Africa time; noun, meaning "nothing is on time, anything will happen, and things WILL change"

Hola from Yako!

We have arrived safely much thanks to Anne, a German student staying with Ruth in Yako, who bought our bus tickets/helped us with our French--basically delivering us in one piece. We were greeted warmly by Ruth, and another family who just moved to Yako with means to help at Sheltering Wings, the nonprofit organization Ruth helps to run in Burkina Faso, consisting of an orphanage and primary school. We arrived just in time to help distribute toys to the orphanage from Toys For Tots, a US Marine sponsored gift program. The children were excited to receive these gifts and it was a meaningful experience for us all.

Today we woke up bright and early (easy now Mahadaga, we were up at the crack of dawn with you--6:30) to prepare for Dani and Katie's lessons. They taught simultaneously in different classrooms; Katie taught multiplication by 3's to second graders and Dani taught the World of Dogs to both 3rd and 4th grade (let's just say there was a miscommunication...). Both lessons went well, however the language barrier was a definite obstacle. All-in-all, it provided a great experience for them to teach in another culture. Angela and Lauren are preparing to give their lessons tomorrow; however this is Africa and we are on Africa time so things may very well change. Prayers would be appreciated for their lessons, whenever they end up teaching them.

Another highlight of the day was visiting two other orphanages in Yako. Yako isn't very big, so having three orphanages is uncommon. All three of the orphanages were full. The other two orphanages were run by Burkinabe so it was interesting to see the difference between them and Ruth's orphanage (an American run program). Most of the kids were very welcoming to us and allowed us to hold, cuddle, and play with them.

Tonight we experienced a prayer/worship session under the stars led by kids from the orphanage. Although mostly in French with some English translation, it was moving to see the love for Christ these kids have. Many of the children were chilly and did not have jackets to wear. If anyone would want to donate small windbreakers (ages newborn to late teens) to the orphanage, please deliver them to any members of our team or send them to Angela directly (Box 3041). These jackets can be new or used. Even though Burkina is much warmer than it is in the US, it is currently winter and it becomes colder when the sun goes down. These donations would be much appreciated! Angela will be sending the donations to the orphanage on February 15th.

Our internet connection is extremely slow and unreliable so we may not be able to post again until we are back in Ouaga on Saturday. But no worries, we are all fine and healthy!

Goodnight from Yako!
And until we see you all again, we will be playing with the precious 19 babies in the orphanage :)
Love, Katie and Dani

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