Raghma photos

Greetings. It has been a wet week so we have had little opportunity to do much outside so have had Raghma down most days and took these shots of her. She looooves having her pants off (something we may have to watch in the future) and these shots show her in a happy mood. She has learnt to roll over now from tummy to back, not so good the other way though. We know what it is like to be doting grandparents now. Sorry if you are sick of hearing about her but she brings such joy. She also likes reading and swinging.
Monday was a wet day and we were without power so it was a blob day where we rested which was good.
Tuesday we spent the morning sorting out some of one of the containers in the morning, it continues to amaze us with some of the things there are in the containers.
Wednesday was our usual outing to Kampala to buy several things. An electric jug (ours had burnt out in the weekend), a kettle for when we don't have power, a pressure cooker to try and tenderise the meat and several other things.
Thursday was again wet so we finished sorting out the shoes there were at the school, managed to get rid of many 'odd' shoes without a pair. We were also asked if we could be involved in taking a bible lesson for the school assembly on Fridays so we prepared for that.
Friday again was wet all day, the assembly went well and we will probably do it each week as it is a good opportunity to reach out to the village children at school. The rest of the day was spent in preparation for Sunday School and preparing things to leave behind for them when we are in NZ (3 weeks to go).
Saturday saw some sunshine without too much heat but we were able to get the washing dry which was becoming a bit of a problem.
Today we had a good session at Sunday School on Jesus walking on water, and in church we led the worship. We also dedicated two new children. Damarius (8 months old, abandoned) and Jake (1 1/2 years old, mother killed his father and is mentally unstable so in an institution). We must be up to 120 children here by now, each one a treasure.
It is now late on Sunday night so I'd better get some sleep. thank you to all who continue to keep in touch, we do like hearing from you.


Till next time, God bless

Hope the photos make it, I'm not sure this time

Tempus Fugit

Greetings and apologies for not having written for nearly three weeks but a lot has been happening. In this time we have had variable power, variable water, and intermittent internet connection which have all conspired to make it difficult to find time.
Firstly, the power. Some electricians have been contracted to check all the wiring in the compound to make it safer. They have been horrified at what they have found and rewired many parts. This has meant the power has been off during the day from about 10am till 7pm so many of the tasks we do during the day have to be done at night. However, during the day there have been shoes which have needed sorting from a container, along with a new 'task', that of clearing and organising the containers on the property. A task which will be a long-term project. There are about 20 c0ntainers here with another 11 due this year. So all time without power has not been wasted.
This first photo is of our dear wee Raghma. She has not been able to shake her cough which she has had for nearly a month now and so has not been gaining weight. However, as you can see in the photo she is still BEAUTIFUL and manages to say 'uncle' quite regularly. Please pray that she will begin to get better and gain weight. We too have had our moments health-wise. Last Sunday Marilyn was struck with a dreadful migraine around breakfast time and took to bed. Mark had been waking us up every night with nightmares about snakes and often wouldn't settle and the broken sleep was taking its toll. We are pleased to report that he has settled back into full nights sleep again, so that is good.
As is often the case, whenever Marilyn gets sick Warwick does too. So on Monday I was sick in the morning (both ends - but you don't need to know that), checked out Malaria (negative) and it turned out to be mild case of food poisoning. with tablets and prayer I came right by Thursday. We have also had several visitors stay, firstly Simon on Wednesday night then Deborah on Thursday and Friday nights.
The second photo shows Deborah in the kitchen with Owen in the middle cooking pikelets for his birthday party with friends Cole and Hope. The next is a photo of Deborah and one of her devoted fans, Joshua.

It was Owen's 11th birthday yesterday so we had a small party for him and some friends, including a sleepover and the final photo shows the beginning of the afternoon tea. The food was gone very quickly and a good time was had by all.
Well, that's about all for now, Piet and Pita return from South Africa tomorrow having hopefully had a good rest.
We are looking forward to our return home to NZ for a visit (we have booked our return flights for here) in a month's time. We will be there for 4 weeks with much to do and many to see, but there is a lot to set up here before we leave. We look forward to seeing many of you then.
Till next time, our love and God's blessings

Photos

Sorry, again the pictures have not come through on the blog last night, they were there when I viewed it and edited it but somehow fell off when I posted it. Will try again.

Back to school

Well, the time we have been waiting for arrived and the boys have started the new school year. I have always looked forward to school starting, I loved meeting new students etc. ,but I have never welcomed the start of a new term as much as this one! The last week was a good one, we managed a day out in Kampala, helped with shoeboxes and shoes, and Friday night we hosted 30+ children here for a DVD night. One of Owen's sponsors came to visit on Saturday at lunchtime and stayed here the night until about 6pm on Sunday, so we have been fairly busy.
On Saturday the boys decided that one of the Jackfruit growing next to the house was ready for picking so Owen climbed up the tree to cut it. You can see the branch he was standing on, not much to it.
The second photo shows Ezra and Richard working together to carry it down to where they were cutting it. They are very heavy, the fruit not the boys.
Next comes the cutting up. The seeds are no good, only the fleshy parts around the seeds, they have collected it in the bowl for us to have for dessert. The taste is not unlike pineapple and there is a distinctive smell. It is also very sticky, the boys had to oil their hands when they were working with it.


The final photo shows the boys ready for school on Monday, don't they look enthusiastic? You should have seen the smile on my face as I took this photo.
Since then we have had two 'catch-up' days cleaning, tidying and enjoying Raghma. Today we went to Kampala again for a leisurely day so tomorrow it will probably be back to shoes again. We arrived home to be greeted with a parcel from Jen in Italy/Spain, so Jen it has arrived, thanks for the goodies. Better head off to bed.
Our love and best wishes to you all. God Bless