Africa Maps and Glowing Saturday Mornings
Ghana, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Libya, Egypt, Nigeria, Benin, Togo… We have been studying Africa this month in geography. Taking a section of Africa at a time, we worked at learning the countries’ names, flags, location, and even the capitals, partly. West Africa, North Africa, East Africa have been worked on, now we are moving onto South Africa.
How can I even begin to do justice to such a large diverse continent in just a month’s time, in only two-three days a week? We have fun coloring in and labeling the maps though, and trying to color in the fun flags. Now, we find ourselves recognizing more flags and seeing similarities between countries’ flags.
A few weeks ago, we had one day where we studied the illegal production and trade of coal in Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), the issues surrounding that, as well as the recent massacre of one of the mountain gorilla families there, and we enjoyed the diversity of the pygmies of Democratic Republic of Congo. Interspersed with all of that, we followed up-to-date BBC world news coverage of the violence in DR Congo and surrounding countries, the resulting refugee migrations, and the marauding militia groups back and forth across country borders. Tough issues surround the thousands of beautiful people groups and landscapes of Africa, and this is just one area, and only a few topics.
We’re doing about a continent a month.
Baby D grows bigger each day. He is 5 months old, and can roll across the floor. We laugh at watching his progress over time. “Look where he is now!” we chuckle, marking how far he has rolled. He rocks beside me in the swing now, examining some rings and talking to a bear.
Snow piles up outside, and the nights are dark quickly. Cheery Christmas lights line houses, fences and trees as I drive to a friend’s house to pick up her daughter for a playdate with mine.
Saturday was a shining, yellowy day, with sunshine pouring into my south-facing deck window. The whole house was warmed by it, and glowed with light. Don’t you love the the light reflected through the aloe plants?