The 'Lasts'...

Our week of 'lasts' is beginning.

This will be our last Sunday in Dodoma. So far today I have had my 'last playing the piano at the Anglican Cathedral' and my 'last shopping in Two Sisters'. Also probably my last drive through Dodoma town. It is quite weird, and not quite believable - or maybe that is just my automatic self-defence mechanism kicking in.

There is so much to get done this week, I am not sure how it will all get done. I am writing detailed handover notes for the incoming Programme Manager, as we will only have about one day of face-to-face handover. I am also doing a handover with the new Finance Manager - which is going OK, but again I'm not sure if we will get everything in. Then we need to finish the packing; move to another house on Wednesday (so we can finish the final packing), and somehow pack everything we own into a Cessna Caravan on Saturday morning and fly with it to Nairobi...

(just interrupted for last Swedish cakes and coffee with our neighbours :) ).

It has been quite a stress for the last couple of weeks trying to whittle down our stuff so that we get them within the available payload. Keeping has on several occasions had to give way to chucking :(

Last week we realised/decided that we couldn't afford to take any of our furniture, so another 'for sale' list went out. Surprisingly we are still left with some stuff.

God provided a miracle for us though - on Friday morning I found out that there was an Aim Air (the aviation arm of Africa Inland Mission) aircraft flying from Nairobi to Dodoma that afternoon, and flying back on Monday. I have spoken to Aim Air and the pilot, and it looks like they will be flying back pretty much empty on Monday afternoon. If all works out, we will hopefully be able to get about 180kg on this flight, which really takes the pressure off our flight next weekend. This is the first time I have ever heard of or seen Aim Air flying to Dodoma!

Please remember us in your prayers over the next week, as we deal with all the stuff we have to deal with - and particularly the emotional impact of the transition (which I am blanking out so far...) - especially for the kids. We are excited overall, but not looking forward to all the goodbyes :(