“War Child” was the name of the exhibition, and the art explored Liberia's violent past and hopeful future. There were more than 30 paintings depicting life and war as seen through the eyes of five artists who were children during Liberia's 14-year civil war.
One artist was an ex-combatant, one was a refugee, and others were simply trying to survive in postwar Liberia. They all shared the common bond of living through the war.
I was very impressed by the quality of the paintings. They were beautiful. I browsed around, read their stories, chatted with the artist's, chatted with fellow art show attenders, and bought a lovely painting.
It was really cool to see the the artists use their talents and gift that God has provided them with in such a positive and passionate way. They all have such skills and talents and compose wonderful art, and props to Christina for organizing such an event for Liberia. Just another step in the right direction for this country.
We arrived back to the ship at 12:30, and I had 10 mins to get myself ready for the after noon of a life time. I have been anticipating this afternoon for an entire week now. My little darling from Frances Gaskin were coming to my area for a visit, and I could hardly wait.
At 1:oo they had arrived. I was standing at the gate waiting for them and to my surprise they pulled up and out of a 10 passenger van came 36 people. 30 kids and 6 adults. What a site, there were children stuffed in every square inch of that vehicle. The kids looked so cute!! They all had on their nice clothes, with clean cuts for the boys and braids for the girls, new shoes, and BIG smiles. I am not sure who was more excited the kids, the adults, or us Mercy Shipers.
As we walked down the dock I think the look of amazement was unanimous. One little girl looked at me and said" I have never seen the sea, It is so big." To think that she lives in a country with such beautiful coast line and she has never been able to witness Gods beauty in the seas here. Most of the children would peep over the edge of the dock and look down at the water that flowed below them, but making sure they did not get to close. The small fish really impressed them.
After we took a few group photos on the dock we transferred our party inside. Walking up the gang way was a VERY big deal! Most of the kids did really well until they looked down and saw the water. Then they were scared. They very carefully took one step at a time until they had successfully reach the top of the gang way.
Half of the group in front of Liberia's flag
Once inside we had cookies and juice, games, ship tours, veggie tales movie and popcorn, crafts, visits to my room, dancing, and visits to the bathroom(they had never used a toilet before. Most of them if not all of them visited the bathroom at least 5 times in the 4 hours that they were here, the loved the flushing noise).
The highlight of my day however was defiantly when 5 of the girls performed a cultural dance for us in honor of their appreciation for all our help. It was amazing. So much history is held in the dances. I was honored to be witnessing them preform such a dance. They may be young, but they can dance. The Cultural Dance
As we were walking the kids to their van one little girl looked up at me and said. " I am so happy, thank you for letting me come to your house today. It was the best day". Around 4:30pm we waved good bye to all our little kiddies as they drove away waving at us until they could not longer see us anymore. They had a GREAT time and so did we!!!!!!!Waving Good-Bye
What a blessing today was, My heart is full!!!
1 comment:
oh those beautiful babies! Dont think I need to ask if they all had a seatbelt? How many bathroom breaks did you take that day? Glad you had such a great time with them.
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