Final Day in the Village

I have been so busy these past few weeks and I can't believe my final day in the village had arrived! And even this day would be a busy one, we still hadn't given out all the toothbrushes and worming pills. But thankfully, James, seen in the red top on the left of the first image above, helped go to each house and do the deed.

I took advantage of this time to say thank you and good bye to many of the villagers and also took photos of each family. Though not all families had members at home when we came. But we managed to do most of it, and just a few houses I left the things with James, who said he would give out to them.

So just before I left, and on my way to the highway I passed through the school to say goodbye. It was lovely, they had prepared a going away thank you ceremony. They sat me in a chair and every child from the school, village members and teachers all came by and put either flowers around my neck or into my hands and put a tikka onto my head. It felt so nice that they did this for me which of course I wasn't expecting. It was a nice finish to my time in the village.

To be honest, the time was too little, there's still so much to do and things to be achieved. But my visa says I must leave or I'll get into trouble. But it's making me even more excited for my return in April 2009!

I will be continuing to get information on the renovation through Mon and have pictures too, keeping us all up to date on the progress. We still have so much to do in this community, but we're going in the right direction, and even with the bumps which are to be expected, the important thing is we've started the ball rolling.

Lee