If there was any doubt before I came to Rwanda that I would be adopting multiple children from any and all nationalities/ethnicities, let this serve as the official documentation that it is going to happen (and I cannot wait).
Basketball camp has been a blessing. Last weekend was the last session (until the closing ceremony in May). The kids are just amazing. We have really had the opportunity to build a relationship and I intend to continue it by visiting them at Prison Fellowship until I leave. Working with them has been so rewarding. They have been a blessing my life and I am just so thankful. I wish you could all be there for the camps. You would love it!
The kids are just starting to catch on. Per usual, some are better than others and some of the boys have really picked it up. During our scrimmages, they actually look somewhat organized (emphasis on somewhat). We have four teams and when the two teams are playing, the other two have to stand around the court and cheer. We sing songs and make up cheers and you should see them all when someone scores. It's hilarious. The games are usually only 10 minutes long so the score is usually 4-2 or 6-4 if they're "on". Scoring a basket is basically like scoring a goal in futbol, when it happens, it's rare and it's exciting! When they score, it is usually followed by fist-pumps, skipping, jumping and a whole lot of cheering. It's hard to manage the kids on the sideline because after one basket they all want to storm the court. I can't really describe it accurately with words, it's just pure joy.
The kids are changing too, which leads me to my "basketball playing rainbow colored family." Being with these kids gives you the chance to see that all children are the same. All they want is some good lovin! Me, being the "hug machine" that I am, am all about it. The kids are just aching for some affection and luckily, that is easy for me to give. It's amazing to see that all they want is someone to care about them and offer some structure. For instance, I have one guy who is about 24. We are always joking around and, as of late, as been very helpful with managing the younger kids. Well, like many of the older street kids, he uses drugs. They all smoke some kind of ganja plant (I don't know what it is called). Anyway, he has a necklace with the leaf on it that he wore to camp one day, every time I was near him, I would put it in his shirt so you could not see it. He would take it out, I would put it back. Well, the next week, another one of the boys had a sweatband with the plant on it. I took it from him and wore it myself, inside out. The other boy saw me take it, ran up to me with a big smile and showed me that he was not wearing his necklace that week. He also scolded the other boy for wearing the band, explaining it was bad. Will they smoke this week? Are they smoking now, probably! But, at least they know that I care that they don't and somewhere in their minds, maybe in a very, very small way, that matters.
Back to my family, being with these kids has once again showed me that I really want to have my home for kids between the ages of 7-19. There is so much there and they are just forgotten because they are not as cute and cuddly has the young ones. Working with them is so rewarding. People always say how rare it is to see real transformation and/or how difficult and potentially disappointing it can be to work with teens but I think change is possible. I know that if I had their experiences and survived what they have survived, I wouldn't be transformed over night either.
All you need is love people!
Speaking of love, if anyone knows any men between the ages of 25-32, preferably tall (at least 5'11) with some meat on their bones, who would also like to have this kind of non-traditional (but awesome) family...hook-it up (some basketball skills preferred but not required).
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