School Painting Project

For the Company's last humanitarian project, we painted eight classrooms for a local school. The school receives very little outside support and so we have been supporting it throughout our deployment with donated school supplies. During their summer break, we came by four times to repaint their classrooms and try to fix them up as much as possible. We first chipped out all of the old, flaking paint, then began to paint the classrooms. Working on a very slim budget ourselves, we could not afford drop clothes, so the last day was spent chipping paint off of the floor. We also used that last day to fix up as many of their desks and chairs as possible.

I went out 2 of the 4 days to help. The first day I chipped paint off of the wall and did a little (very little!) painting. The second day (also the last day), I spent chipping the paint off of the floor. So I did very little painting overall, but got in a great workout. I also did a lot of cleaning and helped fix up some of the desks and chairs. Overall, it was a very rewarding experience and we were all very happy with what we accomplished.

We also had lots of help from other units on Camp Lemonier as they helped out with the labor. I also liberated some photos from the CJTF-HOA PAO, as I did not take too many pictures myself. Here is an excerpt from the story which can be found here:

Camp Lemonier group helps ready school building for students
Story by MCC(DV) Robert Palomares, USN

CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti -- More than 90 military personnel from Camp Lemonier volunteered their time recently to paint several classrooms at a K-8th grade school in downtown Djibouti in preparation for the upcoming school year.

Marine Corps Capt. Garth Massey gathered his group, made up of Marines, Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen, early in the mornings and led them in accomplishing the project. The group concluded the project over four days of work, Massey said.

“I’m glad to see so many people show up to do this work,” Massey said. “I’m grateful, and the students will be as well.” Classes are scheduled to begin in September.

The crumbling, peeling walls were in distressing shape before the volunteers marched into the school brandishing scrapers, masking tape, paint brushes and rollers. The Marine Corps volunteers from Camp Lemonier’s 4th Provisional Security Company purchased the paint the equipment for the job. Through private donations, the school also received more than 30 boxes of needed school supplies.

On to the pictures.

The XO moves furniture as we prepare to begin. (U.S. Navy photo by MCC(DV) Robert Palomares)
MSgt Perry tapes a window in preparation for painting it (we never did - we ran out of time & supplies.) (U.S. Navy photo by MCC(DV) Robert Palomares)
Here I am scrapping paint....(U.S. Navy photo by MCC(DV) Robert Palomares)
Two Marines fixing a desk. I actually took this photo. Moving a desk like this caused this...(disturbing image alert! Ok, too late....)
Yep, I pinched it good. The desk was upside down and it was the type that has the hinged top. I though I had a hand on the desk, but I actually had a finger in the hinge..

Its been about 4 days since I took that photo and the swelling has gone down. By the time I got back to Camp and the Docs tried to drill a hole through the nail to let the blood out, it was too late and very little came out. EMF looked at it and their consensus was to let nature take its course and let the nail fall out. I probably have another week until it does so. Humanitarian projects sometimes carry their own cost! But it was for a worthwhile cause.

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

More PSC Articles

The playground project was written up by the CJTF-HOA Public Affairs Office:

Volunteers build playground, bring joy to village schoolchildren
Story by CJTF-HOA Public Affairs

DOUDA VILLAGE, Djibouti - A team of U.S. Marines and Soldiers based at Camp Lemonier put the finishing touches to a playground they built for the children of Douda elementary school Aug. 17.
Marine Corps Capt. Garth Massey, of the 4th Provisional Security Company, said the idea to build the playground for the village school two kilometers from camp developed in July after the Marines saw some abandoned fishing boats along the roadside. After a bit of research, the Marines were given an old boat from the Djiboutian navy.

The rest of the article and some more pictures can be found here.

As I was looking through the rest of the site, I saw one old news story marked Commentary, US/French Fam Fire so I clicked on it. As I started reading it, I thought to myself, hmmm, this sounds awfully familiar. I then checked out the byline and to my shock, there was my name. The PAO had asked the XO to chopped it down a bit, which he did. But he added the bit about the cowboy Colt .45, a pistol he has a passion for (watch out Mrs Massey!) He also added a couple of other things to the article. You can my original blog entry here as well as some more photos here. Ahh well, I have not claimed to be writing high art and I will not have to worry about a big career in journalism.

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

Douda Playground Project

Sometime in June, the XO conceived of a plan to build a school playground for the village just south of the camp. The Djiboutians were always very friendly to us and waved as our patrols would occasionally pass by them and we wanted to do something for them. With no money, we had to find all of the supplies. After many misadventures, the XO finally found and acquired a boat that would work. HOA was going to discard a playset as it was missing some parts, so we grabbed it. Donated money enabled us to buy some basic supplies and the Marines supplied the labor. So a week and a half ago a group of Marines took the boat to Douda, prepared the ground, set in the boat, and erected the mast, monkey bars, and swing set frame. They also cemented in the base of the rocking horses. A few kids initially showed up to watch the Marines. By the end of the day, there was a small horde of them, all really excited to try out the playground. But it was not ready yet and we made them promise to stay off until it was complete.

I joined them the second day, helping finish raking the ground, pouring additional sand into the boat, and helping out where I could. The kids quickly descended again and we handed out some footballs to keep them busy. A Djiboutian news crew showed up after a bit and took some video, interviewed some kids, and interviewed the XO (it played that night on the local TV and one of the interpreters said it was a hit.) At the end there was a small dedication ceremony with the village eldars and we turned it over to the kids. They absolutely loved it.

We have dropped by one or two times since and there are still a horde of little kids playing on it.

Unloading the boat and other pieces.
This little guy got an early start. I helped screw these to their baseplate, I ended up flat on my back at one point and totally covered in dust.
Here the Marines finish tying up the sails. I'm in the middle holding it up.

The finished playground. The kids had to go in to school for their classes.

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

Recent photos

DominicsMom sent me some more photos:

Jocelyn watches her big brother watch TV. DominicsMom says Joss watches Dominic all the time because she really loves her big brother. I'm sure she is watching him like a hawk out of sheer self-preservation. And maybe because he is more her height.
Uh-oh. Someone got a hold of Mommy's lipstick. He must have found it under the coffee table and climbed under to take a better look.

The inevitable result!

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

One Year

Yesterday, 21 August marks the one year anniversary of The Blog of Dominic! I just went back and reread all of the old posts. Dominic looks very different a year ago, just before his second birthday. A lot has happened in the year, his first Trick-or-Treat, going to see Cousin Cole, the birth of his little sister Jocelyn, and Daddy leaving for a little while...

Use the Archive links on the right side of the page to see older posts.

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

Round Up & Clarification

It has been a very busy week for us. Earlier this week we were at a local school painting its classrooms. We still have a couple more classrooms to complete, when we finish I'll post some pictures. It is a very poor school and we have also been helping with donated supplies.

Today we also finished up another project, we built a playground for the local town of Douda, just south of the Camp. The XO found a small boat and we fixed it up and made it the centerpiece of the playground. There were about a million kids around, all really excited that we were building them the playground. I'll post some pictures with a more detailed description in a bit.

DominicsMom sent me some additional pictures of Dominic & Jocelyn, I'll try and post those soon.

See you soon,

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

More Fam-Fire Pictures

More pictures! Note all fingers are straight and off the trigger.

SgtMaj C holds the H&K MP-5K.
Modeling the German G-36.
Gy W shows off the MP-7.
The French demonstrating the FAMAS.
And the XO describing US weapons.

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

More Lake Assal Pictures

Here is a view of the first volcano.

One of my Platoon Commanders standing in front of the Gulf of Tadjoura.

I'm standing in the lake. The white lake bed is made up of salt. It's rather rough so I put some shoes on.

Here I am standing a bit out into the lake. A little further out and you can lie down and float.

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

Grandpapa & Grandma Nana Visit

Grandpapa & Grandma Nana visited Dominic & Jocelyn a few weeks ago in July. Grandpa & Grandma had a great time playing with the two kids and watched them while DominicsMom went to work. They spent a lot of time outdoors and at the park. Dominic had a great time playing with both of them. Grandpa had to take a lot more active hand with the kids than he probably expected (there are two of them and Grandma can only be at one place at a time!), but he was a champ and from all reports he did great!

Grandpa & Grandpa with the Grandkids. (Wow, Grandpa has a good tan, better than the one I have and I'm in Africa where it is no kidding Africa hot & Sunny!)
Dominic loved to imitate Grandpa. Grandpa would make a noise or a face and Dominic would mimic him. They went on for quite awhile! Headed to the park. Dominic ran almost the whole way to the park. He loves going there and knows how to get there...
Dominic only stopped running so he could turn around and walk backwards!

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

DominicsUncle Andy & DominicsAunt Laurie Visit

Earlier in July (OK, so I'm a bit behind here...I'm keeping the world safe for Democracy so cut me some slack!), DominicsUncle Andy & DominicsAunt Laurie came back to the States after DominicsUncle Andy finished his Norwegian Staff Academy. DominicsMom was very happy to see her sister! They were in Cali for about a week and did a lot of the typical things, visited the zoo, went to the beach, and had a baby shower for DominicsAunt Laurie!

DominicsMom and Jocelyn at the zoo.
Joss in her baby carriage.
DominicsGrandpa Frank & Dominic at the beach.
DominicsAunt Laurie & Joss! Notice the drool...Joss is apparently a drooling machine.

DominicsMom & Dominic

Many thanks to DominicsAunt Laurie for some of these pictures! And thanks to her for her many visits to the Blog of Dominic!

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

New Sports!

I've always been interested in trying out scuba, so when I had the chance in Djibouti, I took it. I've been on one boat trip where we went on two dives, so I'm half-way to my qualification. However, I know that DominicsGrandma Nana, DominicsGrandpa Papa, and even DominicsMom were not too thrilled with the idea of me going scuba diving with 3rd world gear that might not be as well maintained as a State-side operation. So, I decided to try something a little less dangerous, but something that I have always wanted to try.

Just west of Djibouti City there is a little airfield with a skydiving outfit. They have their own plane and paraloft and they do everything themselves. Relax, there is a Brit-expat who owns it and he sort of keeps an eye on everything to make sure it is safe. Yesterday, after a couple hours of lessons, the instructor thought that we were doing really well and could dispense with the first tandom jump and go directly to a solo jump. Just 5 more jumps until I am fully qualified and can get my jump wings! I plan on going out for those jumps shortly. They even had someone to take a picture as you jumped backwards out the plane. As you can see, their gear is a little austere (Sailors who had done it before recommended that we bring our own helmets as Djiboutian helmets tend to be a bit small), but it was all functional.




Just kidding!

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

A Tale of Dominic

I was talking to DominicsMom yesterday and she related this tale to me:

Dominic has been going to the same home day care for over 18 months, with the same two little boys, Bradley & Donovan. All three of them are within 3 months of age of each other and have formed a fast friendship. Unfortunately, Bradley's mother was transferred to another base and he left a couple of weeks ago. DominicsMom scheduled a playdate for the two of them this weekend. Bradley and his mom arrived and entered the house through the garage. When they came in, DominicsMom called him to come downstairs. He did and walked into the kitchen where he saw his friend and said, "Bradley!" Bradley replied, "Dominic!" Both were very happy to see each other and they reached out and grabbed each other's hand. They both than ran off to play. Yesterday, DominicsMom picked Dominic up from daycare and brought him home. As Dominic walked into the kitchen, he turned around and looked into the garage and asked, "Bradley?" DominicsMom could only tell him that Bradley was not there, she was bummed.

Unfortunately Dominic's other playmate will be leaving soon too. Hopefully a new one will show up quickly.

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

Desert Warfare Training

A press release on some training that some Marines in the Company did recently:


U.S. Marines train with French Marines in Horn of Africa desert
By U.S. Air Force Capt. Martin Gerst
CJTF-HOA Public Affairs
CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti - 25 U.S. Marines and 1 Navy corpsman recently completed a 10-day desert training course conducted by a French Marine regiment from a neighboring camp.
Marines from the 4th Provisional Security Company here were invited by the 5th French Marine Regiment at Briere de L’Isle Barracks to participate in the course.
The goal of the course is to learn basic survival and combat skills in a desert environment. For this type of exercise Djibouti makes a superb training ground, said French Marine Capt. Michel Ladan, chief of the Desert Training School. The training teaches "simple things like eating, drinking, orienting with GPS, medical evacuation, and fighting in the desert environment," he said.
The course is divided into two parts: acclimation and commando training. In the first portion the lessons included education on desert plants and animals, survival skills, how to find water and how to prepare food to stay alive in the desert.
"We learned how to make life a little more comfortable when it's 125 degrees," said Corporal Matthew Kang, 4th PSC.
The commando-training portion of the school included daily 15 to 20 mile foot movements, at night, through the high desert mountains. The Marines traveled with a camel caravan that carried their supplies. They also conducted ambushes and mock raids against suspected enemy forces in manufactured villages.
After the acclimation period was over, the platoon stopped eating French Meals Ready to Eat. "We were only given two goats, some rice and flour to make little pancakes out of each day." said Corporal Emanuel Ramosyajimovich , 4th PSC, "We learned how to kill and skin goats like the locals and then made jerky or cooked them for our meals."
The French school conducts the course several times each year for their units and, after working with the Marines of 4th PSC on other tasks, extended an invitation to the U.S. forces at Camp Lemonier to attend more of the training camps.
Upon graduation the Marines received a certificate and graduation pin presented by the French Regimental Commander.
"We need to better understand our partners in the war on terror," said Capt. Garth Massey, executive officer, 4th PSC. "The French Marines trained here will be working in Afghanistan and other parts of Africa, so training with them was a great opportunity to see first hand how they go about preparing for missions supporting Operation Enduring Freedom."
"We are looking for more ways to work together. The school was very well put together and designed to be challenging," Massey said. "We hope to be able to send more units in the future." This was the first time in three years that American troops in Djibouti have been able to conduct training with the French.
"This is the kind of exercise that helps us work more closely, toward our common goal," Massey said.

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

Familiarization-Fire with the French & Germans

The XO organized a great event the other day, inviting the French, Germans, Djiboutians, US Army, and U.S. Embassy personnel to come together with some of us for a fam-fire. Everyone brought a few examples of their weapons and some ammunition. We set up the range and provided tables, an awning, and coolers of water. GySgt W did a great job setting up the range and preparing everything for the event.

Once everyone had arrived and placed their weapons on the display tables, each country briefly described their weapons and their operations. We brought examples of our Beretta M9 pistol, M4 carbine, M16A4 service rifle, Benelli M1014 Joint Service Combat Shotgun, M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, M240G medium machine gun, M2 (Ma-Duece) heavy machine gun, Barrett Mk-82 .50cal sniper rifle, and a US Army M24 7.62 sniper rifle. The French brought their FAMAS service rifle and PA-15 pistol. The Germans brought their Heckler & Koch G36 rifle, MP-5K, MP-7, and an HK pistol. The Djiboutians brought several AK-47 assault rifles, pistols, and a revolver. The U.S. Embassy provided Colt Sub-Machine Guns (a 9mm fully automatic version of the M16) and their standard service pistols.

Once the preliminaries were over, everyone had a chance to look the weapons over, then select the weapon they wanted to fire first. As the hosts, we ran the range and I alternated as a safety coach or the range instructor (providing the firing commands for the line.) We were pretty strict to maintain safety, bringing a group up to the firing line together and giving commands to "Load" a magazine, "Make Ready" - place a round in the chamber, and "Fire!" everyone's favorite command. Once everyone was finished shooting, the coaches checked their weapons and magazines to ensure that they were empty, and the shooters were allowed to advance downrange to check their shooting skills (or lack thereof in some cases.)

Everyone brought a lot of ammunition, but we generally limited everyone to 10 rounds per weapon to allow everyone a chance to shoot. In between working the line, I was able to shoot a variety of weapons. I shot the German G36, French FAMAS, MP-5K Personal Defense Weapon, AK-47, a Sig-Saur pistol, our M9 pistol, and my M4 carbine. So I was able to do quite a bit.

My favorite rifle was the G36. It was light, shot smoothly, and had a terrific red-dot sight. I also liked the clear plastic magazines which allowed you to see how many rounds you had left at a glance. Although plastic, they were very durable and do not suffer from lip bending problems like our metal ones (if you mistreat our metal magazines, the lip at the top that guides the rounds sometimes gets bent, preventing the magazine from feeding rounds correctly, leading to jams.) The G36 features a polymer (a fancy term for fancy plastics) receiver which accounts for its light weight. It is also supposed to be incredibly reliable and not so reliant on operator cleaning for proper function.

I next fired the French FAMAS rifle, a bullpup design (bullpup rifles feature their magazine behind the pistol grip, unlike the conventional M16 & G36 designs. This makes for a shorter & lighter weapon that is easier to carry around, particularly in tight spaces.) The FAMAS has some great design features, it is very easy to convert it to left hand or right handed shooting, something that the M16 does not allow. The recoil on the FAMAS felt a bit harsher than that of the G36, taking a moment longer to bring the sights back onto target. It was still a fun weapon to shoot.

The Sig was a fun pistol to shoot, but the lack of a safety always makes me nervous, even though it is perfectly safe.

The MP-5K Personal Defense Weapons was a cool little machine pistol. Designed for close defense, its max effective range is only 50m. The MP-5K is a scaled down MP-5 and does not have a buttstock, making control on automatic fire very difficult. One of the Germans gave me a full 30 round magazine and I had a great time shooting all of them. I was able to easily place all my single shots on the target from 15m, but when I placed the weapon on automatic fire, I could not get more than one round on the target. Even firing short, 3 round bursts, the last 2 rounds always went over the target and into the berm. Later, the Army Lieutenant was shown how to lay the weapon on its side and supported by his forearm; something I've seen in a few movies but always discounted as Hollywood, but he then managed to keep the weapon from firing high.

The AK-47 is always a fun weapon to shoot and this time was no exception. I shot a few rounds in the semi-automatic single shot mode, then finished with the rifle on full automatic, firing in short 3 round bursts. With the buttstock, I was able to keep almost all of the rounds on the paper, unlike the MP-5K.

Finally, I shot our own M9 pistol and the M4 carbine. I took some extra ammunition for the M4 and finished up firing it on burst. Once again, with the buttstock I was able to control the weapon and kept the majority of the rounds on the paper.

The Germans also brought an MP-7, a relatively new weapon. The MP-7 is a 4.6mm machine pistol used for personal defense. The round is designed to penetrate body armor and is supposed to do so reliably out to the maximum effective range of the weapon, around 50m. Unfortunately, they did not have any ammunition for the MP-7 and we were unable to shoot it, I did get my picture taken with it.

In the end, this was a successful exercise, bringing members from four different countries together to meet and get to know each other. We are working on continuing these efforts and hopefully they will lead to great cooperation in the future.

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

Lake Assal

Recently I went out to the Lake Assal region of Djibouti to scout future training areas. I went with one of my platoon commanders and some Marines from the training section of CJTF-HOA. It's about an 1.5 to 2 hour drive out to Lake Assal. We intended to scout out two different areas around the lake, one a lava field to the east of the lake and the other the actual area around the lake, but more to the southwest of the lake.

Lake Assal (Wiki entry) is located in one of the hottest areas on Earth. It is also the lowest point on the African continent, 155m below sea level. Water drains into the lake from the surrounding region, fed by runoff and underground springs (I'm making some of this up, but it sounds good.) With no place to drain to, the water evaporates in the sun and the water has become ten times saltier than the ocean!

You can see Lake Assal just west of the Gulf of Tadjoura.

To get to the lava field, our first objective, we drove west from Djibouti City, through the town of Arta, and turned north as we passed by the Ghoubbet El Kharab, which is a bay on the west end of the Gulf of Tadjoura. It was an awesome, scenic site, I'll post pictures of it later. A full description from divetours:

The Ghoubbet el Kharab or 'Devil's Cauldron' is surrounded by myth not unlike Loch Ness. Thought to be around 200m deep, it is almost cut off from the Gulf of Tadjourah by a narrow gully 750m long and as little as 100m wide in places. This almost circular sea is the very beginning of Africa's Great Rift Valley - the area between here and Lac Assal is considered one of the most remarkable - geographically speaking - in the world, as it marks the point of convergence between three continental plates in which the Arabian and African plates are gradually drifting apart. Volcanic activity could be one contributor to the title 'Devil's Cauldron', another could be the Afar legends of the monsters who inhabit its depths.

We turned away from the Devil's Cauldron and did some off-roading for a couple of miles. We paused at an automated geological station. The station had two seismic sensors, unusual for one of these stations as most have only one. This one had two for a good reason. Separated by only a few feet, nonetheless they were on different tectonic plates, one the African plate and the other the Arabic plate. A literal crack in the ground separated both plates and I easily straddled it, standing at once on Arabia and Africa (tectonically speaking.) In 1978, lava flows erupted in the area, indicating that the region was still alive (so maybe the volcanos are not as extinct as I thought...)

After a brief stop, we continued along the trail until it disappeared into a lava field. We hiked out to our first destination, one of several volcano cones poking out of the mesa. We climbed up to the first volcano and circled around up its cone. There was a deep crater in the center, hidden from view until we crested over the top. Looking down from the cone of the volcano, the ground fell away from it and went down towards Lake Assal. Another volcano was not too far away and we followed a bare trail to its peak. The crater inside this volcano was more accessible and we climbed down into it, after admiring the view of the lake from the top. As the day grew older, the sun grew hotter. Thankfully, we have been fully aclimatized and there was a strong wind, that while blowing hot, did cool us somewhat. We returned to our vehicles and proceeded to the next area.

We followed the hard ball road around the south end of the lake, pulling off the road prior to reaching the end. We walked a short distance, following a small stream until it ended in a cliff. At the base was a large, dark pool of water, cool to the touch. A small trickle of water flowed down a rock, feeding the stream. The stream itself was very hot to the touch! While a bit of water flowed down from the pool, the majority of the water entering the stream came out of the rocks. Another source was a small gurgling 'fountain' (for lack of a better term), which contained the hottest water of all! No one could keep their fingers in the 'fountain'. Of course, being Marines, we all had to stick our fingers in it to prove that it was hot (and that we could take it - peer pressure made everyone try it.) Then most of us had to try again just to make sure. Our index fingers all came out red from the heat.

Continuing our expedition, we drove on until we reached the lakeside where several rude huts clustered by the shore. About half a dozen pieces of earth moving equipment, for mining the salt I believe, were clustered around the huts. A series of rock tables were covered with various specimens of salt crystals and geodes, all for sale. We walked by the tables on our way to the lake. Once there we stripped down and went in. I was not prepared and did not bring any shower shoes, so I had to wear my running shoes into the lake. The reason why I did was because the lake bed was composed of solid salt, and it was very rough and sharp. The water was very warm, but still cool to the touch. As the water was so salty, everyone easily floated. It was amazing how high out of the water our bodies were suspended. The novelty quickly wore off as we could all feel the salt sticking to our body. We sloshed out to the shore where the water on our bodies quickly evaporated, leaving a thick, stickly residue of salt behind. The salt on my swim trunks quickly crystalized, leaving the shorts rough and inflexible, like it had been dipped in starch. We all rinsed off with the bottled water that we carried for this purpose, but I still had a lot in my hair and on my shorts. It was an uncomfortable ride home. I did purchase a couple examples of the crystalized salt and a geode from the locals.

Oh yeah, the Lake Assal region does not make a good training area. The lava rock covered ground is tough on boots and ankles, plus there are lots of cliffs and drop-offs that make night movements dangerous. So yes, some work was done on this trip, although the word 'boondoggle' was mentioned by some of my staff...

To the pictures...

A far view of the lake from a lava field. You can see another volcano in the distance (we didn't climb that one!)

Looking down from the volcano cone, the next volcano cone can be seen as well as Lake Asal in the background.

I stand on top of one cone. You can see the ground fall away to Lake Assal, 155m below sea level.

Not too many pictures of the Lake in this post as Blogger is acting up again, but more pictures will be posted soon!

DominicsDad, in Djibouti

Pic of Jocelyn

Earlier this summer Jocelyn sat for her first (I think) formal portrait. She is a real little cutie! DominicsMom has more of Jocelyn and Dominic.

Jocelyn is doing well, she is trying to roll over and is getting closer and closer. She still loves to watch Dominic as he plays near her. They both make each other giggle and laugh and he continues to be very protective of her.

DominicsMom told me a story the other day. She had an old friend over who has a little boy of her own, about Dominic's age. The boy became interested in some of Jocelyn's toys and began to play with them. Dominic saw this, marched over, took the toy away from the other boy, said "No, Joce's!" and proceeded to give the toy to Jocelyn. He repeated this when the other child took up another toy. Needless to say, DominicsMom was horrified (and gratified), thankfully her friend thought it funny and cute and was not mad. Dominic is very protective of his his little sister, just like an older brother should be!

DominicsDad, in Djibouti