A Little Bit of Singing

It's all over. We're off to bed for a few hours sleep and then to the airport at 3am to catch our flight home. Sad and emotional farewells were the order of the day, following the grand opening ceremony for the clinc, complete with the cutting of a red ribbon, this afternoon.

As I have mentioned in previous entries, there is so much to tell you and I'll continue to update the site with entries for the next week or so and of course share a few photos.

Before I head off tonight, I wanted to tell you a little about yesterday morning. We finished off the rooms and murals, which Sam told you about. Collectively we are quite proud of our murals! and it was fun doing them too. A finishing touch to the entrance was a giraffe, which Sam drew and painted, for measuring the heights of the children and in particular, adding marks for the at-risk pregnant women. (Pregnant women below the height of 4'10" are considered high-risk)

The clinic has a small courtyard and there is a largish entrance area, with 4 rooms off this, 2 to each side; a doctor's room, a well-baby clinic, two children's' resource rooms, and a toilet and store room. Once we'd finished off the doors and skirting boards, we started hanging round, different members of the team involved in different things in and around the area.

As the children started gathering, asking me to take pictures, I tried to engage them in conversation and get them singing. They were very shy to and so we shared names and ages and basic details about themselves. (Lots of "sign" language and gestures!) Mostly girls around 11, there was a scattering of ages ranging from 5 to 12. Wanting to sing with them, I pulled Andrew in to help. Those who know Andrew, our vicar, will know his great musical talent and so will not be surprised that he came equipped with a song, actions and great energy! We kept repeating his first 'Noah' song until Andrew was exhausted and the children had finally joined in, giggling and following along as they did. Then he and Caroline racked their brains for more songs with actions. It was great fun and the crowd grew quickly. When Andrew retired breathless, they shyly suggested they wanted to sing for us and so finally they sang a few for us. We finished with more songs and Val, Andrew Caroline and I playing hand clapping games and singing until lunch. It was a very special time and there was much laughter.

Bye for now. Will talk again when there is a reliable Internet and no queue!
Sue