Mom 6/3/13

Mom has arrived in Burundi!  There was a mix up, and unfortunately I wasn't at the airport to meet her.  I got word that the group she was supposed to be traveling with was delayed by a day.  It wasn't until right before she arrived did I get word that she wasn't delayed.  Other than troubles with her arrival and her fighting a cold she brought with her, I think she's doing well.  It's been a blessing having her here.

In Burundi, mother's are called by their children's name.  So, at the Children's home and at school, the kids call her Mama Kim.

Mom sent a couple packages to my organization.  One in January, and one in February.  I got them both Saturday...about five months after she sent them.  I opened them up with her and some of the girls at school.  It took us a second to demolish the cheese crackers.  :)  Mom included some stamps and gel pens.  I used to use stamps in America for marking good papers, and forgot to pack them.  I don't think my students have seen rubber stamps before.  I showed them how to use them to stamp papers, then the boys discovered them and had fun stamping themselves, like the stamps were  temporary tattoos.  The girls started drawing on their skin with the gel pens.  Oops!  Not the best things to do minutes before parents arrived for visitation day to our boarding school.  The packages also included string for friendship bracelets, hot drink mixes, stickers, beef sticks, and pens.

Thank you Mom and my friends for the things Mom brought!  I got contact solution, movies for the kids at school and at the Children's home, and it's a miracle that the chocolate didn't melt too much.  I am looking forward to using the sloppy joe and Mexican food sauce mixes.  Mom brought more arts and crafts supplies for club, coloring books, and some mechanical pencils for prizes or gifts for some students.

Mom had learned how to hand wash her clothes by hand.  She's helped with the memory books for the kids at Homes of Hope, and has joined me in my classroom when I teach.  And miracle of miracles...she has helped me with grading and I'm almost caught up!