this is africa, baby!

Hello all! Love and miss you! Just wanted to send a quick update telling you how Erica and I are doing here in Namibia! I love it here! We’ve been here for a week, getting used to the routine, getting to know the kids, listening to Marybeth and Father Rick explain the social situation here, and more. I love love love the kids here! They speak a language called Dama (I think), which, as you all should be familiar with in The Gods Must be Crazy, is the clicky language! Trust me, its priceless to hear a three-year-old girl speak with clicks! Haha.

We spend most days at the Center, a place run by Catholic AIDS Action. From 10 to 1 in the morning we run morning school for those kids who either have special needs or who have been kicked out of school for various reasons. We are trying to keep them up with learning so that eventually they can get back into school! Then from one to 5:30 or so about 150 other kids show up to play games, etc at the center! We feed them soup around two and then a snack before they go home at five. We spend our time playing games, listening to them read, teaching them math, and just talking with them and getting to know them.

On Saturdays, 400 kids come out to a dirt field filled with rocks to play soccer. Games are run for one hour and then switched up so that everyone can play before about three in the afternoon. It’s amazing to watch these kids play barefoot on the rocky field! They are so talented! Last Saturday I was able to meet Father Rick, who is the head of Catholic AIDS Action here in Namibia. He is such an incredible person, and talking to him helped Erica and I understand the unique situation here in Namibia that makes this country one of the top countries with AIDS cases. Marybeth runs the center and helps keep kids in school, so she is who we have spent most of our time with while we are here. She is really great, always full of energy and ideas on how to improve the kids’ lives, even if it’s just a little bit.

Erica and I would love any prayers that you would be willing to send overseas to us in Africa. We’ve both been hit emotionally by the situation here, and we both want to do something to help but we just do not know what. Plus we are still getting used to being in Africa, so we would appreciate prayers for safety and for adjustment.

Love you all! I’ll try to send more updates as they come! Thanks for your prayers already! And make sure to check my facebook for pictures!