It just keeps getting better

Me and the twinies.

I was trying to take a picture of Mpho and his little sister, but everyone jumped in.

Such a pretty girl. (I'm talking about Bogamoso)

:)

Some of our Face the Nation friends. LOVE them and will miss them terribly.

So you know how we made those zillions of copies of tests? Well then we graded (by hand) those zillions of bubble sheets. What would you do after you have 180 tests in 7 subjects graded and separated? By golly you would put them into a spreadsheet so every student has all of their grades together. Who is putting this spreadsheet together you ask? Me. And I am ALMOST done with it! It was a little difficult putting the names in at first, seeing as it was difficult to read some handwriting and it’s not like I know how to spell these names anyway. We have been keeping very busy this week. End of term tests are also beginning for every class so we have been typing those up for the teachers as well. They have also been coming into the computer room to receive lessons on working the computers, so that has been exciting. In between plugging in my numbers I have been going in to see my babies in the preschool. I have also been in some of the classes teaching, and writing notes on the board. Let me tell you, my penmanship looks fabulous across all those boards.

Thursday we got to go to the SOS Children’s Village with our flying mission friends. I believe it is the only actual orphanage in Gaborone. It is a nice place with good people working there. There are different houses all throughout. Each house has a “mother” and holds 12 kids and there are about 15 houses. We got there and wandered around and found kids to play with. Naturally I was attracted to the little ones and picked up this little boy. He was such a sweetheart and just clung to me. I never put him down. We all played for a while and then sang songs and did bible study which was led by the flying mission guys. I still was holding my little boy and he fell asleep midway through the singing. By the end of everything it was time to go and he was still sleeping. I couldn’t get him to wake up until some kid finally shook him and then pulled him out of my arms. It broke my heart and I can’t tell you how easy it would have been to just leave and never let go of him. This place was a little different than anything we had seen yet. There were kids that were handicapped and had all sorts of disabilities. The kids also noticed the “things” that we had. Some were trying to get into my bag, pull of my bracelets, or run off with my headband. I don’t think any of them own anything that’s actually “theirs”. I am so glad that we were able to get out there. It’s one place I have wanted to go to all summer and I could see myself working there if we had any more time.

Speaking of time, we are down to our last week at Naledi. I cannot believe it and I have no idea how I’m going to say goodbye. We technically have 2 weeks left of service but the school goes on holiday the last week we are planning on working so we are going to have to find something else to do that week. Oh, Paul has also recently joined the school soccer team. They played 2 games last week one at Naledi, and the other at the rich private school. Paul and I bought them a new ball to play with, but I wish there was more we could do. The balls they did have were so used and worn that the only had about ½ the air in them that they should have. The kids are actually all really good individually they just don’t have any guidance or knowledge to play as a team. Oh and Paul has never played soccer before in his life, so I think everyone enjoys watching him. Haha.

Our Face the Nation friends from Zambia and Zimbabwe are back. We were really excited to see them. They taught classes at schools all over Botswana about HIV/AIDS and Christ and were also around for counseling. Itai said at his school there were about 2,200 students. In the first semester of school 800 of them had been treated at the clinic for STD’s. How outrageous. It sounds like they all did a tremendous amount of counseling as well. From what I have gathered there isn’t really a lot of counseling around here and it is very needed. I mean all sorts of students talking about their dad beating their mom, or their friend having sex with the teachers, and just their lives in general. If I had another summer to give, it’s something I would love to be a part of. But don’t worry mom and dad, I’ll be around next summer. Anyway, I love these guys and it will be hard to say our farewells on Tuesday. Such wonderful people.

-Itai and I were talking and he said this “I don’t mean to be racist but white guys just can’t handle anything. I mean have you ever heard a black guy say that he had indigestion or that he was constipated? No. We have bigger things to worry about like cholera, AIDS, and yellow fever.” It was pretty funny and we all got a good laugh, but unfortunately it’s the truth.
-Oh also, I don’t think I’ve pointed out just how gosh darn cold it is here. I only brought a sweatshirt and a fleece jacket. Aaaand I usually wear about 3 shirts including one of those, every day. Somebody said they thought the weather said it had been getting down to freezing at night time. Yeah I would definitely believe that one. I will be GLAD to get home to the warm weather. I love summertime and I miss it. I DID make socks and flip flops a cool thing on our trip up north though.
-I think I sprained 2 of my fingers washing my clothes yesterday. Seriously…they hurt.
-Say “kung fu karate dancing” to me and I will grin from ear to ear. I have the best story.
- I’ve eaten mopami worms. Gross. Never again.
-Paul’s 50 year old roommate Mr. T or Godfrey told Paul I reminded him of Hilary Clinton. If only I had a dollar for every time somebody said that. This is the same man who up until last year hated whales because he was always told they were just people killers.
-My farmers tan is sick.

-Thank you for continuing to think about me and pray for me. It means the world.