Let there be light

I know God created light on the first day but things move a little slower here in Benin. I received electricity today!!!! Now, there is a slight problem with this miraculous achievement. The light fixture in my living room doesn't work. Every other one is OK, but I use the living room more often than any other room. I can cook, or shower or "use the facilities" at night easily now, but not read or write or study French without moving chairs or desks. A little at a time I guess. We'll see how long it takes to fix this problem.
Speaking of miracles, the Christmas party at the orphanage was quite an event. There were about 160 children there. (There were two other parties at other places for a total of about 700 orphans.) There was not much work for the volunteers to do. We were apparently there just to make an appearance. Everybody, administrators and children alike, seemed to appreciate it though. We danced and played with the children. Tom (Emmons) and I played soccer for a while with some. Erin (Bowman), Erin (Sillin) and Kat (Echavarria) received a tour of the facilities from others.
Later, we helped distribute dinner. It was just tuna sandwiches and fruit juice but it was probably the best meal the children had eaten in a while. Meals are usually just staples (rice, cornflour products etc.) and water, occasionally there is some milk powder available.
We brought the toys to be distributed but decided to leave them to the next day. The party was actually Christmas Eve so the gifts were distributed on Christmas Day as well as giving the children another day with a special event.
The orphanage is able to raise enough funds to provide food and limited education and health care. You have read about the food already. There are three part-time teachers that come by most weekdays. There is also a doctor that is available if needed in an emergency and comes by once in a while to do check-ups. With the help of some PC volunteers they are putting together a sponsorship program to raise more funds. I will put the link to their website on this blog soon to make the program as widely known as possible. Keep reading and tell all your friends. Tell them I will try to be a little more interesting.
With the passing of the holidays life here should become a little less interesting (that will make my last statement a lot harder to adhere to obviously). I'm sure I'll be able to come up with something once in a while though. Who knows maybe I'll actually start to do some real work.
Please feel free to make suggestions or ask me to write about particular subjects. I do read the comments.