Bunco Party

We had a party for our readers each week. The parties had several goals. One was helping the readers get to know some of the local church members and another was to help the readers get to know each other. When we leave a project site, we want our readers to have formed some relationships that can be carried on after we are gone. Of course, another goal was to provide a fun time for all!

Our party time was 4:00 p.m. because people want to be home before dark----with no street lights, it is not safe to walk after dark, especially because of snakes! The parties were held in the church auditorium. It was convenient that the benches could be moved or rearranged as needed.


Debbie D. planned our first party, a Bunco party. When the people arrived, they each got a nametag. The nametags proved to be very appreciated, because none of the native people had ever had a nametag before! Debbie modified the Bunco game into a much simplified version. It was a great success, as you will be able to tell by the faces of all of the guests!


The first photo shows Debbie explaining the game with the help of an interpreter. She called the game "Lion Safari Bunco", and each time someone called "Bunco", he would be thrown the stuffed lion. At the end of the games, the one with the most Buncos won the lion.




You will be able to tell by this next photo that the party was well attended!






After the explanation of the game, each of us went around helping people and explaining the rules again if necessary. In the next photo Eddie is talking with some of the guests.






Next is Ron.

Cyndi played, too. She got to be at the head table for a while!

Next is Jan.

There were many smiles and much laughter!

Of course, there were the serious players, too!

Notice the LST Luke Workbook on the table. So many people wanted to come to the parties, we had to limit those who could come to only the readers and local church officials (some relatives were also allowed); with this limit, there was still an average of 55 people at each party. Our LST budget does not allow for much money to be spent on the parties. Many people would bring their workbooks to prove that they were really readers. A couple of workbooks were even stolen (by kids) and used to validate an invitation to the party!

At the end of the game, there were sodas and homemade cookies (by our cook Jane) for all. Most had never had cookies before, so we had to explain what they were!

We all felt our first party was great! Many of our readers told us later that they had really had fun.