Limited sleep and an early start in Kroo Bay...I grabbed a quick shower, which did no good, and loaded in the van for Kroo Bay. The ride was long, hot, and slow thru town.
When we arrived, we could see trash in the water and bricks on the roofs to hold them down. We parked on the street, and I was surprised that we were walking into the....town? village? community? The walkway was about as wide as a sidewalk and closed in by shacks, maybe 7-8 feet tall. People were sitting outside everywhere. We meandered through, like a make. I know now why we wore matching t-shirts. You had to keep the team in sight around corners. We arrived at an opening with a larger building, the community center. There were children everywhere. The local officials cleared the path for us to enter. The children treated us like rock stars! They were reaching out to touch us as we walked through.
In the building were another 300 children. They were all seated, big and small, awaiting our arrival. The city officials led us up on the alter/stage, welcomed us, and introduced us. A group of women had been cooking the food we purchased all morning. There was rice, fish, and some sort of sauce, maybe beans, too. As these women filled plates with large portions onto trays, we distributed them to the children. The plan was to serve 250 children a hot meal. When we had served the first group of 300 or so, we had plenty left. We sent the first group out and let another group in. We served more hot meals, probably around 450 or so total.
"Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them...They all ate and were satisfied." -Luke 9:10
The next part of the plan was to distribute bags of dry rice to another 2000 children. This is when things became very chaotic. As new groups would enter the building, we would attempt to line them up at the door of the kitchen and file them through to get a bag and back out the kitchen door. However, as they entered, they all would rush to be in the front of the line. The children would push, shove, hit...whatever it took to get their place. They were so fearful of getting no food! As they left with rice, the crowd began to grow, not only children, but adults, too, were coming to be fed. With the third or fourth group, the door opened and the crowd tried to push their way in. Most of our team was in the kitchen area, but I was still in the main room, trying to help with the lines. I watched as the door opened, the crowd pushed, and children fell into the doorway. The children cried, and the crowd continued to push and trample. I was so scared for the kids, but I didn't know what to do! Some of the men helping began gathering us to the kitchen area, and shut the door. All of the windows, covered in bars, had children reaching in. It wasn't that all these people wanted food....they NEEDED it! This one bag of rice might be all they get for days, a week, or more.
How could our group of 20 possibly feed all these people? We couldn't! We were merely a quick fix for the day, and we couldn't even complete the task. The crowd and the pushing caused us to leave early. The walk out was safe, but quick. I think the drive home took forever...traffic and back roads...but I didn't notice, I was so in my thoughts. As Erica, TRS co-founder, said, "Who will feed them tomorrow?"
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