Special Kids...

The title here is a little funny because they are not really kids! Edukali is the big guy and he is 19. Timo is the shorter guy and he is 16. Emily is a bit younger at 14 but not really a kid. These three were in my remedial class last year and are now in my grade 7 classes this year. They are three kids that grabbed my heart right away. They can be trouble, particularly Edukali. They are all really smart. Emily has flourished in the last year and is now one of the top in the class. Timo struggles but he tries so hard to do well and is the most diligent with homework and class assignments. Edukali is so smart and tries so little. He doen't see how education is improtnt. My main goal this year is to continue to encourage them to finish school at our school and really try in Secondary School next year. I would adopt all three of them! I can't explain the reason why these three grab me more than the others but they do. I love spending time with them, I love their uniqueness and their personalities. They are funny and in their hearts they are good kids in some unfortunate circumstances. Edukali is always pushing the limits and Timo is so sweet and tries hard to please. Emily is funny and has a bit of an attitude. She loves to hang out with me after school and play with my hair. I see such potential in these three and it breaks my heart when I connect with these kids and see their potential being thrown away by uncaring people and lack of encouragement or opportunities. So, these are my 'special kids'.

Edukali and Timo - my 'boys'
Edukali and me - I am giving another student my teacher look!

Emilie and me - my 'girl'

Timo and me - my 'boy' who is one of my constant companions at school

Emilie - Doesn't she look beautiful in her nicest clothes!

So Serious!

This is the daughter of my taxi driver, Phillip. She looks so serious. I love the curlers. It is pretty normal to see kids and women of all ages running around with curlers. Anyway, I ran into Phillip in town and I have met his daughter several times. I happened to have a camera and I was looking for a chance to take her photo anyway. She is so cute!

Our First Nursery!

We had a Passover service last weekend and I offered to watch the small children as we have had quite a few really little kids that can obviously disupt the service. This was a special service so I thought a "nursery" would be appropriate. Now my idea of a nursery is obviously not the same as we started off with six kids but four adults wouldn't leave. By the end of the service we were down to two. People came in and out of the room while some parents let their children just run around and not join us. There was no check in or parent check. Kids and adults came and went out the whole time. The craziest part was the kids were so quiet! Five kids all sitting pretty quietly. They weren't running around and climbing or being crazy. They all pretty much sat quietly some playing with a car. Definately not like I am used to. At first I was getting frusterated but I am learning to let that frusteration go and just go with the flow. After I did that, it was fun. They kids are great to be with, I obviously enjoyed that! They would like to do it every week. There will be no nursery leader or schedule. We will just find a couple of youth girls or parents who will want to help out. We will probably just ask at the beginning of service. It is not so easy to let go of my "American way" being the right way. I am actually really glad to hand over the idea and let the church do it they way that they want to, the way that works for them. It is a lot easier to say then to actually do. In the end, it worked out fine. And it was a lot of fun to hang out with the babies since I generally spend most of my time with older kids and youth. It was grea to see some of my youth girls want to be active in the church!

Attack of the GIANT BABY!

This is the grandson of my principal at school. They also go to my church and I watched him on Sunday. This child is huge! We had to pass him around between four of us because none of us could really hold him that long! He is not quite nine months old yet. He is actually a sweet boy but just so big!!!!!!!!!

Can you blame me?

Here are two of the smallest kids in our church. I was with them in the back room this past Sunday. He is Mr. Smiley and she is cute but has a real attitiude! Can you blame me for putting these pictures on here!

Braii !!

Last weekend a couple friends of mine came over for a braii (bbq). Here is the thing, I invited a couple people over but I don't really know how to braii. I had one of my youth boys come over and make the coals for me. Then when my friend Ben arrived, he did most of the braii part himself. My friend Milka and I spent the time getting some soda and pasta salad. We watched a movie as well. It was a lot of fun. Ben and Milka are great to hang out with and Milka and I have become really good friends over the past year. She is great and I love hanging out with her!

So Rad!

I know I have a picture similar to this one on the blog from like a year ago. But I love this picture. Josh is my buddy and so much fun to hang out with. We had to take a new picture of us looking super rad in out "windows"! Love it!

SETTLERS!!!!!!!!!

If you know me than you should know that Settlers of Catan is one of my favorite games to play. I know that makes me a total dork but I really don't care! We have another missionary, Abby, who is here visiting for a month and she brought it with her. I am so stoked. It was a lot of fun to play and even though I am a little rusty, I won two out of the first three games!

Brooklyn

One of our youth girls, Suisse (Sissy), has a little brother who is about the same age as my nephew Josiah. It is great to have Brooklyn come over to play at our house. He has this insane amount of hair and it is so curly and sticks up like six inches! He is a lot of fun to have at the house and his big sister takes great care of him!

Need a little help?

Abby is another AIM missionary who is visiting us for a month. She just arrived and needed to wash some clothes. Two of our youth boys, Josh and Peter, thought she needed some help. Not a very African man sort of activity. These boys consider themselves an "expert" on everything and are always ready to "teach" us. Unfortunately, I do need there help with things quite a bit so they feel quite important! They are great boys!