Saturday, September 22, 2012

Fun Friday










The gift distribution for Sheltering Wings sponsored kids was this Friday. A handful of the sponsored kids were given gifts that their sponsor families blessed them with. We were there to hand out the gifts and take pictures of the kids. There were a few kids that needed their gifts delivered to their villages so we loaded up the trucks and headed out. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining. However, the roads were not so pleasant. Because it is still rainy season the roads are muddy and very uneven so it makes for a wet and bumpy ride. This didn’t stop us though…well actually it did. On our first village stop we got stuck in the mud and the truck wouldn’t start so we had to use the other truck to pull it out and then bring it to dry, flat ground so we could push it into starting. Because of our amazing strength we got the truck going again and it was on to the next village. This next village was beautiful and lush! It was a really fun morning serving and enjoying the Burkina country side. It was a fun Friday! 
Delaney and I preparing for pushing the truck after it wouldn't start.

Handing out gifts for a child for the gift distribution.

Attempting to be African...

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Painting Away

For the past couple of weeks we have been cleaning and redoing the kids rooms. It has been a fun process coupled with lots of hard work and sweat. Cleaning, prepping, and then painting is not necessarily done how you'd imagine it. There are no vacuums, mops, or even decent brooms to clean the floors. On top of that minor challenge you are constantly dodging man-eating spiders...well not man-eating...but still scary. Plus, because it is rainy season, the electricity likes to go out all of a sudden and there goes your nice cool fan breeze and lighting to see what you are doing. But putting the "negatives" behind it is a lot of fun work because you are doing it with people you love and enjoy being around. 
I absolutely love painting! I don't know what it is but it is a therapeutic thing for me and I could do it all day. Unfortunately the paint here stinks! It is SO strong and the inner rooms with only one window make for a long painting process due to the constant "fresh air" breaks. You also get a lovely souvenir of paint on yourself. Luckily the color we chose is blue and it's my favorite color so I don't mind this. 
This is a fun project before all the kids come back to the orphanage for the school year and it's making the orphanage look even better than it does now. It is so fun to bless these kids with a fresh new room and bless the orphanage with a mini makeover!
Achille and myself painting away!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Crocodiles

The next day after my arrival I was privileged enough to embark on a fun, exciting and scary adventure to Bazoule. Here in this small village, lies a lake that has hundreds of crocs inhabiting it. These crocodiles are know to be "sacred" crocs that if you make a sacrifice to them then you will be granted your wish or prayer. We didn't go to do this, but we did go to visit these crocodiles. Little did we know that we would actually get to touch them...and yes...sit on them!
Our two "tour guides" led us to the lake and informed us of the history of the crocs, fun facts and even a biology lesson on the anatomy of the crocodile. But this wasn't all. We had much more in store for our afternoon outing with the crocs. Our tour guides led us down to the water and lured the crocs out of the water by teasing them with a chicken in hand. The men carefully selected the croc that they wanted to lure all the way to shore. Out came a large, chunky crocodile that wasn't the most swift or nimble of creatures; probably this was to our advantage. The men then proceeded to tell us to hop right on the back of this scaly creature. He of course demonstrated how it was to be done. Basically you could do anything to this beast and he wouldn't care as long as you didn't make any loud noises. So on climbed everyone until it was down to me. I have to admit I'm not the bravest of people; I can be a caution freak sometimes so I was just about to pass it up when all of a sudden I conjured up the courage to sit on the beast. With the help of my dear friend Delaney I climbed on the croc and sat there and got my picture taken. I am so glad that I did it and I had a great time!It was an awesome day filled with crazy and funny moments all wrapped up in one. There's never a dull moment when crocs are involved...especially in Africa!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

My Fall Mission

What started out as a calling to teach English for a whole school year changed into something completely different. After the first time in Burkina I felt as though I was supposed to return one day for a whole school year. So I held onto that dream for a year and then decided after graduating college then I can pursue that dream. However, God slowly began to change my heart in a new direction without me fully realizing it. Just weeks away from leaving for 9 months I began to doubt that this was really what I was supposed to be doing. After lots of praying, thinking, and discussing with others I have decided to shorten my trip in Burkina. I will be here until December 11th and return with my dad to the States. Once back in the States I will begin my dream to teach at an elementary school and work towards becoming and English as a Second Language teacher. But in these next three months I have a lot of awesome things planned and I am so excited for the new adventures that I will get to go on. I am going to tutor a little boy in English that is being adopted by an American family, tutor an orphanage worker in English, help primary school students after school with math and reading and help out with various other things around the orphanage. It will be a great an amazing time and serve as a great closure to this chapter of my life. I am excited what God is doing in my life and can't see what happens! Thank you everyone for your love, support and prayers!