A welder’s way to water

I wanted to post to let you all know a little bit about what Paul has been up to as well. These last few months he has been working to build a water well form (which I have mentioned in previous posts). Well a few weeks ago he finished up the form and went out the village to train the locals to start using it!

Here is Paul finishing it up and some up close shots to see it a little better

 

Apparently the men in the village of Teppe were very happy to get this tool for their wells and were so happy to have something of “great quality! this will not break!!” compared to the usual scrap metal pieced-together things they usually work with. We pray this tool will be able to be used for many years!

So Paul and Peter spent the day out with the men helping to show them how to use the form. If I understand correctly, it is used to make cement rings. These rings are used to line and give structure to hand dug wells that they use for watering their gardens and their animals (and of course who are we kidding- they drink from it too!). Before their wells would often cave in due to the high sand content in the ground. Now their wells can last many seasons!

They dug down the first level of the well and now are positioning the inner ring of mold in the hole.

 

Wrapping the mold with metal rebar to form a frame for the cement

Putting oil on the mold so that it will release easily from the cement

 

Mixing the cement by hand- tough work out in the 40 degree sun!

 

Most of the group at the end of pouring another mold. Many more to come!

 

So proud of Paul and the way he is taking his skills and knowledge as a welder and general handyman to build things that will make life easier, safer and more productive for the people we work with. He is busy designing hand-washing stations now!

One of Paul’s favorite lines is “If God can use a red-neck welder from Alberta…he can certainly use you!”

Bennett turns 5!

Today is a big day in our house. It is Bennett’s 5th Birthday! I can’t believe that so much time has passed already, that my sweet little baby is all boy now and a bundle of energy, long legs and words as fast as his little mouth can form them! He definitely gets his talking from his mother I am told, but I think he gets his handsome looks from his father!

Here is the day you were born

And here is you today!

SO for all those readers out there, let me tell you a little bit about who Bennett is!

Bennett has a very gentle heart.  If Arielle is hurt he kisses it better, and cries too when she is in trouble. I love how soft his heart is. You love animals and you love your sister more than anything.

 

Everyday you still run to us for hugs and kisses. If anyone is sick you are the first to “snuggle” and comfort us. One of my favourite expressions of yours is “Mom, my heart feels like it wants to snuggle you!” You sure know how to make our day!

You love to be the helper. I have so many photos and memories of you helping making breakfast or cookies or something. You love to get out the stool and grab the wooden spoons and be the stirrer! You love to lick the beaters for batter when we are done. If Dad has a project outside, you are right there next to him. You love to hammer nails, hold things level, dig holes and do whatever else he asks. I think you will be a wonderful “helper” for people in life, just like your Dad and Grandpa are. I am so glad that runs in the family! You want to serve people.

He is an equal opportunity kind of kid. For his dinner time dish set, he likes his Lighting McQueen set just as much as the Princess set. Sometimes he wants pink, other times he wants blue.

He is a competitive kid. He wants to run faster, he wants to read on his own since he loves books, he wants to drive the truck himself, get himself dressed and pack his own snacks for school. He is very social and has many many friends at school. And…after only a year and a half in the French system, he can speak French all day long with his little friends! While he is not yet bilingual, he is well on his way! We are so proud of you Bennett how you are fearless to speak. Your teacher says you are always one of the first to shoot up your hand to answer questions, even if you stumble in the French a little bit with your answer. You are fearless.

Here are some of the more recent “Bennett-isms” that you come up with!

 

I am going to give everyone a turn and a chance to play with me. I am sharing myself!

Look Mom, that African was actually nice and let you in! (while driving)

I love you more than all the people in the whole world, even in Ouagadougu!

My heart is wanting to just snuggle with you! I will love you and snuggle you every day even when I am big. First you, then Daddy, even when I am big!

(After we spent a whole day with French friends and you talk French all day long to their kids) – Mom, I need to marry someone English when I grow up, because you know, I can’t speak French!

Mom, can Harriet the turtle sleep with us at night now?

 

So Happy Birthday to my favourite little buddy boy in the whole world. You mean the world to us and we love you!

Love Mom and Dad and Arielle

Give that cheese a passport!

 

Hey there! Sorry we have been a little absent! Month end has been crazy busy! I had been wanting to post this little fun picture and story, so i will do it today!

Everyone who knows me knows that one of the things I miss here in Niger is good old Canadian cheddar cheese. Or American cheddar cheese as a good second option. So when people come and visit, it is not uncommon for me to ask for a block of cheese in their carry-on! One other missionary who came for Christmas even brought me an excellent Christmas present- a block of cheddar and a box of vegetable thin crackers! Only another missionary could know things like that would be great gifts!
Anyhow, my friend Mindi (who is the sister of my dear friend Jill) just moved to Niger  last month with her husband Scott to work in a hospital near the Chad border. Their trip from California to Niger was a long circuitous route that took a month with all their stops, training etc. And a little ways into it (in Guam) they bought me a block of cheddar cheese! That cheese traveled with them for at least two weeks, making pit stops in the fridges of everywhere they stopped. They were in Nairobi, Kenya for some training when some riots broke out and they got evacuated out of the country, and even in all that stress in the middle of the night evac- they got someone to open the cafeteria fridge so they could get the cheese! What good friends :) So I am happy to report that the cheese (and Mindi and Scott!) all made it safely.  Thanks for thinking of me and how much I love cheese!

Give that cheese a passport!!