Finding homes

We had the usual 2 morning services – Sandy Bay, followed by Head O’Wain. Graeme is preaching through the book of Ruth – one sermon per chapter. He did chapter 3 this week. Challenging messages.

Between the morning and evening services, we wanted to visit one of the church members. Well, there are almost no street names, and no house numbers. You simply have to know where someone lives, or ask the neighbours to direct you. We phoned Maud and asked her where she lived. “Opposite the hospital” “Which side of the hospital?” asks Hazel. “The house with the 2 big windows”… Which one of the 2 houses opposite the hospital do you think would be Maud's home?

Graeme and I drove past the hospital, looking for a house that would fit the description, then drove slowly back again. Maud and her husband, Papa, were standing outside their home, waving at us.

We had a good visit. Maud is still living in the house that she was born in!!

Just for your info – there is a most fascinating postal system on St Helena. As there are no street addresses, how do folks get their mail? Well, besides PO Boxes, there is the hand delivery system. You simply keep the letter on your person until you bump into the person you have written to, and then you take the letter out of your bag (or wherever you were keeping it), and hand it to them. (Over the period leading up to Christmas, the church members handed cards to each other at church). Shop keepers are known to put bills or statements of accounts under the wipers of cars – they know who the car belongs to, so “post” their letters in this way. If your car window is left open, (a normal thing on St Helena) you might find a letter on the seat when you come back to your car.