Mama Emma

My 1GB of online allowance is fast running out.  I only hope that it lasts into next week so that I can stay connected with loved ones and finish my stories.

The rain came today, along with a very cold wind which cut through every layer of clothing I managed to wear.  The children remarked that I looked even whiter than I usually do.  Mama Emma, the school cook, allowed some of us to huddle before her fire in the kitchen while we sipped ginger chai.  The room has no chimney as such and very little of the smoke is sucked out through the one small window above the stove.  Faces wear a thick soot, and a heavy cough is borne by everybody who works in there.  Guttural ancient-sounding songs are passed between them all, sometimes the melodies interwoven like a rich fabric.  It felt good to feel part of it as the enormous pots boiled and were stirred with wooden spoons the size of paddles.

Through an extended lunch (exams continue to play havoc with the timetable), several of the children joined me in the library to play another game of Continuo.  I have now handed it over to Omar, as the Trusted Keeper.  He is a wonderful young man, with a happy and open nature.  I know he will treasure the game and enjoy sharing it with his friends at school each day.  He is an orphan.  We also made pretty bead bracelets out of kits which I brought out with me to Uganda.

Tomorrow we travel to the Agricultural Show with over 100 children.  The days here fast diminish.