We were up and smartly dressed this morning, Channeh met us
at the school and we all set off for Kaur, calling at the café for breakfast
for us and the boys. We arrived to find
everyone waiting for us and as we had brought a mop and bucket from Jamwelly,
after breakfast we opened the library and began the finishing off work of
cleaning the windows and the floor. The
ceremony had been arranged for 11am,
and to our surprise that was the time everyone arrived! Ribbons were tied across the doors, a group
of dignitaries arrived, a crowd of pupils in uniforms and we were ready. Belle Vue Boys stood outside the library for
group photos. An inscription is going to
be painted over the door by the local sign writer. ‘Belle Vue Boys. Proud to Care’ Several speeches were made and then the Head
Boy of Kaur cut the ribbon to allow everyone to surge inside and look at the finished
room. A job well done and to celebrate,
the sound of drums drew everyone outside to see a Tree Kankoran, specially
invited to entertain the visitors. A large crowd surrounded the drummers and
dancing began, several of the boys joined in, Arsalan joined the drumming, Mr
Macateer danced with the local ladies and a good time was had by all. Lots of
souvenir photographs were taken and happy memories made. The celebration went on for over an hour and
then lunch arrived. Steve and I went
back to Jamwelly, Omar brought some of the visitors down to see the nursery
school, and then we all rested out of
the hot sun until late afternoon. As we
are setting off at 6am in the morning, we decided to spend the night at Kaur,
so we packed up our things and went up to the school where a football match was
planned between the visitors and the school team. We had brought some of the
football kits which had been donated, teams were chosen and dressed in the new
kit, photographs taken and then the match commenced. For the first time in all our school trips
the visitors actually won the match! The Head Teacher from Kaur then asked us
all to return to their classroom quarters where a small crowd had gathered to say
Goodbye as we are leaving so early in the morning. The Deputy Head appeared, and gave a small
speech before handing out African outfits that had been made for the guests and
ourselves. We all had to put them on and
pose for photographs. Miss Fox then gave
a short speech on behalf of the visitors.
The boys were overwhelmed by the generosity of the hosts, and some of
them also made speeches thanking everyone for their hospitality. As Atique said, ‘you housed us, you fed us and
now you even clothed us’ Hamza said that
although he had travelled a lot, mostly 5 star, ‘he had never experienced
hospitality like this, which truely came from the heart’
We then returned to the library where we set up our bed for
the night, and then joined the boys for the evening meal. Loud music was coming from the village and
the boys decided to go and investigate whilst Steve and I retired for the
night, although the loud music kept us awake until 1am
when the power went off! A successful
and happy visit with lots of new friends and memories made.
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