A Penny for your thoughts?

Étienne has just been awarded his yellow belt for karate. Physically, he is very lazy so the discipline of karate is good for him. (Photos I now take will look rather funny as the camera can no longer focus properly. However, I have an ‘action’ in Photoshop which helps to sharpen some images somewhat.)
I have posted a couple of things of interest for you to see. One is a letter to the national paper about the delay mail can experience in transit, both into and out of the country. We have been very fortunate, ‘losing’ only 4 parcels over Christmas. I don't know about letters, but they seem to arrive ok, though they can take up to 3 months from Australia!
The one picture is of a new Zimbabwean note. You may not be able to read it clearly so I will tell you what it says: ‘Pay the bearer on demand 100 dollars on or before 31 December 2007 … Issue date: 1st August 2006.’ This time limit on its value is because people are taking it out of the country and/or hoarding it in the hope that it will be of value again. I have never seen a note with a comment like that. Have you?
Talking of currency, thank you to everyone who has been helping us to build a paper currency collection. Long-term it will be for Caris (Étienne has a stamp collection I started for him). We so far have the following countries: Egypt, Tanzania, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe; an original AU$1 note; £1 notes from England, Guernsey, Jersey, Scotland and Cyprus; 5 Euro; Italy; Romania (?); Turkey; Serbia; Jugoslavia; India; United Arab Emirates; Malaysia; Singapore; Korea; Indonesia; Hong Kong and China.
These notes are very useful for home-schooling. One can work with such questions as:
* where in the world IS the country featured?
* what language is on the note and why? E.g. why does a country other than England use English? One can then talk about colonisation etc. If it is not English, what language is it? What language is it like? Why do Greek and Russian share similarities?
* what person/s or place is featured on the note and why is that person/place important to the country? What role did/do they play in its history?
* is paper money ‘real’ money? How does money ‘work’?
* when were ‘coins’ first used? (8th century BC)
* has anything else ever been used, other than money, as currency?
*why do coins come in different shapes and sizes, even within one system? (one can practice being blind and learning to tell what worth the coin in your hand is).
* why do countries change their notes? (eg change of leader, change in economy, in Europe one now has the Euro, etc)
Can YOU think of other ways we can use currency and stamps to learn?
I will also put up the children’s self-portraits, done with a mirror today in their art lesson. Étienne, the perfectionist, was almost weeping with frustration that the nose on his paper did not look like the one on his face. To cheer him up, I got out some drawings he had done in earlier years and he laughed to see how he used to draw!
Just how hot is it up here? I have been trying to buy Caris some textas/kokkies/felt tips. But none were to be found. The lady in one shop said that, unless they could be sold within a month of putting on the shelf, they have to be thrown away as they dry out so quickly. She very kindly gave Caris FIVE packs she had removed from the shelf that week and we have found quite a few are still functional. Horaay!
The Wednesday Bible Club seems well-received by the children. We begin with some rousing songs (esp Colin Buchanan). Then comes a Bible lesson with an object lesson. We do a craft or a game in conclusion and then I show them a Storykeepers’ video. We average about 12 children. Most of them speak good English, though they all have different home languages (Caprivi, Kwambi, Nodonga, Herero, Kwanyama). Because Oshakati is a regional centre, people congregate from all over. Oshakati itself is not very big but it has a huge sprawling informal settlement.
Johannes, Étienne’s 12 year old friend from across the road, was given an essay from school to write: ‘The Bible says the first people were Adam and Eve. Where do your ancestors say people came from?’ It was interesting that neither he nor his mother had any idea of the answer: even his mum has grown up in a church-going culture. The Lutheran missionaries certainly seem to have done a thorough foundational job.