Dear All,
We have just received information, below, from Riziki.
Hi Ian and Diana,
I am glad, I can finally write; it's interesting how time flies. The last time I wrote the children were at home for a short break and now we are expecting them for a longer break in less than two weeks. It is always nice to be a full house despite the work that goes into it, making sure they are positively occupied, but we are looking forward to it.
The younger kids are well and doing their very best at school. They have been hoping to have a day out during the school holidays and Kimani has been raising money towards it by selling some of the farm stuff in school. Green pepper, some local vegetables, and potatoes. He picks whatever order he has in the evening and carries it together with his school bag in the morning; the money is sent to me, and he keeps a tally. We are encouraging this and it's good to see him take initiative. The others have also taken some odd jobs around the compound. I hope they raise enough for a day out.
The farm is doing well, despite the fact that the expected rains are not here yet. We don't want to complain too much because unlike our neighbours we will at least have a maize harvest. It is not the same for a lot of our neighbours. The children have actually enjoyed roasted maize a few times in the past week. We also got a very good potato harvest. This is the second time in Riziki our potatoes have done well.
It feels very good to be able to provide variety for the children. A balanced diet has been key for us, and I am glad that, with the rains, we are able to provide that.
Speaking of variety, we have a new addition to Riziki farm.... rabbits. It was an idea by our night security guard, Boniface. Boniface came an hour earlier every day for a week and used scraps from the two recent buildings to put up a rabbit house. Evans gave the children three rabbits, while Elizabeth's mother gave them two, and just like that we have rabbits now!
We are now in preparation mode for the school holiday: programmes and guests. Hopefully I can write again at the end of August, after they return to school about how the holiday went.
Thank you for your constant thoughts and prayers throughout this year as we have been going through health challenges with my grandma and dad. I appreciate you, Asante. To all that love us, through prayer and/or contributions. Thank you so much! Baraka,
Liz.
Our good friend Matt Norton from our church visits Kenya frequently to see his projects in Southern Kenya and Nairobi. He has recently taken his volunteers to see Riziki and below are two of those people’s thoughts about Riziki.
1.
Riziki, You have touched my soul.
I’ve visited Riziki twice now over the past 2 years.
The first time I was just trying to take it all in.
I’m picturing it now and feeling emotional.
Going through the gates and not knowing what to expect.
I found something amazing.
Kids playing, kids asking questions and kids knowing what they want to do when they are older and where they want to visit. Real focus.
A farm! Animals, crops and an amazing water capture and irrigation system.
Incredible friendly staff.
And Liz. Oh, my goodness Liz.
Such a curious person who’s always looking at new ways of doing things.
Amazing!
2.
Riziki.
When we arrived at Riziki we were met at the jeep by the children. They were so polite and ran up to us, each child shook our hand told us we were welcome. The home itself is extremely calm and it struck me what a good environment this is for the children.
The children were happy and friendly, and they all helped with chores with no grumbles. They were confident and were happy to talk with us and play games with us.
We enjoyed outdoor games and crafts and all the children joined in, even the older children, which was really lovely to see. The care and support for the children was very apparent. The farm was amazing!! I wasn’t sure what to expect when I arrived but I left feeling really positive for the wonderful children of Riziki.
Our comments and prayer concerns.
Our ‘Afternoon Tea’ day in July proved to be a very happy occasion with our house and garden well filled all day. The weather was very kind with only a light shower at lunchtime while many places close to us had heavy rain. We give thanks for the whole day and for the generosity of our guests. We couldn’t do it without our wonderful team of helpers!
Prayer concerns
We pray for the whole of Kenya, suffering from rapidly rising food prices and increased taxation, leading to unrest in urban areas. We pray that financial support for Riziki will keep pace with our rising costs there also - staff salaries included.
We continue to pray for Julius and his family, Esther, Liz, Eutychus and grandma.
We remember the older children preparing for final school exams, leading to college or employment.
We thank God for the rain which has restored the land, leading to thriving crops and avoids the need to purchase water. The proposed new chicken shed.
We give thanks to all our Riziki friends for continued support, in any way, without whom Riziki could not continue.
Many blessings, Ian & Diana.