TGE Trip 2018 – Day 0 8/19
Today, August 19, was the unofficial beginning of the week three TGE trip! The week three group arrived staggered, with the first of us arriving Saturday night, the next arriving Sunday morning and the final group member arriving Monday morning. Unfortunately, arrivals were met with a little bit of a hiccup as Jordan and Terri arrived and their bags did not. Luckily, Francis came to the rescue and took us on adventure to Carrefour to pick up some clothing items to bridge the gap until we could sort out the lost baggage. Reah was able to get in touch with the airline and after some work (and major finessing on her part!) confirmed that the bags would arrive Monday morning!
The week three group was joined by Christopher (aka “Wings”) as he spent his last day here at Morning Star before departing Sunday night. He took us on a guided tour of the property, introduced us to the animal residents and taught us a few tricks of the trade. During this tour we had the opportunity to speak with some of the Morning Star alumni who have left Morning Star and who have begun pursuing their own careers, yet return when they can to donate some of their time to the place that has changed their lives. Michael, a Morning Star alum, who is now getting his degree to become a police officer, returns from time to time to give back some of his time. He spoke candidly with us about his past and how much Morning Star, and the donors, changed his life and gave him the opportunity to take his life in a different direction than what seemed predestined at the time. He said that it was heartbreaking to him to see others who he grew up with who didn’t take advantage of the opportunity that Morning Star provided. He is truly inspiring
The children returned from church services around 11:30 and we started to get to know everyone and for Drew and Susan a chance to connect with some old friends. The kids range in age from 1 ½ to 17, but it is easy to tell how close they all are. They treat each other like a big family with the older kids taking care of the younger kids and everyone enjoying their time with one another. There was lots of fun to be had playing basketball, spinning on the merry-go-round, swinging on the swings and talking. The hit of the day was definitely the “Where’s Waldo” books that Drew and Susan brought! Life stopped at Morning Star as the kids and adults of all ages were engrossed in finding Waldo and friends (especially Francis!). This afternoon we also got to participate in the kids’ birthday celebration for the month of August and celebrated with some singing and some cake (in my opinion their rendition of “Happy Birthday” is way better than the American way)!
After dinner the group and the kids watched “The Queen of Katwe” and enjoyed some cuddles. Then we got a good nights sleep in preparation for tomorrow’s early trip to the airport.