Great Day in Philippolis with the Kids

Today was a very enjoyable day for me. I woke up around 8 o’clock, to pack my backpack for my days hike. Everyone except me left today, to go to Samara until Tuesday. I said goodbye to the group, and headed to Kate’s house to wait for the local Philippolis kids that said they wanted to take me hiking around the area. They showed up promptly at 10 o’clock, and we headed out for a nice hiking adventure. The five kids that showed up were between the ages of 13-16. They took me over barbed wire fences, up hills, through farmland, and we stopped at a nice resting spot to have a picnic that Kate provided. All the kids were very interested in knowing more about the USA, so I drew a map of the United States in the sand, showed them where I lived, and I had to have answered at least 30 or so questions about my country. Then one kid said proudly, “I hear Africa has lots a great minerals such as gold and diamonds, and has lots of things to offer.” I told him that he was completely right. Then he continued to say, “Then why can’t we get our stuff together?” I didn’t know the politically correct answer, but I went on to give them an example that a while back, the white man had all the power in Johannesburg, but now today the black man has majority of the power. The problem that exists there today is that there is too much hostility between the black and white races, because the black people resent what has happened to them in the past and that is why their crime rate is so high. I then continued on to say that although horrible events may have occurred in the past, Africa needs to live in the present and put aside racial tension and do what is best for their country. All the kids agreed with what I said, and even emphasized, “What has happened in the past is done, we need to live in the present and worry about our future.” I was very impressed that they agreed with what I said, and went on to tell them that they are the future of Africa. Instead of putting their heads down and continuing to walk, all of them looked up at me with eager faces claiming they were excited for the challenge. We had a lot of good conversation through out the day. I also got a chance to see some scorpions and cool lizards that we found by lifting up rocks. They were all super excited to show me everything they could. After our walk, I asked if we could play some soccer around where they lived. I grabbed a soccer ball, and went into their part of Philippolis to play a friendly game of soccer with the guys and their friends. Today was a very nice day! They want to do the same on Monday, which I look forward to.