Saying goodbye to the village.... For now

On Thursday, I awoke with the sun as usual, knowing it was my last full day in the village for some considerable time and I heard the chattering of the women who meet every Thursday morning at 6am before they go off cultivating for the day. These are the women who have formed themselves into a Savings cooperative and they are my friends. I got dressed quickly and went to see them. We chatted and they danced for me, of course I joined in! The lady on the left of the picture with the red jacket is Stephanie, the leader of the group and a new member of the local NGO, Gihombo Forward. This group is now responsible for the use of the building and for promoting further development in the vicinity.

The lady immediately to the left of me in the photo above is one of the oldest ladies in the village and her family were given a gift of a sand water filtration pot which Silas will install for her. 

Thursday went by quickly with lots more activity and all too soon it was Friday morning and time to leave. I went to see the children at school, it was still very early but, already, there were some of the 85 morning children waiting for their protein porridge. The feeding programme is still a very important part of the project and will need to continue for a long time. We are still looking for an NGO who will come into partnership with GiFo in order to improve health promotion and health care. 

The hardest part of all was saying goodbye to Mama and the household and there were many tears. It is wonderful to me that even though we don't speak the same language we have the same spirit and the same heart of love within us all.

Many friends walked down to the lakeshore with us where the boat was waiting, we climbed in and had a lovely peaceful journey with water lapping gently against the wooden boat, blue skies, verdant green land, exotic birds and fish jumping in the lake. Just at that moment Gabriel received a message from his wife to say that she had gone into labour with her second child and her neighbours were taking her to hospital. As a treat and to get there as soon as possible we hired a taxi car to take us on the new tarmac road to Kibuye. We dropped Gabriel off at the hospital before continuing into town to the bus park. In the middle of the afternoon I received a message to say that his daughter had been born..... And here she is

This two month visit has seen some surprising things happening for the people of Gasundwe, some hardships and some miracles. We have shared the sadness of the funeral of a much loved papa and now the joy of the safe arrival of a new baby girl. It seems to me to be a fitting illustration of God's love and care, of God's concern and compassion for the poor. I feel privileged to be part of God's activity in this place.

Thankyou to everyone out there who has supported with money, love, prayer and by simply taking an interest in the lives of other human beings living in completely different circumstances to yourselves.

 

Be blessed. Tricia xxx

PS this is not the end! I will keep you updated from UK. And if you want me to come and talk to your group or just to share a drink with you and bring some photos that would be great.... And if you can provide cake , even better!