It's the name of the game

Julietta, the daughter recent converts, Rui and Bendita, gave birth this week (or, to use Mozambican terminology, deu a luz or "gave the light". Rui told us that they had been tasked with selecting a name for their first grandchild, a healthy little girl. We visited the new parents the day after the birth in their cozy little mud home and of course Debbie brought a gift in a very American gift bag. Mom was up and around and looking good. Today we were told the name of the child: Debra Bokais Dominão. As you can see below, the child looks quite a bit like her namesake. I worry that this makes us responsible for college.

Juliette here is showing why African women usually keep their hair closely cropped, capped, or braided. This is the first time I had ever seen her hair uncovered--quite a sight.

A few other recent photos:

Two young women from Marromeu.

The missionaries from Marromeu working on the bat project.

These two pictures are proof that not every African child is adorable and beautiful--they are very much still God's children, but some are just as plain and homely as can be.

We started a new reading class today. Debbie is leading and I am assisting. We are concerned with the lack of literacy among women in particular, which robs them of so much in life, temporally and spiritually--and keeps them from being able to educate their children as well. I am speaking in all the Northern Mozambican churches on the need to be able to read.--something taught forcefully by BoM prophets (see Mosiah 1:2 among others). Two of our three invited came today, and I actually think that it will be successful. The women are excited and really feel the need to get this taken care of. A little bit of babysitting is included in our professorial duties (I was peed upon somewhere midway through the alphabet today).

Local cranes or something like them in a sugarcane field after harvest.

Location:Quelimane, Mozambique