A Productive Day

The carpenter came to deliver the cubbies for each of the kids. As some of the children get older, they are wanting someplace for letters, photos or their own shoes. We are also surprising each of them with new sheets. They will be so thrilled. The Carpenter miscalculated a few things so he promises to be back at 7 AM. No time wasted. He delivered a new computer table today for the school. Liles brought three used Dell laptops and he’s led daily classes in preschool computer games, how to Skype and basic Word. It is a highpoint in their day. We have set up a Skype account for the home and added ourselves into their contact lists. I am anxious to see if it works. We are teaching Esther (7) everything as the older kids are off to boarding school on February 1. We took tons of photos today! Many special donors sent photos of themselves so the children could put names with faces. Donna “introduced” each child to the person, family or group that sponsors them and took a photo. The kids and adults sat on the porch and passed around the photos for a long time. The children especially loved the drawings or personal notes sent to them. What a treat. Kayetasi still felt a bit nauseated so we gave her Tums, then Pepto Bismol. Afterward, we introduced different types of medicine to the adults. Donna and Kristen organized a closet to have a medicine section, starting with things for the babies up to the 12 year-olds. We taught Claudine and the social worker how to determine the appropriate dosages. Lastly, we tried to explain the difference between congestion, cough and cold, and flu medicine. Frankly, it’s a bit confusing to me too. We had Alice (6) translating for us. I think tomorrow in school we will go over these as vocabulary words. Liles took a four hour walking journey and found a place that served hamburgers! He went to the city center to see the UN headquarters, Parliament and the soccer stadium. He came back and organized another rousing game of basketball. John Pierre (the house nightwatchman/handman) played soccer with the children. They LOVED it! As an aside: when he “mows” the lawn he whacks the blades of grass with a machete. It takes a long time and is a tiring process. But you wouldn’t know it as he sings and whistles while he mows. I saw our new cloth diapers being dried on the line today. The Mama’s are so appreciative. Here is something amazing. I didn’t notice this until I’d been here about 2 or 3 days but the homes generate no waste. None. There is no packaging on their market items - soap is cut into a bar as you buy and fruits/vegetables are carried home in baskets or reusable handled bags. The rinds of bananas or potatoes become compost for the yard. Rice/flour/tea leaves are kept in canvas reusable bags. When you buy a soda in a bottle, you drink it at the store and leave the bottle to be recycled. Diapers are cloth and washed. Vegetable oil does come in plastic jugs, but they are cleaned and used to carry water every day. There is no trash service. No trash cans lining the streets. No trash on the streets or sidewalks for that matter. The water for our hot bath is heated on the stove after dinner and we carry it home in a thermos or plastic jug. One per person. We combine it with cold water collected from rain or bought at the market. The kids are bathed every night. Their shoes are washed by hand and dry in the air. Their clothes are washed each day in plastic tubs outside and hung on the line. This process takes awhile. There are 28 kids, 10 of which are young (under 3) and many in cloth diapers. Sit down meals are made for all children and adults 3x a day. Plus two snacks. Usually tea with fruit or cookies. The Mamas and aunties work from early morning until late at night. They love the children and treat them well. Tomorrow is the last full day for Donna and Kristen. We have a treat planned – we bought Ragu and ice cream and will make spaghetti for everyone. Liles is taking the lead on the cooking while Donna and Kristen help set the tables and assist. 