Moringa Trees!

Dear Family and Friends, 21 May, 2009

We received a wonderful visit this week from a missionary family, the Richters,who are preparing to live and work in Dano, a small village between Ouagadougou and Bobo. The Richters visited the orphanage last February and then called us offering to bring us some Moringa trees. The Moringa is being called the miracle tree in that its leaves are very high in vitamins and nutrients, oil can be pressed from the seeds, and the seeds can be used to purify water. It also thrives in a semi-arid climate such as ours.

In February the Richters offered to start some trees for us and would bring them to us in May. This past Monday, they arrived with their 4 children pulling a trailer with 350 Moringa trees in it!

Jean had organized our children and we had 350 holes dug all around the walls of the courtyard and holes for 3 small 'gardens' of trees.

Some of the tiny trees are still under a bit of stress from the transplanting but most of them seem to be doing very well. With all the excitement going on in the courtyard, our primary school children really couldn't study very well so we brought the older ones outside of the classroom for a practical course in tree planting. As you can see by the pictures, many hands make light work. Everyone worked hard and 350 trees were planted in about 3 hours time.

Francois – Broken leg
We went to visit Francois last week and he seems to be doing very well. Francois is the little 5th grader from our school who fell from a tree and broke his leg. The mother preferred that we not take him to the hospital so Francois has remained at home and is receiving traditional treatment for his leg.

We thank the Lord though that the break was not a compound fracture and that it does seem to be healing. Francois is still not putting any weight on his leg and the pain has subsided. Also the swelling that was in his right wrist has gone down and he is now able to eat with his right hand.

Mariam – the mother of Estelle
Mariam's blood work came back with normal results and the sonagram indicates that the baby also is doing well. She is carrying a little boy and he should make his entrance into our world in just a few more weeks.

Mariam is living in the courtyard of the father of the baby but the situation is very tense. The father does not have the means to provide for Mariam and the soon to be born babe. And since Mariam, just 17 years old, still a girl herself, and rather immature even for 17 years of age, is not ready to be a wife and mother.

Please pray for Mariam and the soon coming birth as well as the father trying to take responsibility for his actions.

Standardized tests--
The month of June is the time for standardized tests given after 6th grade, after 10th grade, and then after 13th grade to finish high school. This year we have 17 children in the 6th grade at our school, 7 children from the orphanage in the 10th grade, and 3 from the orphanage in their last year of high school.

Please pray for these children as well as all the children in the community who will be taking exams this year. The exams are very hard and in general, the students are not well prepared for them. They are pass/fail tests which allow the student to continue to the next grade or force him to repeat the same year again.

Love and blessings to you!
Ruth. . . . Mom. . . . Grandma