I am picking enough greens, beans and baby spinach to keep our meals supplied and there are many green tomatoes waiting to ripen.
A Rwandese family who escaped from the killings in 1994 and whom we have been supporting as refugees in Kenya (where refugees are not allowed a work permit) have just this week arrived in Canada as official immigrants . We first got to know them when we were working in Nairobi in 1995 –1998. They had relocated from their refugee camp in Rep of Congo for the wife to have a tumour removed from her spine, but she was still bed bound and had not had any follow up physiotherapy. Which is where I got involved. I was able to put to good use the various walking frames, crutches and sticks we had brought with us from the UK and get her walking and independent again.
That was 16 years ago and they have been attempting to return to Rwanda or move on somewhere else ever since. The 6 children are now a lot older of course, and 3 are in the North American continent already. After the perpetual fear of police round-ups in Nairobi they are mightily relieved that Canada has agreed to start them on a new life as bona fide citizens with citizens’ rights and safety.
The exercise sessions here are bearing fruit as people report reducing girths, flatter abdomens, smaller clothes, easier walking and movement generally, release from chronic constipation (one of the regular benefits in the long list of the advantages of exercise!) and general increased wellbeing. They are also bringing their friends from outside the complex so we enjoy a good number now….14 yesterday.
Andy: Things are much the same at the hangar, though we have had the rare occasion recently when a plane has returned from a flight without a list of snags to be fixed before the next take-off. In general however we are never surprised by the high level of maintenance required by aircraft as old as these are. This week we have colleagues joining us from Zambia and South Africa to assess possible ways forward for the organisation, so it looks like being a long series of meetings and discussions between managers, board members and advisers. Must remember to check our stocks of head-ache pills.
Did we forget to mention the weather? Occasional rain has been interspersed with very hot days, but at least we have had a break from the very hot nights (29 deg C – 84F - in the bedroom) of the previous week. Fortunately the house has good air-conditioning available, but so far we haven’t got round to using it…
It’s just over 4 weeks until we return to UK for the Christmas break, and no doubt we shall get enough cold weather then to last us for a long time to come…
