Watching where to walk

Had a busy day today.   In the late morning we went to the school at Kakudu where we assist the children with crafts.  We worked with the children making tambourines.

 This was very enjoyable for these kids and they used them at the end as fans while making music.

As I have said before, these schools do not have electricity and so become very hot because the air doesn't move much.  So as I was helping one of the children a drop of perspiration fell from my face onto his hand.  He looked at it with absolute disgust, looked at me with that same expression on his face and wiped it off.  I had to laugh....it would have been exactly my response had he dropped sweat on me..... Then had to go to the corner to wipe my face off with my shirt.  I felt like I was 12 again....wiping things on my shirt.  It truly is like a sauna.








At the end of the class one of the volunteer women started to sing and beat the tambourine and immediately the children joined in with her.

In the early afternoon I went to the base to meet with James the medic.  He was to give me a copy of the curriculum to teach first aid to the  86 trainees that have just returned from Canada and will be going to Indonesia in 4 more weeks.  When I arrived he had an emergency as they were preparing to medivac a person to South Africa who has seriously lung issues.  So, I will have to try to meet with him again to get the materials.  They want CPR training and general first aid.  It should be enjoyable and my friend Jan will help.

Since we couldn't meet with him, we went to the wildlife area to see if they had any new creatures that will be released in the wild.  Now you remember I mentioned the little hotel that has cottages and a resaturant, Kinwicka.  Well, this past week they caught a baby spitting cobra.....and I'm correct, it is a spitting cobra.... and a Puff Adder.......and both on the restaurant grounds.  Now the baby spitting cobra was in a plastic box.  It was very attentive and we could not look on a level gaze with the snake because there are small air holes in the side of the box and the snake will spit through the small holes onto us....and they go for the eyes.  So we could see it from an angle and the head was only about the size of the tip of my index finger....so small but vicious.

The Puff Adder was in an enclosure and we were able to get quite close.  This one measured 92 cm (about 3 feet long) and was quite fat.  The wildlife man, Tim, says that he thinks this snake might be pregnant.  Now Puff Adders deliver live young and the record is 156 babies....but the normal is 16-40.  This snake is very dangerous due to the toxicity of the venom.  And Tim said that if you are within the striking distance of the snake, you will be bitten and this snake strikes and returns to the coil position in 0.24 seconds.  It can strike it's full length so 3 feet.  I am including two pictures below.  Note in the first one, if the dry grass is over any part of the snake, you just won't see it.  And the second is the snake itself when not covered.

During the late afternoon we had the heaviest rain since we have been here.  It was so strong that it came through our roof and flooded one the bedrooms.  I was surprised at how much rain came down in an hour.  Cooled things off though.

So what is my life learning for today?  There always are learnings.  It is just that many times we don't ask ourselves the question.  I believe today for me it is to be careful where I walk......not just because I might not see a snake near the path and be seriously injured but to pay attention to where I allow my mind, attitudes, and activities to lead me.  It is so easy to be unintentionally negligent and not mindful there are dangers all around us......I'm more careful  here....but the dangers that change who we are and what we believe are many times hidden from us and we need a close walk with Jesus to keep aware of these and walk carefully.