It has been a frustrating few weeks as a virus spread through our roadrunner chicks, we have lost about 30% of the 90 we had hatched.  Hopefully it is under control now but was a real set back as we try to build stocks ready for next year.  On a happier note another rabbit has given birth and 3 more baby pigeons have been born, along with another small batch of 75 quails.  We have 400 more quail eggs in the incubator ready to hatch and several of our hens are laying eggs. The goat is still very fat! And we have acquired 5 young turkeys.

Different situations, needs & project ideas are constantly being brought to our attention.  We just wish we could help with every one of them but we are limited in time and funds.  We have just launched two new projects, ‘a-MAIZE-ing Acres’ and ‘be a brick, buy a brick’. Please see our webpage or facebook page for more details about how these projects work and how you can make a donation towards them.  We can’t do any of the work we are doing without your support, so thank you.

We continue to be able to donate produce to some of our families from our garden, mainly greens, cabbage & spinach.  Some of the tomatoes have started to ripen and we hope also to have enough to be able to donate some of them soon.  We do enjoy some of the vegetables ourselves and now have peppers to go along with cucumbers, tomatoes, spinach, cabbage, greens & spring onions.  We are learning fast what works well here and what needs extra care – carrots, onions, cauliflower & squash have all been disappointing, probably more our fault than anything else but we will try again next year.

As it warms up here the fish have started to be more active and are feeding 3 times a day now, there may be, we hope,  some big enough to eat before we head back to the UK in October.  We continue to explore the fish project idea and aquaponics to see how they could benefit the community here.

I have decided that next year I must learn Shona, it’s a constant frustration for me not being able to communicate better with people.  Learning languages for me is not easy and will be a big challenge but it will help the experience and the work going forward.  I will also then know what is being said behind my back!

Just over a month now till we head back to the UK, crazy.  It feels sometimes that we should have done more and be doing more. But this is only the beginning of a ‘Vision’ God gave us and where He will take it is both exciting and a little scary.  We thank God for all that we have been able to do and trust in Him for whatever happens next.