Adeline’s 2nd Birthday

Happy birthday to Adeline for yesterday! We didn't take many photos of her party on Wednesday night, but here are a few. 16 adults and 11 kids helped her celebrate. The party had a really relaxed and bubbly atmosphere. Some memorable moments:

Being a helper down (Nepo came down with malaria; he's fine now), being without running water for most of the day and losing power as we cooked. Thankfully the cake had just come out of the oven when the power went out and my friend Dianne rescued me by pitching in with cooking and baking the hamburger bread rolls in her gas oven. I was very grateful!

Despite all the things that didn't go smoothly (my scales ran out of batteries, the cake fell apart and I iced it back together...etc) it was a really relaxed and great time together because what mattered most is that we could celebrate it with people who love Adeline. They didn't care about whether there was a cake or what not!

Adeline was unbelievably excited about the whole thing, bubbling with happiness. She woke up from her afternoon nap, saw the cake sitting on the bench, and despite it's broken state giggled happily saying, "It's my birthday!". She didn't care how it looked and that made me very pleased.

Adeline opened each gift like it was a cave of wonders and thanked the giver with hugs and broad smiles. I was proud of her.

The kids put on a show for all the grownups at their own instigation. It's the first time they've done that; great fun! Made me think of my own childhood.

We all sang happy birthday, and as soon as the song ended 2 year-old Jean-Baptist blew out the candles. Hilarious! I lit the candles again and Adeline sang herself happy birthday before blowing them out.

Adeline woke up the next morning still glowing.

Happy birthday to our gorgeous little toddler!

The All Clear For Tim

Thanks so much for your prayers and support. Three months after the needle stick injury, we’re very happy to report that Tim’s HIV test has come back clear. Yay!

English Holiday Club

Some parents asked if we could run a holiday program at Grace School, and the school committee decided it was a great idea. We also hoped it would be a good way to advertise our beautiful new school in the community.

For the last fortnight Catherine, with a lovely team, has been running an English Holiday Club. Here are a few picks from the last day.

UNO was very popular, as were Guess Who, puzzles (with pictures to discuss) and many other games to build language. We focused on encouraging the children to speak and took advantage of the opportunity to listen to and converse with several native speakers.

Football and the playground were a hit of course. “Call to each other in English please.”

Cute.

Our market shops neat and tidy, ready to invite the parents to shop with us in the afternoon.



Story time, waiting for our little concert to begin.


The parents arrived, and we excitedly performed some songs and rhymes. “We’re going on a lion hunt…”


Thanking the volunteers


The kids brought their parents inside to shop in the market we made during the week. There were some bargains to be had and some rather pricy pieces of clothing.

I was thankful for a great team, an endearing bunch of kids and a successful fortnight.

Prayers appreciated.

 

Hi all our blog-readers,

Just a brief note to let you know that I had a minor injury from an instrument with HIV positive blood on it at work today. I’m ok and feeling fairly philosophical about it all; we thought about this a fair bit before we came to Rwanda and it’s a low risk situation, but if you’re the praying type, your prayers would be appreciated.

I’m on anti-HIV treatment for the next month or so, which should help my empathy with patients on these medicines, but it’d be great not to have too many side effects as I still need to get a lot of work done!

Blessings,

Tim

Grace Creche & Nursery School

A few photos from the new school I’m helping with. Such lovely ladies on the team!

Will & Hannah at School

The principal greets all the students and parents at the gate each morning.

’Teacher Meeting’ before school.

The school day begins.

A Few Moments From Mum’s Visit

ABOVE: Adeline did NOT want to be in a photo right then. But she took to Mum very quickly.
BELOW: In fact, she started having her nap on Mum’s bed, falling asleep while being read a pile of books.

ABOVE: Mum took Adeline over the road to visit her Rwandan Godmother.
BELOW: An after-school treat with Oma.

ABOVE LEFT: The girls with our watchman Nepo.
ABOVE RIGHT: Adeline insisted on trying to ‘help’ the carpenter who was fixing out curtain rails. She passed him all sorts of stuff he didn’t need at that moment.

BELOW: Watching a building in our street go up has been very interesting on walks to and from school each day. People carry concrete up to the top in old containers, on their heads.

ABOVE: We took mum to the local Chinese Restaurant for her birthday.
BELOW: Market shopping with Mum, Lou & Adeline.

BELOW: More after-school treats with Oma at the local ice-cream shop.

ABOVE: Painting pictures to go to Australia.
BELOW: Adeline loves playing with the gate.

BELOW: Mum & Felicite, who works at the new school with me. They have a lot in common.