One Mango Christmas Tree Branch.
Forty-seven stockings.
Three days of cooking.
Seven kilos of carrots, eight loaves of bread, seventy rolls, and ten pans of cornbread.
Thirteen sous-chefs.
Five girls to carry one (of two) pots of mashed potatoes.
Twenty chickens—blessedly pre-butchered for us.
Two ovens.
Fifty-nine satisfied diners.
All in all, it was a wonderful day. The girls looked beautiful and were beaming the whole evening. For some, it is their first Christmas at JBFC, an extra reason for us to celebrate.
There were squeals of joy and little dances of delight as they opened their stockings to discover stickers, bouncy-balls, mini coloring books, pencils, and “pee-pee!” (This means “candy” in Swahili).
A fun surprise…everyone sings when they open gifts! We enjoyed lots of singing as a bounty of gifts were unwrapped from friends in the US.
The girls loved the photo boards I made for each dorm, where they can display pictures of our special memories together.
After a delicious meal and opening presents, the girls gave an impromptu concert for us. Words simply can’t capture the joy one feels in watching these girls sing and dance…it was the best gift I could hope for in my first African Christmas.
Wishing you all “Heri ya Krismas” from Tanzania!
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