Independence day...

Hello everyone and hope you had a good week!  I had another busy week but it was fruitful at least!

On Monday Nicolas and I went to Msiki again to check if the centre was open - it was closed, so we went to find the caregiver and see what was going on.  This granny (Agogo) met us and told us one of the caregivers had gone to the hospital with a relative but that the other one (the wife of the chief) was at home.  Since we had not been there for some time she escorted us to the home of the chief.  I took this picture when we dropped her home again and he gorgeous grand daughter came running to meet her with a baby tied on her back!!

Although you can't really see very clearly in this picture, one of the Nkhokwe's (the maize storage) is full of maize - its just off centre in the picture so there has been quite a good harvest in this area!

As usual when we go to villages the children follow us around and here was no different - some were scared of me of course (because I am white.....I hope!!).

The chief on the left hand side with his wife the caregiver, on the right hand side.  The other two men are committee members of the centre.

We had a good meeting with the chief and the committee members  - they have promised to open the centre again in the next school year.  Part of the problem here is that the water source is very far from the centre.  Working with a local NGO, we arranged to have three boreholes dug in the village a few months ago.  However, only one is now working so its still a struggle to get water.  The early years centre is on top of a hill so carrying the water is not easy!

Its the last week of school this coming week and so I have been in our school quite a few times organising things for the end of year celebration and also for teacher training that will happen during the holidays.  As I was passing I found this little guy very busy building - not sure what but his concentration level was fantastic!

And as usual every time I go past the playground the kids shout 'teacher Diana' - you can see they are all looking healthy and happy!!

6th July is Independence day in Malawi and I was invited to go to the closing ceremony at Wongani kindergarten which is attached to the Catholic Church here in Mzuzu.  We trained all the caregivers who work here so I am always invited.  It was a joyous occasion as you can see.

The children did a drama for Independence day - we had the four Presidents represented since independence in 1964 from the British Protectorate!  In the picture below you can see from left to right...our ruling President Dr Joyce Banda, Dr Bingu Wa Mutharika, Dr Bakili Muluzi and the first life president of Malawi Ngwazi Kamuzu Hastings Banda with his characteristic hat, sunglasses and fly whisk.  It was a fun time!

All of our Presidents have their dancing ladies and here you can see the girls dressed with Kamuzu Banda cloth dancing with the president!

We also had some traditional dancing represented by these two lovely boys...

While this was all great fun, I was happy to see that the children were also doing some activities to show what they do in the early years centre throughout the year.  I am so proud when I see the caregivers doing such a great job with the children - when I have a bad day and I think of all the children that have been touched throughout the years, I feel blessed and thankful to be here.

It was a long morning though - it started at 9am and finished around 1pm - a long day for these little children.

On another note altogether, the weather has turned colder - its sunny and cool these days and so the land is drying up as we haven't had rain for almost two months now.  However, as always in the dry season, I am always amazed at the wonderful colour in the garden.  Here you can see some of the fruits of my garden!

And to finish off with, I was walking through the town one lunchtime and saw this parked lorry with a great slogan 'if God says yes, who can say no'!

Monday is a public holiday as Independence day landed on a Saturday so looking forward to a day off.  However the rest of the week will make up for it - lots on the calendar already!

Hope you all have a great week.

Blessings,

Diane