Hi everyone,It was great to see some of you when I was recently home for an unexpected weekend visit to celebrate my mum's graduation – I'm so grateful to be able to work among the people who are so close to my heart yet be able to 'pop' home on the train for the weekend. It was also great to have a visit from John, Sue and Kate. We had a great time visiting the W African parts of Paris and meeting lots of people out and about on the streets. Their visit was a real encouragement for me.
A few weeks ago I had a moment of radio fame in Paris, when I agreed to go on a weekly radio show for the S community! It was a tiring experience – the show lasted for over three hours, and even though I wasn't talking all that time, I had to concentrate hard as I could be asked a question at any moment, on a wide variety of topics. I came away slightly frustrated at the language mistakes I made and the things I thought afterwards that I 'could' have said, but lots of people have since commented on the fact that they heard me and stories of the tubab (white person) who speaks S are spreading!
I have also been teaching twice a week (covering for someone who was away) at the women's literacy classes that I was helping out at, even though as a foreigner I don't feel that qualified to teach French! Most of the women are immigrants who have already learnt French orally, so the focus of the class is to help them learn the alphabet and how to read and write, equipping them with skills to help with daily life here in France.
Another thing I have been occupied with is converting all the 54 Bible stories that we recorded in Gambia into dvd format (nothing fancy, just a plain screen with the sound files in the background), because dvds are really popular among the community in France and much more widely used than cds or tapes. The big advantage is that I found a way to fit all four hours of stories onto one dvd, whereas they were taking up four audio cds. I have been giving these to different contacts as appropriate.
Right now I am back in Gambia to spend time in the village and to attend a conference for workers from across W Africa. We're busy setting up things for this right now and excited to be welcoming special Petworth guest Reuben who will be coming to look after the children. Thanks to those who have helped make his trip possible – we are looking forward to having him here and his presence will be a great blessing to lots of families!
There's lots more I could write but I'll save it for another time... thanks as always for your support, encouragement and prayers.Love
Hannah
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