Thanksgiving

    Every student house had a matching house/room at the Iris home where the kids are housed by gender and age. It starts with a kick-off night when the student house makes a special meal for the Iris house they are matched with. We didn't actually have to make a special meal but make the meal special. Some people brought sodas, desert or popcorn for afterward.

   The meal was eaten in the kitchen and then we were free to hang out with the kids. It was their way of making sure we got to know some of the Iris kids and make sure the kids got a chance to interact with the internationals (students). Only a few of the Iris kids, the outgoing ones interact with us and hang around us. This way none of the kids would be left out. After dinner some played soccer with their kids, or other games like musical chairs and pin the tail on a donkey. Some used a ball and water bottles to set up a bowling game.

    The Iris kids don't really like the Harvest School because the base is more calm and more “theirs” when they have it to themselves. There are 2 Harvest schools a year and that brings the village kids around a lot more as well. The village kids love the Harvest school because the students buy them stuff and entertain them and play with them. We aren't supposed to give them stuff – just make relationships but everyone does end up buying them soda's or something.

    Our house was paired up with one of the baby houses and there were only 4 babies there at that time. We visited the babies house because they don't normally go to the kitchen to eat. We took them brownies we had made and played with them a little bit. There were far more of us than babies so there wasn't much for us to do.

     This is a photo of our babies and their Tia, which means Aunt in Portuguese.

                                                 At the table with the babies.

                                        At the table pretending to hold babies.

This is Amina a really cute girl, my favorite of the youngest kids. I would put her on my back and run around the church jumping over benches chasing the boys and having water fights.

       A man named Tiny who works for the oil company in Mozambique somehow had met Heidi and knew about Iris Ministries and this year and last year he funded and prepared a Thanksgiving meal for all of Iris and the Students.
   He brought in food from South Africa, ham, turkey, hot dogs, hamburgers, corn, potatoes with bacon in them (he cooked the bacon and put it in), pre-made pies, pre-made rolls, mangoes, soda- enough to feed 800 Thanksgiving day plus leftovers the next day. There is no refrigeration at all, so everything has to be eaten up quickly. Some of the Tia's got to take a plate home with them, leftover ham was served in the beans the next day etc.

   He started cooking at 3AM and didn't start feeding until 5PM. Students volunteered to help him cook and serve. They started serving at 5pm and ended at about 8pm. They fed the kids first, then trucked kids in from nearby Iris bases, then visitors, students, then Mozambican bible school, then all the Tia's and workers (mechanic shop, gardeners). Afterward there was a lot of singing and dancing with drums done by the Iris kids to honor Tiny.   Here are some photos from Thanksgiving day.
   This is Tiny in the apron. About a week before Thanksgiving they built these cement stoves.

                                                              Cooking.

                                             

                                                           I think these are the hams.

                                            Lifting the huge pot of potatoes onto the counter.

                                     Potatoes with bacon. The kids didn't even want to try it.

                                                                This is the ham.

                                             Kids waiting in line.

   

                                                             Finally time to eat.