Dear Friends,

I know it has been a long time since I last wrote to you. It just gets so hot here now that I often do not have the energy to work at the computer for long. The fan in this room just blows hot air down on me as I write. It is 10:30 in the morning and already the heat is pretty intense. We pray for rain everyday, but you seem to be getting it all. Could you possibly share some with us? Our ground is so dry and water levels throughout the country are very low. I read in the newspaper the other day about one area of Pakistan that is being allotted only 15 minutes worth of water in the morning and 15 minutes in the afternoon. I am so grateful that we have a tube well on our compound. We need some water that is supplied by the government, but are not totally dependent upon it. Still, we are careful with the use of water. Wells can also run dry. We have lost 5 or 6 beautiful trees on our property because either they or the ground become so dry that they break or are uprooted when the winds blow. Much needed shade goes with them.

Load shedding (black outs controlled by the government because of the shortage of electricity) happens quite frequently now. I have been interrupted in my work on the computer many times because, without warning, the electricity just goes off. We are luckier than other areas, though. Although the electricity may go out several times a day, generally it will stay off for only about a half hour. In other places it is off from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. About 100 people have died so far because of the heat. Please pray for us that we get some much needed rain and a break from the heat.

Last month, after the children had finished school, I gave a couple of workshops for the teachers. One was on developing comprehension skills in reading and the other was on using literature circles as a method of teaching reading. The teachers seemed to enjoy the workshops. I am glad that I will be here for the upcoming school to help them implement the ideas. The more I become aware of what the teachers want and need to learn, the more I realize how short my time here is. Please God, I can be of some help to the teachers.

My sister Mary has been a great help in gathering books and materials that I need. It would be very difficult to do many of the things I want to do here without that help. Although I was told that there were a lot of materials here to work with, most of them are very outdated and do not meet the needs of the teachers or the students. How lucky we are at home to have so many resources available to us!

On July 9th, I will be going with three others sisters to our summer place in Muree. It is in the mountains in the north of the country, and it is much cooler. According to the weather reports in the newspapers, the temperatures are half of what they are here. We are all looking forward to the break from the heat. We will stay in Muree until the end of July. Since there is no computer there, you will not hear from me for a while, but you will remain in my thoughts and prayers. God bless you all. Enjoy your summer-and please send some of your excess rain our way!

Sr. Anne