Did I mention it's been raining alot?

It’s still raining, believe it or not. We’ve got mushrooms popping up everywhere and our entry road has become a swamp! If it weren’t for 4 wheel drive and diff lock I’m afraid we’d be cut off from civilization. (Late note: even that gave up the ghost this morning on our way out to town...we got royally stuck!)

Our river just keeps filling and filling and the sound of the river cascading over the 6 meter drop is quite impressive. I was reading today from the book of Ezekiel and he described God’s voice to be ‘like the roar of rushing waters’. This is about the only stretch of the Mucombeze River that has such a drop, so we count ourselves blessed to be able to sit on our veranda at night and listen to the thundering waterfall. God’s voice. No wonder it’s so peaceful.

All this rain means lots of bugs EVERYWHERE (the ones in with the candle are not meant as a display). And frogs are out in a big way too. My neighbour caught a huge one in our old pool, he must have been about a pound in weight! I rather prefer this little guy who I found on our veranda. This is for Amanda :).

We’re also still rather behind the times since our new internet modem is still making its way here from Harare. Maybe, just maybe, it’ll be here before next weekend! In the meantime I’m learning how to work the internet cafe computers a bit better. I wish they were closer, but twice a week will have to do for now. They may not be real fast or reliable, but any system sure beats what we had 10 years ago all to bits. Beats what we’ve got right now too!

Last week the 5th grade graduation ceremony was held at our school. 17 out of 20 kids passed, and 10 of those have sponsorship which means there’s a good chance they can carry on to grade 6. (I think I mentioned already that over 80% of our grade 5's passed the national exams compared to 57% of the nearby community's grade 5 class.) Not all the sponsored kids attended the ceremony because the river was so high that it was treacherous to come across, but these ones were there. Once prizes were given out we called them all up to ask them if they’d in fact like to carry on to grade 6. (It’s important to ask certain questions in life.) As each one was asked, “So, would YOU like to carry on with your education??” The answer was be a shy “Yes.” When we got to the last guy in the line we asked the question everyone had memorized by then, “So, would YOU like to carry on with your education?” Instead of the pat answer though,he replied enthusiastically with, “Oh yes! I really would! WITH ALL MY HEART I want to keep on studying!!” We were all pleasantly surprised by his animated response and it drew several chuckles and comments from the parents in the audience.
Here they are... the 2007 5th grade class from Mucombeze Primary School--ready to take on the world!

Hey, grade 6 at a boarding school IS taking on the world. All of them passed and impressed their teachers.

We’re just finishing up harvesting the last of the litchi’s. It’s been a challenge for the guys to just get in and pick with all the rain of late, but it tastes just as wonderful as ever! Every time I walk past the trees I can’t help but take a little detour to pick a few as a treat. Much to our dismay, we’ve noticed that the fruit bats can’t resist that urge either. We find pips and skins strewn in piles like this almost everywhere in the surrounding bush! They must be having an absolute feast every night. We don’t even want to think of how many kg’s they make away with. No wonder they’ve been quieter lately, they’re mouths are too full of litchis to screech! It seemed fitting to call this picture, “Bat Scraps”!

Well, less than a week until our kids arrive! We have our staff christmas dinner this week plus the routine busyness...and I've got to bet busy baking too! Signing off for this time.