Wed 15 July

Monire mose,
I am delighted to announce that I am posting this blog whilst sitting up in bed. No, they have not put beds in the internet cafe! From our development fund we have installed wireless internet access to be shared between the parish and the school. To say that Fr. Chunda is ecstatic would be a complete understatement. The two of us installed it ourselves about 5pm yesterday and last night he sent more than 40 emails! If any of the exchange group wish to drop him a line his e-mail address is: aachunda@gmail.com. He would be delighted to hear from any of you.

The other good news is that Paul and Anne are back safe and sound but exhausted from Zambia. They're having an early night, which is just as well considering the programme I presented them for the next 2 weeks. Paul will blog tomorrow about their adventures.

The student exchange selection process is going well. I met with the exchange committee today and we whittled down the 40 applicants to 15 for interviews. The reasons for eliminating some students were quite novel: 1 because she faints and therefore might faint at the airport and another because he is satanic!! Speaking of satanic - the front page of yesterday's newspaper had the headline story of a woman giving birth to a 3lb stone tied with black cloth, which has been attributed to witchcraft. Worryingly, all the teachers at St. Peter's believe it.

The bad news today is that I'm not very well. I usually succumb to some sort of illness out here and this time it's a stomach bug. I'll spare the gruesome details but the last 2 days have not been pleasant. I feel much better today due to the fact I've only eaten 2 bread rolls and a spoonful of rice and loads of water. I had managed to cover up the fact that I haven't felt 100% since Friday but I couldn't keep going at the same pace today when I had been up most of the night, so I missed Mass and breakfast. News of course travels fast and by the time I reached school one of the nuns was interrogating me on whether I had eaten yet as she heard I hadn't taken breakfast. Then when I also didn't appear for lunch Fr. Chunda thought I had malaria. I've promised him that I'll eat tomorrow.

Pawemi,
Bernadette