Get Around

As much as it is nice to be back home, to settle back into our own bedrooms again and get back into family routine, it does also feel rather flat after the fun and activity since the beginning of March! We have so enjoyed all our visitors and the blessing and encouragement they bring themselves and also from many of you. We feel we have so many thank-you's to say, and can't seem to do justice to the appreciation we have for so many people!

Thank you, Langley!

Thank you, Tadley!

It was great to be in Magozi with the Liriano family from Tadley for Easter. We saw the kitchen gardens, ranging from not so good to very good in their progress! But we are really encouraged by the response from the individuals involved and their push to continue with this idea! We made bread and a failed cornbread on the jiko in Magozi, but didn't attempt hot cross buns!


Easter in Magozi

We had Easter Monday back in Iringa, and then had a more traditional celebration with some homemade hot cross buns and a special gift of some lamb! We enjoyed lots of fun with the Liranos ... and lots of treats! Hasty Tasty samosas, a meal out at Sai Villa, lots of sweeties, horse riding, chocolate chip cookies (thank you, Janice!), days out and ... a lovely time at Tandala complete with a swimming pool and a gamedrive in Ruaha National Park! It has been a really fun and special time!

Swimming at Tandala

We took the Lirianos back to Dar on Saturday and while there had the great excitement of picking up our NEW CAR! It has been an amazing process getting this car and we are so thankful for God's provsion and blessing through so many of you! It proved to take much longer than we had thought to find a good vehicle, and I know many of you were wondering what we were doing! But with the help of Mr Harold, a friend in Dar es Salaam who owns a number of serivce stations and knows cars like the back of his hand, the wait was over just two weeks ago! We arrived at Victory Service Station after dropping off the Canadians where we and Mr Harold met with the owner of this Toyota Land Cruiser. We watched and listened in awed amazement to the negotiatons between Harold (on our behalf) and the owner. He started negotiations a full 9 million below the asking price, and then wouldn't budge! He is a master of negotiation! In the end, despite the attempts of the owner to push the price up, Harold told him in quite clear terms to park the vehicle in the station, drop the keys at his office and return in the morning to complete the deal!! We were stunned! We returned to Iringa with the Lirianos and while they literally pushed us around in the old car, Harold saw to all the fixing up of the new vehicle like AC repairs, new seat covers, new tires ...  We are very excited to be getting around without needing to push to start, without losing the clutch and stalling when you come to a halt, without having to stop suddenly on the road and start again in first gear and without rolling backwards on a hill without a handbrake! Today, while the girls and I try to remember what school is all about here, Tim is in Magozi along with the Development Officer of the Diocese. It will be a good opportunity to look at all that is happening there and consider the future of the project. We are looking forward to this next season of work in Magozi, establishing and consolidating the work for it to be self-sustaining and also meanwhile looking ahead to how we grow the project elsewhere and also strengthen, encourage and equip individuals for leadership.