A different sort of busy

Not "busy doing nothing" but Sunday was a less intense day.

We began with church at Utange Baptist, where they have an English and then a Swahili service.

It was lovely seeing the boys Sue had worked with trying to use what they had been taught on the keyboards.

I wasn't expecting to be called up to the stage, let alone to be asked to speak, or to be prayed for, and felt rather a fraud on all three counts. It was kind of them though.  The Casuarina children sang a song Jess had taught them which was lovely.

After the service Rose found me to give me the dress I had ordered from her. I am so pleased with it that I will at some point produce a photo of myself wearing it. She wouldn't let me pay for it; she said that I had blessed her by giving her the sewing machine and fabric and now she wanted to bless me. It was a real blessing and the dress fits perfectly. Incredible to know that she made it without a pattern.

Debbie took Phil, Sue, Will and Frances back to Severin while Ronnie and I met up with Juma to go to visit his home. It was a lovely walk in the sunshine; we saw a pair of men cutting up a dead tree which Juma told me would be sold as firewood. We also saw a group of young lads thoroughly enjoying fresh coconuts, which made me quite jealous!

However, my jealousy didn't last loo long as, when we got to Juma's house (which I found with only a few redirections) his brother Karissa, who is home from High school, had climbed up one of the family's coconut trees to cut some down. He proceeded to cut the open for us and we enjoyed the fresh coconut milk. He then split the shells so that we could share the fresh coconut flesh.

After that Juma took ion a tour of his home and to,d us more about his family, before showing us all the improvements he has made to his mamas stall. He has extended it and rethatched it and the family have been experimenting with selling different items. Juma explained that the green vegetables are bought quite a distance away, north of Mtwapa, where they have an abundance, then brought back to Utange where they are few and can be so,d at a profit. They also have some jewellery made by another brother, Eric (of which I bought some) and some posters. I had brought along some solar lamps for the family to sell or rent, so they will go on the stall as well, as will the beans and rice at a later point. I thought it was excellent that they are trying out different lines to sell.

We asked Juma to find out the cost of a chicken shed - their hens are breeding but the chicks are often eaten by the crows. They don't want a very large one and Juma could build it himself.

We visited Salama to see the progress made since I bought her some more tools. The salon had been rearranged since my previous visit and looked impressive. The straightener and hair dryer are working well but not the kettle so it may be necessary to return this to Nakumatt.

Ffter those excursions we returned - relatively early - to Severin, and a swim in the pool and a dip in the ocean, before I returned to my room to enjoy some more monkey antics.