News from the orphanage

Dear Family and Friends, Aug. 27, 2007
First, a quick ‘Jeanette update’. Her splint has been removed and a new x-ray shows that her leg is now healed. There is a lot of calcium build-up on the top and bottom of where the break was, but the doctor said that this should not keep her from walking. Her mother comes to the orphanage each day to care for her and we are working with the mother to help Jeanette to catch up on normal development for her age. She is now 22 months old. She is sitting up but she is not pulling up, crawling, or walking.
This past week we had a wonderful unexpected visit from Janine Jackson, the US Ambassador to Burkina. She was passing through town on her way to Ouayighuia and stopped by the orphanage to see our Peace Corps volunteer, Sarah. Sarah is working on developing our soap and weaving projects and has been with us for a little over a month. We spent 2 days frantically cleaning up inside and outside the courtyard and all of the orphanage buildings. The clean-up days went well and in fact, were much needed. Because of a really good rain the night before though, our courtyard was a virtual mud pit when the Ambassador arrived but she seemed to take this problem right in stride.
The Ambassador toured our facilities, played with some babies, and listened to some our primary school children sing. She brought a gift of 120 books for our school. This gift was from a joint project sponsored by the US Government and the World Bank. The books are beautiful and they are for grades 1 through 6.
Our Canadian friend, Christina, left last week. She was a short-termer who came to us through SIM. It was a joy to have Christina with us. She played with and cared for our babies, and made lots of friends with our older children who speak English. We miss Christina but wish her the best as she begins her studies in nursing.
Two of our babies, Aminata and Lassane, have returned to their families. Aminata comes from a village about 130 kilometers from here. Her mother died just a few days after Aminata was born. In the 18 months that Aminata has been here, her father has found a new wife and they came to pick up their daughter and take her home. Lassane’s mother also died when he was born. He has rejoined his family and will now be cared for by an aunt.
We are still waiting for news on the adoptions of Mathieu, Mariam, and Assya. Mathieu and Mariam are going to families in France and Assya is going to Italy. We expect that all of these adoptions will be finalized in the next month or two.
Thank you so much for your prayer support and your tangible monetary support. The Lord is good and He abundantly provides all that we need through faithful friends like you.
With love and blessings,
Ruth. . . Mom. . . Grandma