You can count on this blog being informative because our last few weeks have been so busy that we’re just now getting around to writing about our adventures.
If our curriculum work was “Oregon Trail”, the pace would be “breakneck” (and people would be dying of dysentary). The English version is entirely finished and Brandon is working with Hannah’s French teacher on finishing up the French version. At our last (you read that right, keep reading…) Leadership Group meeting on Monday, we hope to get feedback on the overall format and a few key portions of the 40 page curriculum.
Right before our trip to Paris there was an Evangelism Campaign in Kankan. It was organized by Guineans with a special guest speaker from Sweden. We were happy to see Hannah's French teacher translate from English to French and another member of our Leadership Groups translate from French into Maninka!
The weather has been changing. We were a little surprised to return from Paris and find it even hotter than when we left. For several nights in a row it was 95 degrees in our room at bedtime. We’ve benefited from a few small rains but mostly we’ve gotten the clouds or edges of storms headed in other directions. Although we welcome the relief of shade, our solar powered house has been suffering because of it.
If you have solar panels on your house in the US but don’t have batteries, you aren’t actually off the grid. Most people receive their power from the utility company at an enormous discount due to the solar power they sell back to the utility company. Solar panels are a great way to use the sun’s renewable energy, but they can rarely provide the “oomph” we need to run things like microwaves and hair dryers.
At over 5 years old, our house batteries and fridge batteries are on their last legs. The fridge has been working overtime to stay at 60 degrees (barely below some AC levels!) in such a warm house and the batteries are barely making it through each night. The occasional cloudy day has necessitated the first running of the generator since we got here. We ran a 3 day regiment of 1 hour charging sessions before sunup in order to boost the batteries.
However, without electricity to run our fans, we moved outside for several nights. We renamed our “mosquito net” a “scorpion net”. This was also the first time we’ve used a net since arriving here.
The delay in the heavy rains that we love so much has allowed the well-digging at the Center to begin again. The water table has dropped far enough that guys can shovel into the bucket and pull it up by hand. Talk about slow going…and biceps.
Katie and Kelsey (our roommates) shared a room to make space for a few nights while we hosted a missionary couple from CMA Canada (the Ibsens) who are showing their interns around Upper Guinea. We’re one big happy family.
Brandon has also had to buy new soccer shoes since his “Drogbas” finally broke. He’s been playing with the church team a couple times a week. They’re currently in a “maracana” (small field and tiny goals that require direct divine intervention to score on) tournament and have qualified for the semi-finals. New gravel burns and blisters serve as souvenirs.
We also celebrated our second Easter here. Being almost a full month later than last year, the 4 1/2 hour long (on the dot) service was exceptionally warm. It was 105 in the shaded canopy outside where we sat. The Heat Index pushed just over 125. So despite the occasion being to celebrate Jesus rescuing us to an eternity in Heaven, it felt (in one way) a little closer to Hell.
Keep reading the blog… although we leave Kankan May 4th we still have a bit more time left in Africa and we can’t wait to share our plans for that with you all!
A bientôt!
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