Bits and pieces

A few more photos from last weekend.

We are heading into winter now which mean in the daytime it is around 30 degrees Celsius and the evenings are freezing about 24 degrees Celsius! I have started wearing socks in bed. Not sure I would ever survive a European. winter again. Life carries on as normal. Daniel is very busy, but enjoying himself being the boss. Bethany has had another ear infection this week and has been off school. This time there was an Italian Doctor staying in the guest house who was able to look at her. It is very tiring having to scout around for doctors when your children are sick, but God always provides one.

We are enjoying a very quiet compound at the moment. Our neighbours on both side are away for a few months. We still have one couple down at the far end, but they don't have children so don't make much noise. That just leaves our children to make the noise. I just asked Daniel to check the children outside and see what they were up to. His response was " they're fine, we don't need to check them". I asked him just to check them anyway, do I trust them, no, and with good cause! Daniel found Caleb had climbed into the taka taka pit (the pit we fill with rubbish to burn) to get a dead mouse which he had in his hand!!!

Alana and Davina (who some of you know) moved out of their house to go to Kenya last month. Last weekend they came back with a lorry to collect their stuff. We heard yesterday that the lorry had been involved in a serious accident near the Kenyan border and all their stuff had been destroyed. I don't know all the details, but the lorry was driving too fast and then rolled over and then either caught fire or the stuff was looted.

A few photos

A few pictures from the weekend. The children after a birthday party and Caleb helping Daniel and Bert build the hen house!

Currently...

Currently reading: Just finished the biggest book with the smallest print that Daniel could buy in the airport in South Africa: 'The Persimmon Tree' by Bryce Courtenay. (Libby)
'The Road to Nab End' by William Woodruff,(Daniel) 'Double Act' by Jacqueline Wilson (Bethany),'All because of Jackson'by Dick King Smith (Joshua)

Currently watching: 'House'

Currently not enjoying:my dilemma of whether or not to ride Caleb to school on my bike or not. Usually I take Caleb to school on the bike a few times a week. The last few weeks I have been wondering about the safety of this as I dart in and out of daladas. (Local minibuses whose drivers are sometimes under the influence of one kind or another) About two weeks ago a Dutch Volunteer girl was killed cycling her bike back from work. A taxi hit her bike from behind and she was thrown off her bike onto the road. She died in hospital from her injuries. I just like doing it because it means I take Caleb to school and then my exercise is done for the day and in the cooler part of the day. (Yes you should be doing 30 minutes of exercise a day!)Even Daniel has actually started playing badminton in the hangar this week. He has been meaning to do it for about two years. I suggested that this week would be as good as any to start! Time will tell if he keeps it up.

The various illnesses that have befallen the children after almost a year of not much. Following on from Caleb's strange virus, Bethany has had an ear infection. In the picture she has a heat pad over her ear. After a few problems working out how to treat her, (there seem to be a number of theories about this) an American doctor flew in in his helicopter and examined Bethany in the hangar. (He was coming anyway, he didn't just come to treat Bethany!!) She is now fine, but last night Caleb start throwing up about 1am. He continued to do this every half hour until 10am this morning.

The freezing cold pool. We are heading into winter now and although the afternoon temperatures are still quite high, the mornings are cooler and with them the temperature of the pool has really dropped. This may not sound like a hardship, but remember the pool is one of the few places to go.

Currently enjoying: Joshua is enjoying messing around on Google Earth and looking for different locations.

Caleb still enjoys climbing trees bugs and swimming.The photo of Caleb is of a snake we found in front of the house. According to him it was a good bug day. He also found a bee and a big black thing that looked like a locust-Great!!!!

Currently praying for: MAF Tanzania strategy process; School; how long we should stay in Tanzania, where we should go next. We just past the 3 year mark and have 1 year left on our contract. Daniel's skills are in demand and there are a number of other programs that could use him. Mostly on the list of places I do not even want to visit. Pray that God would show us the way forward and give us peace about any decision we make.

Currently working on projects: Daniel is helping a friend build a chicken shed.

Currently wishing for: A haircut. I haven't had a proper one for almost a year now and I am really beginning to feel it. More places to go and visit at weekends and holidays. Actually anywhere to go at the weekends and on holidays.

Swine flu-again

I read this article from 'Time Magazine' and as it so nicely expanded on my previous thoughts on the virus I thought I would include it here.

"If the fast spread of swine flu suggests the world is small, the global response to the epidemic reminds us that in many ways it's still light years apart. Swine flu has been making headlines in the Western world, but in places like India and Africa, where "pandemic" is just another part of the daily vocabulary, no one has so much as stifled a sneeze.

In Africa, malaria kills more than 3,000 children a day; in South Africa, HIV/AIDS has taken 2.8 million people and infected 5.3 million more. Every day in India, 1,000 people succumb to tuberculosis. Those are just the big diseases. According to the United Nations, a recent cholera outbreak killed nearly 4,000 Zimbabweans and infected 80,000, while in India diarrheal diseases kill an estimated 600,000 children under 5 every year.

So, when the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that deaths in Mexico from the H1N1 swine flu leapt to nine, you can see why the news didn't make the front page in Africa or India. (The two suspected cases of swine flu in South Africa turned out to be false, and only one case has been confirmed in Asia, in Hong Kong.) Any concern in these regions has so far centered on sports: specifically, whether any new travel restrictions will affect the Confederations Cup, the international eight-team soccer tournament due to be played in South Africa in June, or the Indian Premier League, a new cricket tournament featuring players from around the world, now being played also in South Africa.

Still, the WHO has urged all governments to prepare for an imminent pandemic. "The biggest question is, 'How severe will a pandemic be?'" Dr. Margaret Chan, the WHO director-general, said in Switzerland. So politicians have to make like they're doing something. Gabon and Ghana have banned the import of pork, even though the flu virus cannot be contracted through eating dead pig. Kenya, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe say they are checking arriving passengers at borders and airports and have response plans of varying sophistication should an outbreak occur. In some places, they've gone much further: Authorities in Egypt, which was affected by bird flu last year, have begun slaughtering the country's entire unfortunate pig population of more than 300,000.

But given that many public health systems in Africa do not have the skills, equipment or resources to protect their citizens even against the lethal health crises they battle every day, the truth is that the threat of another disease — even a pandemic flu — tends to elicit shrugs in this sickness-struck continent. If asked what preparations they are making for the possibility of swine flu's arrival, most African governments opt for the same kind of wordy non-statement issued by African Union chairman Jean Ping on Thursday: "We hope to establish a continental plan for prevention, and if necessary a mechanism to fight this outbreak that has not yet affected Africa."