I am writing this edition of the week from our balcony, the view of the ocean in front of me, the lemurs frolicking in the mango trees in the garden and the familiar and comforting sounds of the village below. Yes, I am home.
Sunday lunch at chez Mama
I arrived with my mountain of luggage all intact on Tuesday and on Wednesday morning went off to the new site for the school. I wanted to cry when I saw what we had to work with…actually I did cry and it took Dries a while to calm me down and assure me that we will eventually again have a school to be proud of. And that will mean that one day at a time will be the motto.
School will start on Tuesday. Tomorrow it will be all hands on deck to try to turn the available rooms into classrooms. Euphrasie assured me that all the children will be back and that we did not loose any to the school which our previous landlady’s family now runs. Dries put down the concrete slab for the toilets two days ago and the teachers formed a chain to help. This made it easier. Even little Masilaza was there to carry buckets of concrete. We enrolled her in her new school this week and she was so excited. It is quite a change from her tiny fishing village, but she seems to cope well and will start attending Royal Rangers on Saturday once we get going again.
Taking a well deserved break
Masilaza
One of Thesi’s housemates in Heidelberg paid us a visit as part of his trip to Madagascar. Melvyn, a medical student, came with some of his friends and it was a strange feeling to think that a couple of weeks ago, I had been there in Germany.
Please pray for us for this week. It is very tiring work and the Land Rover is still out of action while the quad bike also needs repairs, but we are waiting for parts to arrive from Antananarivo. Very good news; Dries had received his 5-year visa and residency card and without the anticipated huge bribe which we were told to pay last year. God is good!
Have a blessed week!