Cleaning and Growing

I took a number of clips around the Phare today to show you what the maintenance guys are up to. We've had a number of people staying for a few nights on their way here or there. Some are just coming to Senegal. Some are on their way home to the US after several weeks here. But those kinds of stays are fairly quiet.

After having problems at our apartment building with sewage lines and tanks and all that, I was thinking already that we hadn't looked at ours here for many years. Then the drain for the washing machines backed up and Patrice opened things up. I suggested to Herve that we bring in Jean Gomis again. This time instead of being a mason, he could be a... What was Jacky Gleason's buddy's occupation? Ed Norton on the Honeymooners.

Ed worked for the NY sewer department and described his job as a "Sub-supervisor in the sub-division of the department of sub-terranian sanitation, I just keep things moving along." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Honeymooners

I wandered around back with Mbaye to answer Aaron's recent inquiry about the state of his trench gardens. These three are in French and addressed to Aaron.

We'll need an answer about trimming the baby moringa trees, Aaron.

Now a couple bits from me.

The weatherman is saying that rain is on its way starting tomorrow, with thunderstorms likely every day for a week. Perhaps Mbaye's plants will revive and thrive.

Recovering Unused Space

Here's a little clip from this morning.

Defenses in Place

So, it's July and the Phare is a bit quiet.

ITES is finishing up courses. The Systematic Theology class had their last class this morning. The final exam is next Tuesday. The families that were here earlier in the week are gone. Alex has brought in a guy to help Herve with payroll taxes and contracts and all that. I'm wrapping up end-of-fiscal-year stuff for the home office.

Quiet.

So perhaps that is why I keep posting about our rain issues!

I mean today I had a visit from our long-lost friend Moise Bodian. Once, long ago, Moise contracted TB from a fellow church member in Ouakam who had died of the disease. We put Moise in isolation in the dormitory here for months while he followed the course of drugs needed to heal him. (How times have changed! At the time, no one was using that building. Most Phare apartments were rented by missionaries. Frequent conferences were still on the distant horizon. The dorm mostly stood empty.) Moise now lives in Gambia and is taking over the family farm for his recently deceased father.

Abba came by, as well. He's a former Phare guard and is now an evangelist.

But all of that is mostly non-news for you out there! So here is a little clip of developments in the preparations for the deluge.

In case the video in the previous post wasn't clear, Jane took a couple shots of our entrance alley so you could see what washed in from the road construction.