Day trip to Nanyila

Our day began with the routine that we have become accustomed to; alarms waking us up at 6:30 a.m., getting ready for our day, and eating a delicious breakfast provided to us by the friendly hospitality staff at Lemuel. Today’s breakfast consisted of crepes with butter and honey, omelets, and oatmeal loaf.

After eating our fill we loaded onto “Anna”, our bus with a very hard exterior and high pain tolerance. We were soon on our way bouncing down the rocky dirt roads through the mountains to the village Nanyila.

There was some time for prayer with the locals before we unloaded the bags of food we had prepared on Sunday. We were hoping to be able to hand them out to the people ourselves, but we ran short on supplies, and we left it up to the church to distribute it equally. Many of us left feeling very humbled when we saw the disappointed faces of those who were unsure if they were going to be receiving any food. We continued our journey a little farther down the road, and once again were happy to get off the bus and the bumpy roads. When we stepped off the bus, it was obvious to us that many of the people had never seen white people before, because we overheard the word “blanc” multiple times, which means “white’ in creole.

They seemed even more confused when we started to rub sunscreen on our already pale skin! The market was made up of vendors set up along the road and up a hill. Once again, we saw everything from shoes and clothing, to fruit and rice, and goats and sheep. Once we had walked through the market, and jumped over the small streams that flowed freely in the street, we loaded back onto the bus and made the short drive back to the village.

Lunch, which entailed of soup and buns was served on a local’s porch. We ate quickly in an attempt to beat the rain that seemed to be gathering in dark threatening clouds overhead. We finally made it back to Lemuel after slipping and bumping our way back down the mountain in Anna. Almost immediately after stepping off the bus, half of our group decided to take a nap. Since there was nothing else planed for the rest of the day, those who weren’t tired decided to continue spreading manure on a a local’s garden which was destroyed by Hurricane Matthew. The donkey manure soon ran short, but we had made great progress nonetheless. We will just have to wait a couple more days for the donkeys to supply us so that we can continue the job!