October 8, 2011

We have over two months of catching up to do in this blog and the reason is that we have been extremely busy. To start with, as a follow up to all the flooding in the last blog which included an article about the crocs that escaped, there has been an attempt to cull some of the crocs a few weeks later. See the photo and article below.
August is the most active for tourists visiting Botswana, so of course the flying was busy for Colin. Julie was finishing her last month as a volunteer in the office and on the few days a week she could get free, she was going through materials and preparing the classroom for the teaching position she committed to for the next 3 months. Here are some before and after picture.

A concept wall before is pictured next....

And after is pictured below.

Next is the Art area before.....

And after, with an addition of a block center which were gathered in all the sorting out of materials left in the classroom.

The next photo is of the reading area before....

And after with the addition of a carpet and a few throw pillows. In the foreground of the photo is the Math center.

The class consists of children from the ages of five to eight in a combination class of Standards 1 and 2. Below is a real graph photo of the students in the Math center. There are more boys than girls in the group of 18.


Not only did Julie return to teaching the beginning of September, but she also had her 55th birthday. To celebrate, we spent a late afternoon and evening at Island Safari Lodge with the Kowalski family.



We are still very active with our church and the children's ministry there. There is still an average of over sixty children that come weekly. After over the last three years, we have gotten to know many of the local children who walk to church each week.
One such child we have mentioned before is Ontiretse. Through the years we have been watching her grow older and taller. Colin decided we needed to get her some new clothes one day after church because everything she had been coming to church in for months, was way too small. After meeting her mother and asking permission to take her shopping, we headed off to shop with Bobby as translator and Auntie Edith who rides with us to church weekly. Also, her younger sister tagged along and after getting the girls a few things, we all ended up getting some ice cream to cool us down in the growing heat of the day. Pictured below is Bobby, Ontiretse, and Colin.
The next photo includes the rest of the shopping gang.
When we returned the girls back home, we had also purchased a warm sweeter for their mother and everyone was quite pleased with the new clothing.
As September was coming to an end, we were able to get away for one night to join our friend's at their game farm to celebrate Wendy's birthday. The new property we have explored with them in previous months, now has a road cut into the location picked out for a new camp. We were able to follow Wendy in her Pajero and drive our own vehicle into the spot. In other blogs we have tried to capture the drive through thick brush in Sampie's big 4x4 cruiser. Now, as you can see in the next picture, it was a fairly easy drive on the new road.
The farm helpers met us there and we all worked at setting up a new camp. It was the first
overnight visit at the location.

It is always so nice to just relax out in the solitude of the Botswana bush and spend time visiting with good friends.
Colin also enjoys spoiling the dogs with rubs and doggy treats.
Little Hurricane spent the next morning cleaning off the braii after we had cooked a delicious meal the night before.
With the heavy flight load, Colin has spent many nights away at Jack's camp the last few months.
Elephants have been mingling around the new pool area going in at Camp Kalahari. The fence pictured below shows the mud rubbed off the animals as they step over the logs.

The next photo shows where they have been rubbing against a Palm tree.
The overnight stays are not the most comfortable for Colin, and now that the Christmas beetles have returned there have been battles to keep and clear them out of the tent at night so he can get some sleep.






After the nights sleeping on a cot at camp, Colin is in need of a day off and some needed rest. Our neighbor's dog, Hercules, continues to make himself at home here and is seen catching a nap with Colin one Sunday afternoon.



The last weekend of September was Botswana Day, when the country celebrates their independence. This year marked 45 years. Each class at the school Julie is now teaching, did something special to share at the Friday Chapel. Julie's class read a poem that explained their love for the country.
The school raises funds to help a young handicapped boy, as there are no government agencies to provide services in place, and he attends many of the special functions at the school. The next photo was taken of Julie's students after Chapel with our special friend.

To celebrate Botswana Day, traditional dancers could be found around town performing for local people and tourists traveling through Maun.



Most recently, the church welcomed a family back that had gone to their homeland of India to have twins. Because there are so many neighborhood children that attend Sunday school, a special meal was arranged for them outside the church.
The rest of the membership celebrated with a buffet meal inside the church.
Pastor Alex's wife, Ems, made one her rich chocolate cakes to finish the afternoon event.
In closing, we are always thankful for your interest, prayers, and encouragement. "The Lord has done great things for us and our hearts are filled with joy." Psalm 126:3

September 3, 2011

The second week of August was the last week of school for term 2. Julie had some closing activities for Bible Club that the required the use of the school soccer field. Due to the flooding on the property, only the upper half of the field could be used. The students were blind folded and told to walk across the field to the soccer goal. Some had to be pointed away from the water as they blindly walked toward the water's edge. The point was that without God's word in the Bible to direct our lives, we blindly walk through life without a focal point.

There was also a water bottle game modeled after the swimming pool game called "Marco Polo". The students with the water bottles called out for Jesus, and the others inside the circle replied,"Loves me!" Then the bottle holders tried to spray the others in the circle with water. Of course, those making the circle boundary also got sprayed. Note the flooded field in the background.
The flooded field as pictured above, really looked more like a lake. Also in the next photo, you can see the sand bags holding water back on the field from flooding the office trailers at the school.
School will resume 12 September and Julie will not only continue to teach Bible Club weekly, but she will also be a classroom teacher for a Standard 1 and 2 combination class for the last term of the year. There will be almost twenty kids from 5 to 8 years old in the group. More on that next month....

There have been numerous problems with the flooded rivers everywhere around Maun. One situation that has many local people very upset, is that a crocodile farm on the outskirts of town lost dozens of the animals into the Thamalaklane River when flood waters rushed through the farm. Due to the public outcry, efforts to recapture many of the crocodiles have begun. In our local paper this week there was an interesting picture on the cover and we have shared it below. Click on it to enlarge and read about the poor dog stuck in a trap with a live crocodile.
August continued to be filled with company and people coming and going from the plot we live on, while using the FMS guest houses next door. A woman from the Gaborone FM program was visiting Maun with her 83 year old mother from Australia.
We had a dinner at the house with the Kowalski family and they brought one of Jacob's friends that was spending the night.

Above, the Kowalski kids and friend eating at their own little table.

Also at our house for dinner that night was an old acquaintance that Colin knew from years ago when first living in Galena. The next night we were able to meet again with Susan Todd, living now in Windhoek and her son from Alaska, who was on holiday visiting his mother for a few weeks. Susan is a UAF professor doing research in Namibia for a year. They spent a few days in Maun doing a game drive, a mokoro ride and exploring Maun. What a pleasure it was to spend time with the two of them. It has been amazing to us how many old friendships have been rekindled because of our move to Botswana and the writing of this blog.
Dr. Roy brought his whole family to Maun for a visit just a few days later. It was nice to finally meet his wife and see all the children in his large family. They stayed four days before returning to Mochudi just north of Gaborone.

Ending the month, we were blessed with a visit from our operations manager and his family, while they traveled through Maun with long time friends from the states. The afternoon of their arrival, the adults went on a scenic flight while Julie got some wonderful one on one time with Kg. Fortunately there was play-dough sent from the states to share, which is something kids always seem to enjoy.

That evening we had another dinner at our house with the Spicer family, their visiting friends and the Kowalski family. In the morning the group headed off for Kasane and Victoria Falls.
In-between the last few weeks of company, we continued with the usual business of flying and day to day relationships with the many people that have become a part of our lives here. There are so many people that we have come to love deeply such as "Auntie Edith", who rides to church with us and holds a special place in our hearts.
Recently, we attended a large gathering to raise awareness of breast cancer in women. Auntie Edith and friends had a booth to sell baked goods.
There were lots of local folks and people from out of town gathered at a nearby safari lodge.
Organizers of the event were in pink and you could spot them everywhere.
Misheck and his family attend our church regularly and have become a large part of our extended family here. Colin is pictured below with Briane, who will be 2 years old in November.
Pictured below is Misheck, Debra, and Briane outside at our house.
Our neighbors next door have a Jack Russell terrier that has adopted us. His name is Hercules, and he has become very comfortable visiting with us for hours at a time. We really miss having a little dog of our own, but possibly we will get another dog when we return to Alaska next June.

Hercules owns the remote but hasn't learned to find the Animal Channel.

Thanks once again for your continued interest and prayers. Please pray for Julie as she returns back to work teaching. She needs wisdom and guidance on how to best address the class needs, as she will be their third teacher this year. Also, please pray for the FMS team here in Maun as we are short staffed now that Kevin has been needed in Gaborone and Julie will not be volunteering to help in the office.