February 8 Update

I’m sitting in the guest house at New Day Orphanage, trying to get on the internet so I can post a blog. For the last two months we have had internet problems.  We thought that there was something wrong with the server we are using, but after the Tidwells returned and brought three volunteers to live in the guest house (Diana, Carolyn and Debbie),we discovered that everyone else was able to get on except us .Okay, so what is the problem? We are not sure, but we think the device we are using might be defective. So, until we can get it replaced, Debbie, has so graciously allowed us to use her computer and her internet device.

Today is Wednesday afternoon at New Day, and I can hear thunder in the distance, so I hope that means rain as it has been really hot and sticky today.

Since I last wrote, much has happened. The Tidwells returned, and as I said earlier, they brought three long-term volunteers with them. Diana and Carolyn will be team teaching with our two Zambian teachers to provide an awesome education for our children. This week they have been doing assessments with the children to make sure each child is on the right level. And Debbie, our agriculturist/farm manager, jumped right in and has been busy with the store, the chickens, and making lots of plans for the NDO farm.

Blu and Darbi have taken back some of the responsibilities we were shouldering in their absence, like the weekly shopping trip, keeping the receipts, etc. We were glad to give up these duties, as we have other things that we feel more called to do.

Wes has had to slow down a bit after hurting his back.  I feel sorry for him because I am well acquainted with back problems, but I guess I should stop asking him to lift things for awhile.

Now that the Tidwells are back and the guest house is finished, I’m trying to get my house in order and unpack the boxes that were still in the container. In addition to the boxes that were still packed, a container arrived from the states with more boxes—a few personal things and a lot of gifts for the orphanage from generous people in the states. So, this week I have been buried in boxes trying to figure out where to put everything. Some things will just have to be packed away until later.

While unpacking the boxes, I found three dresses that I had sent that were stored at my parent’s home. These three dresses are about 50 years old, as I wore them as a child. I decided that instead of throwing them away, I would bring them and see if they would fit our youngest, Axer. They fit her just perfectly and make great play dresses!



Axer kept saying, "Mama Lala's dress!"



Cason liked Axer's new (but very old) dress as well.

Storage for all our supplies and personal items is a BIG challenge, so we decided to build a storage unit in our yard. About a month ago we had a bad storm, wind, hail and rain, and part of our grass fence blew down. We had it mended, and then last week another storm blew it down again. We had it mended for the second time, but moved it out further for the storage unit. After it was mended for the second time, we realized that we needed to have a tree cut down that would interfere with the building. The guys tried to calculate where it would fall, and removed that part of the fence. Needless to say it fell in the opposite direction, so the fence was mended (with the same grass) for the third time.



At least we provide the local people with work when the fence falls down.