I’m gonna sing, sing, sing, (move head and hands to the left on each sing with a clap) I’m gonna shout, shout sout, (move head and hands to the right on each shout with a clap) I’m gonna sing, {move head left and clap on sing) I’m gonna shout, (move heat right and clap on sing) Praise the Lord! (both hands up in the air) When the gates are open wide, (open hands and arms wide) I’m gonna sit at Jesus’ side, (pretend to sit down) I’m gonna sing, {move head left and clap on sing) I’m gonna shout, (move heat right and clap on sing) Praise the Lord! (both hands up in the air) This song these eleven beautiful and happy babies taught me while sitting in front of the red tiled fire place.

These babies are between 16 or 17 months and three years. I continue to be amazed here - at teaching eleven babies how to brush their teeth, eat with a spoon, how to put on matching shoes. And then think about potty training eleven little ones! Yikes! I was asked last minute to ride into to East London, (about 50 minutes away) and help buy supplies. We bought so many diapers - eleven babies in diapers, 4-5 diapers per child per day - a mountain of diapers. The physical layout here at Open Arms, continues to change and improve. Here is a picture of Emmanuel Hall, (built a year ago,) where there is with a very large commercial kitchen, dining area, a T.V./meeting area and some great storage.

When I saw where they were previously cooking and dining, it was astounding. In this picture the older girls live in the purple house, the older boys live in the green house, and Pastor Stephen is living in the blue house. Yes those are thatched roofs.

The younger girls live in the New House, (not actually a new building, new for housing children), and the younger boys live in the rondavel. The eleven babies stay in two rooms in Old Main. Old Main is where all the cooking and eating used to take place. All children get, or take a bath daily and all the rooms where the children live are cleaned daily. The four washing machines are in the New House and all laundry is hung out to dry. Monday through Friday days begins at 5:30 a.m. The twenty five children going to public school, (preschool on up,) eat breakfast at 6:30 and then board the vans for town at 7:00. The thirteen home school kids, and the ten preschoolers attending Open Arms’ preschool, eat breakfast at 7:30 with school starting at 8:30. Morning snack for everyone is 10:30 tea time, lunch is at 1:00, with the littlest ones in public school home by then. The rest of the children are home by 3:00, for afternoon tea time. Supervised homework time is immediately after tea time, with most, if not all homework done by dinner time. Dinner is early evening with some play time before bed time. Babies are bathed and in bed by 7:30 p.m., younger children bathed and in bed by 8:00, and the older children in their houses by 8:30 with varying bed times. There are two rotations of staff, five days on and then five days off. There are two shifts every day – 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. My involvement at the moment is: Monday - catch up day, help home school teachers get ready for the week, do odd projects,help with gardening Tuesday – P.E. with five first graders Wednesday – Art with five first graders Thursday - Music with five first graders Friday – P.E with five first graders Monday through Friday afternoons assist with homework Saturday – assist in groups activities whether educational, physical or simply play Sunday – church in the morning with an afternoon of activities depending on weather. Friday and Saturday evenings can be a movie night. Here is a picture from last Friday’s movie night. Jeff and Suzanne, as a couple are co-directors for Open Arms. Margaret, Ann, and Kevin are here for a year with a program the University of Notre Dame offers. Jeff is a recent seminary graduate just beginning his year stay here. I guess this is it for today. I leave you with one last photo. I cleaned the younger children’s pool and filled it. They have not been enjoying the larger deeper pool the older children are able to enjoy. This was a hit. As you can see, twenty brightly giggling faces.