Beds Delivered

On Wednesday Gwen and I had breakfast at the Carters house to welcome Ruben, Leslie and Ruben. They were pretty tired from the long flights but they were settling in just fine. After that Phil dropped us at the orphanage and we did some cleaning. When someone laid the tile in the bath rooms it looks like they did not do the final wipe when they put in the grout so all the tiles are covered in this cement-like ugly brown gunk. We scraped with trowels, paint scrapers and steel wool to get as much off as possible. It still looks bad for US standards but it looks a lot better than it did. There is still work to be done on one of the bath rooms so we were only able to get one spic and span clean and ready to use. Then we swept and washed the floor in Mama's room and swept the main hall. We swept us so much fine red dirt but when we went back today it looked like it had never been swept - UGGGGHHHH!!! That is Africa. It is similar to West Texas in that the find dirt gets everywhere and it is a loosing battle to fight it.

While we were at the house today the beds were being delivered along with the mattresses. The mattresses are just sturdy foam - they are comfortable but they do not last long. That is what everyone here sleeps on. We arranged the beds, put on the blankets and arranged Mama's room. The kids just have mattress covers and blankets but Amy gave Gwen a flat sheet to put on Mama's bed so she will be a little more comfortable. Gwen had made Mama an apron and some house clothes so we hung those on the back of the door. Leslie brought some nice towels and soap from the states so we laid those out on the bed like a B & B.

Neither shower is draining right and one toilet is not flushing properly so the workers will be back tomorrow to make those repairs and it looks like the kids can move in on Saturday. The second bath need to be scraped clean from the ugly brown grout and washed down but that can be done once they move in. Hopefully the next time I post I will be able to tell you they are in the house. Keep these kids and Mama in your prayers please. They are not used to living in a controlled environment so this could be a bit of an adjustment.