Jonathan House

They say pictures are worth a thousand words and yet there are times when I feel that a snap shot just cannot capture what your eyes can. I say all this because I want to show you a little of where I am and as I look at the pictures I have taken I am not sure it shows you what I see and yet it is at least something so here goes.

This is Kainwo House. Most of us live in this building. Only the older boys and Pastor Ibrihim do not. My room is on the back of the right side of this picture. I learned yesterday as we were cutting away the grass that had grown that the reason we do not have grass is because the snakes won't come if there is no grass. I had been thinking that it would be nice to let some grass grow, but now you will see me out there with my hatchet being the first one to cut away the grass.I have learned to deal with the spiders, millipedes, lizards, and other bugs- but I draw the line at snakes.

My room. Here is my bed and wardrobe. It is a lot more than I expected and works great for me. It took a few days to get used to tucking in the net each night and again each morning, but now I am quite used to it and it is almost like my seat belt now- I can sleep without it but something just doesn't feel right until I am all tucked into my little cocoon. Maybe I should have cleaned my table before taking this picture but hey... This is where I sit each morning to read and this is also where I do most of my wound repairing for the kids. The blue bucket on the table is my sink- I fill it with fresh water each morning and that is my drinking water unless I decide to go the well.

Ahhhh my own private bathroom. The door on the left is my shower and the door on the right is my bathroom. The large black garbage you can see is my plumbing. That's right every few days I fill it and then each room has a 5 gallon bucket that I used to shower with or flush the toilet. I have to say I am getting quite used to it and no longer even think about it. I'll tell you that I can take a full shower- wash my hair, shave my legs and all with less than a bucket of water. That is an accomplishment for me. I just hope the people I live with when I get home don't expect me to conserve water in such a way.

The Barri (I still am not sure on how to spell this word) This is where I often sit to read or type or spend some time with the kids in smaller groups. I like the breeze that comes through here and I can also enjoy being outside without being directly in the sun. The building next to it is the offices for JCCM.

I think that there may be enough pictures in this post to get a small idea of where I am. I will continue to show you more as I go along, but I don't want to put too many photos incase it takes forever to load. After this time I will know more. I have decided it is great to have this technology but there is a reason third-world countries don't have it. It is hard to find the support I need to make all of this work. We are so spoiled.