A Visa solution ...of sorts

A significant week for us! Our Visas have been extended and the revised exit date is now 25^th June 2013!  We will review this as we go further along but we are very happy we can extend our time here in Manipay. The big plus of staying at the least till late June, is that we will be able to work with Alex, the schools’ Senior Principal. Alex, whose daytime job is in a University in New York State, will be coming to Manipay for more than 3 months with his wife and daughter. Alex is very dynamic and has a great vision for the school that is a good match for Pastor Sam. Also coming along in mid-May with Alex and his wife and daughter, will be the King family, Ellen, John and their son John Amos. We are very much looking forward them joining us here and working with the staff at A.I.S.



We are soon coming up to 3 months here in Manipay (in just over a week) and we are starting to feel the strain a little. The weather is starting to get quite warm and humid and we all tend to finish the days very exhausted. We have been expecting to hit a bit of a wall at 3 months ( experienced missionaries who have been away from home for extended periods many times advised us this is a bit of a “hump” time but when over it, things seem to be much smoother sailing.) We have given in to being the soft Westerners and had an air conditioner installed into the girls bedroom and had the one in our serviced so that now it pumps out cold air, not hot! We feel that we need to be comfortable at night and a good sleep is essential if we are to keep on top of things. Also we are trying to increase resources here so those people who follow us are quite comfortable when they arrive.

The new A.I.S. ladies gym squad?



Sarah "taking a tumble"

Sarah has been having a great time with her new gym teacher. It seems that until recently the boys could learn gymnastic routines and the girls could wave pompoms. After a few enquires by Jacinta, one of the female trainee teachers has offered to work with Sarah on gymnastic and netball skills two afternoons a week. There has already been some interest from other girls so this may be the beginning of a female gymnastic squad for A.I.S.

Luverly FRESH Carrots!!!, get your carrots here!!!

During the week, Emma had a great time in her class. The 5+ group did a farmers market as part of lessons on fruit and vegetables. The kids had a ball and the staff got to do some of their weekly shop at the same time.



That one please!!!

On Saturday we went into Jaffna for a swim and lunch and then to the Jaffna Markets for a wander around and to pick up some vegies we couldn’t get from Emma’s class market. It is a real experience walking through the bigger market areas. It is fairly pleasant to shop this way. We have found that unlike other Asian countries we have been to, the stall holders do not call out or try to get you to come to their stall, they just wait and if you show interest in their goods, they are very helpful and we make a quick purchase.

Daneesh getting a game started at YMCA

A blury Sarah in a "frog" race. The kids had a ball

Jacinta and I teaching the kids "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes". They loved it

The people who take such good care of us, L to R - Vijay, Daneesh, Mr Colin with his wife and daughter

Later that day we went to a drop in centre organised by the YMCA in a village call ed Navallay, not far from Manipay. This helps out particularly boys who have difficult home situations or have had hard experiences in their lives. We were invited to go by Vijay (not his real name but it is what everyone calls him as I don’t think there are enough letters on the keyboard to do his real name justice.) Vijay is the Administrative Officer at the school and is an amazingly competent man. His is a very caring soul ( I have seen him trying to help any number of distraught 4 year olds at school). He is a very gentle soul and takes very good care of us. Mrs Vijay regularly cooks little Sri Lankan treats for us and Vijay brings them to school. If there are any day to day issues that we need solved, Vijay is also one of those who task it is to “look after us”. He does his job exceedingly well! We visited Vijay’s home before the YMCA event and we all went to Mr Colvin’s home after the fun and games. Mr Colvin is also one of those given the task of looking after us during our stay here. He is also very good at doing this and if any issues arise solutions are found and dealt with very quickly.

Take care everyone, we hope you had a wonderful Saint Particks Day and did not have too much green beer.

 

From the Garty’s