Bedbugs and Cockroaches

It's Sunday night, it's been a busy day.  First thing this morning we had the exterminator come so that we could spray for bedbugs and other creepy crawlies at the school and orphanage.  We found out yesterday that many of the high school girls were not sleeping well due to a bedbug infestation in the dorm.  What a difference to girls in Canada, it went on for quite a while before any of them complained.  I expect that it may have spread quicker due to the close quarters that the girls live in.  We really need to raise money to build a larger girls dormitory, the bunk beds are stacked so closely together it reminds me of the pictures that I have seen of concentration camps during WWII.   When Karen first saw the girls dorm she had commented that it was a good job that many of these girls are small, because a larger person would have difficulty just walking between the bunks.

So church lasted from 10 until 2pm and the fumigation was still in process when church was over.  In the end the whole process took until about 4pm but a good thorough job was done.  Hopefully no more creepy crawlies.  Karen went over to see the bed bugs and commented that they were a little bigger than a flea and lighter in color.  Karen was also shocked at the thin little foam mattresses that the girls sleep on, so there's another fundraiser for someone.

There had also been some cockroaches spotted in the Kitchen that serves the school and the childrens home, so it was fumigated as well.

 The kitchen needs a couple of thousand dollars to be spent on renovations.  Presently the food is cooked in large pot over an open fire, reminding you of something out of a story book.  The pot itself must be at least three feet in diameter. This open fire is built inside the building on a dirt floor just inside a large open window.  The smoke inside the kitchen is still quite bad even in spite of the large openings in the wall.  The kitchen needs a cement floor so that it can be kept clean of food spillage so as not to attract any more creepy crawlies.  We begin to install a new floor tomorrow, but we still need a large commercial gas stove(~$1000) plus some shelving, a good cutting board area and a washing up sink.  ( Another good project for some one (hint, hint,nudge,nudge))

The rest of the day passed without incident,  our instructor from Organics4orphans arrived safely from Uganda tonight as we begin a workshop on bio-intensive farming with some students and local farmers tomorrow. I had better get some sleep............zzzzzzz