Christmas Eve we all join together as a team to go caroling. Our team is small right now, about half home in the states on HMA or support raising, or baby delivery! But we are joined by the family of one of our team mates who come to us from Nairobi, and we set out on the dirt road to the first home. We carol at about six places, selecting people we know, including Daniel’s family (who live quite close to the mission) and the Akolimpe clan. People seem to enjoy the carols (which they’ve grown used to the team doing). Many American Christmas songs come on the radio here. Someone even heard The Grinch playing the other night!! We don’t dance, but the people sway. We carried with us guitar, horn, and flute. Quite an ensemble.
We ended the night in the manger of DMC, our team’s dairy cow, reading the Christmas story. Our candles glowed as DMC joined us, askance at all her visitors. How easy it was to imagine baby Jesus born into such a place. Our faces lit by the glow of candles, protecting small ones from sharp hooves and a heavy body, avoiding cow pies and mud slicks and breathing in the smell of animals.
Josh and Scott joined us at home after bedtime, helping us with our parental duties. The kids’ big request this year was for “territories”, loft beds with desk and shelves underneath like the other kids on the team have. Since we have our local mission workshop right here, such a request is easy to fill, relatively very cheap, and provides work to locals. Scott and Josh helped us to put the room together after five men from the workshop sneaked up after dark to help us load in the furniture. I am so happy to see the room becoming more theirs. They’ve been sleeping with us since we all arrived, fearful of the wild life and the who or what may lurk outdoors (note to supporters, please try to avoid mention of rebels and other big rarely seen dangers when our children are present, they really absorb all those conversations!)
Christmas morn we wake early, at seven Naomi and Quinn are in waking up Josh and Scott then heading to the “art room” where our Christmas tree is, to read the note from Santa. Two, just-pulled-from-the-garden carrots serve as reindeer food and Josh and Scott have assisted as reindeer and Santa, nibbling away at the goodies and writing a reply note. Naomi and Quinn read that Santa has brought something very heavy that is in their room. They run to see their territories and we spend the next while exploring their room and getting reaquainted with their space.
More present opening under the tree, the children have received stocking stuffers in addition to their territories and so they open some local goodies such as kitangis to use at the pool when we’re in Kampala and little soapstone animals to remind them of our recent safari.
David and I have bought each other stocking stuffers as well and Scott and Josh have loot from home as well as our gift to them, nomba ya kekombe, a bat house for their bat problems!! We drink warm spiced tea sent from America, and eat American Christmas cookies from a package. Such sweetness.