A Daily Process

Friday, May 31, 2013

Thoughts During the Last Week of School

Wow! The 2012-2013 school year is complete, I officially have a 5th, 3rd, and 1st grader and I can hardly believe it! The kids asked if we could have chocolate cake for lunch on the last day of school..in AFRICA...so, I said YES!

I feel like we've had a beautiful two year run here...lots of memories and projects completed at HOPAC, with the Sala Sala Kids' Club, with The Ocean, within our own family, and with our schooling.

Tomorrow, we can officially say we're going back to the US "this month"...it's just 12 more days!

There are a lot of conflicting emotions and feelings going on right now. There are things about reverse culture shock that I'm not sure that I'm ready for, that will surprise me, no matter how much I read about it or how much I pray. I've been working hard to set things up in the States for us, housing, finances, school things, training for Indy and I... plus, there is the packing and giving away of stuff here in Dar as well. Yesterday, I had some time where I literally laid in bed and felt like I was going to completely shut down and just wanted it all to go away, it was just too much to handle!

I'm excited about the end of this race, and the new beginning that we can see emerging as well!

Life, when we walk with our Lord, is always an adventure!

The "Dragon Son" that Gwangi made from his Legos.

Working on some school work.

Final 50 States "fill in the blank" quiz.

The boys did well, there were just a few that they needed prodding on to remember. I probably should have quizzed them a month ago, we haven't reviewed it in about that many weeks, lol.

Sala Sala Field Day

Our Physical Education Teacher at HOPAC, Rose, had a team come out and help put on FOUR Field Days...one each for the Primary and Secondary students at HOPAC and then 2 for the Sala Sala kids that we work with on Monday and Tuesdays each week. They brought out t-shirts, ribbons, certificates, and purchased snacks and WATER FILTERS for the families that we love from the Sala Sala rock quarry behind HOPAC. What a huge blessing they were! It's always so awesome when you can share your vision with those from home.

Showing up, getting their shirts, some water and a banana, and getting ready for the events.

Jackson and Shaun letting the kids know what is going to happen.

They're listening.

Jennifer Wickham, all ready for the events to begin.

Krypto

My group of girls started off with the softball throw.

They had been working on this skill for the past couple of months on Mondays.

And, there she goes, the ball is away.

Gavin, Gwangi, and Indy were measuring the distances.

They all wanted to see how far they had thrown the softball.

Then, the long jump.

Those girls could get some air.

And, she landed.

Another one is flying.

Lucy was excited and watching some of the younger girls jump.

Gwangi

The running events...200, 400, and 800 meters.

Checking on the times.

The boys, coming around the corner.

The girls, cheering on the boys.

We got some ribbons, and they were so happy!

And certificates, too.

The girls going up to get their ribbons and certificates.

Another ribbon!

The view of the moon as we were leaving after the kids had gone and we had cleaned up the field. Whew! What a day! So glad Rose's team also brought GLO STICKS for the kids that helped, my kids were thrilled! Thanks, Rose!

Krypto's Final 4th Grade Paper

This was Krypto's final paper for the school year. He read a book about Marie Curie, outlined it on his own, and wrote a rough draft with no help. I made some grammar and spelling corrections with him looking on, so we could discuss it and learn where his errors were, and he then made those changes to his paper. This is his final draft.

I am very happy with all the effort that he has put into his writing this year.

Happy End of 4th Grade, Krypto!!!

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Marie Curie was born on November 7, 1868. She was the last of five children, her family was poor and their house was an apartment, there were four girls, and one boy. Though her family had no money to send her to school, she was very bright, and her mother taught them to read and write. She proved how bright she was when her eldest sister, who was ten at the time, stuttered with a book. Marie, who was five, read the sentence her sister couldn’t read with perfect clarity. Unfortunately, Marie’s mother died of tuberculosis when Marie was only seven.

Without her mother to teach her and because she had a burning desire to learn, she taught herself from the books around her house. But, she was still too poor to go to school, so the moment she was old enough, she took a job as a governess. It took three years to save up enough to go to the college of her dreams, the Sorbonne, which was a very well respected French college. Nobody thought she could pass, but she did, with a diploma in Chemistry. At the time, Uranium was the only known radioactive substance, and all that people knew about it was that it sent out waves. When Marie worked with some Uranium she discovered that some of it wasn’t Uranium! By testing, she discovered that one percent of the rock that she was holding was four times more radioactive than uranium, so she called it Radium. She also discovered radioactivity could kill cancer and that it also causes cancer.

During the time she was working with Uranium, she also got married and had two children. Unfortunately, her husband died by being crushed under the wheels of a carriage. She and her daughters were very sad. A few years later she fell in love again. But, the guy was already married and the newspapers attacked her because of this. Other papers claimed that she hadn’t actually discovered radium, but had stolen the papers from another professor. She tried hard to defend herself, but it was actually her government friends that saved her.

During World War I she helped soldiers using the new X-ray invented and inspired by her work on radioactivity. She helped save 30,000 people from dying. After that she went to America and met President Harding, hundreds of newspaper reporters, and even Thomas Edison!

Marie Curie died on July 4, 1937. No one really knows how she died, but many think she died of radioactive poisoning. She won 2 Nobel honors, and greatly advanced the fields of Medicine and Chemistry.