Welcome to our beat!

What a ride we're on ---- and we thank you for joining us on this adventure.

There's lots to celebrate! In the past few weeks our village population has grown from a dozen or so construction workers and now includes the first 32 orphaned children, 2 house moms and their assistants, 4 teachers, a nurse, a new agriculture director and a security guard and his family. Right there's a list of answered prayers! Yeah God!

Everyone seems to be adjusting quite well. The sounds of kids laughing, playing football (soccer), singing and praying around the campfire, drums and traditional dancing, slashing (cutting grass with machetes) have blended with the ongoing sounds of construction.

In progress on the building side there's a medical clinic, a construction office - that will be "my" office, a second staff housing unit, and ground is being cleared for a church and a storage building.

The big event we are all focused on this weekend is the Grand Opening of the Primary School (Elementary School to you). It happens on Monday with prayers (that means a church service), recognition of our employees, native dance performed by the children, statements and greetings by the local leaders in the area, greetings by our VOH directors, a feast of rice, beans and stewed meat. It was decided it would be more economical to kill one cow than 10 goats for the meal for which we expect 200 people. I'm sure there'll be plenty to eat if you can make it :)

Then on Tuesday -- classes start for the kids and teachers and it's back to work for us ------

More later --

Janelle Doud for Mike and Jenna too