Ramadan has started; it started yesterday. Ramadan is the month long Muslim fasting time. Ramadan comes once a year but not at the same time each year because they are on a lunar calendar so it jumps forward almost a month each year. During Ramadan the workers are pretty much useless especially when Ramadan comes and the weather is so hot! They fast from sunup to sundown each day which means they cannot have anything to eat or drink all day. I think that it is the not drinking that gets them down!
This morning at 4:30 I saw Papa Zachariah ,our old watchman, roaming around outside. I woke up because the electricity had gone off and I went out to see if it was just the mission house that had no electricity or if it was a general lights off. None of our neighbors had lights either. Papa was roaming around under the big mango tree hunting for mangos with his flashlight. He was probably going to get a bunch of mangos to eat before the sun came up and he had to start fasting.
We like to give the workers their 3 weeks of paid time off during Ramadan because by the end of Ramadan they are so tired that they just want to sit around and sleep. We looked at the calendar this morning and decided the days they would be off. We will give the caregivers of the orphans that are on formula enough formula to last for 3 weeks. One of the watchmen is a Muslim and the other is a Christian. The Christian does not care anything about Ramadan so he will take his time off after Papa Zachariah has finished his leave time. We do not want the compound to be without a watchman.
This morning we sent Mr. Iddrisu to the back field to collect the boards that we had rented and take them back to their owner. We sent a couple plastic bags with him so he could pick up the mangoes. There are 2 mango trees in the back field but we never get the mangoes because the kids climb the wall and cross the razor wire so they can get the mangoes. We hoped the new wall keeps the kids out of the field. Sure enough Mr. Iddrisu hit the jackpot! He came back with tons of mangos. He thought that he was going to keep the mangos for himself; he was surprised when I told him I would go get plastic bags so we could divide them with the workers! The ladies that work here were so pleased. Zorash was put out when she found out that the mangoes in the back field had not been picked up. I told her that Mr. Iddrisu would share the ones he picked up. She did not believe me! There is more than one way to skin a cat and there is more than one way to get people to share!
Thank you for all you do!
In His Service,
Steve and Kandie
