Japan In Choma
Wednesday morning we visited St Mulumba school for special needs children. St Mulumba is a school for children who are hearing impaired, visually impaired, and mentally handicapped. It was an incredible place. We were given a tour were able to go into each class to visit and see how their classroom was being run. I cannot even explain to you how unbelievable this place was. All of the children were so happy that we were there and when we walked into the room for the mentally handicapped children almost all of them jumped up and ran over to us, hugging, touching, laughing, and making us wish we could stay there forever. Another wonderful thing about St Mulumba’s is that many of the staff are also disabled in some way and are teaching the children the incredible things they can do despite their disabilities. One of the students who recently graduated is even using the skills that he learned at St Mulumba’s to now come back and help his friends and fellow students with their challenges in learning.
We were invited back the next morning for a special event they were having called “Japan in Choma”. The Japanese support the school’s financial program in a very big way, so a group of Japanese dancers were visiting and performing traditional dances, drum performances, and introducing the culture of Japan to the children. We were also able to watch traditional Zambian dances and hear songs from the visually impaired children. It was amazing to see all the different cultures being represented and the excitement of all the children as they watched something they had never seen before. We were able to make arrangements visit St Mulumba’s more frequently and spend more time with the children for the remaining five weeks we are here. These children are such a blessing. I wish all of you could visit them yourselves, to drink in their contagious laughter and see how God takes care of his children, even in Zambia.
xox
Haley
