Volunteers' blog

In a testament to the list, you’ll be happy to know that Latifa and I braved the Asni souq this week for the second time (with a revised list of the week’s requirements). It had rained during the week, so the ground was a little more like a swampy sty than a market, but we survived…Thanks mainly to our new helper. Latifa found a boy with a donkey, and for the bargain price of 20 Dh, he met us at the souq, took our purchases to the house, and then met us on his way back for his payment. This will be a regular friendship! Latifa has spent wisely and has reduced our shopping budget dramatically, mainly because she can see which items are in season and we can adjust our menu of the week to suit the ‘specials’ – there’s the supermarket shopper coming out in me (my arms are thanking me for not visiting a Sainsbury’s recently, as I would always take advantage of the 3 for 2 offers!).

On Samedi, the girls usually come home in dribs and drabs to have lunch and visit the souq. We decided to try something new this week – we told all of the girls to come home for a later lunch at 2.30pm. This was a great success – it gave Latifa and I enough time to come home, unpack the groceries and prepare the lunch. And, all of the girls came home happily satisfied with their souq purchases this week.