We made it safely to Kamaron and got to enjoy a two day visit. The kids really enjoyed the experience of four-wheel-drive travel. We even got to see some animals in the wild: harness antelope, monkeys, a duiker, and some bush fowl. We caught a lot of interesting butterflies, too. It was so neat to be able to show Roy and the kids where I grew up, even though it has completely changed. I was able to see several people from my childhood, one of whom lives in a nearby village. I have known Sona since I was eight years old and we have a very special connection. She is a deaf mute - some of you who have been to our home in Niles have seen the painting I had of her in our living room. It has been 22 years since I saw her last and it was SO good to see her. She started dancing and clapping and picking me up and jumping up and down. She is such a neat lady now and I cannot begin to tell you what it meant to me to see her again.
The second day we were there it rained and soaked our sleeping bags and our tent so we had to dry it out and then we strung it up with rope from the rafters of a nearby veranda and used rocks to hold down the edges. It was a lot of fun and the kids have decided that they want to move there. I tried to explain to them that they couldn't expect to get soaked every time ... just kidding! They really loved the people there and the area. People need so much and have so little, and yet their first thought is to give whatever they have in order to welcome you and show their appreciation. Sona gave us her last chicken, all the others had died. It is so humbling and yet such a blessing. We all realized how blessed we are, in that we have SO much, yet we hold things so tightly - why? Why not give them to bless someone else? Isn't SO much more
fun? :)
Anyway, yesterday was Mother's Day - so a happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there. The kids cooked supper for us and we ate it out under the bafa (a open hut with thatch roof and no walls) It truly was a special memory. We had chili and corn bread - and the best waiters in the whole world!!! What a lucky mom I am.