The bad news: still waiting to have that window leak fixed by my house owner so every rain someone needs to be there to keep changing the wet cloths underneath it - the good news is that we’re reminded of that because there’s been regular rain! The heat is still there when clouds dissipate, but nights are starting to get a bit cooler.
I just got back from a long weekend away and on the 4 hours’ drive it was refreshing to see the green fuzz along the road and the grain already foot-high in some fields. Noundioua, our class president at IMS with a wife and large family back in his village is one student who will be going home the holidays starting this Friday - originally to help his wife and children with the planting as well as his many church responsibilities but now to help out in the fields since their crops are already starting to show as well.
Unfortunately, it seems that country-wide this may not be enough, since with some grain being sold to other countries (where they’re paying higher prices) and the effects of last year’s difficult climate I’ve heard that reserves may be low and that there are regions that have already almost finished all the food they have (with months to go to a hoped-for but not certain harvest) so there looks like difficult times ahead. Add to that Touareg refugees streaming in from the country north after action against their villages, and it doesn’t look too good … so please pray for meetings taking place at the moment with government, relief agencies and missions.
