Issue #32
October 11, 1999

Dear Friends and Family,
Happy Thanksgiving! Oh yeah, you all are in America. Today is Thanksgiving in Canada. We celebrate both Thanksgivings here or sometimes we do one half way in between the two.

This last week was an interesting week. There were several things that happened.

I guess the big excitement of the week was the appearance of a rabid dog on campus. It had already attacked several of the dogs around here. The men of the campus were all going around with guns and big sticks to try to get rid of the dog. It ran away. We had to keep the kids in from recess. It showed up a couple of more times. I think they finally got rid of it this weekend. Thankfully, no one was injured and all of the campus dogs are fine.

I had one student, Emily, out four days last week with malaria. She is finally better and back in class today. Most of my class has had a cold the last few weeks. They have finally managed to share it with me, so teaching today is kind of interesting since my head and ears are all stopped up. I just keep telling them that it is their fault that I have a cold. That is one thing around here when one person has something everyone gets it. The other thing that has been on campus is mumps. So far though only two people have had it, one dorm assistant and one student. Most people are vaccinated against it. We will have to wait another week or so to see if anyone else is going to come down with it.

I took a group on a weekend excursion. It was a pretty good trip, but it did have a bit of excitement. On our way to Yamosoukro, I found a "car-eating hole" in the road. It ruined one of my tires. We were able to get it changed and get back on the road. I was glad that we had families traveling with us so there were a couple of men to change the tires. I can do it, but it takes me a long time. On the edge of the road in Africa with cars and buses zooming by, you want to be there the least amount of time possible. The rest of the trip was uneventful and a good time. I got to show some of the new people the sights around Yamo. On our way back yesterday, there were two cars and a bus that found the same hole and were changing tires. The hole is covered with water, so you can't tell what you are hitting.

Last week I ask you to pray for Dan Grudda. He did see a doctor in the States. It appears that a small blood vessel in his brain burst causing a pool of blood. This caused the vision problems. They said once the blood is absorbed he should be fine, and there shouldn't be any further complications. He had to contact the doctor again today to see if he could get final approval to return to Africa. Thanks for your prayers.

The container is still not here. From what I hear, we are waiting on one more signature, and that it could be this week. We have heard this lots of times before. Hopefully, this time it will be true. Please keep praying that it will arrive.

Have a great week!
In Christ,
Traci