Sisters Veronica’s School

On Monday, we went with the Roundy's, to sister Veronica's orphan school to deliver the skirts and shorts that I made for the pikininis.  I ended up making 32 skirts and 25 pairs of shorts (for the little boys).  She was thrilled to have them.  Sister Roundy gave her a sewing machine and taught them how to sew these items, so now some of the mama's can sew their own uniforms.  It's all about self reliance! All other schools have uniforms for their kids, and now this little school as them too.  Not all of the children there are orphans, but many are and different families look after those that need a place to live.  It was fun to look in on the kids in their classrooms and see what they were doing.  Since we can't understand Bislama real well, it's hard to tell how good their education is.  Sister Veronica started her little school out by making rolls and selling them for 20 vatu (about 20 cents) each their in her village.  She used that money to buy school supplies, and was meeting in a little tin shed for school.  To me, she is the mother Teresa of Port Vila.  When the Sackley's (previous humanitarian couple) found her, they got going on helping to get a school built for her kids to meet in.  It was built out of tin and wood, with humanitarian funds.  She was also given a big water tank.  She deserves everything she needs.  Greg and Elder Collette did some electrical work for her so that they could have a little bit of lighting to see a little better.  These dear people are soooo poor as far as material things go, but poor in spirit they are not.  I'll attach pics and a video for you to see.

Last Saturday morning, president Granger had all the district presidents from the other islands come in for one last training before he leaves the mission.  That morning, we were all playing pickleball, as ususal, wouldn't miss it, and on the court walks presidents Morgan (Tanna) and Sausaru (Solomon Islands).  They were there to play pickleball with us before the meeting.  They had so much fun!  They were like a couple of kids.  In Tanna, they have nothing like this going on for the people.  In Solomon, the Fuiomauno's  (senior couple) play it at their complex.  I think president Sausau has played with them a little bit.  It was so funny, they would jump up and down and get real excited when they played well.  So cute.  None of us had our phones with us to take a picture.  Darn!  It would have been fun to take some video.  

We've started to make airline and hotel reservations for the audits.  We'll be going to Tanna and Solomon Islands in July.  The dates that we were given hopefully won't change.  With a new mission president coming, you never know!  We'll soon find out.   President and sister Duquette will be here on July 1st.  I think they're coming from Orem, Utah.

Our bug problem is slowly getting resolved.  When the cleaners came Monday, they cloroxed the floors and vacuumed the furniture the best they could.  The cushions on the couch are not removable, so I can only imagine how much icky stuff is in the couch.  They vacuumed the best they could.  I stuffed cloths soaked with permitherine (insecticide) down the sides and back of the couch, hoping that might take care of it. It seems to be working.  We'll be more careful when we travel, we've read up on what to do.  

The Roundy's are going to Fiji for some humanitarian training today.  They asked us to take a class for them while they are gone.  We will be working with the kids on math and english.  They have a packet of worksheets with spelling and math that they work on each week.  They started out with about 10 kids and are down to about 4.  It gets a little discouraging when they don't show up to learn.  I posted a little video of the kids just prior to this post.  

Today is Saturday,  Sister Tucker asked me to go with her to help her outfit two missionaries that are visa waiting here in Port Vila.  One is from the island of Tanna going to Brisbane, Australia, and the other is from South Africa going to Malekula.  We tracked all over town looking for clothes, shoes, flashlights, shave kits, watches, belts...I think it's universal that most men hate shopping!  Those poor elders, they were grateful for their stuff, but were glad when we finished.  Neither one of them could speak English very well, or they probably would have pleaded for us to take them back to their apartment!!  What's nice is that when missionaries go home, they leave a lot of their clothes and other things behind.  We have several suits, lots of white shirts, skirts and tops.  We just wash them up for other missionaries to use that come in from the islands and various places.  

Tonight is potluck and games at our apartment.  I am making a pasta/chicken bake, others will bring a green salad, fruit and dessert.  When it's at your place, you make the main dish.  We will eat dinner and then play games.  Elder Lindeman has downloaded a few professional pickleball games off of YouTube for us to watch.  That will be fun to see, the pros are amazing to watch.  If you haven't seen pickleball being played, log  on to YouTube and watch.  Utah is suppose to be one of the fastest growing states in pickleball.  Well, I'll closes for now.  Take care and I'll email again soon.  Love you all, Greg and Ann