Insects and Snakes and Mice...oh my!

We thought you might enjoy some photos of the wildlife in the Congo

This viper was found in our garden one day and a couple of the local guys killed it for us. Whew! Apparently it is good luck if you have a snake in your garden, so the locals were excited for us.

These beetles liked to hang around our porch. They were harmless. Sarah's facial expression is just for show.

The mouse looks cute here...but they are quite a nusance!

Sam killed a few of these huge spiders that got in our house.

This is called a pangolin. It is an ant eater. Michelle and Aaron found it in their ceiling one night and kept it for a day. But they decided to let it go back in the forest after many people told us we should cook it up. It is a totally harmless animal and very interesting. It feels like a pinecone.

These guys were everywhere! The crawl up the outside of our house and on top of our ceiling all day. They often were our wake-up call at about 5AM when they were trying to get away from the crows.

Someone gave us this chicken as a gift. We ate it

Elikya Center Photos

Here is everyone who is currently working at the Elikya Center or in the program right now. It is about 35 people...teachers and students.

Young, unwed mothers learn how to sew. Mami is sewing a simple school bag to be given to orphans who are sponsored through the Global Fingerprints program.

This is the first step in soap-making. Lili and Ariete are boiling palm oil that will be used for the soap.

Mama Susa oversees all the sewing and soap-making at the center. This day she was teaching some of the widows how to make soap. It is about a three day process to make the soap. They sell it in the market and it is a very good soap.

These are the carpentry students. Older orphan boys (at least age 18) come here to learn carpentry and masonry skills. The guy in the overalls was a student in the Elikya program earlier this year and has been hired back to teach carpentry to the new group of students.

The boy in the back of this photo walked about 150 miles to come to the Elikya Center and learn carpentry. He told us the he had never heard about God before he came to Elikya and now he knows about God.