Mixed blessings

Today has been a day of mixed blessings. On the plus side we’ve had rain so most of our water tanks are topped off again and all the crops have had a good soaking. Oink and Annabel, our new goats, are settling in, despite an escape attempt by Oink, the bigger of the two, last night. This was thwarted by our night guards who hastily put an old gate over the top of the penned area that they spend the night in. Oink, it would appear, had managed to get over the dividing wall from her pen and into one of the other ones.

We had a nice meal with the children this evening. Chapattis and green grams, (mung beans), plus sodas to drink. It was particularly gratifying eating the green grams. They came from our own farm and are extremely tasty. We have harvested about 45 kilograms of green grams so far, (enough for about 8 meals). There are still plenty more left in the fields that have yet to be picked. The harvest from our farm so far is very encouraging.

The chapattis are part of a tradition we have when visitors are returning home. Jess and Dan, who have been with us for three weeks, will be starting their journey home tomorrow. Because of the way their flights have worked out they have a very long wait at Nairobi for their flights back to England. During their time with us they have made a great impact on the children and on our work. I know that we will all miss them. It’s always a sad occasion saying good-bye to new friends. My daughter Ellie and her boyfriend Andy will be taking the baton from them and continuing to encourage the children and their teachers. I know that everybody here will want to express their thanks to Jess and Dan and wish them a safe journey home. We all hope that they will come back and see us again in the future.

The children here are well fed and very happy tonight. As another part of the tradition we let the children watch a video or DVD of their choice and tonight they have enjoyed the added bonus of popcorn, prepared by Mary, our manager, and served up by our visitors. We have built up quite a collection of DVDs and videos over the years. The children never cease to surprise me with their viewing choices. Recent favourites include the video of one of our teacher’s wedding, a special church service recorded at the church Judi and I attend in England, The Sound of Music, (usually in two sittings as it is such a long film), and Tom and Jerry. Tonight they are happily sat watching The Teletubbies, the well known educational series for young children reviled by teachers throughout the UK, (and possibly the rest of the world). For those of you fortunate enough to have avoided the Teletubbies until now but keen to make up your own minds about the show follow the link below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cX91qycCTI

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.