moving on ... again!

We are getting ready to move in a week's time. So there isn't anything very interesting to report. It is like moving anywhere - boxes and chaos all over the place. We are, however, wrestling with some questions we wouldn't have if we were moving house in Europe. There are no removal men (as such), and you certainly can't pop online and book a drive-your-own van with Hertz or Avis. Fortunately we don't have a lot of furniture to move - we are buying up quite a few things that were already in the house - but we do have a few awkward things like a 2m long desk and our double bed and mattress. It looks as if we will just use two taxis and our car ... but I'm not sure that will give us enough space, despite the ability of these taxi drivers to get an awful lot in and on their taxis (I'll try to remember to take photos on moving day!).

Marc has been busy converting mobile phone chargers into transformers for our 12 V fans. An ingenious idea of our neighbour's to avoid having to install a 12 V circuit in the house. Marc did find it a little difficult to explain to the person selling the chargers that he didn't care which brand of phone they were for, it was only the voltage they produce that interested him!

happy birthday, Benjy!

Now:

And then:

colour blind

Until today, during these first eight months here in Africa, Simon had never mentioned skin colour nor given any indication that he realised his skin wasn't the same colour as most other people's. Then today at lunchtime, he was talking and laughing with our friend Abraham, and suddenly stopped and looked at him again, turned to me and said, "Oh! He's black! He's not like us. Why?" I gave a brief, three-year-old-friendly explanation of skin pigment and sun protection, and that satisfied him. I'm sure the subject will come back, probably when he realises that it's his skin colour (and not just his cuteness and good looks) which gains him so much attention from strangers here.

january doesn't bring the snow ... but other changes are ahead!

The holidays are over and it's back to life as usual … except that we haven't found out what that is yet! The month of January is actually going to be a month of preparation for our move to the Monkolé village of Pèdè. It has been good to live in the large town of Parakou as we adjust to life in Benin, and it has given us the chance to get to know the other missionaries here. We have also very much enjoyed the house we have had in Parakou, as it is big, light and airy. It was a blessing to be able to start to learn the Monkolé language during our time here, but even that will be easier once we're living in the community where it's spoken.

The missionary currently living in the big house in Pèdè is going to retire back to Canada in June, and she kindly said that she would move into the small house for a few months so that we could move straight into the big house. There is some work to be done where the concrete is crumbling around windowframes, and the whole house needs to be re-painted, so Marc is going to go up to Pèdè next week with a mason and a painter. They will help Grace to move out, and then get the work done.

We will then need to leave the paint some time to dry and lose the worst of its new-paint smell, but during that time Marc will probably go up to Pèdè again with another colleague who will make a few alterations to the electrical system to make it more efficient. The system is solar-powered, but we are likely to use a generator to pump well-water and a kerosene-powered fridge to make sure that we have enough electricity for all five of us (our family and the other missionary).

We have bought curtain material, and need to get curtains and new sofa cushions made up. It is a novel experience to realise that we are moving into what will – God willing – be our family home for years to come!

I stayed with Grace in the big house in 2003. When I left, the translation team told me they were hoping I'd come back to take over from Grace when she retired. At the time I thought that God might possibly be leading me to do that … but I never dreamt that I would actually be back with a husband and two small boys!

school day

On Saturday we took a trip out to Nikki – 100km (2 hours drive) away – to visit Anni. Anni is a Dutch missionary also serving with SIM here in Benin, and she was our neighbour when she came to Parakou for a while during the school holidays last summer. She teaches at the Nikki Girls' School, a Christian school which gives girls discipleship training while training them in practical skills such as knitting, sewing or weaving.

We had been intending to visit ever since she went back there in September, and this was likely to be our last chance before we move North. On the way there we took the tarmac road as far as N'dali, and then the dirt road from there to Nikki. I realised that I got far more car sick on the tarmac road (with all the braking and swerving to avoid holes) so on our way back we took an alternative route which is dirt road all the way back to Parakou.

Benjy was the star of the show when we arrived at the school. All the girls wanted a turn holding him, and at first he wasn't at all bothered, even when he was carried off out of our sight. But eventually he decided he wanted to go back to his mum, and I then had the difficult job of fending off new girls who turned up and tried to pull him out of my arms!

We saw around the school – a classroom, a sewing room, the knitting room – and Anni also showed us the current accommodation – just small huts with concrete floors – and the site where they are going to build a new dormitory. They will also have an indoor kitchen, since at the moment the girls have to cook all their meals outside. Fine at this time of year, but less fun during rainy season!

We also enjoyed catching up with Anni over a meal. We do appreciate the friendship of the other missionaries here, from so many different backgrounds.

Some photos from our trip: