Back to work

The first projects were finished wiht earth Paints made from the Reddish Kenyan soil. The coffeetables continued to be used and enjoyed all week

Kennett has landed!

Kennett has arrived to help with the more complicated assistive furniture and to film whenever he has the opportunity (we are hoping to make some APT teaching DVDs)

Samson, Rachael and Kennett

Kennett sends his greetings to everyone in St Joseph's Pastoral Centre

More on first week

Everybody made a small bench or coffee table to learn the basics and importantly to be able to have a field-testing piece for their own homes. The picture shows the first few finished. These APT items will be great adverts when the Community Rehabilitation Workers and those from the special needs school go back to start making chairs and standing frames to help the children.

Soon it was time to learn about measuring in order to be able to make the made to measure equipment for some selected children (selected so that each group would be making a different type of equipment.

Rachael took us to visit this little boy. He has diplegia and is slightly hemiplegic. His grandfather looks after him during the day so a standing frame will be made for him to fit against the table outside Grandfather's house.

While each group was finding out about the child and observing what they can do the scrapbooks made by residents at Pax Hill in Bently and the dolls with all the lovely removable cloths were thoroughly enjoyed by the children. This helped ease the measuring process, as you can see.

The equipment pieces made by Paper Furniture friends in the UK were a big help for using to get an idea of what angle or type of chair would be the best for each child.

All teh children stayed for lunch. The food is excellent at Tabor Hill - the children agreed too, the little boy above had a second helping, maybe a third - we did not count!
Thank you everbody for all you practical help, prayers and good wishes

First week APT training, St Martin

Thanks for the tools from Farnborough Rotary Club

21 participants and Margaret, Jean and Timothy as Facilitators - Kennett arrived on Friday to join helping. After 'Formation' and introductions we made boards - 23 of them and placed them in the new 'GatePress'

St Martin, Nyahururu, Kenya

Margaret and Jean finally on the way to Kenya after weeks of help and work in making teaching pieces, collecting tools, making scrapbooks and toys for the children to use while in the equipment

3 trolleys and a very kind Kenya Airways that gave us a special baggage allowance

Everyone at St Martin has been so kind and welcoming. They have been preparing for the training too.

We all went to a retreat a small distance away at Tabor where we will have the training.

Margaret during our quiet time contemplating on the talk that challenged us to think about our own predjudices

 The training was followed by visits to children on the Friday - choosing those that would be good candiates. They will have something made for them during the APT training so we wanted to pre-select the items so everyone can learn as much as possible by different tyoes of chairs and a standing frame being made.

                                          Bump, rattle and bounce at times on the road or the verge.

The Retreat challenge
St Martin's runs social programme is for the community and most importantly by the community. This means that 'formation'/training for the community volunteers is necessary and ongoing; this is both training for the mind (new skills) and for the spiritual formation. So yesterday was a Retreat day and Margaret and Jean were able to take part. Father Gabriel gave the keynote address – it was a clear challenge to our maybe unclear prejudices and unconscious stigmatization of others. The challenge was based on the disciples question to Jesus when seeing a blind man; “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (Where is the fault who is to blame?)


How often we make assumptions too about all sorts of things...Jesus reply was “Neither this man nor his parents, that he was born blind...but this happened so that the work of God may be manifested in his life” Jesus went on to help the man in a way that involved the man taking an active role and then he could see. The Pharisees (maybe us..) were sceptical (Jesus did this on the wrong day too as it was the Sabbath) but the man argued cogently that they should look at the reality of the situation – he could see. Jesus pointed out that it was the Pharisees who felt they saw the situation clearly, that were blind.

We may not be able to heal a blind man but the challenge is; will we enable and assist others in their where we can looking at the hopeful and good points in them and not holding onto any prejudices or blame?

Update on Alan's stool and party

Good News!

 Alan's stool arrived in Malawi and here is Anna helping a child to try it out

Having made the Christmas hats the Monday Men's group wore them 

while painting the twisted paper stars.

All this activity to prepare for a party with Alan

Party time and Dick and Alan pull a home-made cracker

Alan's cracker gift is a photo' of the child on his stool

Friends together

Please note- this photo' was composed especially to show of the paper stars!

Paper Furniture Men's group

The Men's group is concentrating on making step-up stools to send with the therapists who will be teaching on cerebral palsy in African countries. 

These stools fit into the suitcase well and are very useful for demonstrations with children

Alan is part of the group. He has multiple sclerosis so it was hard and slow work for him - frustrating because he had been able to to woodwork professionally before becoming ill. Anyway he persisted and made a number of step-up stools.

Now this stool in the photo is in the post on its way to Malawi where Occupational Therapist Anna and Malawians are trying to make equipment to help the children in sitting.

We are sending Alan's stool - a sign of perseverance in difficulties 

What better encouragement for children with disabilities?