Snippets from Magozi

Here I have another chance to catch up the blog and again I don't know where to start! Eating goat with the fur still on, killing scorpions on our floor, selling Louisa, crunching cockroaches under my pillow, buying pork right off the pig's bottom, chasing chickens from the house and cows from our laundry bucket, naming our first son... Life continues to be rather an adventure all round, but all the time we discover the real value of life, what is really important, and the significance of a hope for the future in a fallen world.

A cow wanders over to our front door and starts chewing our teatowel

We are getting used to the routine of village life. For me, it revolves on the ground around cooking and cleaning; I have never spent so much time bent over! Keeping everyone fed and clean is one of the hardest things I've ever done! We have all managed to eat; often I am wondering at the start of the day how we will get two cooked meals out of the meagre supplies we have, but we always do, even if it takes most of the day! So very little is available. Probably haven't done so well at keeping clean - the girls are a different colour now we are back in town! And as for my feet...!

The girls have settled in to a routine of playing outside, resting inside in the heat of the day and helping with washing clothes and dishes. We have a constant stream of children coming to play with the skipping ropes, I've done some dodgeball games and had them all gather for Bible stories and on several afternoons, Tim has taken all of them for giant football games - we had about 45-50 kids! Good fun for all, these kids are so excited to see books and balls!

Football Fun

It really is possible for a baby to sleep on a girl's back while she plays football!

The stoves project is progressing slowly but steadily and we are really encouraged and excited about it. We met with the village leaders to discuss it, and then there was an open village meeting to inform everyone about it. We arrived at 9:30 for the 9:00 meeting and it finally started at 11:30! Tim did a great job explaining (in Swahili) the project, and the girls did a great job singing (in Swahili) our catchy jingle about the stoves which was very enthusiastically received! Leaders and villagers are very excited about the stoves. Firewood is scarce, health and diet is poor and a small clay pot will make a difference! Many people came the following day to register to join the stoves group and we now have a full group. It met for the first time yesterday and at their own initiative, designated a chairperson, treasurer and secretary - brilliant! We start training on Monday and have a full week planned of Bible studies, stoves construction and related teaching topics. Although we are only just about to really "start" long after we thought, the time we have had so far has been so good in terms of getting to know people and gaining some understanding of village life. And already the people have seen something of benefit in what we hope to bring. But the biggest thing we can offer is hope, the hope which brings Life.


Our "demo kitchen"
Sun drier for dishes, black bucket for heating water, fuel-efficient stove and haybox cooker

I will try to add more to the blog on life in Magozi over the few days that we are here with internet... and hopefully we can catch up with news from home too!