An Outing Day with Linawo Home for Children

On Saturday morning we met up with the fifteen children from the Linawo Home for Children at a park in the center of the city. The youngest child, Lebo, is a three-year old with a new cast on her arm; the oldest was a freshman in high school. At the park we had a few hours to get to know each other over a snack. Each child chose a buddy from the ten Pomfret students. Heather, the director of Linawo, challenged us all to learn names and each person's favorite meal. She threw down the challenge glove by promising a prize for the person who could introduce to the group the most new people. We lounged in the park for about an hour, talking, playing games, looking at the horse drawn carriage, and chatting. When it was time for the challenge, Philipp represented Pomfret very well with seven names and meals of the Linawo children. (Much better than I could have done, I still don't know my buddy's name after spending all morning with her.) But he was outdone by my buddy who knew all eleven of our names and favorite meals. Kevin pulled out a set of Yankees caps he brought for the children, which Heather used as a prize for the contest. My buddy wore her new cap proudly the rest of the day.

Our next stop was the science museum and planetarium show. We enjoyed the children's show at the planetarium with Davy the Dragon who was learning about the night sky. We had only thirty minutes to tour the exhibits in the museum with our buddies. My buddy and I were the last ones back to the meeting place because she couldn't drag me away from the marine life exhibit.

 If that wasn't enough action, then we went to the beach for the rest of the afternoon to swim in the tidal pools. This is the cold water side of the city, and yes, it was very cold for swimming. (I got in the water anyway.) There is a pool build into the rocks to give bathers a safe place for swimming out of the rough surf. We spent two hours swimming and sunning ourselves with the children. Once again, the boys proved to be the weakest link. They didn't even go down to the beach because it was too cold for them. Instead they stayed up in the grassy area playing football and soccer with some of the Linawo boys. Elise had a very energetic four-year-old buddy. She chased her around the tidal pool all afternoon. She deserves the prize for the most attentive buddy of the day.

We packed up and bid our goodbyes to the children until we meet again on Tuesday. Our outing today was a special treat for the Linawo children. The home doesn't have a van to transport the kids. Volunteer groups like us provide the opportunity for these children to have a special day out of their neighborhood.

 Now we are at the waterfront for two hours of down time. We have some free time to explore the shops and entertainment along the harbor. I'm not feeling up to shopping right now, so I headed for a cafe to have a cold drink and a snack out of the sun. Tonight we are going to see a hip hop dance show with our host Mamas. This is a big surprise for them, so it should be just as much fun watching the Mamas enjoy themselves as it is watching the show.