Styrofoam Toy

I recently looked through our pictures from our trip to Ethiopia and came across a picture that has left a lasting impression on me.

When our group traveled south of Addis to Hosanna, we saw many children out and about, curious about the Americans walking around their streets. Many of them greeted us with a hand shake and asked, "what is your name?" They were proud of the little English they knew to engage conversation with us. They all appeared to be happy with beautiful smiles.

As we were walking to our bus after touring a new school under construction, I noticed a group of about 5 - 6 children who were playing with a piece of styrofoam. It had been broken into many different pieces so that each child could have their own piece.

My thought at the time was that this piece of styrofoam was a treasure to them. They waved it to us as if to say, "Look at this!" "Look what we have!" They were so proud of their "toy". If only kids in America could be happy with a piece of styrofoam.

As our bus pulled away, these same children chased after the bus, waving their styrofoam.