Ingrid's Visit

Ingrid the Director of Project Trust arrived on the 29^th October for a visit. All the Mauritian volunteers gathered for the first time in a few weeks to Flic en Flac where we met with Ingrid and went out for lunch. Of course, only after Katie and I were an hour late! Public transport is such a drama over here! We hit an old man while were reversing round a corner and sent him flying. Luckily, he seemed ok. Some locals helped him to his feet and gave him his shoes back (which came off during the flying motion). Then some locals came over to the bus and began to rant at the bus driver in very fast Creole. The bus driver was clearly very annoyed. It seemed like he was trying to defend himself. Then he just drove off! He didn’t even get out to check if the man was ok! It was a little shocking really… Katie and I just stared at each other open mouthed for a while…

So after eating out, (which was quite a treat) we just sat on the beach and chatted.  Surprisingly we’ve barely been to the beach.  There doesn’t seem to be enough time! We’re busy almost every weekend. And again, because of the joys of public transport it’s such a hassle for us to get anywhere in good time. It’s only the beginning of summer, so it’s not terribly hot. It’s a comfortable heat. We’ve adapted to the weather. I’m now wearing a hoodie at nighttime and I’m even though it’s like 24 degrees I’m still cold sometimes! We’ll probably go to the beach more in the summer. Although, I think I’ve been slightly put off. We’ve been told that there are big sharks in Mauritius… and that shark attacks are quite common! Eeeek! Apparently there was a fisherman recently who had his arm bitten off while a shark was trying to capsize his boat! Katie and Charlie don’t quite believe it.

Ingrid came to visit Namaste on the Thursday 4^th November. At the moment, our project at Namaste is not very structured. But, Ingrid, Katie and I had a meeting with Jean Alain (who is the Director of Namaste). He has some good ideas of how we can use our time. A physiotherapist has just started there. She is going to be coming to the girl’s home weekly on a Monday. She’ll be working mainly with the girls who have Cerebral Palsy – Valentina, Alicia, Rocha and Mimi. Katie and I will sit in on the sessions and then continue the physiotherapy while she is not working. We’ve spent quite a lot of time with Alicia since we arrived at Namaste.; she is 5 years old and she is blind. However, we have discovered that her movement isn’t as restricted as the other girls. She is able to sit on our knee, she can bounce and she can support her own weight when we stand her on her legs (she just needs some help with balance). The physiotherapy sessions should make a big difference! I’m looking forward to seeing the results!