Last Saturday, 31 January, we all went in the Land Rover (nine people but only two seats in the front and two bench seats in the back!) to IBC, a village in the tea-growing area. The village wanted to welcome us all and say good bye to me at the same time.

We met in one of the classrooms at the primary school, together with representatives of the village committee including the chairman, the school committee (which includes pupils), the health committee, the parents' committee and ordinary villagers; also the district councillor. Speeches took a while and I had to reply as well, translated by Fr Baruti. In between, there were several dances by the women dressed in their colorful kangas and head scarves. The four women in our party were invited to dance, which we did, quite willingly, but we certainly got hot! I was grateful for my Arabic dancing, and managed a good shimmy, which impressed and amused them!

The drumming was done by two women, one quite old. She sat on a low stool and a younger women squatted near her. The drum was an upturned plastic bucket, banged rhythmically on the ground by the younger woman and hit with a stick by the other; really interesting rhythm. Soft drinks and biscuits were handed to everyone, preceded by the usual opportunity to wash our hands. Very grateful for the refreshments! IBC is delighted to have a teacher and for the doctors to be visiting the health post. Also they were pleased to have me, Director of Tukae UK there. It was a pleasant surprise to be presented with a box full of spices - cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper and cloves, plus another kanga to add to my collection.

Dining Banda at Emau Hill built by Tukae using local labour and materialsSunday, 1 Feb, after Mass, Amani parish welcomed us all with singing and dancing and presents; more spices. It was a wonderfully friendly few hours, with a lot of laughter and kindness. Then a late lunch with the nuns and back to Emau. The men joined us in dancing this time and we were all quite hot and well exercised, but the joining in was much appreciated.

Sunday was an important Muslim festival, and Mzee Abedi invited Caroline, Katie and I to visit his home. So, down the mountain a little and down a path through yams, cassava and maize, and to his house. Mud-built like all the others, pretty basic. His pretty, younger wife grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me in, and then the others; sat us down around a small table and served (1600 hrs) what I guess was lunch. Rice (saved for special occasions, as it is expensive), pieces of tough but tasty beef, the inevitable chicken, and a sauce. Then tea - I can't drink this, made with boiled full cream milk - and chapattis. A feast really and we felt honored. Caroline speaks pretty good Kiswahili, so we were able to exchange pleasantries. Interesting to note that Mzee's wife sat with us but didn't eat with us and neither did his children. We met his daughter, who has recently had a baby - the custom here is for a young woman to return to spend three months with her own mother, especially after a first baby. Beautiful baby and I enjoyed cuddling him. Mzee has four surviving children, two have died, and his youngest is only 2 years old. He and I exchanged enthusiasm for grandchildren!

Today, Wednesday, 4 Feb, and tomorrow, I have the place to myself. It's 1700 hrs now and no-one is back yet. So I have enjoyed the peace in between sewing sessions. Doll no 2, after the doll I made in the UK, is stuffed and stitched and has part of her face. Doll no 3 is put together awaiting stuffing. This is sufi, kapok to us, which has to be cleaned first; not a nice job as it gets into throat and lungs. But the seeds (mbegu) and dirt (chafu) have to be removed. A shipment of nice clean polyester stuffing would be great!

The girls have worked really hard and I am proud of them. Tomorrow will be our last session, and I am sorry that I can't move them a little bit further on. But Katie, the teacher at IBC, has offered to work with them when she can. I have just put together a vocabulary list, English/Kiswahili, to help. My language skills have improved enormously, and I can communicate reasonably well as long as it is about sewing or food! I get endings wrong, but no-one minds; they are just pleased that I have made the effort.

Later the same evening: the doctors got back very late, just in time to eat, after seeing 46 patients! The word had gotten around and all those who needed a doctor came. I will be interested to read what the docs write when they have time to take breath. Mostly malaria, chest infections and parasites, but a few lumps where there shouldn't be any and other nastinesses; and to people with very little money there may not be the possibility of going to hospital.

Days here at Emau rapidly fell into a clear pattern soon after my arrival. Wake up at 0600 or thereabouts, to watch the dawn and listen to birds (ndege) and monkeys (tembele). 'Showers' for early risers; bucket with very hot water (maji moto put on to heat at 0500 by the night watchman) and then down to the shower block, mix it with cold and manage very well on less than a gallon. Breakfast at 0700 Monday to Thursday, 0730 other days; uji - millet porridge, pita bread and toppings, chai or kafeha. Teaching lot off in the car at 0730, docs either with them or starting at the surgery here at 0930. I have been working on the sewing from 0900-1100 and then again 1400-1600; by that time the teachers and doctors are back most days, unless there are delays. Lunch for anyone here is at 1300; usually salad and bread, sometimes cheese, sometimes soup. Fruit, coffee and tea are always available. Dinner at 1900, beans and rice, or pasta and sauce or potato stew, with the occasional addition of meat (rare!); fruit afterwards and the chance to talk, play games or read. Usually bed by 2100 and then reading by oil or hurricane lamp or torch. Early to bed and early to rise! By and large we are all tired enough to settle down early. It's comforting to know that Mzee Abedi or Mzee Jango Fua are on duty with the dogs - it's not at all dangerous here, but it is a long way from anywhere and there are sometimes groups of young men, the worse for a session at the sugar cane bar down the hill, wandering through the hills; or a visitor with an emergency.

There is time to enjoy the scenery, to watch birds and insects, to walk to the river or the internet; leisurely lifestyle for part of the day. I could sketch, read or walk during my long lunch breaks; often I just sit and watch and listen. A good place to be.