Christmas is just around the corner. . .
. . and several of our Betikara sponsors are already asking questions:
Should I send a Christmas gift for my lamb? Or, should I send a check
to Indiana church and you buy my lamb something they need? Isn’t
postage too expensive? Do you get the packages in time? What
would be best for me to do?
They are all
good questions and all needful. I thought I must just write with
a little bit of third world wisdom so you can do the best thing you see
fit for your Betikara lamb. Let me assure you that whatever you do
delights the lambs. They are easy to please and thankful for anything.
These kids make fun out of nothing, so you don’t have to worry too much,
because they will make fun fun fun out of any little thing you do.
We have sponsors
who send things to their lambs several times a year. Others send
things once a year. Some send large boxes. Some send cards,
letters and photos. Some sponsors send boxes of goodies for the whole
flock of lambs. Usually at Christmas time, most of the lambs get
a box from at least one of their sponsors. If there is a lamb who
does not get a box, then we make up a box of goodies for that lamb.
Generally, you sponsors are far too generous. It would warm your
heart to see the delight on the face of a lamb who receives just a picture
or just a letter.
I have several
suggestions for those of you who want to send something for your lamb this
Christmas. Generally, buying gifts in Madagascar is very expensive
and very difficult. Things are difficult to find and very poor quality
here. The folks of Betikara do not have the time to buy individual
gifts for each child even if we could find that many appropriate things.
I wish you could come for a visit and walk through the open market with
me just once. Then you would understand how difficult shopping is
in this island country.
Here are a few tidbits of advice:
-
Think small and lightweight. It is not necessary to send your lamb
a 50 lb. box of goodies.
-
One small item is enough.
-
Put the gift you choose in a small padded envelope.
-
Include a new picture of yourself or your family. The lambs love
those pictures of you.
-
Mail early, beginning of November if possible. Last year all of the
gifts for the lambs were late, some of them as late as March.
-
Do NOT address the package to your lamb. Please address all packages
to:
Barry Rosie
B.P. 7554
Antananarivo 101
Madagascar
-
Put your lamb’s name somewhere on the outside of the package and we will
see that he or she gets your treat. We will try to take a picture
of the event if possible.
Thanks so much for loving these lambs! They love you too.
The floor of Phase II is poured.
They worked daily on it for more than one month, 20 workers, with 8
wheelbarrows, 20 shovels, and lots and lots of muscles, and it’s finished.
The floor of Phase II is poured, 10,500 square feet of cement, and all
of it poured by hand. They used 878 bags of cement. Now, they
all go back to working on raising the center walls so that we can raise
the roof on the center section of the children’s end of the home.
There’s a grassy playing field for the children. This month, the
lambs filled in low spots on the playing field, constructed Malagasy style
soccer goal posts, and outlined the playing field for a real soccer game.
The lambs’ diet is already being supplemented off the garden. It’s
really beginning to look and feel like home.
Everyone had a vacation.
Madagascar has a wonderful custom involving their children and school
vacations. No one here has enough money to go on a real vacation,
but parents and family here have a delightful way of providing their children
with a mock vacation. They pack up their kids and send them to a
relative’s home for two weeks and call it a vacation. The kids eat
it up and get a change of scenery (even if that change of scenery entails
only two city blocks), parents get a short break from their own children,
and everybody is happy. This is the first year in Betikara’s history
that family or friends have stepped forward voluntarily to give the Betikara
lambs a mock vacation. Every lamb had a break from the Center and
they are all back now except for Toky whose mother has taken him back.
As far as we know he is not attending school, and we continue to pray that
our Father guard his little heart and help him to hold fast to all he learned
at Betikara. The other lambs are all back at their desks and working
away in school with much enthusiasm.
Welcome Back, Irma.
She made it back, Folks, and we are so happy to have her. Irma
and Sandy played a joke on the Betikara children Irma’s first day back.
Sandy went into the Center alone explaining to the children that Irma was
so tired, while Irma waited behind the fence wall. The lambs were
duly disappointed, thinking that Irma had stayed at our house to rest for
the day instead of coming to greet them after an almost four month absence.
When Sandy had them all seated and ready for an afternoon activity, in
strolled Irma. Pandemonium ensued. Tsiry dove at Irma first,
grabbed her in a bear hug, lifted her off her feet and swung her around.
The others all piled on for their turn at much needed hugs, and then they
all turned on Sandy, shaking fingers at her because she had played such
a sneaky trick on them. It was a real celebration. Sandy has
stayed longer than any other volunteer who has come to work with the lambs,
and Irma is the first to come back. Those actions send a big message
to the lambs, reminding them how much they are loved. A husband/wife
team, Yann and Sylvie Perruchoud, are due in on October 26th for about
one year with the lambs, and Stacy’s sister, Korri Morsey, arrives on November
8th for a three month stay. The lambs are being showered with blessings
from volunteers with their caring and loving and serving hearts.
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