Dear All, It is two months since the last newsletter. Life at Riziki has been very busy with a long school holiday and Christmas festivities. The news from Liz arrived today and we hope you enjoy catching up on life at Riziki. She wrote - Dear Ian and Diana, It is really nice to finally be able to sit and write to you. We are now settling after a tiresome back-to-school and getting the young ones reacquainted with the school routine after a long holiday break. The holiday was very eventful, we had a fun Christmas lunch, where we all prepared our meal together. We started in the morning at 10 am, and we had everyone contribute to the final meal; I personally enjoyed the interactions as we cooked together. We then sat outside (we had good weather) and had a late lunch. The children then put on their own scripted production of the birth of Jesus; this was the first time they have done this. It was all the older boys' idea and involved the other kids and it was such a joy watching them work together. The production was done in English, Swahili and some sheng and it was funny and they all seemed to enjoy themselves (Sheng is generally seen as an urban or youth language based on Swahili mixed with English - Ed). Little Max, Hellen's son was baby Jesus, while Little Grace, Derrick, Dennis and Susan were very dedicated sheep . We all loved it. After that, some of the boys made speeches, mostly ones to say thank you for all they had received this year and had special, specific “thank you”s for all the staff in the house - also the first time this was happening and it was very moving to hear the specific ways they had been positively affected by different adults in the house.
Another special occasion this holiday was Cora Barclay's visit. Cora, who lives locally, visited us with her mother, cousins and family friend and had prepared wrapped, individual Christmas presents for the children. This was a first at Riziki. We usually put up a Christmas tree, but we have never had presents under it, nor exchanged presents at all for Christmas. This was very, very special; the children loved opening their presents.
We are now in February, a scorching February. We are using dam water to keep some vegetables alive, till the rains start and our farm can grow some more food. Our house tanks ran out of water, as we have not had rain since October, so we have had to buy water for the house since mid-December. Again, this costs £100 every two weeks. We are hopeful and pray that the rains are on time.
We had our First Lady (the wife of President Ruto) today lead a national prayer meeting for rain; it has really been dry for too long and a lot of the areas are affected by water shortage and consequently food shortage. We are hopeful and have started preparing our farm for the rains, last week a very early morning had to be done so as to be among the first in line for subsidized fertilizer being offered by the government. We managed to get 4 bags which will really be helpful and totally worth being up and about in the dark morning.
The staff continue to give their best, and we are happy and the children are grateful to have them. They really do put their best foot forward every day and I ask that we continue to pray for them as they give their energy and time. We also want to install smaller sinks in the laundry to reduce the volume of water the children use when doing their personal washing. Finally, in an effort to start some community projects where, in addition to our own children, we are externally helping a few more other children in the community.
We started discussions with key people in the community to understand what the gaps are. Matthew Norton (a member of our church in the UK - Ed) had come down with a group of volunteers this February. The team helped facilitate these discussions. Teenage pregnancies, and lack of sanitary pads, among others, were raised as some of the problems. We are still on the drawing board on the best steps forward to assist. That will be all for today, Little Grace will be back from school in a few minutes. Thank you for your love and support. Thank you for all that support the children to have a safe environment to grow up in. They really are grateful, I learnt last December. We might not get an everyday thank you, but it was equally special. So, to all who support us in prayer and/or through contributions - Asante Sana and God bless. Regards, Liz
Prayer concerns We continue to pray for Julius and his family, Esther, Liz and Eutychus. We ask for your prayers for Elizabeth, our valued and loved cook who was admitted to hospital this week with very high blood pressure. We join the whole Kenya nation in praying for rain that our needs may be met in the rapidly changing climate. We thank those who contributed to the beds for the new girls‘ dormitory which have proved valuable. We give thanks to all our Riziki friends for continued support, in any way, without whom Riziki could not continue.
Many blessings, Ian & Diana.