Instalment the Third 2019

Greetings from Magina. This has been a week of trying to get on with some of the jobs on our list, and one or two that we didn’t know about until we got here! The routine jobs include ensuring that all the letters to sponsors are written, photos are taken, and reports are being written by teachers and people at the Care Centre. All this ticks over quite nicely these days: this is our 5th year of being in Magina at this time of year, so people are getting used to our schedule!

One job that we didn’t know about before we got here, though, was replacing leaking and missing gutters at the Care Centre. The leaks were so bad that very little rainwater was being collected in the tanks, so last Saturday we worked out what we’d need, took the list to the local hardware shop and were told that everything would be there for us on Monday. So, while James, our sponsored lad who is doing a building course at the local polytechnic, and Gideon, took the old gutters down, I drove back to Ahero to get the new stuff…except it wasn’t there. There had been a problem with the lorry and it would now be coming in on Tuesday. Groan – Tuesday is market day in Ahero, which means an even higher level of chaos and congestion than usual. Meanwhile, now the centre has no gutters, we are treated to a torrential downpour! Sure enough, everything was there on Tuesday, but I timed my trip to get everything with another ferocious rainstorm – marooned in the shop for ages, while everywhere was getting flooded at the centre! Anyway, having got everything, our two lads worked like trojans for the next couple of days to get everything up. We now have new gutters! Not particularly exciting for us, maybe, but very necessary for people here to be able to collect clean rainwater whenever they have the chance.

Gideon manhandling the gutters

Since the gutters have been finished, of course, there has been virtually no rain…but they will return at some point. To be honest, we are not sorry to see a bit of dry weather: the rain here turns everything to sticky mud very rapidly, which we find very tiresome, but which the locals just accept as ‘one of those things’.

James the bulider…can he fix it? Yes he can!

A real highlight of our trip came on Friday morning. We asked Millicent to try to gather together as many people from the area as possible, who had had houses built for them in this area by Pamoja over the years. Millicent thinks there are probably about 16 altogether (and there are many more in the Nairobi area). In the end, ten people came: two just didn’t make it, two live further away and two had died…so we excused them….We spent a little while talking to them about how happy the people in Pamoja are to be able to help in this way, that it really isn’t doing anything more than anyone should do who has a heart of compassion, and how our Heavenly Father also wants us to be assured of a permanent home in Heaven through faith in the Lord Jesus. They also wanted to tell us their stories. All were very grateful, but were concerned to first and foremost give glory to God for answering their prayers. It was very moving and humbling to

hear how all these people were living in houses that were falling down, or were tiny, or how they had no home at all. The need is immense, and we are only glad that Pamoja, through the generosity of people who give, has been able to help just a few of those in need.

That’s it for this week, I think. We continue to spend a fair bit of time having fun with children and chatting to various people, listening, building relationships: doing those things that don’t translate readily into a ‘to do’ list, but are still hugely valuable.

Once again, thank you for your love, support and prayers.