We take the good with the bad

Geoff had his first day at the prison today. He's doing a morning and afternoon session every Wednesday, teaching a group of 20 men how to read and understand music. After a stack of paperwork to fill in, he had an orientation day last week - cameras and mobile phones are strictly forbidden, so no photos just yet! Geoff was quite impressed with the level of enthusiasm, ability and commitment coming from the men. He'll be there for 5 more weeks.

In order for Geoff to go to the prison twice today, I had to do all the running around in the car that Geoff normally does. Thankfully I had the Pajero - I still haven't driven the two other utes/small trucks yet - that will be coming soon no doubt! Today I drove all over Honiara - the prison is on the other side of town and the girls' school is up the mountain.

After dropping Geoff at the prison for his second session at 1:30pm, I picked up the girls from school at 2pm, then took them to Frangapini Ice for a delicious icecream (only $5 each - approx. 85c AU). Then we went to the only playground in town to wait for Geoff. It was across the road from the prison and police station, and right next to the ocean. It looked nice, and the girls raced out from the car to have a play, but it was fairly disappointing. There was rubbish everywhere, all over the coastline, and people loitering around who made me feel slightly uncomfortable. (I am finding that things are not as easy when I'm on my own here. Last week, on my first trip to the markets by myself, I was proposed to TWICE. Not something I really enjoyed!) A couple of times Brianna ran over to me because someone was behaving in a way that scared her. We had to wait for Geoff for over an hour, and that was too long. I was ready to go after 15 minutes! Between the two drunk men sleeping on top of some of the play equipment and the unsavoury deposits left around, it wasn't the enjoyable experience we'd hoped for. Ah, we live and learn - next week I'll take the kids back to the SWIM base before picking Geoff up!

Tonight was an enjoyable experience though. We had a lovely farewell dinner for Grace, who has been working here for the past two years as the administrator. She heads back to NZ on Friday. Once again, I saw the impact people have on each other, and how hard it is for those who are always left behind.

We had our usual Wednesday night Base Fellowship, and instead of singing, sermon and prayer, we had singing and a DVD. Word got out that we were watching a movie, because the place was packed! I loved watching all the kids as they were absorbed in the movie (the first episode of Little House On The Prairie). We finished the night singing 'I Love You With The Love Of The Lord', shaking everyone's hands as we sang it. It isn't hard to love these kids, that's for sure!