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Today I delivered a guided meditation to the ladies.  I am not convinced it worked, as one lady fell asleep,  and one got lost (in the meditation script) and went off on her own tangent…which I suppose is good?

The secret garden is a beautiful meditation allowing the participants to imagine a wonderful shamba filled with their favourite flowers, fruits and most favourite animal from whom they receive a special message…. I did not ask the ladies what their message was but did ask which animal visited them.  Both ladies who got to this point told me a type of bird which symbolises both peace and freedom.  The objectective of the lesson was to recreate their secret garden using whatever media they liked… but only one was keen to do this, I did not want to force the issue so had to think on my feet yet again.

As mentioned previously I feel that being a good parent is the most important job the ladies have to do.  I asked them what they wished for their children, their replies were mainly for material objects, a big house, a nice car….  I suggested their health and happiness was probably more important, but realise this is easy for me to say having experienced a very different life growing up in the UK.

I suggested they make a keepsake for their child, an idea already given to me.  All the children, bar one, enjoyed getting involved and the session was filled with laughter and fun.  I have asked each of the ladies to consider a message they would like to write inside the card for their child.  This will be completed next week when I will be handing over to a new volunteer

So I  had an extra session today as my co-volunteer had to travel to Nairobi to renew her visa.  As a UK citizen I get 90 days but she, being South African, gets 30 days.  Being unprepared for a formal lesson I put the time and the help from the ladies to good use, planting the first  raised bed in the shamba.  I will not get to see the rocket, runner beans or chia be harvested but hopefully I will witness them all start to shoot 😊.  I will need to ensure it is watered over the next two weeks….

I have also been tasked with taking and cultivating cuttings of rosemary.  I watched an online tutorial and it appears you can do in either water or soil, although the last sprigs we had done nothing in water.  This time to edge my bets I have done a few in soil, the teabag sachets I have accumulated seemed perfect for the job…. time will tell if they are any use as planters.

I devoted the morning to washing my clothes (by hand of course).  I have travelled light for volunteering only bringing 1 shorts, 1 trouser, 3 tops, 1 sweatshirt, a yoga kit which is too hot to wear, a onesie also too hot to wear, and a rain jacket and a body warmer which are not useful at the moment.  I of course have the expected underwear, pjs and socks.  What really wish I had is a second pair of shorts!

Saffrons friend had donated some items for the ladies and by luck there was one item that fitted me 😀. I decided I would convert it into something I would  wear.  I spent the afternoon tenderly nurturing the ancient Swan sewing machine that had started life as a tredel operated machine and now had an electric motor to produce a denim skirt out of a pair of jeggings 😊.  Im quite pleased with the outcome and although it created some interest with the ladies, I’m not sure they are ready to sacrifice a pair of their jeans just yet 😀.

Today I assessed the ladies making bread.  I asked one to play the part of supervisor as she is able to read English.  As standard I started with a Q&A on health and safety after that I had very little to do, except light the oven (but I needed some help with this).  The ladies made 6 perfect loaves in tins and a banana bread for a special 3 year old 😊. With the absence of candles we lit 3 spent matches and sang ‘happy birthday to you’ several times.

Saturday has been a good day 😊.  I plan to use the final baking days teaching artisan bread making recipes.  If they can master a few of the recipes, it might be the edge the shelter needs to create another income.

Today I feel tired…. there is much to do here, planting, staff training, manual writting, lesson planning and delivery.  Although the weekends are my own I know I have work to do tomorrow as the postponed baking session from yesterday must go ahead for a very special 3 year old 😊 (I just hope the chickens are aware we need 3 eggs!).

The permaculture teacher attended today and delivered a practical session; preparing and planting a raised seed bed.  The  garlic cloves I had started off in water had grown strong roots and we’re starting to shoot so they transfered to soil.  We used toilet roll inners sitting in a box.  They will be ready to transplant once the shoots have turned green and are around 15cms tall.  They will be ready to harvest in 3-4 months…they are much slower growers than I was expecting!

My most pressing job for next week is to get the first bed planted with the beans, rocket and fennel all of which can go straight into their final position.  I am looking forward to seeing it all planted up 😊.