Nearly Christmas!

---

Wow, it’s nearly Christmas and I can’t believe that on Christmas day we will have been away for 2 months! We had an official review meeting today with VSO, AIE and the people we work with and the result seems that we are doing OK!! I am pleased and surprised as things get so frustrating and seem to move so slowly but according to the boss-man we have done well to make the relationships we have with 4 out of the 6 schools we are working with and in the New Year we will actually be able to get them some real resources!! White boards/pens/tables/chairs/paper/pencils!!!! Then perhaps they can start some better teaching.
Things are changing here in our accommodation as well. A lady doctor has been appointed to run the new maternity and child care centre that Syed Barbar Ali has had built just outside the village. They are building a house for her but it won’t be finished for ages so in the mean time she is going to have the room next to ours in the so called guest house. However, she took one look at the room, kitchen and dining area and said that there was NOWAY she would stay here until a lot of work was done!! So, her room is being painted, getting new carpets and she went shopping with Irfan and made him buy fabric to make curtains for everywhere, new fridge, toaster, juicer, toilet brushes etc etc………then she went back to Lahore!!!! When we arrived we didn’t have the choice!!!
So today the place is being spruced up big time and the kitchen is almost useable—well once they have scooped up the many, many dead cockroach bodies.
She says she will bring things from Lahore so we can cook nice things, even cakes as she got an oven too!! Let’s wait and see! She is due back tonight and her room is not really ready and the smell of paint is awful.
The hospital has already been in demand already -infact there was an emergency the first night and as she had no trained help guess who had too! I won’t go into detail but just say the outcome was not happy and I may now have some skills I didn’t have before. [By the way, it all happened during a power cut just to make even more difficult] This VSO experience is certainly interesting and broadening our education.
On a happier note I hope you like the way we have made our room look Christmassy!
We are really looking forward to a break and spending time with the other VSO volunteers and being able to just speak English!! We have organised a secret santa so there will be some presents to open and Geoff is practicing some carols so we can sing!! Kerry and Mike are arranging a sort of Christmas dinner and I will organise some games. I will let you know how we get on.
It will be hard being away from everyone and I expect some tears to be shed.
Hope all your preparations are going well. Enjoy the Holiday in whatever way you will and think of us far away!!
Love to all
Jane and Geoff

---

Photos

happy Christmas!
My husband and I wish you all a very Happy Christmas!!!!!!!! This is in our room.

And the ox and the ass were there
Note the interesting feeding recepticles--wooden wheels or made of mud. We pass these every day on our walk.

little donkey!
Most donkeys we see do have a heavy load---of sugar cane or fodder.

buffalo
Just sticking to Christmas animal theme---might have been buffalo!!