large transition from the beginning of our time in Soweto to the end... where we began timidly shaking a hand here and there and smiling out of nervousness to holding a child to my chest as I play "airplane" with her and all the kids grab at my legs. Its the difference between meeting someone for the first time and saying goodbye to a loved one.