SHOES!!!!! and holiday

This blog was started 10 days ago and I got half way through writing it when the internet went down so I lost most of it. Here goes for now....Another week successfully completed though it has been somewhat frustrating. With the start of the new term there have been many children who have outgrown their shoes so we were asked to help find some. We went to the school storeroom fully confident that there were plenty of shoes and in pairs. silly us!! This is Uganda, many of the shoes were scattered in different boxes, and even some new bags had appeared with a mixture of shoes in. There were many pairs, but they were not in the same bags......so.... we set about once again to reorganise them. It was so disheartening to have to redo something we have already done so we are going to set up a new system for giving out the shoes.
We had a new baby arrive on Sunday, baby Dina, one week old, severely malnourished but with the loving care of Mama she has been making good progress.
On Monday we went on a much needed break to Jinja expecting to have a time basking in the sun and catching up on reading and sleep. Monday was great, but on Tuesday the only thing I caught was a touch of diarrhea and that made me very tired so I was a right off. Came right by Wednesday night but on Thursday Marilyn awoke with a migraine so by lunchtime we made our way home. The weather had been overcast and we only got to swim on Monday, so we were pleased to return home on Thursday. It was a holiday for the boys (Martyr's Day), this week we have another holiday (Heroe's Day), we have been advised to stay on the compound on that day as there seem to be all sorts of riots then, so shopping this week will be Thursday. We have had many visitors to the compound, one of Ezra's sponsors came for three days, a lass from America here for 3 months, a group of four from Holland, a friend of Mama's and her family and friends, and yesterday a group of 10 Canadians arrived for 10 days. They are staying in the girl's home next door. Last week was frantic work to get everything ready for them. The girls are really excited seeing their home finished. There has been a Ugandan Aunty employed to look after the girls once the Canadians leave. We have had girls visiting every day to check on progress. So our 'neighbourhood' is changing and we will not be as isolated here.
So life is busy here as usual, on Friday we will have been here for a whole year, and we look back on it realising we have had no time before this, quite like it. Very challenging and very rewarding.
We had another baby arrive yesterday, Isaac, nearly 6 months old, left on the side of a road and taken to the police. He is such a happy wee baby, though he is not too wee, quite a solid chap and obviously well looked after.
Please pray for Papa as he recovers from Malaria, he is struggling to get enough rest time as there are so many demands on his time with all the visitors, so please pray for rest. Also for wee Dina who today has developed pneumonia, Ischar who is suffering with her breathing and has asthma. Also please pray for me as I am  not yet back to full strength. Finally please pray for a quick recovery for my brother Alan who has had a hip replacement this week.
Thank you to those who continue to keep in contact, especially Ruth who keeps us up to date with weekly happenings. We love getting news from NZ and other places.
Till next time
God Bless