Childhood Experiences

Stretching Time

Living anywhere is a give and take. We give up certain things by living on Clove Island, we gain others. Right now the heat and humidity, coupled with bad power cuts makes us long for the land of 24/7 electricity. “Imagine running our fans whenever we wanted?” It is something we’ve given up.

But sometimes the harder, less tangible things we’ve given up are experiences— in this case we think mainly of our kids. Island kids don’t really DO much— they go to school (which is usually very boring and taught with the motivators of shame and fear), they come home, maybe help around the home, go to religious lessons, play in the streets… that’s about it. There are no extra curricular activities or clubs, no performing or creative arts groups. There are no playgrounds, no slides, no swingsets. Kids might be able to organize a pick-up game of soccer but the real fields will be taken by teens or adults. There’s nothing like the adult-organized sports or activities for kids like we have in our home country.

This past Saturday morning, our teammate got the team kids together on our porch. Just 45 minutes with none of the “proper” equipment, but our teammate (a former gymnastics instructor) was going to lead the kids in a introductory gymnastics class. Our two oldest couldn’t stop talking about it the week beforehand. On Saturday morning, I was awoken in the wee hours near dawn by our son’s voice in the other room, “This is it! It’s gymnastics day!” He still had to wait several hours for 9am to come around, but then there was stretches and warm-ups, tumbling and handstands, balancing and jumping. They had a great time and eagerly awaited the next “gymnastics class”.

Gymnastics Circuit time!

Sometimes we miss for our kids the experiences from our own childhoods— good schools with dynamic teachers, youth sports teams, music lessons, even just some good playgrounds. But sometimes we use what we’ve got and try to give them a taste— a makeshift swing, some amateur keyboard lessons, or a gymnastics class on the porch.

And sometimes we look at the different experiences our kids are getting— learning other languages, knowing about different cultures, traveling the world, learning adaptability. And we realize that our kids’ childhood is never going to be like ours was, but it doesn’t mean they are completely missing out. Some experiences are given up, others are gained.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
The gymnastics class went well and it looks to No news on whether Mwandzani’s immediate living situation has improved, but the visit from others has led to some good talks about the future of having people live in and reach out to that part of the island. We were able to get our visas renewed before Tom had to travel to the big island! It was a much smoother process this time. We had another surprise— what we thought was a man spending one night at our house, ended up being a couple for 4 nights. While we were caught a little unprepared, it was nice to get to spend time with this African couple who work on the smallest island. There have been problems at the local airport, but thankfully both Tom and our houseguests were able to fly to their destinations (though they did have to wait most of the day). Ma Imani is seeming much stronger and healthier lately— plus she’s learned that she’s having a girl!

PRAYERS REQUESTED
Tom comes home tomorrow from the big island. Pray for smooth travels and for Megan & kids’ last night alone. We’ve recently been looking into the possibility that our youngest might have a hearing problem. While nothing is sure, we’re hoping to get him evaluated when we’re off island— pray that the logistics of getting a hearing test for him while we’re in mainland Africa next month would come together. Illnesses are going around the islands— pray for good health, especially in our team’s final weeks here.