Home from Home

We are enjoying making the most of our time here in the UK! We are continuing to make the most of the availability of cheese, bacon, mushrooms and all kinds of sweet treats! The girls are really enjoying being in school again and I am enjoying a break from teaching! Yes, starting to miss the warm, sunny outdoor weather and also thinking over the next few months, it will be a little hard to swallow all the Christmas hype!

We are keeping busy in an interesting and varied way! In six weekends, we have visited friends and families in 7 counties. In the weekdays in between, we have had about 17 speaking engagements, talking to various school assemblies, year group classes, various adult coffee mornings and evening group meetings. We have been able to meet up with many friends for coffee or lunch and are trying to make the most of learning what we can about sustainable agriculture and agro-forestry (any help here appreciated!), practicing Swahili (Rachel failing here) and thinking through issues of how people in different countries can best help one another! Thinking about returning to Tanzania, I have started restocking things like first aid and English spices. And now I really need to focus on school supplies and curriculum planning for Years 2-3-4-5-6 (aggh!).

We really enjoyed doing the Harvest Festival with the Aldermaston Primary School this week. We were given the opportunity to speak about harvest thanksgiving with a Tanzanian twist. The school has generously raised money to help provide a fuel-efficient stove for the school in Magozi. The students in Amisadai's Year 4 class helped with it, and led some lovely prayers. It is so fantastic to have local support and we are really looking forward to sharing their love and kindness with the Magozi community when we go back!

We are looking forward to a week in Devon with the Monger family over half term. The cousins are very excited to have a whole week together to play! And then in the second week of November, Tim and I are looking forward to a few days in Cornwall (courtesy of a kind and generous friend!), which will be a very welcome rest with time to just think and reflect, process things and get some perspective for the future!

We are looking forward to our "Tanzania Evening" on November17th. It is our opportunity to thank all those of you in the area who have supported us in different ways, and share what we have been doing and plans for the future. Anyone interested in the work we are doing is welcome! Please get in touch with us if you would like to join us.

Fun with Ruth before the long-awaited McDonalds!!



Fun with Uncle Steve in Weston-Super-Mare. Yes - England is cold!