The HIV women’s group that meet regularly at our place are looking for ways to have projects to support their income. They have thought of selling cakes, a chicken or pig project, making traditional baskets or flower arrangements. We have registered them as a group and they were thrilled to receive, gym-shoes for their children, water – guard and some maize. They are now eligible to seek for a joint loan. They are called “Way Forward” self-help group.

 Funding; we are also anxiously waiting for news from Comic Relief about our application for funding.

 Snippets from Kenya. We have continued to repair some of the house to make it habitable and are now blessed by restored electricity and plumbing to the main part. We have not touched the rear of the house where the fire started and although it looks sad, we believe it will rise again. At least the covering is waterproof as this season has been a real test! We have worked hard on guttering and pipes to harvest the torrents of water which has, in the past been eroding the soil and washing away our driveway. We are also constructing two ponds to slow down the flow off the roof and divert it to a pipe. We hope to solve the problem and also gain the knowledge of how to save water for irrigation.

 Recent visits from Sandra Colman, Joan Rushton, Caroline Hutchings and Matthew Birtwhistle have brought such joy and encouragement. They brought lots of useful items. Joan did not suffer too many torrential rains, thankfully, and, for the first time in four visits, managed to see Mount Kenya. She used to time her visit in cloudy June. The wait was worth it! The snow-capped mountain looked stunning! The rain is deafening on the tin roof at night. I was dismayed at the deluge last Friday as we had put up the tent-shade the night before a wedding. It was a sorry sight at 5 am in the morning. Mud across the field from flooded banks and a heap of canvas. However…all credit to our workers! The shade was up again by 10 am, fixed and ready for the joyous occasion. We have another 2 weddings this month. The Kenyans are so surprising!

 Car Repairs; I still use Njagi, a young Runyenjes mechanic, to care for any car problems. His roadside patch was moved recently to a site 100 metres away on the other side of a disused petrol station to make way for a new building started just two months ago. It was huge! Four storeys high and impressive sweeping steps, flanked by colonnades. It was to house a national bank and many other businesses. This is the new developing Kenya. We were amazed at how quickly it went up but flabbergasted to hear it all fell down at night last week- in one big heap. Sadly, the night watchman lost his life.

I was also fascinated to watch a man near the bus stage fashion me a rubber bush for my shock absorber recently. A stack of bald tyres await their slaughter date. His ramshackle stall is festooned in rubber strips that are normally used for strapping luggage to the motorbikes or fill the cracks in chicken sheds or a thousand other uses.