I would love to see the teacher’s reactions to some of the things kids say at school or write in their tests. Bradyn, our 9 year old adventurous boy, brought home one of his test papers recently and it was a ‘directional’ test (east, west, south or north). When he was asked the question ‘If you were standing on the bridge, how would you get to the lake?’...our sons response was ‘you jump’ 🙈
Through donations from family and close friends, we have been able to purchase and distribute 250 masks to kids in the region around the church where we have an existing children’s ministry through Gaborone Baptist Church. We have been doing home visits with the kids as we still are not able to meet in a group setting, please keep these precious kiddos in your prayers ❤️ Stay safe 😷
In between lockdowns we have been able to venture out to the Gaborone dam. It’s such a beautiful place that is easy to social distance. Brent loves taking his Traxxis cars out and even lets the kids have a turn every now and then 😂 Ellie loves chasing that cows that freely roam out there...what a life!!
We have the cutest little hedgehogs we got from some friends. We (Brent constructed, Amanda painted) made them this awesome cage out of an old dresser that they can run about during lockdown #3. They are super active at night and just the sweetest.
Meet Cookie the hedgehog
Putting on a brave face as we are back in lockdown here in Botswana for at least 2 weeks...this means no leaving our home without a movement permit from the government 😔
If you go out without a movement permit, you can be fined up to $500 or 6 months in prison 😬 We heard from several friends that went to the closest grocery store without a permit and were fined $200 if they did not have a permit. If you are out without a mask covering your face, even if you have one on but put it down around your neck...that’s a $20 fine. All that said...we are just staying at home 😉
To mask or not to mask...that is the question. I know this is a hot topic right now and I am NOT posting this to say one side or the other is right or wrong. Here in Botswana, we have been wearing masks since lockdown ended in early May. Masks are actually mandatory here when going outside your home and you are fined if you are caught without one. Yes, it was quite uncomfortable in the beginning and I literally thought I was going to pass out the first time I went to the store, but we have learned a few things over the months that might be helpful:
1. Bradyn is asthmatic so I have been overly cautious with him. It helps for him to wear a ‘Buff’ as it allows him a little more room to breathe. My kids both wear buffs to school as it is the most comfortable option for them. I know this is not the double or triple layer that is recommended but still provides protection.
2. Let the kids pick some fun materials and they will enjoy wearing their masks more. I HATE sewing but have used needle and thread to hand sew some masks for my kids and Taylor has even seen a mask. Lots of mask patterns are available online but our favorite is the ‘Olson’ mask.
3. Ellie is 2 and she even will wear a mask. You can use either elastic to fit just behind their ears OR we have found tying Tshirt material as string on the mask to tie behind the head is very comfortable and is easy to tie and untie.
4. Taylor wears glasses so she has the problem of them fogging up. The ‘buff’ is the best option for her but if she does wear a traditional mask, she rolls up a piece of tissue and puts it just under the nose portion and it lies across the top of her nose and goes over her cheeks and eleininates fogging up.
Hope this helps gives some tips and tricks we have learned. Thankfully we have had a low number of cases of Covid19 here in Botswana and I think masks have really helped to protect ourselves and those we come in contact with. Stay safe ❤️
