And so the rain begins!
What a rainy day! The start of our week in the village was a wet one. We knew that the potential was there for these downpours as we were just going into rainy season. Fortunately, for us we only had one day of hard rain that made us alter our plans. It rained almost everyday, but lightly and in short increments. Day 1, however, was a challenge. As you can see from above we started at the school but, quickly realized that no one would be getting out in the rain that day. The teachers didn't show up for training and the women didn't show up either. We worked to get the rooms set up for VBS that afternoon on the off chance that the rain would let up. So, that kept us from visiting businesses in the villages on Monday as well. Well, the rain didn't let up and we had to alter VBS plans again. We decided we would do VBS at the orphanage Monday afternoon. That meant very few village children would come, but for the most part we would have a captive audience. We sang with the children for about an hour before lunch. We taught them some songs. They taught us some songs. It was a sweet time with them. All the while the team was calculating how to conduct VBS for all the children in a one room schoolhouse (30'x80') with large moving blankets as dividers. With the new location came new assignments. I was hoping to be able to get great pictures and video during VBS as we utilized our team and the teachers and some of Jessy's helpers to lead. As is turned out however I had a 30 min. snacks rotation on day 1, which turned into recreation because you can only eat a small pack of cookies for so long. I turned this into recreation for the rest of the week and snacks moved to a new home. So, thank you team for each of you who were able to get pictures during VBS all week.
Snacks/Recreation
I went to get the beach balls. I knew it was no football (soccer ball) but, I thought maybe I could get someone to juggle. It seemed as if no one had that skill. We ended up trying to see how many times we could keep a ball up in the air. One group got to 95 and another to 100+. The horn sounded for the rotation to be over before we finished and they obediently moved on. Who knows how high they could have gotten.
Ernie leading crafts
The craft rotation for Day 1 consisted of marshmallows and toothpicks. We were learning about the Noah and the Ark. The kids were to use their toothpicks and marshmallows to make animals that might have been found on the ark. Have you ever tried to make and elephant with 6 mini-marshmallows, 2 regular marshmallows, and 10 toothpicks. Most of the animals were made, then quickly consumed. I'm glad Noah's family had something else to curb their hunger!
Lora sharing the Bible Story
Cathy discusses the science of her experiment
My apologies to Lora and Cathy who were on either side of my group in the school. As different groups got really excited about the beach ball game the volume got louder and louder not to mention the numerous times the beach ball went over the divider into their areas. Cathy assures me that there are no hard feelings!
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| Music Rotation |
When Bible School was over we retreated to the dining hall to assess and plan for the next day. We had an early dinner and then went to Raymond Town to visit some businesses. The rain had stopped by this point and with no other responsibilities at the school the ladies came with us also. Raymond Town is the next village up the road about a 10 min. drive. We met Sister Mary who owns a cook shop, the village chief who owns a retail shop (first female chief), and a nurse who owns and runs a pharmacy and consultation house. HE wants a loan in order to expand his pharmacy and his operation (for more on his situation see blog for day 7). The next village up the road had already called requesting his services. He will be in that village the next day.
The next day will hold more assesments as we try to get our head around the culture, the need, and what exactly we are to be doing. We will be working with once of the locals, Daga, to assess, evaluate, and ultimately grant loans for new businesses. It seems like so much to do in such a short time [In fact it was. No loans were given as a direct result of our involvement, but we able to mentor Daga in the process.]
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