Issue #43
January 16, 2000

Dear Friends and Family,
School has begun. Things are going well. I had a few students missing the first couple of days of school. They were finally all there on Friday. The kids all seem to be settling back into school. It is lively and interesting around here again.

On Thursday afternoon, one of my former students, William (Grade 5 now), was hanging around after school. He was bored waiting for his mom to come pick him up. I tried several ideas for things he could do, but nothing seemed to interest him. Finally I told him that he should go play with my dog, Levi. Of course, Levi was very excited over this, and he doesn't quite realize how big he is. William was not too sure about Levi jumping all over him. William then noticed that Levi was digging this big hole in the yard. It isn't real wide, but it was already well over a foot deep. The next thing, I look out and both William and Levi have their heads down in this hole, digging. It was quite a funny sight. I now have a huge crater in the yard. I had to fill it back in some. I'm sure Levi will probably dig it back out again. Who knows? William might even be back down to help him. It is amazing what kids will do when they are bored.

Our weather is being strange. It is supposed to be dry season, which means no rains, but we have had about three big rainstorms. The other day, a high school teacher was talking about acid rain just as the rainstorm started. He told his class he ordered that rain even though it was dry season. It did make a nice effect though.

This next week is African Culture Week. There will be a lot of special things going on around the school. Last year we took the 3rd-5th grade on a field trip, but we are cutting a lot of the off campus activities this year due to all that has happened politically. There will still be a lot of fun stuff though. There will be African artisans coming to the campus. The 3rd-5th grade get to make their own batiks. Batiks are pictures on cloth made with dye and hot wax. We did it last year. Hopefully this year we will know more what is going on. The kids' favorite day is Friday when the African ladies come in to make food to sell.

Have a great week! Thanks for your prayers and support!
In Christ,
Traci