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Dear Family and Friends
Greetings from COLD Namibia!
AFRICA you think HOT! Well, winter here is not
for
sissies! The houses are built to stay cool in the
summer, so they are ice boxes in the winter! There is
no heating, and last night it went down to minus two
degrees celsius. I kept thinking of all the little
children with bare feet walking around on the cold
ground, and many of them sleeping on it, too. Shoes
and blankets have been distributed by many
organizations, and I am happy to see most of the kids
with some sort of sweater or jacket. Needless to say
we are all looking forward to longer days and warmer
nights in the upcoming months!
Working with the children has been very rewarding. I
am quite pleased with the progress they have made,
especially in the after-school program at the Bernhard
Nordkamp Center. Six months ago they were like wild
maniacs and the place was in total pandemonium. Now I
can honestly say the kids have changed one hundred
percent and are polite, kind and adhere to the "NO
FIGHTING" policy. The norm is to respect one another
and to play nicely with the games and puzzles. I
explained to them that the games, books and everything
in the center is THEIRS, and that if they steal it
they are NOT stealing from me, they are stealing from
one another. Since then nothing has disappeared and
the kids have taken more responsibility for THEIR
stuff. It is a wonderful accomplishment.
And, speaking of Grateful, I am ETERNALLY GRATEFUL to
all of you for your financial donations and also all
the educational materials you have collected for me.
The lego and duplo blocks are FABULOUS and I can
ALWAYS use more! The kids play for HOURS and you can
hear a pin drop, they are so fascinated with them!
Same goes for the puzzles, dominoes, connect 4 and
scrabble games. I encourage you to come to Namibia so
you can see the kids playing with all this AWESOME
stuff!
In the afternoons and weekends it is all about SOCCER!
I have been organizing a group of little girls at the
center who play every Thursday afternoon under my
supervision and coaching. Two weeks ago they played
their first game. It was against a group of young
girls all three to four times their sizes. They
played on a gravel field, strewn with broken glass and
stones. They were so excited to play their first
"real" game that they didn't even care that the
opposing team was bigger and stronger than they were.
When we got to the field, they asked me if they were
going to wear the yellow pinnies that we always use.
"No", I told them, "Today I have a special treat for
you. You are going to wear REAL uniforms!" They
squealed with glee. "The shirts are orange, so maybe
we should call you the pumpkins," I said jokingly.
They loved the idea, but one girl piped up, "No! We
are not JUST pumpkins. We are BEAUTIFUL pumpkins!!!"
So, that is the name of our first little girls soccer
team: The Beautiful Pumpkins! They lost 3-0, but
they played like champions, and went over to the other
girls to shake their hands after the game. Their
sportsmanship and enthusiasm were touching. They
really are my Beautiful pumpkins, and I am so proud of
them. Their orange uniforms were donated by little
girls in the Briarcliff AYSO program, and I was so
touched that many of them not only gave up their
uniforms, but their shin guards, socks and cleats too!
Please keep in touch!
You can always email me: Marybeth_gallagher@yahoo.com
or call my parent's home(914) 941-4686,
leave a message, and I will call you
back. (well, I will do so in September and October!)
For those of you who have been asking what we need, we
can ALWAYS use lego and duplo blocks and jigsaw
puzzles of 100 pieces or less. (especially wooden
ones with 4 to 10 pieces for the little kids!) Soccer
uniforms and soccer gear would also be VERY welcome!
Children's picture books we can ship over, so thanks
for collecting them, too! But what I would MOST like
to have in Africa is YOU, so save up your dollars and
come on over!
A million thanks to all of you for your love, prayers
and support. Your kindness and generosity have
brought a lot of happiness and joy into the lives of
the children here, and into my life, too!
Big Hugs and tons of love from the other side of the
world!
Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
MaryBeth :)
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