Issue #80
January 28, 2001

Dear Friends and Family,
It has been a couple of weeks since I have written so I'll catch you up on what has been happening around here. As usually happens, the trimester has really gotten going, so there are lots of things to do and not necessarily enough time to do them.

It is dry season here now. It has gotten so dry! Lotion, chapstick, and water are necessities to have on hand at all times. The nice thing is that we are having more December type weather. It does get warm during the day, but the nights are wonderful. It the early morning, it has been in the 60's on some days, but by afternoon, it is close to 100. It does make for great sleeping weather. I'm not looking forward to the 100 degrees day and night. I'm hoping we don't have that this year. It is also field burning time. It is not a good time to wear white. There is constantly ash falling from the sky. There is also no such thing as a clean house right now. My house was just cleaned on Friday afternoon. This morning before the kids came for Sunday School I was cleaning stuff up. I had to wipe off the table and chairs because they were completely covered in dust. I noticed later I missed a chair. You could see the outline of where one of the kids had sat. I'm sure by the time I look this afternoon I will be able to write my name in the dust on the table.

Last weekend, I could have been given the "Graceful Award." They are digging up the phone lines around my building so they can be replaced. There is about a two feet deep ditch across the path that I usually walk on to go home. I was walking home after dark last Friday night. I walked right off into the ditch. I didn't even realize it was there until I landed on the ground. I think it would have been a real funny thing to watch. I jumped up to make sure no one saw. I made it up to my apartment, and then was laughing so hard I couldn't even tell my roommate what happened. I had a banged up shin and knee, but nothing major. Then this week, I mentioned to Mike Cousineau, who is the Business Manager, that I fell in the hole. He said, "There is nothing marking the ditches?" "No." The next day, there were barricades put up with boards over the holes and lots of "caution" tape. I don't think anyone else will fall in the holes.

My class has continued to work hard. We have completed a lot of work since the beginning of school. On Tuesday, we took the day off. We moved the desks back in the room, brought snacks, and watched videos most of the day. Of course, the videos I picked went along with what we were studying in Science, but the kids can just think it was a completely fun day. It was a good break for them.

The elementary choir is working hard on the musical. We have three weeks to have it ready. They sang one song this morning in church. They were all very nervous, but they did a great job.

Friday night, the seniors had their fundraiser. They auctioned themselves off for work. One of the nurses told one senior boy that she was going to buy him to practice giving shots on him. She started bidding on him. He was saying, "No!" She went ahead and bought him just to make him nervous. It was pretty funny. The little kids pool their money together to buy a senior. It is funny to watch them. They buy them to play with them for the day.

Saturday morning, I helped with the SAT test. We had three rooms of high school kids taking the test. For four hours, I got to sit and watch twenty kids take a test. I'm glad I wasn't taking it but watching certainly isn't very exciting.

Today was the African workers' Christmas party. Yes, it is a little late, but everyone was gone when we usually have it. It is always fun to see all of the workers kids and try to figure out which kid goes with which parent. There were lots of cookies, and each family received a bag of gifts.

The political situation has been calm recently. I was in town on Tuesday of this week to get my paperwork for living in the country renewed. While I was at the police station getting it done, I heard all of this shouting and whistle blowing. We asked the guy there what it was. He said it was a demonstration, like it was nothing. It was a little unnerving, but it was gone by the time we left. You couldn't even tell anything had gone one. Town seems to be back to normal. The streets are full of vendors and people. Hopefully, it will stay this way. Thanks for your continued prayers in this area.

Please pray for the kids, especially some of the little ones. I'm not sure exactly why, if it is the political turmoil, being home so long, or something else, but several of them seem to be having a hard time with homesickness. This morning one of the fourth grade boys walked up to me. I gave him a hug, and he burst out into tears and clung onto me for awhile. His mom had been here visiting, but she left this morning. He will probably be fine after today, but some of the others are having a more frequent struggle. I also have another student that I would like you to pray for. I can't really tell you about what is going on, but she does need prayer.

Phew! I guess I had a lot to say this week. Thanks again for your prayers and support!

In Christ,
Traci Epps