After ceremonies and gifts at the school, the Americans split in two groups to go to the girls' homes. Some elders had been at the school, but many were thoughout the village, either working their farms or small stores. We walked with one of the village leaders to four homes. We met mothers, sisters and grandmothers. Barbara would state our deep respect for their daughter and that we wanted her to grow up knowing we beleived in her . The village leader translated and the family members would humbly nod. Each recipient was loaded down with a bag of school supplies, and we passed out candy and toys to the children that surrounded us.
It was a peaceful walk through the village, and we saw a lot of goats, dogs, two oxen, but typically women and men working in the fields. After the visits we headed back to the school and spoke with more children and a couple of the teachers. We saw the classrooms, whereupon the benches from the earlier ceremony had been returned. Few books lined the library shelves, and the classrooms were dirt floors.
The children were energetic, curious, and joyful. There is a way they would look intently. How is it that we are here, these people who differ from them? We joked around and asked questions of one another.
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