Visit by some of the Relatives

 

Yesterday (Saturday 19^th) we invited the relatives of the children to come visit.  The children presented the Christmas program that they had done on the 1^st.   There were about 15+ folks who came.  In addition the mothers and aunties were there for the program.  The children knew the program so well that we had just one practice before the actual program and they did it fine.  One addition was that whenever one of the children spoke in English, another child interpreted into Nyanga what was being said.  There were some very old grannies, with weathered and wrinkled faces that came.  Benedict saw one grannie wiping tears away.  Idah, who came about a month ago, has a mother who is very sick.  The mother came for the program.  Miriam heard Idah say that she didn't want to go home with her mother.  She thought maybe that would happen.

 

A lunch was catered by the restaurant – shema, rice, vegetables (mainly cabbage), and mixed cuts meat from the oxen who quit working, was mean, and so was butchered.  He has been much more useful in death than in life.  The ladies from the restaurant were dressed in their uniforms and chef hats, and they used the shiny new chaffing dishes for serving the food. 

 

Some of the grandmas introduced themselves to me and said who were their grandchildren.  It was a special day for all of us.