JediMoose

It’s certainly a sign of the times – on Sunday we bade farewell to our piano. It was a lovely overstrung, upright piano that we had bought with money that people had very generously given us for our wedding. I already played (badly) and Heather was keen to learn. I’d be the first to admit that it probably didn’t get played nearly as much as it deserved, but it had become a bit of a fixture in our house. However, due to space restraints and the impending arrival (now less than 10 weeks away) of our firstborn, we decided to get rid of it. So on to eBay it went, and on Sunday some nice gentlemen from Fife came across and picked it up (and very efficient they were too).

mrBen

It may sound absolutely crazy, especially given the impending birth of $child_number_one, but I’ve just had confirmation that I, along with my friends Alan and Gary, are going to Mozambique from the 14th – 21st February. It’s not a holiday – we’re going to work with a relief project in Zimpeto, just outside Maputo (the capital). They do work with people who live in the dumps, and have an orphanage, which includes work with children who are HIV positive, and we will be spending our time doing whatever we can to help.

Those of you who know me will know that I burn as soon as the heat goes above about 25 degrees C, and it’s currently >35 degrees in Maputo. Plus, I don’t have the money (what with the aforementioned baby, and all), and it’s only 2 weeks to go!

I’m looking at various avenues for raising sponsorship, but I knew that there would be some folks who would read my blog that I don’t reach in any other way. So I’ve put a PayPal button in the sidebar, and if you are able to contribute anything, then I would be extremely grateful. (The account is actually mrsBens, in case you don’t recognise the address) I need to raise money to cover my flights, visa, accommodation, etc – and I want to be able to give a contribution to the charity (other than my time and skills). All in all it will probably come to close on to £1000. But every little helps.

If you want more information about where I’m going, check out http://www.irisministries.co.uk/ and http://www.irismin.com/ministryLoc_zimpeto.cfm. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me – email is mrben -at- jedimoose -dot- org, and I’m on IRC and various Instant Messaging clients too, if you want a proper conversation Last (but not least) if you’re not a fan of PayPal, but would still like to donate, please let me know, and I will give you my bank details for a funds transfer.

mrBen

Yup – I did a stupid thing. Managed to a get a foot in the face at football on Monday night, and I’ve broken my nose. It’s not particularly noticable (hasn’t ruined my rugged, manly good looks), but it hurt like crazy. Add to that the fact that I picked up some sort of evil cold/flu virus at the same time, and it hasn’t been a good week for me

mrBen

Just a quick post (as on Christmas Day) to wish you all a happy new year – I hope that it will be a blessed year for you all

mrBen