Our Kindergarten field trip

Friday was a big day for me and 15 kindergarteners. We walked to the nearby community for a field trip. I was so excited envisioning sitting close to the front of the bus and leading the children in "the wheels on the bus" as we drove to our destination. Before departing, we circled at our village gate and I was asked to pray for our trip. I prayed thanking God for good weather, strong healthy bodies, our guards who keep us safe and our bus driver who will be taking us. Oh, how I had assumed we would be riding a bus like we do back home. The kindergarten teacher kindly informed me we will be walking to the nearby town. Oops... We gathered children's hands and began our 3 HOUR trek. We walked holding hands down a dirt path alongside a dusty road for quite a while until we reached the nearby community.

We continued our walk down dirt roads in town. We saw shops and houses the size of LRCA's concession stand made of rocks and mud. We saw children unattended playing amongst the chickens and debris. Men lingering. It was rather frightening at first for our kindergarteners. Several held on tightly to my hands as we walked. We visited a butcher shop where meat hangs in the open air for all to see. We visited a tailor shop and viewed all the sights of people selling food and items in the street. We visited another local school. Our children introduced themselves with poise to the other students. I was so proud of them.

Here are some pictures we took:

Heading back home, we stopped at the police station. The children were silent and stiff, afraid of what might happen. We viewed a jail cell with prisoners. There were 6 men lying in the same small cell on the concrete floor. The prisoners told the children to study hard so they won't go to jail. As we walked home many children said they wanted to study so they wouldn't ever go to jail.

We completed our 3 hour trek. The children walked and sang hymns. Only a few briefly mentioned their legs were tired as we neared our village gate. I was amazed at their joyful and grateful attitudes.

It was a great day!!!