Ponchos.

Ricardo is a smart boy, he is so curios about everything around him. He is constantly touching things and always asking questions. He is also very clever when it comes to fixing things. Lat year my shoe broke and he fixed it for me with a stapler! At the end of last year his shoe had a really big hole in it, and he cut a piece of cardboard to fit in the hole perfectly. Ricardo has no parents, he lives with his aunt and her family. I think over the years he has learned to depend on himself only, and to look after himself. Ricardo has some kind of eye disease, he is slowly losing sight in his left eye, it is so bad that he will be undergoing a cornea transplant later this year. Anyways I tell you all of this to show you his poncho. It has been raining here for about 5 weeks now, and needless to say things are getting wet!

Mawwiage.

We spent Saturday at the YWAM base celebrating Jodie and Patrick’s wedding. They were married in the Congo last December, so this was just a small reception for those of us who did not make it to the DRC. On the way to the base I was surprised to see how green it has become around Windhoek. We happened to get to the base at the exact right time, as the wedding party was stuck in the mud!

When we finally got to the base, there was cake, dancing and prayers for the newly weds.

 

Project 52

The theme this week was kind of strange: “soothing repetition.” I snapped this picture today of a shongololo. When I was a kid we used to play with them. In Afrikaans they are called “thousand paws,” they are harmless little critters. They come out when it rains, and it has been raining!
The repetition is in it’s legs, in the raindrops and in the texture of it’s “skin.”

Introducing…

The new blog look! My dear husband spent most of the day today working on getting my blog all new and shiny. I love the way it looks now. You will notice it now suits the rest of our website (links on the right hand side). Also I finally have a button! So grab it and post it on your blog!
Leave some feedback to let me know what you think of the new look!

Rotten teeth and cornea transplants.

There are certain things that come with working at a school. We have to hand out detention slips, we have “parent” teacher conferences. We teach kids to read. We teach kids to wash their hands. We hold kids when they cry, and we laugh with them when they act silly. There are other things though a school would not normally take care of. Community Hope School is more than a school, it is a ministry. We have children that come to school with severe issues. Kids that need more love and attention than one could imagine. Kids that are abused, neglected and seemingly unable to listen to or respond to authority. We struggle daily with kids that want to see how far they can push.
Then there are the medical issues. Our kids come to school hungry, we have a new student this year who is so skinny it looks painful. Yesterday one of the boys came to school complaining of tooth ache, when I looked in his mouth I saw a black crumbled hole where his tooth used to be. Today we are taking him to the dentist. There is a boy who is slowly losing his eyesight. He needs a cornea transplant if there is any hope of him retaining any of his eyesight. As I type this David is on his way to the Ophthalmologist with Ricardo. Hopefully he will get his new eye soon!

Having to do all these things is teaching me the heart that God has for us. We like children come to Him broken, hungry, and ready to test the limits. Yet He loves us, and has given His all to see us saved. To give us a hope. The sermon in church last Sunday had three points. God loves you. God is with you. God will never leave you. Remember that this morning. God lives you, is with you and will never leave you!

The kids.

Adam and I have been working with the grade 2 class. He is the homeroom teacher, and I teach 4 of the subject in there. There have been some challenges (already!), but over all it has been a great two weeks.
The kids seem to be bored with geography, intrigued by science, and they absolutely LOVE grammar. We have Jessica in class this year too. It has been about 5 weeks since her mom died, she has shed some tears in class, but she is a great student who loves to learn. Her aunt said they had to take away all pictures of her mom from her, as she was unable to concentrate on anything, and was too depressed. It is a harsh place out here, death is such a part of life that one is expected to  move on without much grief. Please keep her in your prayers.
There are also some challenging kids, some that are here to test the boundaries. I think I may be learning as much as they are 🙂

“Shades of Gray”

The theme from this week’s project 52 is “Shades of Gray.” I am cheating this week and posting a picture I took last year, but it is one of my favorite pictures and it fits the theme! It is of some of the friends we have made here in Namibia. This picture was taken for their wedding invitation, they were married in December in the Congo. They are fun, hard working, and we are incredibly lucky to be friends with them!

Meeting a hero.

Andimba Herman Toivo ya Toivo visited our school today! His name is a mouthful, in fact his name is like the toy boat toy boat tongue twister, but when Namibians hear his name they cheer, gasp, and some ever dance! We were familiar with the name as there is a Andimba Herman Toivo ya Toivo street near our house. Mr. Toivo ya Toivo is a hero. He is one of the freedom fighters. One of those legendary men who stood up to racist regimes, for the basic rights of his own people. Mr. Toivo ya Toivo spent 16 years in jail, some of it on Robben Island with Mr. Nelson Mandela.
Read a short biography on his life here.

It was an honor to meet him. He is a humble, witty and funny man! When he heard I was from South Africa he demanded a labola from David. He said he did not want money or cattle, but giraffes, lions, elephants and other wild animals. The second grade class made cards for him he teased them as he accepted them. He also encouraged all the kids to stick to their studies, to work hard at school and to reach for their dreams.

It was such a great day.
Take time today to pray for the government of Namibia.

Critter of the week.

Update!

I have been a bad blogger, but I have been a very busy with all the things that go on here. It is a new week, and it is a new school year! The kids came to school bright eyed in their shiny new shoes, and ironed shirts. They sat down eagerly to breakfast and all huddled into their new classes to find their seats. We now have over a hundred students! The new grade one students looked so cute in their over sized pants and enormous backpacks!
The day was full of glitches,  we spent a lot of time working on the schedule and trying to figure out where to sit all the kids down for lunch. Things should run smoother tomorrow! I have also been working on Visa applications for two new teachers. There so much pressure to get it right, even one mistake could meant that they do not get their visas!
The new teachers seemed to do well in their classes, tomorrow will be my turn to take on teaching a whole bunch of subjects. It is amazing to see where we are right now! When we graduated from CCCB I never thought I would be trying out how to teach the Bible in grammar class.

I am also still taking part in Project 52, I just failed to get the picture uploaded for last week. The theme for last week was “Illustrate a song” I was inspired by the sunset here, and one of my friends, you know who you are! So here is my picture: