Angels at the Pinata Party

The Kenya Diaries (vol. 20)

July 7, 2006

Ania's Turn

Today we are celebrating my 8th birthday! Yippppeeee!!

We finished painting the face on the giraffe this morning. It is so cute! After the paint dried, we stuffed it FULL of candy. We thought we were going to have to find a place inside to have my party because it rained all morning, but it finally stopped raining after lunch.

Fr.Ted came over and we said a family rosary together in our dining room. When we were finished we came outside and found Ben and Joel sitting under our window with rosaries in their hands. A lot of boys came over when they saw Fr. Ted. Mama says he's like a magnet. He loves everybody and everybody loves him. Then we went to Mass that Fr. Ted offered for our family.













Next came my pinata party! All the boys in the school gathered around the tree outside our door and watched. I let Fr. Ted take the first swing. Then I took a turn, then Lucia, then Philip. Philip knocked all four legs off. The boys were laughing and cheering so hard. Mama said that they had never seen a pinata before.

Then Kevin took a turn. After that, I got to choose which boys came next. Even Fr. Johannes and Fr. Murage took turns. It was so much fun.

Mama said this: The boys had never even heard of a pinata before, and they were thoroughly enjoying the experience. At first it was just like any pinata party, lots of misses, a few good hits. I was standing on a chair videotaping the whole thing. I should have known, though, that when you give 100 boys a stick and ask them to hit a moving target blindfolded, that the testosterone levels would rise to enormous proportions.

Since it was taking so long, we decided that someone should just dump the candy out. We picked Fr. Ted to be he one to do it.

Mama said this: On the count of three Andy lowered the pinata into Fr. Ted's hands so that he could dump the candy onto the ground. What came next was pure mayhem. The boys grabbed the pinata and began to tackle each other. I saw Fr. Ted go down as all the boys converged on ground zero. From my vantage point, I saw Kevin and Ania jump out of the way, and Ben was holding Lucia. In a split second I realized I could not find Philip. I practically dropped the video camera and started screaming Philip's name. Crazy with panic I ran to the boy-pile and started grabbing boys and moving them out of the way. Fr. Ted, who miraculously managed to escape the pile up, was right beside me, grabbing boys and tossing them aside. When we got to the bottom, no Philip.

I started combing the crowd, screaming Philip's name. Andy began searching the outskirts. Ania saw my fear and began to cry. Kevin was red-eyed as he also searched for his brother.  In desperation I ran to the house, and there was Philip on his bed, in tears.

"Philip!" I cried, "You're safe!" My relief came out in a burst of tears.

Then I realized that Philip's tears were not of fear or hurt. They were angry tears. Philip was mad because someone grabbed him and pushed him out of the way so he couldn't get any candy.

I sat down next to him and gave him a huge hug. "That someone," I said, "was your guardian angel. Do you realize that you could have been crushed?"

There was one boy, Johnson, who ended up at the bottom of the pile who said he couldn't breath, but he is okay now. Fr. Johannes said that he didn't like this pinata custom. It is too dangerous to do in a country where having candy is so rare.

** Note to self: In retrospect what I created was a time bomb waiting to go off -- One hundred teenage boys, an indestructible pinata, and an issuance of a challenge that came with a sweet reward. Thank you, Jesus, for saving everyone from myself!


Then I had my birthday dinner of chipati, sukuma wiki, scrambled eggs, fruit salad and cookies for dessert. I had a candle in one of my cookies, and everyone sang "happy birthday."



Fr. Ted was there to celebrate with me. He gave me a card. I got lots of cards from the priests and boys. Daddy and Mama gave me the Kenyan uniform that we ordered on one of our first trips to Nakuru. I got to pick out the pattern. It is blue and red checked with thin yellow stripes and has seashell trim. And I got a beaded bracelet, too. Kevin, Philip and Lucia made cards for me, and Kevin made me a birthday crown out of a piece of cardboard Fr. Ted brought. He heard that we don't throw anything away that can be reused for crafts.




It was fun to celebrate my birthday today. Thank you, Jesus, for a birthday party I will never forget...my Kenyan birthday. Amina.