Hi everyone, this is globe trotting granny Margaret starting off today with guess what? Well, as most of you now know that wherever Ceri and I go we have to ask for some form of help in our room, and this time we first had to have help because we could not get the air conditioning to work in our room. So a member of hotel staff came along and lo and behold all he did was switch it on and it worked as if by magic. Well how were we supposed to know that the switch was behind the curtain. Then we asked for help because we could not get into our bathroom. The reason for this was because the door handle had fallen off the day before so we put it on the shelf in the bathroom, for safe keeping. Therefore we could get out of the bathroom but could not get in. Anyway the kind person tried to open the door with a kitchen knife but that did not work so he went away and came back with another door handle he had taken from another bathroom, and all is now well again. As Ceri has told you before, she cannot take me anywhere, but it all adds to the excitement. Now over to Ceri for the sensible bits ... Of course, getting the member of staff at reception to understand that the bathroom door was stuck closed was a challenge in itself. He thought I was trying to tell him that there was no water coming out of the taps - as this was also the case, so I had to mime trying to open a stuck door!! He decided to just come to our room to find out what the problem was. I didn't mention to him about the sink that had fallen apart a few hours earlier. I thought let's sort out one problem at a time! And anyway, the pipes that had come apart I had managed to screw back together again... It was then time for something to eat, and yes, it WAS Moo meat on the menu, much to the amusement of the waiter, having listened to us going through a whole selection of possibilities including baaa, cluck cluck and finally moo. He went away laughing. Mum adds ... we just cannot wait for oink oink meat to be displayed on the menu - don't you just wish you were here with us ??? Back to Ceri. Breakfast is equally challenging. It's a buffet, but this creates it's own problems. I needed some butter to spread on my bread, but the only thing I could see that looked a bit like butter came in what looked like candle holders, and I really didn't want to embarrass myself and amuse the staff further by spreading candle wax on my bread, so opted to use just cheese instead... Okay, now for our visit to see Grace, my sponsored child in Ouagadougou. She is six years old and I've sponsored her since the project opened almost two years ago. We were collected from our hotel and taken to the project. There we met the project director who showed us Grace's folder. She is doing VERY well at school - coming second in class out of 143 children. Yesterday I wrote that I had not seen any children in Ouagadougou going to school. The Compassion worker told me that most children here do not go to school. The rate of enrollment is about 30%. He said that this was because of poverty, but also because there was a lack of schools in the community. When children are registered into a Compassion project, education is seen as very important. In areas of the city where there are no schools, rooms in the church are used and teachers are brought in to teach the children. No schools - can you imagine, and that in the capital city. The project director showed us flowers planted by the children, and parents are coming in to improve the environment by planting trees too, because they are so impressed at what is being done for their children through the local church supported by Compassion. The chldren at this project do attend a school - on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturday mornings. They attend the project on Thursdays. They have breakfast and lunch here and participate in lots of activities. Now it was time to visit Grace in her home. She lives in a suburb of the city in a single room house with her mother, sister Jisca aged 2 and a half, grandmother and grandfather. The family are Christian. It is so hot here in Burkina Faso that the family sleep outdoors on mats at night because even in the house it is too hot. The temperature here can get up to 45 degrees. That's why we try not to go out between noon and 4:30pm. Climate change is having an impact here too. The Compassion worker told us that 10 years ago it used to rain every day in August. Now it doesn't - the rains are coming later or not at all, and this is a problem where 90% of the population are farmers. Grace was there to welcome us. She was shorter than I expected. In the photo's I'd received of her she had short hair, but today for this visit her mother had put extensions in her hair for her. She only spoke the local language and some French so all the converstion was translated. She was confident though and happy to sit on me when Jisca wasn't! Her parents were very thanful for what the local church with the support of Compassion was doing. They were especially happy that Grace was learning more about Jesus. They said she likes to sing and to recite memory verses. And of course, she is doing well at school. They'd also noticed a big improvement in her social skills - getting along with other children, and a number of times since the project opened she had got sick but received medical treatment through the project. Malaria is a problem here and all the families also receive mosquito nets and the sprays to impregnate them with. A lot of good things are going on here. We were going to visit a park with Grace, but it was closed today so the Compassion staff are going to take us there with Grace and one of her friends tomorrow. The Compassion worker will also take us to Church tomorrow morning. So then, after the grandfather prayed, it was time to say goodbye - but only for a short time. We will meet again tomorrow. Another day to look forward to. Definately worth coming all the way to Burkina Faso. Pat - I have left the gifts for your sponsored child in Ouagadougou with the Compassion worker who will take them to the Compassion Burkina Faso office on Tuesday for collection by the Compassion staff at his project :) As usual, lots of love from us both. x