"On the day you were born, all the angels sang with joy!"

This is one in a series of posts from the six Kentuckians volunteering at the first ever overseas Reading Camp this year in Grahamstown, South Africa. Bishop Stacy Sauls, Ginger Sauls (teacher), Mary Jane Amick (nurse), and three counselors (Drew Eclov, Connor Egan, and Vibh Forsythe) have joined the South Africans on the Reading Camp team for an overnight camp at the Assegaai Trails Conference Center.

All of us are amazed and rather sad that this week has flown by so fast and camp is coming to a close. There is still a busy evening ahead though, with a Braai (Barbeque) and a hike to "Rock Bottom" to have a campfire, songs and skits.

This has been a week of transitions. The Grahamstown Steering Committee, teachers and volunteers have all been able to witness the culmination of their amazing hard work and dedication over the past year. From a vague concept, to spending only two weeks in Kentucky observing a day camp and an overnight camp, they have come home and put together a program that has run flawlessly and both has and will impact the lives of so many children in need of a boost and an opportunity.

Camp Director Kary McConnachie described wonderful excitement and personal satisfaction at seeing some of the changes in the children this week. Having been involved in the interview and selection process she has been able to observe the children both long before camp and certainly during this week. Kary was sitting quietly talking to the children last night, close to bedtime and asked them, "Children, do you think what you've learned this week is going to help you?" She beamed as she described their reaction as not just nods but a loud and resounding "YES!" She is anxious to hear input from the teachers and principals shortly. Unlike at our camps in KY, this is the middle of the school year, and the children are returning to classes Monday after a two week winter break. Thus staff here will have the wonderful opportunity to get feedback very shortly from the schools as to the impact they see in the children.

Clearly, though, we have seen definite transformations. Nolovuyo arrived with a real hesitance to express herself in writing in English. This morning we had a visiting teacher who Nolovuyo had never met. As Kary was showing the teacher around she asked Nolovuyo if she would like to show Rosario her journal. Nolovuyo at first said "No" and Kary thought she was reluctant entirely; she soon realized, though, that Nolovuyo was extremely excited about what she had done in the writing station today and THAT was what she very much wanted to share, enthusiastically, both with Kary and even with someone she had never met. This is an amazing difference in this little girl.

Sivenathi came to us very quiet and uncertain, especially socially. She sustained third degree burns on her entire face and both hands as a very small child, and from the moment we picked her up in the bus on Sunday you could see how tentative she was..."will I fit in?...will I be accepted?" It was such a joy to watch her open up over the week, discovering that only momentarily did anyone even notice her scars, and that everyone was able to accept her exactly as she is and see all of her beauty. Today before lunch she was laughing outloud with her new friends and then joined in with the boys in a game of rugby...and certainly held her own.

Little Siyanda has a face that is full of curiosity, but at the same time, hesitance. I've seen him a number of times this week as he arrived with a serious cut on his foot from stepping on a glass bottle. This had happened over a week ago, but was nowhere near healed. I would imagine 15-20 stitches might well have been used had he been to an Emergency Room. During last night's hike he accidentally stepped in a large (and cold) puddle and walked all the way back without complaint, but was seen crying later. His foot was both cold and the cut was burning; but he hadn't wanted to miss out on anything, so stuck it out, even though it must have hurt badly. I saw the transformation from the saddest little face last night as we cleaned and rebandaged, to one of complete involvement and sheer joy, laughing at the wonderful puppet show put on after lunch today.

We will, of course, know more later as we see how these transformations continue, but there are 18 such stories of the changes in each of the children, and as always, just as much joy and transformation in the adults who have been blessed to be here with them.

I'll close with part of the beautiful story the children were told last night in chapel. They were hearing tales from the Bible from Stacy about God's complete love for and need for all children, each and every one of them. I watched as all the children, even those in big bodies, smile quietly with delight as they envisioned this wonderful truth: 'On the day you were born, all the angels sang with joy!" May all these little ones always have that absolute knowledge and the confidence to continue the tranformations we've seen begun this week.

-Volunteer Mary Jane Amick is a nurse from St. Martha's Episcopal Church in Lexington, KY who is a part of the South African Reading Camp staff and a member of the Reading Camp Steering Committee.