August Update

Dear Friends,

I am sorry for letting so much time pass since my last update. It seems odd but since I have been able to access the internet from home I have been forgetting to send updates on what has been going on here.

The month of August has brought me some great memories. The first weekend of the month was a territorial music festival. It was fun watching all of the different groups perform, but it was also a long and tiring day. It was probably the longest meeting I had ever been to; there were 34 numbers on the program, and the meeting started at 10am and finished close to 3pm.

The next weekend: I was invited to attend a traditional marriage of a couple who attends the same church as me. This was very interesting to me because it is quite different from the way marriages take place in the USA. Here marriage is more than two people making a covenant to each other, but both the families are very much involved and this was evident throughout the ceremony.

The traditional marriage is the day where the groom comes with his family and friends and presents the dowry or dote to the brides family. It is the bride’s family who decides what the groom must bring. I am told that it is usually around 50,000CFA ($100), but it is not always just money, sometimes the brides parents ask for the groom to buy them new clothes to wear to the ceremony or household items.

The following weekend was my birthday. Although it is difficult to be far away from family and friends on your birthday, my friends here made sure I had a wonderful day. It is a birthday I will truly never forget. The chief secretary made a cake and brought it over to my house about noon, so we called all the children (ok well not all of them but the ones who live nearby and are always at my house), and they came and sang and we had a little party. Then in the evening the chief secretaries invited me over to dinner. I really miss Mexican food, so she made tacos for dinner, or as close to tacos and we can get here.

My English class is going very well, and it is growing a lot. At my last class I counted 14 students. The students really enjoy learning English too. Usually when the see me going over to the school they run to get their notebooks and get ready to come to class. Sometimes I have to tell them that I am going early to do somethings first and they still have time. One of the biggest challenges I have is to get the students to try to speak in English. The other day I was encouraged by a little girl who was speaking with me before class. She told me that in class she does not always understand well, but when she gets home she reads her notes with her parents and after that she understands. She is also very happy because she knows more English than her older siblings.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support,

Tracy Pilewski