This week has been a bit dull (from a  blogging point of view) so I thought I might leave it to Chris who's been to Lemma's again and nearly squashed a chicken (on a separate occasion). Until today. Today was International Sunday at the International Evangelical  Church (IEC) that we have joined. Normally there are two services on a Sunday morning but today we all joined together and the place was bursting with over seven hundred people. Flags of the nations represented were hung from the balcony and all sorts of types and styles of singing lifted the congregation in praise and worship.

We first met Lemma’s family back in 2007. They remain the most hospitable and generous family that I have ever met. Lemma created a school within his property for children local to his neighbourhood. This has stood the test of time. My friend Clare has been visiting Lemma’s school every Saturday to teach two English language classes. I had the privilege of going with her this weekend. We chose a vehicle with good clearance from the ground to cope with a particularly bad pothole that we knew must be crossed, and travelled out of Addis into Oromo country.

During our regular Thursday 'Y’tesfye Birhan' local girls meeting this week we talked in groups about good things and difficulties that we had experienced during day. One girl shared that her friend had cut herself badly and had been sent home from school; another that her parents fight and that worries her. The youngest one (who not so long ago was on the street begging with her mum) had not been to school. The oldest girl in the group (aged 11 - we’ll call her M) was thankful that she had done well on a school test. She is in a grade well below her age.