Issue #44
January 24, 2000

Dear Friends and Family,
We have completed a week and a half of school and things are already busy. The kids are complaining that the teachers are giving them tons of work. Actually this is probably a legitimate complaint right now. I think all of the teachers are trying to pick up the speed in their classes. This trimester is shorter than normal and with the uncertainty with the government, the teachers want to cover as much as they can.

Last week and this week are special weeks. Last week was African Culture Week. My class enjoyed learning new information about Africa. Mostly they enjoyed getting to go shopping everyday and buy things from the African artisans. Their favorite day was Friday when the ladies were here making food. I gave each of the kids 100 cfa (less than 20 cents). They thought it was something major. "Miss Epps, we can buy 10 gblofotos for 100 cfa!!" Gblofotos are sort of like doughnut holes and are served with sugar. The kids ate plenty that morning. I doubt they ate much for lunch.

This week is Spirit Week. Each day the kids dress up or bring something. Today was hat and shades day. Tomorrow is Owie Day. The kids get to dress up like they have boo-boos. I can see them having lots of fun with this one. They'll probably come all bandaged up.

So far things are still calm here. The police in town are stopping cars a lot more. It is very easy to get a ticket and not even know you did anything wrong. At least the tickets aren't very expensive. Other than that, things are normal. Thanks for you prayers especially during these days.
In Christ,
Traci