The plan changed at the last minute on Wednesday. We were in the Landrover and ready to go to the drilling when we found out that the drilling team were collected supplies and their would be nothing to see. We were then unsure what to do then the children's workers arrived at the compound and we arranged to meet and start to make the puppets. We spent the morning making a puppet template and collating the materials we needed so we would be ready to share all we knew (not a lot) about the puppet making process.

There are two children's workers locally; Michael and Francis. They have wanted to make and use puppets for many years, but puppets are not common in Kenya and cost 800-900 shillings which could be close to a weeks wages. I guess that in England this would equate to £400-£500. Michael had tried to make his own 4 years ago, but he had not been able to complete it. He did however have the material necessary to make another puppet.

Claire and her parents had carried out research on puppet patterns and Claire had written a set of detailed instructions. With these instructions, the material and some items from England we were able to make a puppet within 2 hours. We were also able to complete the puppet Michael had made several years before. The whole process was a lot of fun and everyone in the house got involved including Amos and Dorcas, We had brought one puppet from Clapham Parish Church with us as a donation to the work of IcFEM, which meant that there are now 3 complete puppets ready for use. We have now arranged to go with Michael to a holiday club that starts on Friday, to help with songs and stories that the puppets can tell as well as lead games.

The other side of the puppet work is that now the team know how to make them they can make their own for their work and to sell to support their work in schools. Income generation is really important as projects are not then dependant on overseas donations. The final part of the puppet work will be to find locally available materials so that the cost of each puppet can be costed and the program become self sustaining. We will also be typing up all the instructions and putting them with photos showing each step so that others can copy the design. Ultimately we plan to have the instructions translated into Swahili.

It is great to have completed these puppets and to see a finished item that is of real value to the people here. Even if we do nothing else we have left a lasting legacy and we hope that many children will hear the gospel though presentations given by puppets.