Fire, fire!

It's so dry here in Dodoma now, that it doesn't take much to start a fire. Last Wednesday, over at the hangar one started. It started at the far side of the runway, but the wind caught it and it went quite far down. People here regularly burn all their rubbish (we often get smoked out of our own home - well, almost - plastic is terrible when it burns) as there's no where to put it, and you would have to pay someone to take it away for you.

Well, if you look at the above picture, the guys in the foreground are MAF workers, and they're standing just beyond the MAF apron. A good fire brings everyone out!


That was a lot of drama for one day - and the worry was that the wind would really catch hold of it and then it would get out of control. One of the two fire engines stays at the airport, and the other one comes from the town. Good to have them!

Sports Day!!

Sports Day finally came. It was only 365 days that the boys had been waiting, so not that long??
Well, they were so excited! We had bought 2 Irish football sets (copies) while we were home and they had already tried these on to see if they were 'good' or suitable? They were up very willingly (even Benjamin!) and they ate breakfast quickly. Benjamin complained that there was 'too much sweet stuff' in his lunch/snack, and he needed more 'healthy food'. What a joke. He wouldn't normally say that, but he was looking for any magic tricks that he could find to win some races.

After some fact painting - shamrocks and green stripes - they were ready for off. That left us to get ready to go in and see the races.


Benjamin, all ready for the day.


Joshua and Benjamin with another Northern Irish boy- Sam Heaney. They had the same idea, that it would be fun for him (as he was in the green team) to wear an Irish strip. Sam is 4 years old and from County Down. His parents are working at St. John's University (Anglican).

Well, they spent 1 hour doing various jumping and throwing events, and then they swapped with the older kids at the school, who had been doing to running ones first. This was the big excitement for them.

Races for Benajamin were against the 5 and 6 year olds. Joshua was racing the 7 and 8 year olds. Last year they raced each other as one was 5 and the other 6 years. Benjamin made it into a final, and Joshua had a few disappointments. However, he did survive the 400 metres (Joshua), which was 2 laps of the race track (sandy course - lets not exaggerate). They had a great time, and enjoyed the obstacle race immensely, and the skipping was quite funny to watch. Benjamin, being very co-ordinated, was very good, until he saw all the other children racing ahead, who were only running. Then he raced after them.
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and 3
of Benjamin doing his skipping. Do you like his shoes? Doesn't he look good!
The truth is , last year he was upset that he had to wear shoes, as his mummy and daddy told him that anyone who could afford good trainers would be wearing them at Sports Day. After the races were all over he was convinced that he could have run better without them - so this year he got his chance to try! The video below is of his skipping race.








The following are a sequence of photos of Joshua in the relay race. The power of a zoom lens - its just great!
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and 4

A very energetic supporter - Edith Brooks, mum and teacher of Nursery children. There was flag waving, and cheering and even a couple of those very noisy hooters that became popular at the time of the World Cup.

The nursery and reception children came out for their race, after almost all the standards had completed their races. Esther had been asking from the previous day would she be able to run. I told her to ask her daddy, and he would show her where she could run - thinking that she could run down the side while the others were running. However, when these other little kids were lining up, over she went, and into the line she got.


When the whistle went for the others to start running, off she went like a hare. She ran all the way down to the finishing line, and raced past a MAF child that she knows to the finish line. For two years old, she did so well! And boy did she enjoy her race! We were so glad that she had got the opportunity to run. It was her part in the family day!





The Mummies and teachers race was just before the daddies race, and we both did take part. However, I have to say (Julie Anne writing) that I definately didn't hurt as much this year (in the following days) as I did last year! Now, that's a good thing. Last year I didn't know what was wrong with my legs, for the next three days - I eventually realised! I mean, it was only a 100 metre sprint, but then, that was going from standing with no stretching or warming up. Much better to have a few warm ups first! Although Glenn came second last year, he managed to achieve more this year. He was first in the daddies race (didn't he do well!) and didn't pull any hamstrings. He didn't tell me when we got married that he had been a sprinter in his youth - the things you have to have children to find out!!

I still don't look very co-ordinated either. Anyway, enjoy looking at Glenn's pics. I think they look good. Did you see the teacher who fell? Spot him in one of the photos. Poor guy. I didn't know about that until Glenn told me. Aren't we good photographers??










Well, here we are at the end of a busy and tiring morning. It was a lot of fun for us all.

Esther Turned Three

Tuesday, 5th October was a very exciting day for Esther,#
It was her third birthday, and she just couldn't wait for her party to begin. She loved everything about it, and was delighted with all her friends and presents.


Her party started at 3.30pm (after her afternoon nap) and she had 6 friends between the ages of 2 and 5 that came to join in with the fun and games.


Her cake was of the Barbie variety. It was rather tricky as the icing didn't really do what I wanted it to. Probably because I tried to mix some old icing from the fridge with some new stuff from a packet. Major problem of it not wanting to hold it's shape or stick -aaah, how frustrating. Also the heat here didn't help, and the icing was drying out even quicker than it should have. Never mind. It also cracked quite a bit as it dried out, but hopefully you'll see very little of that as I've tried to put in pictures that show Barbie off the best in her dress. Just a bit sneaky!



Daddy made some beautiful wings and a little wand for her too. We had some fun!


By the end of the party we were all pretty tired out. Coping with the heat and all the fun and games (and little children) was really quite exhausting. But everyone had had a lovely time, and had some fun shortbread shapes to take home too!


Eshter with Mummy.