Dear All,
Greetings to you all on a sunny day in Holmfirth. Philippa’s parachute jump, scheduled for December 2021, had to be postponed because of heavy cloud. It is now due to happen in May, weather permitting.
We have just received news from Liz which I pass on to you below.
Dear Ian and Diana,
Greetings from a very hot Nakuru. We have had such hot weather the last couple of days with some odd light showers here and there. Our weatherman says heavy rains are expected and so we have been preparing the shamba for planting.
All the children have closed school and are at home with us for about 7 weeks. It is good to have everyone at home and it has been busy. They have come back with a lot of assignments which we are trying to help them get out of the way, so they can enjoy more restful days ahead.
It has been good to see them happily take on chores around the house and really put it in effort to help. I had mentioned that we are now grinding maize, at a fee, for our neighbours and it's been very pleasing to see Emmanuel voluntarily take responsibility for that. Alex, Tony, Tabitha help him as they learn.
The grinding project is growing slowly but steadily and we are happy to hear good feedback from our customers on the good quality of the flour. We are hoping with proper growth of the project it can help us offset some of our costs. We are very grateful for the contribution towards the maize grinder; projects like these give us hope of long-term continuing to carry on with our task of providing care and protection to children that are desperate for it.
We have four national exam candidates this year, all in secondary school. How time flies. Neema, Emmanuel, Precious, and Ann finish their high school this year and what a journey.
It seems like just the other day - it was 2012 - that Julius got a call to go pick up a child at the Central police station - that was Neema. I remember joining them halfway through the journey to Riziki and being completely fascinated by Neema. At that time, she was 6 years old and had a very good grasp of events and she narrated them well and I kept thinking how brave she was, because we were strangers to her and it was painful story. But that is Neema; she has always had a confidence about her and has always been brave, sometimes has struggled, but ended up being brave again.
She has grown to be loved by the younger ones particularly Sharon who has said to Neema once she wants to be just like her. Neema reads stories to the younger ones and gives kind guidance. She is joyful, reads a lot, explores a lot and enjoys almost everything. I am glad we got to watch and contribute to the beautiful, and thoughtful young lady she has become. Whether author, pastor or lawyer, which have all been her dreams at different times of her life, she has a chance at them now.
They all have a beautiful story, of struggle and hope, and the hope, we have all contributed to it in our different ways. Money, prayers, encouragement - all of it has brought light to what had started very dark.
As I end, I must talk about our small team that is now the busiest they will be this year and my full confidence in their care and concern for our children. Keep them in your prayers. Evans had an accident with his bicycle on his way home two weeks ago and got a cast, so he joins us towards the end of March. All the rest are fine.
I will end it here, Ian and Diana, for today. Thank you for going out of your way to video call me, I am so glad I can receive your encouragement and support in this way. Asante Sana and God bless.
To all that contribute to Riziki in prayers, thoughts and /or finances a big ‘God bless you’.
Baraka, Liz.
At the latest count we have 25 children at Riziki, plus five who have completed their secondary or college education, or are close to doing so, and no longer live in the home. Eight are in primary school, with four more expected soon. Thirteen are in secondary school and two at university. Collins, our oldest boy, has just started work in a simple restaurant. He hopes this will be the start of a career in catering. We want to take in four young girls in the near future – at present we have more young boys than girls.
Stop press from Liz.
We have three high school children needing to do zoom classes this holiday. Looks like we need to invest in some affordable tablets to allow this. As far as the net is concerned, I think Safaricom is the way to go. I will send details tomorrow. Let me know what your thoughts are on the gadgets, maybe I should have put it in the newsletter.
Blessings,
Ian & Diana Hogley