Sunday, November 9

Today the world, or this part of it, celebrates Father’s Day. I got a very nice message from Naa. I got a tea advent calendar and a very nice card from Irma. I carefully added “Start advent calendar” to my diary for December 1.

We went to the Subash Centre and then on to Vavvamoola to give out certificates and chocolate. I continue to feel amazed at how important certificates, even our home-baked ones, seem to the girls, no matter how old they get.

We arrived at Vavvamoola with the weather looking overcast. At one point sudden torrential rain arrived and then spent the next hours getting harder and heavier.

A local boy arrived with an umbrella for one of the girls. He took his sandals off and left them in the rain. The room we work in only has three walls and so I stood in the room looking down on his sandals filling up with water.

I take a photograph. When it comes time to leave we will walk to the road and into the rickshaw with our sandals in our hands. The boys will step into his sodden sandals and look at us as though we have gone mad.