Hello to all of our loved friends at Tesfa’s shelter! This is Lisa writing to you this month.
Thank you for sending us such wonderful letters. We always love to hear from you and learn more about your lives in Ethiopia. I hope that you are in good health and that your studies are going well.
We have described our winter weather in past letters. It is January and we are in the middle of winter. As I write this letter on my computer, I look out of my window and can see the snow starting to fall. It is currently 4 degrees Celsius outside, although with the wind blowing, it feels colder than that. We have weather channels on television and the Internet that let us know what the weather is going to be like over the next week or so, and there are even weather maps that can show us the size and direction of the storms, and how much snow or rain we can expect. The study of weather is called meteorology and it is quite fascinating! It uses satellites up in space which take photographs of the weather systems over planet Earth. Do you watch weather channels on television or listen to the weather news on the radio? We rely on weather reports, to help us plan when we need to go to the grocery store or other shops to purchase food and supplies that we need, so that we can avoid driving in bad weather. Although we had very little snow up to Christmas and New Years, we have had a couple of bad snowstorms in the past couple of weeks, and are expecting another one this week. As you may know, we are very reliant on our cars to take us places.
Our towns and cities are too big for most people to be able to walk to grocery stores. Many people drive quite a big distance every day to go to their jobs. There are many people who have moved to Woodstock and Oxford County in the last few years because the houses here are less expensive than in big cities like Toronto. But many of these new residents still drive to Toronto or other big cities to go to work. This means that some people are driving in their cars for hours every day, on big highways. The traffic can be very bad. Imagine how much worse it is when it is snowing so hard that you can hardly see the car in front of you! Cities and towns have big machines called snow plows which drive along the streets and highways, pushing the snow off to the side of the road. The snow plows are out in bad winter weather, day and night, to keep the roads safe. Thank goodness! But unfortunately, there are still accidents in winter weather, usually caused by someone driving too fast. Ice on the roads is very slippery, so driving fast in winter is very dangerous.
After a snow storm or an ice storm, our cars are covered in snow and ice and we have to clean them off before we can drive them. We use plastic scrapers to get the ice off the car windshields and windows, and the car’s heating system keeps the windows from getting fogged up so that we can see. We have to allow ourselves lots of time in the morning to get our cars ready and warmed up, and shovel the snow off of our driveways and sidewalks. Otherwise, our cars might get stuck in the snow!
Our houses have furnaces, which run on electricity or natural gas, usually. There are heating ducts (big metal pipes) that go throughout our houses inside the walls, with vents (holes covered by a metal grate) that send the warm air into the rooms. We can control how much heat is sent from the furnace, and our houses are very comfortable and warm. However, there are people who do not have a place to live. We have shelters where some of them can stay, but there are some people who live outside, even in the winter. In our community, there are wonderful agencies that run shelters where people who do not have a home can spend the night. These agencies fundraise – ask for donations of money – to help support the shelters. Next month, I will be walking in an annual fundraiser called “The Coldest Night of the Year”. Hundreds of people participate. We walk 5 kilometers in the cold and ask our friends and family to sponsor us, with the money raised going to support the shelters.
I know how kind and generous you are, and how so many of you volunteer to help others in your community. That is very special. We are so very proud of you all.
After all of that talk about winter weather and the cold, perhaps you think that we must really dislike winter! Some people do, but many of us, myself included, like winter. I like the variety of the seasons here in Canada. When it’s cold outside, it is so nice to stay in my warm house – maybe turn the gas fireplace on and make myself some hot chocolate and read a book.
Do you like to read? What kinds of things do you like to read? History? Storybooks? I’m sure you must have to read and write to complete your school work. Is there a library at your school? Can you borrow books from a library? I ask because I borrow a lot of books from our public library. In 2023, I read a total of 77 books! That’s more than one book every week! Reading is my favourite way to relax, but I also like to read to learn about people and about other parts of the world. Before I retired, I was a librarian working in a public library system here in Oxford County for over 22 years.
Well, I have enjoyed writing to you again. We think of you often and send our love.
Lisa and the Friends Ink team.
