my day in misisi

here’s to my first blog post in Zambia! CAMP LIFE WEEK 1 IS COMPLETE!! average number of hours of sleep per night = 4. number of nature valley granola bars eaten = 11. number of roaches I have killed in my villa = 3. number of children filled with the joy of the Lord today leaving camp = 1022. making the lack of sleep, granola bars, and even the roaches completely worth it. It is 11:18 PM on Friday night in Zambia right now but they go off army time so really it is 23:18. It has been nice not having to deal with AM and PM.  yesterday, i  was able to go into a compound called “misisi”. in nyanja  (the language spoken in lusaka, Zambia) the word “sisi” means hair and “mi” marks the possessive. therefore, “misisi” can mean “anyone’s hair”. I was proud of myself because i figured that out with my linguistic skills and checked with a local Zambian and was correct. so, shout out to professor chris sams! I’ve been learning in linguistics ;) anyways, moving past my linguistic moment. misisi was crazy. the word compound simply refers to what you may think of as a village, neighborhood or community. this week at camp life was the first time in camp life’s history that misisi kids have ever come to camp. misisi is a very dark area that is hard to reach. we have never even been able to get in there until this week. I was among the very first group of americans bused into misisi. likely, the first time these people had seen a large bus driving through the streets of their compound let alone a bus full of muzungus (white people). While we drove through the streets child after child shouted “MUZUNGU, MUZUNGU!!” I have been to a few other compounds in lusaka but this one was the most horrifying I have seen. directly after exiting the bus I turned the corner around a one room house to smile at a little girl and I look up to see about a football field size swamp of sewage with mounds of trash lining the edges. I focused on the little girl to get my mind off of what I had just seen, which was hard considering the thought that this 2 year old lives steps away from this deathly lake of sewage.  I said goodbye to her and her family and re-joined the group.  some local children started gathering around the muzungus and my friend laura brought me up to one young girl sitting on the outskirts of the group alone. she smelled awful and had something crusty all around her mouth but I instantly loved her. I looked at her and she looked up at me with her arms up. I picked her up and held on to her. I started asking her “ndiwe ndani?” which means “what is your name?” and she just kept grunting at me. I was a bit confused but just kind of smiled and went on with her in my arms while she hugged me like she was never going to let go. I quickly noticed that when I was with her the other kids wouldn’t touch me or really get near me. I started noticing their whispers to each other and picked up on her name in their conversations. from what Nyanja I know and the look on everina’s face the comments weren’t friendly. this girl was an outcast. for a minute I thought of putting her down and playing with some other kids, being selfish and getting more attention. instead I decided to try and feel how everina felt for a little while and be an outcast with her. I continued to hold her and tried to make her feel as special as I possibly could. her teacher came up to greet me and informed me that everina could not speak. she told me that she once got very sick and since then could not speak. I took her over to one of the Zambians that works for family legacy and asked if we could pray for her. we did and though nothing miraculous happened in that moment I am continuing to pray for her and that she can speak again. include sweet everina in your prayers. I have never seen a child so desperately in need of love living with such a constant lack of it. God is the ultimate healer and I believe in a miracle for everina, even though I may not be there to witness it firsthand. furthermore, as we walked through misisi there were piles and piles of trash with hundreds upon thousands of flies enjoying each pile. the kids often barefoot walking through piles of mystery garbage that may contain who knows what, a nail? a piece of glass? an old knife? there was one point I legitimately thought I was going to throw up. around me were hundreds of beautiful, precious,wonderful children smiling up at me trying to impress me with their best English and then just 3 feet further down was accident upon accident waiting to happen. that was the first time in a long time I have been truly disgusted by someone’s living conditions. as much as I wish I could fix everything, I also know that God has a plan and He loves those precious children more than I do. I trust Him with misisi. other than misisi, camp was wonderful. Being on summer staff is probably the single most tiring role I have ever played. the Lord is teaching me all sorts of things. things different than what I expected. He is teaching me how to be a servant in the ways that I am not naturally gifted and though that may not be as enjoyable for me at times I am learning such valuable things. the other summer staff girls are excellent. we have really bonded and get along like sisters. I couldn’t have asked for a better group. I know that was really long but thank you for reading <3 who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. romans 8:34

i will be posting about my time with my baby ireed hopefully later today depending on internet access and time but i hope you have enjoyed reading this! :)  your prayers are much appreciated!