January 24, 2019: In the first ten days

Mary Rudemiller, and David Stone interview a potential scholarship student.

We entered the second half of our trip with much accomplished. David Stone along with Mary Rudemiller, the new scholarship administrator, have interviewed students for 10 days. They have a solid list of high school graduates who will receive help with college fees over the next year and a half.

David Stone, Mary and David Rudemiller looking African!

Janet provides major assistance in coordinating food availability in the Bolga market. Though 8 months pregnant, she is carrying a large water container for Piitanga School.

Lisa has completed food purchases for the Nutrition Center feeding program for infants and toddlers as well as Piitanga and Zeemboug elementary school lunch programs. The cooks for all the programs have been tested (and treated if necessary) for typhoid, hepatitis, and parasites. The borehole pump mechanism has been repaired at a the new feeding site, Zeemboug Elementary. Without good access to clean water over the past few years, the rate of typhoid infection was quite high for those cooks.

In another major accomplishment, desks have been ordered for the new school building in Piitanga. A local welder is building them.This year we’ve had good help from the Nabdam School District and the Health Service in transporting the food, they will also transport the new desks to Piitanga. Donors to Yakote Women Farmers have funded all of these programs.

Standard cooking pot and ladle for the lunch programs. Cooking in these large pots is done over a wood fire.