Fun with Facepaint

From an activity with our visitors - 

Moyse the pirate.

Cats and clowns.

TiOurs, "Little Bear."

Sewing Machine

This week we have a group of old friends from SC visiting us. They've come bearing gifts - first of all a great sense of humor, but also some much-appreciated material help for the project:

From left to right - Ronnie, her husband Michael, and his sister Gwen. The head of our tailor shop, Sajine, stands at the right. This year Gwen, a returning visitor, asked her family to forgo Christmas presents and donate the money they would have spent to Espwa. They all hopped on the idea, made the sacrifice, and now they've brought a new sewing machine and a donation for the tailor shop that will go towards much-needed supplies and repairs. Another new sewing machine was donated by a supporter in SC in honor of her family. Thank you!

On the way over to the shop, Grady from SC tries carrying the sewing machine in the local style. Pretty good, huh?

Jamesley

Enjoy these photos of Jamesley from the other week as we figure out some technical issues with my camera.

You can't see, but there are Cheetos stains on his fingers. Thanks to our visitors for helping us share the joy of junk food from time to time (everything in moderation, right?)

Faces

Here are some very nice photos a recent visitor, Zan from CA, took during her visit here the other week. Pictures have such a capacity to connect, to make people real to the viewer, and so we always value when folks share their photos with us.

Okay, without further ado:

Danielson, in the girls' village.

A good shot of Hebreaux

Jamesley

Nawel is his nickname

Here's Sonice

Sony, playing with her glasses. Real neat reflection gig going on.

What a talent for photography. Thanks for sharing, Zan!

Breaking Ground

Wednesday we had the first session of our videoconferencing program with a wonderful middle school in CA. It was the fruit of several months of planning and preparation, and for the first time brought a group of our students face-to-face with their counterparts on the West Coast. 

Miliste, our 'anchorman,' makes first contact.

Our representatives from the first year of secondary school - that's Diversine and Jean-Gady in front. They had the chance to talk about their school, classes, and generally introduce themselves.

Needless to say, it was very exciting for all involved.

A special thank-you to Jim and his team in CA, who made this possible.

Baptisms

Last Sunday we held the baptism of twelve children in the Espwa community, to celebrate the feast day of Jesus' Baptism in the church calendar. Most of the children were our own little ones, including these very familiar faces:

Sony, here with Erchelle.

Hebreaux, held by Rebecca

Sonice and her house mother.

Hebredson with his mother, who is visiting for the occasion. She's happy to see her child so healthy.

This little mischief-maker, who cleans up quite nicely.

Jakson and Matante. Jakson isn't being baptized today, but still, it's a cute photo.

The blessing of the godfathers. See anyone you recognize?

(the man on the right is Deacon Bill, visiting from GA - he was deputized to help with the liturgy)

Hebreaux's baptism.

Meet the Sheriff

This is Jean Yvon Derase, our new head of security here at Espwa. He will be taking over for Francois, who had to leave us for health reasons. Jean Yvon brings with him a lot of experience and a commitment to keep our kids safe.

We're feeling very positive about it, and on that note, please enjoy this staged photo that tries to emulate a casual conversation:

On a scale of one to ten, how convincing was it? What do you think?