The last day

Wednesday was my last day at Elim. I was very sad to be leaving there, but the boys made it a memorable day for me. One of those special days that come along every now and then.

The prevous day Heber had been showing me his newly discovered musical abilities, which then lead to a few boys joining in in an impromtu session. How do you spell such a big word? I've seen lots of music sessions in my days, some of you may even have been with me, but none could touch this one. I managed to video it and brought along a DVD copy the next day. It lasts about an hour, and they were thrilled with it.

I was so pleased to see Heber being allowed to develop his talents. I never knew he had such musical gifts and I'm sure he didn't either. So all thanks to Elim for that, and especially Hilario who teaches them all to play.

And so to my last day. The boys must have realised I was impressed with their musical talents, so they decided to put on a special wee concert for me. Only this time Hilario was with them to keep things together. They were all dressed up in their traditional costumes.

Heber started it all off by making a wee speech to thank me for being with them. I had to fight back the tears, I can tell you. Then they played for about 20 minutes and two of the boys sang a couple of songs. I will never forget them. Its on video for those of you who want to see it. They are very talented boys.

Heber finished it off by presenting me with a model ship in a bottle which he had built for me. The boys build these to raise funds for the orphanage. I've told him it will have pride of place on my new fireplace. He's made me promise to send him a photo once I get home.

Heber will start at MN in January all being well. He's looking forward to that. I hope he keeps to his promise and stays at Elim. He needs a teacher meantime and I've given Jeremy a couple of suggestions, as to who might help.

So that was my last day with the boys at Elim. I've probably forgotten lots of things I meant to say. I've promised to come back. Lets hope I'm up to it.