Swimming to Magozi and Tea Research

After a night of noisy, heavy rain, we set off (with Jesca) at 7:30am on Wednesday for Pawaga. The road was much as we expected, very wet and muddy! We did a little slipping and sliding and had some great splashes, but the best bit for the girls was as we came into Magozi and the road disappeared! It was as if a river was coming in and across from the side and in we plunged. And then, a little further on, it happened again. The Great Land Cruiser heroically met the challenge and brought us safely into Magozi, albeit a little wetter and muddier than when the journey began!

The road to Magozi

We picked up Mendriad and Ezekiel in Magozi and took them on with us to Kimande where we met the new pastor of the Anglican Church, Pastor Castory and his family. He has just taken over from the retired pastor while we were in the UK. It was great to meet him and chat about the stoves project and the possibility of our moving into the village. We were served heaped platefuls of rice and lovely hot chai as we chatted.

We went on with him to meet with Pastor Joseph, pastor of the Pentecostal Church in the very close village of Itunundu. We know him and his wife, Grace fairly well now and it was good see them again. They were able to meet Pastor Castory and we talked about working together as churches to help their joint community. We were also given more heaped platefuls of rice with beans and more lovely hot chai!

We then drove back to Magozi to drop off Mendriad and Ezekiel (it had been so great having them along with us). And then to our surprise, Mendriad's wife invited us in for yet another heaped plateful of rice with sauce and lovely hot chai! I was able to have a cuddle with Mendriad's new baby girl. She is already almost a month old, but they are still looking for a name and asked Amisadai for "English" suggestions! They said that they couldn't use the name "Amisadai" because there were already one or two of them in the village now! So Amisadai gave them some suggestions of good names. We then set off for home (on much drier roads now) feeling rather full. And when Tim asked what was for dinner, I replied, "rice and beans."

And on the subject of food, we have really enjoyed some grilled halloumi cheese on toast! Really very yummy! I am quite excited about it and continue to really love this whole cheese adventure! I then made some much improved cream cheese which, when mixed with herbs and garlic, we enjoyed as a dip and with cucumber in sandwiches. 

Halloumi on Toast

Herbed Halloumi Cheese

Tim had a visit to Furahia, a village where Andy is currently working on a rainwater harvesting project. They are interested in having a stoves project, particularly as it is an area with little firewood. Tim met with the pastor there to discuss the possibility so that is exciting! 

Tim joins Andy's Bible Study with the project workers

And finally, we have just returned from a really lovely time in the Mufindi Tea Estates with Andy and Angela. We left on Saturday morning and stayed for one night in a cheap and cheerful hut with an amazing veranda view! We enjoyed playing badminton, table tennis and card games amongst other things. We enjoyed a picnic by a lovely lake. It is a really beautiful spot, acres and acres of vibrantly green tea plants, with small dams and lakes and walks with amazing views. Good food and good times and very relaxing! We are already planning a return for a school field trip on "tea" - with all these plantations and factories to explore, I think a new topic is waiting to be researched! And we're all up for some tea research!

Tea fields



Picnic Lunch