Day 2 in Marare

We are woken up at 5:30 AM by a Mercedes car alarm on repeat, the first world tones shattering our third world dreams. Today is our first day doing home visits to sponsor children. This makes me nervous. I was never very good in other people's houses in Canada, much less entering homes of such a wildly different culture.

The rain has created puddles in the small dirt paths leading of off the main road in Marare. I stare at my shoes as I step carefully around the mud and try not to think about all the cultural mistakes I will make today. Small children follow close behind, running up occasionally to touch my arm or my hand. I do not mind this but have trouble responding. There is much laughing, smiling and staring, but little other interaction. My funny faces and English words remain unanswered.

The sponsor child visits are very strange to me.  A few chairs are brought out of each home, and the sponsor child sits down with us very nervously. Parents stand close by, and Food for the Hungry staff translate for those who do not speak English. We try to relax and ask the same questions we would ask of any school age child, but home lives here are so different that I have trouble connecting. For each child I ask questions until I find something in common with them. This makes me feel better.

Each visit takes between 10 and 20 minutes, but the walks in between are much longer. While we walk we talk with the staff about the village and the vegetation. So much vegetation.  I make noises and funny faces at the many farm animals, but they do not repond any better than the children. About halfway through the morning I realize that I did not talk much to strangers either when I was young. Kids are the same no matter the culture or location. Then I decide that I like home visits. I will return tomorrow and work on better funny faces in the meantime.

In the afternoon we return to the school field to play volleyball with Darryl and the kids. 2 nets and a lot of rope have created 10 small courts. 7 of the volleyballs are used for volleyball. 2 volleyballs are used for soccer. The offical netball is used for soccer, and 1 volleyball is used to play netball. Darryl is at the top of his game, and everyone is burning calories at unprecedented rates. Drills are performed and skills are mastered. Kids open up, as kids do with sports. Our energy runs out at about 6 PM and we head home. I have forgotten all the cultural mistakes I made.