First week over

Greetings, the first week of the holidays is over and I have to say that overall it has been an enjoyable week. The boys have shown good responsibility in turning up to places and events without needing to be chased up. We realise how far they have come when we 'compare' their behaviour to the girls who are still in the 'settling in' phase. The highlight of the week was yesterday with Grandparents Day, a day when 35 Jaja's (older people, some younger than us) were hosted to a day of entertainment and food by the children. The photos give you a glimpse of what the day was about but you needed to be here to get the full flavour. For most of the children here they have no grandparents, so this was the beginnings of an endeavour to have them mix and get to know this generation. In preparing they learnt a lot about many Ugandan customs re greeting older people, serving them food and drink, giving gifts,showing respect etc.. so it was a good experience all round. We are hoping for a quieter week this week.
In addition Marilyn and I began the first of our Bible study evenings with the other missionaries. There are currently seven long term missionaries here and we felt there was a need to meet for study and prayer each week, we have undertaken to begin the studies but the view is for others also to do so in the future. The first evening on Thursday went better than we had hoped so that was good. We are learning a lot about each other as people and not just as fellow workers. We also learnt that Isaac, who had been tested as HIV positive for a long time, was tested this week and the result came back HIV negative, which we thank God for. As they say a lot in Uganda, God is good..... All the time.
Our dear Raghma now has 4 teeth and loves walking, not on her own yet, but she can move around our couch at high speed. She is still adorable and is called by many Miss Family Unit. One of the nurses, Miria, has a particular role in tending to her in the home and she is just great, but all the nurses love Raghma.
We received some mail this week which we always enjoy, a special thank you to Angel Doris for her regular postings which are always full of snippets of news, it is a real ministry to the missionaries which we appreciate.
Thank you also to those who pray for us, we need your constant prayers, and ask this week for special prayers for baby Dina who has heart surgery tomorrow morning to close up a hole in her heart. It is very serious in one so young (not yet 3 months old). We pray for a successful operation and a good recovery.
Till next time, God Bless.