04/04/2013
Forgive me for it has been some time
since I last blogged! Nonetheless plenty has been going on. Upon my return from
Langano I was pleased to receive a parcel from home, well two to be precise as
they had to be split to be under the required weight for air mail. Post is
somewhat unusual here because not many people have postal addresses, the use of
PO Boxes is common though and I was able to provide a PO Box address which
belonged to a fellow volunteer to my sister so she could send me a surprise.
My anticipation waiting for the
parcels to arrive was evident and I was so excited to receive them that I
opened them in the post office, after paying 10Birr for the privilege of them
being given to me over the counter.
I burst open the first box and found
it full of materials to use;
21 Paintbrushes
1 Set of 12 watercolour paints
1 pack of Easter themed paper chains
1 A6 notebook
2 A5 notepads
4 Magic painting books (just add water
to reveal the colour)
4 Colouring books
1 Pack of playing cards
4 Dice
4 USB memory sticks
36 Mini felt tips
More about how I have put these to use
will follow in future blog posts.
To my delight the second box was full
of home comforts and personal treats;
1 Large bag of marshmallows
1 bag mini eggs (saved for Easter
weekend)
6 Hot chocolate sachets
11 pairs of ear plugs
1 box of Mikado chocolate sticks
A bag of green tea bags
A bag of Tetley’s tea (for the benefit
of the other volunteers)
4 Melody pops
1 bag of Jellyatrics (like jelly
babies but old people)
3 of my nail varnishes from home
2 packs of face wipes/make up remover
2 bottles of eye drops
3 DVDs to keep me amused
A great stash of goodies!
I have managed to share a few bits,
ration some others and certainly made use of it all. I was particularly
comforted by these things because my sister included some little notes on
certain items to explain their purpose of being included which added a personal
touch. I was also coming down with Tonsillitis so having these home comforts
made me feel a little better about being ill and of course the tea and hot
chocolate helped to soothe my sore throat.
I now have less than 2 weeks left in Ethiopia;
the packages have helped to keep me going and also made me anticipate returning
home even more than before. I know a lot of thought and coordination went into
getting these things to me and I am so grateful that the effort was made (and
that they arrived unscathed, sadly some other volunteers have had parcels gone
missing en route).
I’ll be re-using the packaging to pack
some trinkets to bring home with me so I making sure everything has been made
use of and not going to waste!
Kx
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