Wed. night, Day 1 of Kids camp

As if we didn't already have enough fun, crazy, and amazing things happen here with our team in Otutulu, today Stuart Chapman got to lead his first day of kids camp. Stuart helped put together a variety of activities and crafts for all of the kids. We split them into 2 age groups, as they go to school in the different age groups; age 3-8 in the morning, and the older students in the afternoon. So, we got the reverse of that, the older kids first, and then the younger ones in the afternoon.

We got together in one of the 3 abandoned chicken coops behind the orphanage. Stuart taught the students how to say "Howdy" today, and got some good video with plenty of volume for Doug Burford!! Too fun. One of the daughters of the orphanage director, Daniel Edeh, was our interpreter for Stuart's teaching time. She had to be taught the meaning of one word in particular that Stuart kept using that she didn't understand. Omele (O-Mey-Ley) didn't know what Stuart meant when he kept saying "y'all".

We split the kids into 3 groups, and had them do two activities, and a craft. The craft for today was tye dye, which was a big hit. It's funny to see the team walk around with dyed hands! I hope we will be able to put up pictures later on of 150 tye dyed shirts that the kids might be wearing! The activities were field games (lead by yours truly, with help from Doug Dorsey and my lovely wife Adrienne) We introduced the game of crab soccer - which translates as kakara futbol, and also red light/green light, or Lo/dago! I wasn't sure who enjoyed the games more; the kids, or the aunties and other adults from the community that were spectators! We all had a blast, despite being tremendously hot in the afternoon.

The other fun event was the activity of bubbles. I don't know how many hundreds of little tubes of bubble soap we brought, but we obviously didn't get enough. The tears, and scuffles over who still had the bubble solution left was evident to all!

The other neat activity of the day was the mid-day trip to swim in the river. A group from our team took the top students (7 of them) on a 10 minute hike to wade into a small clearing of a nearby river. It was very refreshing for us to be able to cool off, and for the kids, it was a great treat and reward for their hard work. It was funny though that after 20 minutes of swimming, the kids were all shivering cold and had goose bumps on their skin, while the team was greatly enjoying the comfort of the river. It was also a neat walk through the countryside, as we passed a burned off area that some folks farming had cleared to plant crops. At one end of the field was a 10' high termite hill. It dwarfed Stuart, to give you an idea of how tall it was.

Well, that about does it except for one big thing. We will be doing another clinic at the orphanage tomorrow. The word has spread, and we are expecting 3 distinguished guests. The first is the area commissioner of women and children affairs. The second is the local judicial magistrate. Both of these people are important figures in the adoption processes that happen, and their presence here could expedite the adoptions that the Leachman family are hoping and praying for. The third guest would be both print and video media of this region of Nigeria. It could mean a lot for the orphanage in presence, and possible assistance from the government (currently they receive no help from any government agencies.)

So, please be praying for us tomorrow. If you find yourself awake at 3 am, we will be starting to "open our doors"(even though most of our work is outside!) to an expected 400 patients. Please pray for good weather, patience and endurance for our team and interpreters, and that God would be working through the presence of this orphanage, their staff, and our team and work here!

Good night (O-Low-Dew-dew) And thanks for all of your prayers and support!

Adam -for the team!