So what do you do everyday?

Today is Monday.  What are we doing?  Well, Aaron and Josh are wirebrushing a shipping container which has been converted to the library.  This is in preparation for painting.  It is an older container, and rusting.  Steve and Gordon have tacked a number of maintenance jobs today.  The picture shows Steve replacing the supply line on a leaking toilet.  Gordon is repairing a bench that is used in the boys' dorm where the older children eat and do homework.  They have continued to knock out a number of small projects like this today.  I was taking pictures so you don't see me.  But what I was doing was marking names on all items that are going with Grace, Kenedy, and Francis when they leave soon for their first year in high school.  I have to write a whole blog about high school in Kenya ...later.  But high school for most students means boarding at the school.  The school gives a list of what each student should bring.  All their things are kept in a trunk.  I brought with me black and silver Sharpie markers and a Dymo labeller, including the iron-on  fabric labels because last year I saw the house Moms stitching the students' initials in their clothing by hand.  This year I volunteered for the job of labelling.  Some of the things that are standard for most all students are: a plate, spoon, and cup (for their meals, of course), 3 blankets, an English dictionary, a Kiswahili dictionary, an atlas, a set of mathematical tables (logs, trig tables - sorry, no calculators here).  Also they are to bring a Bible (New Revised Standard Version) and a book called Golden Bells, which contains the lyrics to Christian hymns.  The schools that these children are attending are NOT parochial schools (these are provincial and district schools, funded by the government).  Except for areas of the country where there is a strong Muslim influence (like on the coast, near Mombasa), this is considered standard fare.  I remember when I was in the first grade our teacher had a Bible on her desk and she read a little outloud to us everyday.  I also helped cover all their books.  Even the exercise books of the younger children are covered.  Ususally they just use newspaper, but for these high school students they had brown paper, not nearly as heavy as craft paper, more like newsprint.  I remember covering my books when I was in grade school.  I don't think they do that anymore.  However, my mother would be proud if she saw the meticulous job I did on the book covers.