Cheza

The Shalom Center is a Christian home for street kids. Most of the kids are not orphans - almost all of their families could not provide them basic necessities such as food, clothing, materials for education, and basic health care. Many ran away to the streets, trying to sell plastic bags or other things just to make money to eat (some as young as 5 were on the streets!) That's where the social workers at Shalom found them.

The goal of the center is that one day the kids will be reunited with their families (if they can find them). But in the mean time, the kids are fed, have beds to sleep in, access to health care, and everything they need to go to school.

Every night, before bed, they gather in the small courtyard area and have time to worship together. This always includes many Christian praise songs (in Swahili), and every night someone comes to give them a 'message.'

The message is basically a sermon. Sometimes it goes on forever, and I can see the small kids just dozing off. It is obviously really boring for me, because I can't understand what he is saying. But overall, I think it's a neat idea.

But the songs, that's what I really love. In Africa, singing also means dancing. I can't understand the songs, but I can usually pick up the words and try to sing along, and I definitely enjoy the dancing! They have taught me several African dances!

My favorite song starts off pretty fast, with clapping. After a couple verses, the person leading the songs starts singing "Cheza...Cheza..." many times. This means 'dance' in Swahili. So everyone just busts out their favorite moves. They really love it when I do the 'white boy' dance!

After four or five songs, the singing stops, and there is a time to pray. Everyone says their prayers out loud, at the same time, because that is what they are accustomed to doing. I pray silently, while still hearing "Cheza" run through my head.