This is the street in front of our house.  As you can see we have a "trough" that runs along the wall opposite to our place.  This helps during rainy season but overall it does little in terms of aromatic appeal.  

This is our main classroom.  Have been grateful for the fans and the fact that we can open the doors for some air.  It does get very hot.  Only problem is quantity of flies that come in and lizards that keep entering.  Talking to students it is much better than the public school classrooms where there are frequently up to 80 students crammed into a small room with no ventilation.  Hard to keep focus in those situations.  In the grey cabinet we have our English book library where students borrow books for two weeks to aid in their learning.  Grateful to those folks who supplied the books.

The classroom is in the garage.  A rarity in Niger but a blessing for us.  When the classroom is occupied Grace will use the area next to the car, under the mango tree, as a classroom setting.  On the wall to the right of the car there is actually a big blackboard.  Our resident family makes good use of the blackboard in doing their homework.

Between Hausa literacy, English and computer literacy we are currently running 22 teaching sessions a week.  Grace is going to start an Art club ministry very soon.  We have seen some very talented work from some students.

Blessings to all

Orest Pelech

Lizards, cockroaches, crickets and grasshoppers!  These days we are returning to the second hot season of the year. This one is the humid hot season as rains have recently finished. So, I am experiencing lots of hot sweaty moments or one may say flushed.  Well, I am taking that word flushed literally.   The past 12 hours I have shared my bathroom with lizards, cockroaches, crickets and grasshoppers, and they have all been flushed away.

Generally, we don’t have lizards in our house. We do share the house with salamanders but not lizards. Lizards make bad house guests. They have no boundaries and pop everywhere unlike salamanders which have the decency to hide when people are present and to come out after dark. They both eat mosquitos and other bugs which is beneficial, but lizard grow large, unlike salamanders.

Just when I was going to wrap up this little rant I entered my work space and discovered 4 more lizards in my window casing and the stench of a dead one somewhere in the room! I quickly closed the window tight and will figure how to remove them later! Grrrr, walking back to the living room I glanced in the spare room and there lounging out on the top of the bed was 2 more, What! Really! Response: Husband bring the broom!!! It was like wrestling a slippery pig, one more gone, the other MIA for now.

Today we pick up a new door screen system we ordered from Canada. Here’s hoping it will solve the problem. The lizards are most likely coming in through the bottom of the front door drape and cannot find their way out once they entered. These days there is hundreds of new lizards being hatched daily, and the young ones are fearless.

Regarding the other critters, cockroaches are normal, we see them daily. There are many points of entry, and the way the water and sewer systems are set up it is to be expected. However, not particularly used to stepping on them in the shower. Grasshopper and crickets tend to cling to our cloths unaware when outdoors and come into the house with us.

Speaking with a friend today, she was telling me that a cat would solve the lizard problem like they do with mice. Trust me that would only add to the dynamics around the house. Buddy, our house dog thinks cats are for chasing away!