Dawson's school

When my sister was here, she and Zachary went to school with Dawson. It was nice because she actually got to take pictures of his day and fill me in on what really goes on.

In the mornings they start out singing. Dawson's favorite songs are "fanga b'a la" and "Yesu est mon ami" which are "Power is in Him" power in his blood and "Jesus is my friend." It's cute to hear him sing these. His teacher has told me before that his favorite is really fanga b'a la and that he goes around school singing the song.

Not a great pic of him, but here he is working on his drawing. Each day they spend time writing, often it is just lines or dots. They are moving up to shapes!

Here's a picture of his class. The white lady on the left is Erin. She is an American here working in Dawson's class. It is such a blessing that she is there. Dawson told me today that she is his favorite person in the world. Kind of hurt his favorite person isn't in the family, but glad he enjoys her at school! :)

After bathroom time, they wash their hands in these buckets...since bathroom time really is just going in a hole, which has no plumbing or anything and no sinks.

Dawson gets 25 CFA (5 cents) each day to buy juice. It is da, which is a leaf that they boil and get a liquid, then they add water and sugar and freeze it. This gave him diarrhea his whole first year in school but he got used to it and is fine with it now. He enjoys it a lot.

So though the school isn't like anything in the States, he enjoys his days overall and is picking up more and more french. He can count to 5 in french, say his colors and then randomly comes out with several phrases. We are really thankful for all that he has learned and more importantly that it has improved his relations with Malians and now he is more willing to talk with them.