This 1st picture is one that Desiré - the Compassion staff member/translator/chauffeur/wealth of information (yes, a man of many talents! I learned so much from him about Compassion Burkina Faso) - took of me before I met her.
Here's a picture in the office at the project with Christiane and the teachers/staff that work there. What a blessing to have this suitcase full of medical supplies & gifts for them. There were over 300 toothbrushes, lots of bandages, examination gloves, sterile surgical gloves, gauze pads, fever remedies and a few Canadian & Danish flags. Oh, and I left the suitcase there too. A big thank you to everyone who helped me fill this suitcase! This certainly cannot fit into their little first aid kit, which was understocked! Not any more! :)The great thing is that there is a nurse who will be starting to work here in mid-June! The timing was great for these supplies to arrive!
Some of the girls enjoying lunch at the project.
At home with Christiane and her family. She was very shy, but I was thankful to see her smile so much! Grandma and other relatives look pretty happy in the background too! :)
Family photograph. Left to right - aunts (1 with her baby), Christelle (twin sister), Faridatu (she is called an "older sibling." She is their cousin, but lives with them. I'm not sure what happened to her family - her dad and Christiane's dad are brothers), grandma, me behind grandma (hmmmm, what gave away the fact that I'm not a blood relative?!?! lol), Christiane, Benjamin (her dad).
It's a happy day ... except it seems hard to get a smile from the 'older sibling.' Maybe because I didn't realize at first that she was part of the family. I was only aware of 1 sister, so I thought she was one of the girls from the project who had tagged along.
Here we are in their house. This is the bedroom where they all sleep. It's a big bed (which I didn't get a picture of - probably Queen size), but I'm not sure how all of them would fit on it. I guess it depends on how many of the family members that I met actually live in this house.
Here is their kitchen.
2 boys in the classroom back at the school when Desiré and I stopped by again as we were heading back to the SIL centre. Those are blinds, not bars, by the way ;)
While Desiré talked to someone at the project/school, I took some more pictures of the surroundings. Here's the sign for the church that is in partnership with Compassion Burkina Faso. You can see the length of the building here. The arrow is pointing in the direction that the next picture was taken ...
So that sign was to the left of this picture. This is the entrance to the school/project and I suspect the church. Then there are 2 more walls to enclose the area where the kids play and eat. That seems to be the norm for all the houses too. Walls surround the houses. Usually there are gates that are kept locked too, but at Christiane's house, there was none. I'm not sure if they are to protect property or people or both, so I hope that Christiane and her family remain safe even though they don't have a gate.
Back at the SIL centre. Here are the guesthouses that missionaries stay at if they're back for a short period of time (or people like me who happen to be stopping by and happen to have made some connections with the right person). I stayed in the one at the back of the building to the left.
Here's my room (there's another bed too, but I didn't end up having a roommate). See the mosquito net over the bed? I only used it once, but it was too hot, and there weren't very many mosquitoes anyhow. Just above here is the fan!
Here is that beloved fan! Trust me, it was on ... even though it doesn't look like it's moving here!
And with the room came my own little Gecko - this must be the mini, indoor version. They are a welcomed guest in any room because they eat mosquitoes;)
Here is one of the bigger, outdoor models of the Gecko. They are always busy either running away from people, catching things (mosquitoes) or doing push-ups. That's what it looks like they're doing a lot of the time, whether on the ground or on a wall.
Here comes a group of kids that are shouting, 'Nasara!' which means 'white person.' Kids usually wanted to come up to Pam & I to shake our hands.
They are sooooooooo sweet!
And here comes their friend, as fast as he can.
The older ones are not as keen as the kids, but they still wanted to shake our hands.
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