School Registration

It's that time of year again. We've been busy busy busy getting all of our reintegrated boys registered for the new school year. This is always a mission as things aren't necessarily easy here in Mozambique. This process of school registrations always reminds that i live in a 3rd World country! Here are some of the frustrations:

* The responsibility lies with the parents or guardians to go to the schools near their house and search for a school with space for their child. The schools here are very over-crowded with an average of 50-70 students per classroom so this is not always an easy task! Some of our boys live with aunts, uncles, or grandparents who are not able or willing to oversee the registration process so the responsibility then lies with us.

* Because most of our boys abandoned school in the past when they began living on the streets, the process of getting them back into school is even more complicated. We have to go speak to the directors personally and explain the role we, as a project, are playing in helping the boy reintegrate into his family and community. Often we have to pay a fine as well for the boy to be allowed back in the school.

* If the boy is starting at a different school then where he last studied, we have to go to the old school and request his grades. This usually takes a day or two so we have to return later to pick it up. With some of our boys, we have had to go to 3 or 4 different schools in his community before finding one with an opening in his grade.

* Many of our boys do not have proper documentation (birth certificate) or if they have it it is at a family members house 2 hours away. Without documentation its difficult to register a boy for school because we cannot prove his age. In these situations, we are usually able to get special permission from the director for the boy to start studying with the promise that we will organize his documents within a set period of time. Other boys have documentation but it's not accurate. For example, we have a 12 year old boy whose birth document says he is 16. We are trying to register him for grade 4 or 5 and having lots of trouble because of the age on his document.

At the end of the day, its worth all of the frustration of going from school to school because we firmly believe that education is an important aspect of our boys being successfully reintegrated into their families and communities. Without education, their are few hopes for a successful future. Without school, many of the boys would end up right back on the street.

Please be praying for our boys as they begin their new school year in the next week or so. After being on the street it is hard for them to discipline themselves to go to school and study. Pray for good teachers who will really invest in them. Pray for the boys to truly see the value of education and the impact it has on their future.

December in a Nutshell

Even in Africa, life is busy during the holidays! So here is a picture-summary of December:

On December 1, the Masana day center closed for the holidays. We had a party and gave out soccer jerseys to the boys that had done well in school during the year and to those who had had the best attitudes.

Little Chico with his jersey that he got for always helping out with our daily cleaning.

Isaac and Felix helped us put out some lights and Christmas decorations. This is Isaac testing to see if the lights work!

This is George the Giraffe all ready for Christmas!

Our beautiful little Christmas tree!

I dyed my hair red!

We spent my birthday at the beach/pool. This is little Chico enjoying one of my yummy birthday cupcakes.

Lauren and I bought the boys that live with us a fun Christmas present. Wrapped in sales ads of course!

Christmas stockings are a foreign concept in Mozambique. The boys always try them on as boots!

It's a ping pong table!!!

Isaac decorating cookies that we gave to all the Masana staff.

Felix was so creative with his cookie decorating! He made plenty of extras to take to his family that he spent Christmas day with.

On December 21, we had a FUN Christmas party for all the street kids!

I spent the Christmas weekend in Durban, South Africa with my roommate Lauren and her family. Then I was back in Mozambique for New Years where I got to set off fireworks with some of my boys.

Happy New Year to all and may 2012 be filled with blessings!!!!

Street Kids Christmas

On December 22, we had a Christmas party for about 35 boys. Each year, our day center closes for 6 weeks during the holidays. We encourage the boys to go visit their families during this time. Some do and some don't. For the younger ones that choose to stay on the streets during the holidays, they rarely bathe or wash their clothes. So needless to say, on the day of the party, we were prepared for some dirty, smelly boys! We pulled out some clothes that had been donated and offered a t-shirt and pair of pants/shorts to each boy as he came in. Sadly, most of the clothes were way to big for the boys but I handed out strips of curly ribbon to be used as belts!

Once the boys were all nice and clean, the party started! Some friends of ours who also live here in Maputo, Dave and Amy, organized a bunch of fun games for the boys.

We bobbed for apples (the first time the boys had ever seen that game!).

We played chubby bunny.

We had a bubble-gum-bubble-blowing contest.

We did the classic relay race of finding the candy in the plate of flour using only your mouth.

We had a water balloon toss followed by a water balloon fight!

And finally the boys made paper chains and blew up balloons to decorate.

Meanwhile, Mama Julia was busy busy busy in the kitchen preparing 15 chickens (that we had killed and plucked the day before), salad, rice, and french fries. Before lunch was served, we gathered all the kids together and Luis told them all the Christmas story and talked about why Jesus came to live on the earth. If you've ever visited me in Mozambique, you know what a great story teller Luis is. He really gets into it! This story was complete with jumping up on one of our picnic tables to act out the part of the angel who appeared before Mary. Unfortunately, our tables are a little worn out and his foot went through the table as he was jumping down (sorry Ian!).

After the Christmas story, we served lunch and yummy chocolate cake

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Before the boys left, they each got a small present. For some reason, Lauren and I had the great idea of giving each of the boys a box of Pops....those little things you throw on the ground and they make a loud popping sound. Very quickly the boys discovered they could throw the Pops at their friends feet and scare them with the noise. A popping war broke out!

And that is Christmas with the street kids. Beautiful, isn't it?

A Different Kind of Thanksgiving

This past Thursday, as families all over the States were gathering to celebrate Thanksgiving, I was thousands of miles from my family. But I had the beautiful privilege of taking a boy who had been living on the streets for a few years back to his family.

Abel is 13 years old. His great grandparents live about an hour from the city as well as one of his brothers. His mother and grandmother live closer to the city but for Abel, his great-grandparents place is home. His great-grandparents were so excited to see him, although at first they didn't recognize him as it had been at least 2 years since they'd seen him. His great grandfather pulled out all of Abel's documents and old school papers as well as some family photos. He spoke to us about the love they have for Abel and how they want him to stay home with them and eventually take over the family farm.

Their joy over their returned great grandson was beautiful.

This was a Thanksgiving I will never forget.

Beach Day!

The Mozambican school year has now ended. That means no lessons at Masana for the month of November!! We are seeking creative ways to entertain the boys each day and, living on the coast, the beach is always a hit. So once a week we pile all 30-something boys as well as 6 or 7 adults into our 2 cars and drive to Costa do Sol for a couple of hours.

I love beach days because I see the boys forgetting about the harshness of street life as they play soccer, swim, build houses out of sand and, well, just be kids.

Prodigal Son Party

Back in March, while I was in the States begining my cancer treatments, I had the idea of throwing a prodigal son party at Masana on the day that a boy is being reintegrated. In the story of the prodigal son found in Luke 15, the father gives the son 3 gifts and a huge party:

But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

Luke 15:22-24

So began the tradition of Prodigal Son Parties at Masana. This past week, I was blessed to be here for Solomão's party. Luis, who is the head of our reintegration team, did a beautiful job of telling the story of the prodigal son and the significance of the 3 gifts - a robe, a ring, and shoes. Each of the gifts symbolize honor, position, and sonship. For Solomão, the shirt, ring, and sandals he received are to remind him of the commitment he is making as he leaves the streets and is reunited with his family.

Please keep Salomão in your prayers as he adjusts to life back at home.

Halloween In Maputo

This past Monday I taught all of the Masana boys about halloween and the idea of dressing up in costumes and going trick-or-treating. I had some old pictures on my computer from the halloween parties we use to have at our house in Athens so I was able to print off a picture of me dressed as Strawberry Shortcake to show all of the boys. That night, the 6 boys that are living with us right now sneakily put together costumes and trick-or-treated at our house. Thankfully, there was a bag of Reese's cups in the freezer that I was able to give them!!! However, that means we no longer have a surplus of reese's cups in the freezer for those days when we just need a little taste of America....anyone want to send some our way?

note: all donations of resse's cups and any other american goodies can be sent to our p.o. box in south africa:

Sarah Olds

Suite 337 Private Bag X11340

Nelspruit 1200 South Africa