The Family Room - a website designed specially for children and their parents or other adults - went "live" on Friday, Oct. 2. The site is part of the Paul Carlson Partnership's website and is accessed by the large orange box/link on the PCP home page, or directly through the address www.paulcarlson.org/family-room. In planning the site, PCP staffers sought to build on children's natural curiosity, so the content includes all kinds of information about life in the DR Congo. Topics range from how to build a round hut to Congolese food and games.

One section includes several video clips, which can draw kids more immediately into the scene than still photos do. Another offers suggestions for leaders working with groups of children. There is information about the PCP and its work in Congo, along with the story of Dr. Paul Carlson himself, as told in a sixth-grade school project by a young man in Florida.

Throughout the Family Room, it is talked of as a place not for children alone, but for children with a responsible adult. While there is nothing that would be harmful for any child to see or read on the site, the PCP does not want to encourage children under thirteen to visit the Web on their own. In several places, visitors are invited to send their feedback and suggestions. We hope you will take a look!