A smile brightens the day!

By Hussain Lalani

 

6/9/11

 

You can always count on a young child to brighten your day!

There is something special about a smile from a innocent young child that makes you rejoice inside your heart. You don’t have to really know the child because the emotion on her face is equivalent to a thousand words!

Over the last few days, we have been passing by many school children on her way to visiting homes in Kunya village and each of them longs for our acknowledgment. It’s quite amazing that children are so excited to greet newcomers in the village! I’ve become accustomed to smiling, high-fiving kids on the road, and speaking the little Luo that I have managed to pick up so far. The younger ones are pretty shy but frequently start following us while the older ones are eager to practice their English with us, how cute!

Speaking of children, we started measuring height, weight, and arm circumference in the daycare children this week and it’s been a great experience! The students love the individual attention of stepping on an electronic weight scale and seeing a number flash after a few seconds. In fact, they don’t want to step off the scale either but enticing them to have their arm circumference measured usually does the trick!

Note to self: WATCH OUT for eager children when pulling out a digital camera! Everyone wants to take a picture and of course, “it’s not fair if my friend Bryan gets to take a picture and I don’t!” We all know that children are curious about the environment around them but their behavior definitely caught me by surprise : )