its not all wine and roses (certainly no wine and very few roses!)by John

Nothing works!Door handles fall off and can't be replaced because you can't buy screws unless you are prepared to walk up and down the mountain to buy them. The toilet is now fully flushing, after 4 months waiting. My journey to school was a nightmare: a stony, slippery impossible and terribly dangerous track, which after rain is even more dangerous, on the back of a motor bike which has caused me severe back problems. Have now negotiated a change in my work situation so no need for the bike trip, i can now walk to the new job.

After 4 months here we discovered the value of a charcoal stove, heat in the evenings, hot water for next morning's shower and a much more flexible cooking arrangement,e.g. roast potatoes, sweet corn.

Back to Nothing works!! In the first week the tap in the kitchen broke and water just poured out all day long until the guard turned up with a bent nail to use as as a stop tap.Why didnt I think of that! Then the shower exploded in a waterfall of freezing water( no big problem) my namesake John came and sort of fixed it the next day.still works, almost!! Having the mosquito netting fitted was a relevation.. How do you screw into concrete around your window frames when you have no drill and no electricity? Answer! Bash in 4 inch nails, not with a hammer either but with a big stone! What's a hammer? Still it's keeping the mozzies out!

I suppose I should mention: travelling in crowded buses with flat tyres, cars with cracked windscreens, water pouring into the house whe the wind blows in a certain direction, and to finish off, the greatest irony for me is offsetting the rich fashion conscious 4 wheel drive culture of the capital and other larger towns against ragged starving kids in our village, and NO we can't help them for to give even the smallest sum of money here means thousands at your gate minutes later expecting the same.