Karibu Nyumbani

Last weekend I offered the invitation - Karibu nyumbani, welcome to my house - to the kids who live at the orphanage center in Dar es Salaam. A few had been over to my place and were begging to come again before I left, so I figured, why not invite the whole bunch - eleven kids - in addition to my friend Iris who works there.

So here's a bit about our adventures. We met at Slipway, where there's a shopping area, cafes, and a little playground, the later of which I thought might be fun for the kids. But as soon as they arrived they were entranced by the water and eagerly asked if they could jump in the ocean. It's not so much a swimming beach, so told the kids to keep their clothes on, and we came up with an alternate plan of letting them go on boat rides out on the water, a few at a time with a sailor. Those who were on the dock still had fun spotting fish.

After that, we walked back to my place and I set about cooking for the group - a big pot of rice, a bunch of beans, some cashews, and a pile of local spinach that cooks down to sadly just a fraction of the original size. Later in the evening I shared my favorite food of all - ice cream. The rest of the evening, we watched TV, looked at photos, played card games, and just hung out.

I was so grateful to have my little one-room studio filled with the laughter and chatter of these kids.