Thanks, I'll Just Hold it...

This summer winter the kids and I are spending our mornings at Mercy Ministries.  Isaac is playing soccer football with the boys, and Alex is helping kids learn to read.  Today I tutored six children (ages 7-13) who can't read.

Mercy Ministries attracts 350 kids from the area.  The children are dirt poor and can't afford the government run schools.  Thanks to the generous support of many donors from around the world, Mercy Ministries is developing into a quality educational facility.  They have a great library with a nice selection of books.

Today I chose "If You Give a Pig a Party" by Laura Numeroff to read to some children.  I'm afraid that the story didn't translate very well to my students. In one scene the pig (wearing a colorful dress) goes to the fair and drives bumper cars with her animal friends.  I tried to explain this insane activity to these kids.  They nodded their heads.  I wonder if they think we dress our pigs in outfits too.

In addition to the library, private donations are doing other great things.

Take the toilets for example:

Toilets for 350 children.  Right one for guests.

Not to gross you out...but here is what 350 kids use everyday.

The toilet

Recently some Americans decided that this was unacceptable and raised money to build proper toilets.  The construction has already begun, but these mountains of stone slowed down the progress.  Tomorrow a team will come in and blast out these rocks.

Site for New Toilets 

There were also guys weaving a thatch roof on the new kitchen.

 Mercy Ministries makes sure that each child gets a hot lunch on school days.  

Lunch

I'm adorable.

So am I.

Teeter Totter.

Trouble #1, #2, and #3