Hello to everyone back home!
My name is name is Allison Leinen and I am from Harlan, Iowa. God has blessed us with another wonderful day here in Tanzania at the children’s home. We started our day off with a delicious breakfast and a couple of us also had a little time this morning to video chat with those back home. We were very thankful that the power was on and working to allow us to do so. We then got a tour of where the children stay. Our first stop we got to meet 9 special needs children, one of which particularly liked Olivia and could not stop smiling and laughing with (maybe at) her 🙂 Julius shared with us some of their unique stories and the conditions they have, for example one boy has chronic malaria and another young girl has chronic tuberculosis. I know I personally felt extremely grateful that these wonderful children have God looking over them and sent them to a Light In Africa to give them a loving home. Next, we joined those that were playing on the playground! The kids were very excited to see us and didn’t waste anytime coming to meet us and pulling us towards the swing set eager to play. The next couple hours were filled with smiles, laughter, and creative conversations as we overcame the language barrier. We all moved inside to escape the sun for a bit and here we enjoyed going through flashcards, Taylor and a young boy having an imaginative conversation, attack of a water bottle, and Olivia learning her lesson about spinning one child around in circles. Once you do it with one child Olivia the rest are going to want to try:) Tarynne had lots of strange sounds coming out of her as the kids plugged her nose and she tried to talk! This provided us with many more giggles and everyone wanting to plug her nose. The young girl that sat on my lap loved to dance and bob her head to musical nosies she made with her mouth; I joined in on her fun and I think she could have done it all day! We are all very thankful God has sent us here to spend this wonderful time with the children and as they put a smile on our face we are privileged to be able to see one on theirs:) We look forward to what else God has planned for us during our stay here in Tanzania.
