Here are a few pics of my audiences mostly from my trip to the Johannesburg, South Africa area, November, 2010. (Was it really that long ago?)

We put in 3 first grade and 3 second grade classes into this room for this show. There were about 30 kids per class. My show was basically telling a few Bible stories through the puppets. It seemed quite strange to this American to tell Bible stories in a government public school, I felt a little "naughty"

This is a day care in a place just outside Soweto, called Heavenly Valley. It is neither heavenly, nor a valley, but still this little metal building was chock-full of little angels. Extraordinary poverty here, HIV/AIDS, abuse, terrible conditions. God bless the people of Come Back Mission who operate this little Day Care for these kids.

These next two pics show just a part of the 500 kids that crowded into this room after eating. This was part of an after school feeding program that feeds the kids, tutors them, and gives them different recreation opportunities. Today, I was one of the opportunities.



This is another elementary class in a different school. I had a great time with the kids, there was a lot of give and take since I wasn't behind any kind of curtain.

I used a variety of puppets, including this Appalachian dancing doll.

The kids in this day care were all referred to this particular day care by the local police. They had all been abandoned, usually at the police station. The police sought to find an appropriate place for them, whether it was back home, with another relative or somewhere else.

Thanks Chris for sharing.................. it gets a soul to thinking!

WOW. You must still be exhausted!

None of the puppets this time were home-made. Two of them were gifts given to me by friends who picked them up in their travels to Hungary. I already mentioned the Appalachian Dancing Doll, and then I also used the most basic puppet of all, Sharpie-drawn faces on my finger-tips.

In the second picture, notice the woman standing outside, watching through the window. I never noticed her until my friend who took pictures for me told me about it.

 Amazing opportunities!  I pray that God blesses the seeds you planted.

South Africa is really struggling with social problems with the rapid change from apartheid to freedoms. Drug use, abuse of women and girls, HIV/AIDS and other problems are at terrible levels. The folks we were with, Come Back Mission, do wondrous work with all kinds of horrific circumstances. After a performance in one of the elementary schools, I heard one teacher say to another, "This is exactly what we need here," referring to the Bible stories.

I felt quite overwhelmed by the level of need there, and anything I did was surely a drop in a sea of need. I really wish I could have gone back this last year, but that season is in the past, for now at least.

Great  work , Such times always generate memorable   experiences.Bless you.

None of the puppets this time were home-made. Two of them were gifts given to me by friends who picked them up in their travels to Hungary. I already mentioned the Appalachian Dancing Doll, and then I also used the most basic puppet of all, Sharpie-drawn faces on my finger-tips.

I know that where you were those kids may not have as much media exposure as kids in the US but I still believe that bigger isn't always better with kids.  Simple is the way to go sometimes. I think the most important thing with children is to keep it moving.  They have shorter attention spans and just talking, talking, talking isn't going to cut it! LOL

Good for you using minimal props/puppets and getting the message across!