End of the 1st Quarter

            We are already winding down the first quarter of school.  I have completed my report card testing and I had my assistant complete a reading placement test.  We have 4 out of 11 students who can read at the first grade Read Well curriculum level.  I recently learned we have the first grade curriculum at our school even though they use Storytown so I am going to start using it after our fall break next week.  I wish I had known before this so I could have already started using it.  We already have the students divided up during the small group time but now they will have something to read at their level.

During the Saturday shopping trip we stopped at a new store for someone.  The yard was full of fruit trees.  I asked our teacher from Ghana what each tree was.  He pulled a leaf off a tree and tore it.  He then smelled it and asked me to do the same.  He then asked me what I thought.  It was amazing how strong the scent was.  It smelled like citrus.  He said it was an orange tree.  Then he pointed to the mango tree.  Mango is my favorite fruit so I was really delighted to see a mango tree.  He said it will bear fruit in the spring. 

Orange Tree

Picking Green Coconuts

Mango Tree

The teacher asked the owner of the lot if he could pick a green coconut.  He then took off his shoes and started to climb the tree.  The owner said he would get him a ladder instead for his safety.  He twisted the coconut off the branch rather than using a machete.  He said the green coconuts would be full of coconut water but no meat.  They are used to cleanse the body of toxins.  The coconut water is especially good for kidney stones.  My husband perked up to listen when he heard that.  He has had stones two different times. We learned from another teacher the center of the trunk of a banana tree is also good for kidney stones.

Papaya Tree

 This past week we saw a mouse in our flat.  I was working on the couch and Clint was at the table.  I saw it run from the kitchen through the living room and go under the loveseat in front of the window.  I yelled to Clint and stood up on the couch.  He saw it and went after the broom.  I kept watching the loveseat and didn’t see it come back out.  Clint picked up the wicker loveseat and shook it and looked behind the curtains and couldn’t find it.  I spent the rest of the evening typing while sitting on the back of a dining room chair.  The next day, we purchased a sticky board to catch the mouse.  We put rice and peanut butter on it and the next morning we had our mouse.  The mouse was still alive.  When we got close it wiggled and squeaked.  We didn’t have anything to use to put it out of its misery so Clint asked the guard for assistance.  He took some plastic out of the dumpster and yanked it off the board and tossed it.  He gave the board back to Clint to use again.  One of our neighbors caught five mice and another one just one like us. 

Today the guard came to our door.  He said there was a woman at the gate who wanted to talk to me.  I went out and she asked the guard to give us a minute.  I told her he was my guard and she could speak in front of him.  She wanted money for her son.  She had seen us walking back from the main road where the church bus dropped us off.  I had no idea we were followed.  Thank you for your prayers on our behalf.

I listened to her and then told her I was an honest person and asked that she listen to me also.  I told her many people believe that all Americans are wealthy.  I had to leave my homeland in search of a teaching job to raise the money I need for my own son’s surgery in which insurance would not cover.  I told her God has brought us together to pray for each others sons.  I asked for her hands and I prayed with her to ask God to help our sons with their needs.  We both teared up and I knew she believed me.  I promised to continue to lift her and her son up in prayer and I would like her to pray for my son too.  If you have it in your heart today, will you also pray for both our sons.  I cannot even pronounce the name of her son but I know our heavenly father knows in whom we are requesting prayer for.  Thank you!