Third week down...

I have done so much since I last wrote that I'm not sure where to begin and pretty sure I will forget a lot of things. I'll start with today and work back, that's the only plan I have!

So today I was on the malaria project again and we were handing out nets in Namakoma village which means walking round the houses and treating their nets and waiting for them to dry before they can be hung up in the houses. It was absolutely exhausting but worthwhile all the same.

This afternoon I was going to my first Home-based care project but it was cancelled and they were concentrating on the beginning of a new HIV group in Namgoma which was basically lots of singing and dancing and some drama and being swarmed by kids which was great fun. The HIV groups gives somewhere for victims to learn about their condition and feel safe about being open about it - that is a pretty brave thing to be able to do over here and I think we rarely get men attending as they do not want to be known as carriers.

Yesterday I had another sports day at Monkey Bay Orphanage which again consisted of getting all the orphans fed and then well...throwing them in the lake, it's their favourite! It was yesterday that I noticed one of my favourite little girls, Grace, had not turned up and I mentioned this to Wyson, their teacher. He said she lived next door so he took me there and I met her aunt, she was running late because Grace was having a bath - I learnt then that as I feared she had lost both parents.

It was a real blow to have it confirmed but I should have been prepared for it really. This week has been the toughest emotionally because I am getting to know people better. I do not want to know if Taiti, another favourite at Chilombo Orphanage has lost one or two parents but I expect I will be told either way eventually.

I found today's HIV group really overwhelming as well, it was the first time I properly had to compose myself to stop from crying but I'm not really sure what started it. I had so many children around me and one looked very sad that we were leaving and then I had to just take myself away fairly quickly.

I am hoping to buy some toys when I leave for Chilombo orphanage as they really have nothing there and some of the kids are just toddlers and do not always understand fully the english we are teaching the older ones, I think they would like to play with toys, they get easily distracted when we try and do a 45 minute lesson with them.

We have two new people, as of Monday, David who is a paramedic and is great fun and Laura who is on her gap year and wanting to study medicine. There wont be any more new people until the Monday before I leave so I will only meet them briefly and I am very sad to have to say goodbye to Maxi this Monday.

I am so excited to be coming home in just over a week but I am starting to become very attached to certain things and people so it will also be a sad occasion. The mice next to me are running riot in the office and I am starting to think they will go for my toes if I don't go inside soon.

I miss and love you all, I have so much more I could write again...but where to start, this has been an all together much more heartbreaking and HARDER experience than I could ever have imagined...tionana...x