John and Christine were happy to accept an invitation from Shaloom Youth Project to attend their Christmas celebration.

The project is our ‘next door neighbour’ and we have heard the children practicing for many weeks.

Performing is second nature to Tanzanian children; little Jennifer sang solo ‘You Raise Me Up’ to the tune of Londonderry Air.

Two little ones had the crowd on its feet with a dance duet and finally a fire eater scared the pants of us! Christine was on health and safety red alert. After the entertainment came the food. Rice, beans, goat and vegetable. How the children can at. They all come from families affected by HIV and food is not plentiful in their lives. The Shaloom project does a great job in educational and social support. There were two staff and about 250 children attended the event. Amazing!    Equally impressive was the cooking done on a wood fire.