Deep Down Under the Sea

We could hardly be further from the sea than in landlocked South Sudan.

However, "Under the Sea" is the theme that Esther chose to celebrate her first decade! We set to work to transform our lounge into a deep-sea environment, so that her Juba friends could come and celebrate Esther's 10th birthday with us.

With a distinct lack of any ocean-based props here in Juba, Esther, Ben and Joel enthusiastically set to work to create sea-creatures for Friday afternoon's party. Much to the amusement of our South Sudanese house-lady, who has never set eyes on the sea, the children spent happy hours decorating our house, ready for Esther's Under The Sea party. Grace found all this decorating highly entertaining- so much so that she asked me to take her photo next to Esther's deep-sea frieze and under the suspended octopus (a creature Grace had never heard of):

Welcome to Esther's fishy birthday celebration!

Enter through the sea-weed doorway...

 ...deep into the ocean....

We began with craft, making fish to whizz around, hanging from our ceiling fans (Esther's idea!):

There was time for a bit of fishing, starting with the Birthday Girl:

In the background, the projector displayed the BBC's wonderful "Ocean Deep" footage from the "Planet Earth" DVD series onto our wall (with the volume on 'mute'). This meant that the entire party had a live aquarium effect, with real fish swimming along the wall, like a giant fish-tank: a fun back-drop for fishing-time!

Then it was time to avoid the shark, drawn by Ben, while running round the lounge in time to music. If the music stopped while you trod on the shark, you were out! Oops!

We fitted in a short swim session in the small MAF compound pool:

This worked up an appetite for a fishy birthday cake...

Esther had worked on the menu to make some Under The Sea treats:

They seemed to be enjoyed by all the guests...

 

Happy 10th Birthday to Esther!