Tuesday! We had a busy day today, starting by working on the completion of a fence around the back side of the school and a gate leading from the church to the school. We first got to the school just as it was starting after their long three day weekend, and the classrooms were buzzing with the kids (all 9th graders this year) as they started their day. We were introduced as people from the US who had helped build the school building the year before and who were coming back to do some more work - as only three of us were returnees, it was nice to be included in that! One of the classrooms burst into applause after that introduction! Many of the kids in this school would not be in high school if this school had not opened, as public school is only mandatory(and free) until 8th grade). Mark (who is one of the three returnees) said it was very gratifying to see and hear the school in operation after where they had left it the year before.

 The entire team worked all morning on digging post holes and concrete footings in some of the toughest 'soil' I've ever seen, or felt, being full of limestone and quartz boulders. After lunch a few set out to shop for groceries for the orphanage, while the rest of us were to begin setting some posts and tying re-bar, but a shower and the lack of materials precluded that. We went back to camp briefly to clean up, then went and spent two hours with the King's Children's Center (orphanage). The center is building a new campus out of town several miles, and seeing the current center we could see why.

 Despite conditions that were crowded (about 85 kids from 3 or so to 18) living with mostly volunteer staff of around 10 people, the kids were very friendly and obviously loved attention. We worked with the school kids on their homework and reading, testing our knowledge of verb tenses, then played bubbles with the younger kids and interacted with some of the staff for the remainder of our time. Staff included 21 year old students from Washington State on a 6 month assignment and a semi retired couple from HI who were volunteering for a month. It is impossible to describe the conditions of the home but will try to post pictures tomorrow when our WiFi is back up. Generally the kids seemed to get along despite the poor and crowded conditions, with many of them attending to chores such as cleaning and cooking.

Due to technical difficulties (no WIFI) I will not be able to publish pictures tonight, but will try to do that tomorrow as we have some good pics.   Good night!