Soccer Sunday

After church we hiked back up to our village for lunch. After lunch several of us were trying to take short naps before the scheduled soccer match. As the village got louder and louder we gave up on the naps to see what was going on. Our entire village was crawling with kids; screaming, laughing, shouting, jump-roping, giggling kids! It felt like there were a thousand kids but I think there were actually around 100. They were ready to play. We tried to teach them the hokey-poky but it just didn’t catch on. Instead we ended up playing their games, playing catch, dancing, and playing tag. We handed out suckers to all of the children (not knowing the sucker sticks also doubled as whistles) and the suddenly increasing noise that resonated through the village sounded like a massive cicada attack. It was hilarious. After playing the whole village walked toward the make-shift soccer field which had been burned down and clumps of dirt removed by hand. Walking towards the field felt a bit like walking towards the edge of the world.

After the soccer match kids blew bubbles, braided our hair, looked through the kaleidoscope and eventually had to go back to their villages before the sunset. It was amazing to see how disciplined each and everyone of these kids were.

This is one of my favorite images from the entire trip. This little girl in her tattered Sunday best was just standing in the field watching the other kids play soccer and blow bubbles. The landscape seems larger than life out here.

© 2008 by Jenn Lassa, all rights reserved.

~ by Foto del dia on April 20, 2008.