Elizabeth writes:

We have been back over a week now and it hardly feels as if we’ve been away.  It really has become our second home here, and our little house felt very welcome.

A friend e-mailed us to ask of our first impressions on our return.  One thing I miss is the greenness of Britain - the trees, the hedges and the grass all looked so beautiful; it’s easy to take them for granted.  It was also lovely to see all the flowers - quite a rarity here, since why would you waste money on seeds and precious growing areas on something you can’t eat.

AIDS never goes away and our local friend had just nursed her 28-year old daughter to death leaving two children of 13 and 2.  Of course, it “wasn’t AIDS”;  firstly it was arthritis, then TB; everyone here lives in denial of this deadly disease which is slowly killing the nation.  A seven year old in the primary school had died, and two other young people in the village (one from our school) are desperately ill.  They are both maternal orphans, so there is a high chance that they were born HIV positive but no-one will get them tested so that they can receive ARV drugs which could extend their lives and improve their health.

Rats:  I returned to school last week and we found that birds and rats had managed to get into the staffroom building.  The rats had a field day in the wooden cupboard, trying out anything that took their fancy including this rubber ball!

rubber-ball.jpg

I liberally scattered poison around the next day and we haven’t seen them since.

At home, there are plenty around also, and there are no sewers for them to hide in.  Everyone seems to have fun burning the grass round their houses supposedly to frighten off snakes and rats so David indulged in a little pyromania too.

 fire1.jpg

We were pleased to miss the worst of the winter, and, although cold, the days did seem to be warming up slightly.  Yesterday, however, the winds started and they were icy cold, beating the sun by miles in the temperature stakes.  The pipes froze again last night, so we are hoping it is just a blip and spring really will come soon.

I know the title of this posting looks a bit depressing but we are still very happy here and have some good friends to relax with.