Hello,

Today, Dorothy and I went to a place not very far from Kijabe, probably around 20 kms, to a wedding, or what they call around here a pre-wedding. The location was the most beautiful place. It is a farming area with gardens full of vegetables of all sorts. The last couple of months we have received so much rain that everything is lush and green and the food prices have dropped significantly. There are many reasons to be joyful and especially when it comes to weddings people really like to dance and to express their joy. That picture is all about that joy and happiness when things are getting a bit lighter as usual. I remember a few months ago I was writing about drought and hardship but with the rains some of those struggles have eased and life is much more bearable now.

The friend we visited comes from the Somali community but married a lady from the Kikuyu tribe who are mainly farmers. Our friend almost totally assimilated into the Kikuyu culture, he speaks the language fluently and adopted farming as his lifestyle which usually is not much part of the culture where he comes from.

I said we went to a pre-wedding, that means that friends, relatives and well wishers get together, eat and give money towards the wedding which may take place a few weeks or so later. That is one way for many to help participate in the event.

During the occasion today we were told that a lady in the neighbourhood had a miscarriage after 4 month of pregnancy and needed to get to the Hospital urgently. There were no cars around and almost no road for that matter. Thank God for a wheel drive, we got her plus 9 other people in the car safely to the Hospital.

Have a good week Thomas