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.