St. Michael Missions Trip Pt. 5 Kids!

The children of St. Michael are precious. For not having a lot of the conventional distractions that city kids take for granted, they seem to be pretty content. Of course in a place like St. Mike, they have run of the entire place and they keep their own hours. Typically They stay up late with the summer sun and sleep in until about noon. This was evidenced by the fact that when we began our work which was about 8 in the morning, nary a child was to be seen until lunch. From then on, they were ever present.

They all seemed to have bikes, all in various states of hammered condition. One little boy had a bike with a pedal that was hardly there. I tried my best to think of how to improve it to no avail. However, his chain kept falling off as well. I scrounged a couple of wrenches and tightened it up some. The lack of lubrication made it difficult and I could not find a can of WD-40. I resorted to using a piece of drift wood that was shaped somewhat like a hammer to pound the axle back far enough to give sufficient tension to the chain. He rode off quite happy that his chain would stay in place a little better.

Some of the more experienced and thoughtful people on our team had the forethought to bring treats for the kids. This was a stroke of genius. The first time the children appeared they were offered candy which is like gold. It probably was not good for their dental hygiene but since that was not a likely concept it most likely didn't do any additional harm. It did buy us favor. Through the next couple of days bouncy balls appeared which could only be bounced on the only available hard even surface which was the church floor. Scratch bouncy balls for the next trip. Jump ropes were especially popular with the girls. Some had never jumped rope before. Jumping rope was possible on the boardwalks which are all over town (more about that later). The little balsa wood gliders were especially popular with the boys. Anyway, it was very thoughtful for the team members to think of the kids beforehand and bring them some unexpected treats.

One of my favorite quotes of the trip came from one of the three boys that were helping me take a load of trash to the dump (more on that later). To make conversation I was asking them questions about life in St. Michael. Their favorite thing to do in St. Mike was "go to the AC". Why? I asked. "Candy." I asked them if they had ever been to Stebbins, the next village 11 miles away by road. Two had, one had not. I asked if they had ever been to Anchorage. One little boy replied, "I sometimes always never go there." I am still figuring that one out.