A Rough Sounding Week

And yet, not so bad. For several days leading up to Valentine's Day, our water inflow was reduced to a trickle, enough to keep up if we were careful. Then Wednesday morning, we awoke to an empty tank. We usually only get piped water every few days, but we've never RUN OUT before. We got some buckets of water from the neighbor's and got through the day, hopeful for water soon.

Only it never came. Something bad happened to our old pump station and a new one is being built. That is all we know. Soon, they say. So I have gone tribal. Every day we're driving down the road (I know, very un-tribal) to collect buckets and jugs and basins of water from a spicket. I carry them on my head back to the car...nice, huh? I've been doing dishes in buckets around my feet in the yard. I've learned to bathe all 3 girls with about one gallon of water. On bad days, I've learned to bathe myself in the run-off of that. And the kicker? It's kind of cool. I feel a certain sense of pride in front of, if not sister-hood with the ladies who stop to stare at the pale skinned woman trying to balance water on her head, with both hands helping.

We've also had an unusual spike in power outages, to perfectly coincide with the sudden cessation of the blissful Kaskazi Winds. Hot season is blasting, but it's fun to know we're on the downslope. And while most news has been on the bad side, we got some awesome red snapper for dinner last night!

What else...oh, yes, school. I've had a new batch of 12-14 year olds join up and shed a whole new light on the sad state of the schools here. I was trying to teach a 14 year old (yes, these kids all GO to school every day) the sounds of the letters of the Alphabet. I chose his name to write down as the example word for his first initial. He stared blankly. His NAME. The one he CAN write when given time and concentration, but which he could not recognize.

The classrooms are packed here. If the kid fails to learn to read in Kindergarten, or whenever it is they attempt to teach them this skill, then this kid will never learn...and will struggle to learn any material the rest of of his or her life. Secondly, teachers are supposed to teach in English (I can certify that THAT isn't happening well since the English teacher can't speak English), exams are given in English starting in 8th-ish grade, and if the student does not pass their final exams in 10th grade, they go home done. This year, out of probably 100 kids in the 10th grade, THREE passed in our town. THREE. Justin heard word that there were many, many schools where NO-ONE passed.

Hence our continuing NEED to get an adult education center up and running. Teacher training is absolutely critical and desperately needed. Please be praying for me as I make my teensy dent in illiteracy, and pray for the characters involved in the process that everyone will move things along swiftly. And while we work to make practical life better for these islanders, pray that we can touch their souls.