spending january in a tent... (part one!)

We left for KBC's Youth Camp on 6th January. Everyone met at church and after eating chapatis, trying on snapbacks and arranging dates (I will explain) we were on our way!

I know Anna (Dappy) would have wanted me to upload this one

The campsite was called Musana Camps and was about a 3 hour journey in the minibus. It is run by 3 American families who were so lovely and welcoming.

Every morning we were woken up at 6:30am to go jogging, to which we all swiftly declined! We had devotions and then each day we had a guest speaker come to talk to us. We were put into teams for the games - me and Susie were in team B. The games were hilarious and the guys in our team would not accept losing as an option - I thought I was competitive!

the greatest team

On the last day of camp we went on a very long walk through forests and fields and all-sorts! For some reason I thought a skirt and flip flops would be appropriate trekking wear... (I only fell over three times). They led us to a beautiful waterfall which we all jumped into before realising we would have to carry on walking for the next two hours in soggy clothes! After 3 hours we reached the end point... however this seemed to be a rather large drop which we all had to clamber/slip/jump down. Me being me, I managed to fall down the top half before being caught by Innocent, at which point my contact lens fell out, and then I tried to approach the bottom half more successfully but again slipped and fell the rest of the way down. Oops.  

trekking

the gappers in the waterfall

Every afternoon we went swimming. This was so much fun and I adore the sea so this was the closest we were going to get in a landlocked country! We discovered that lots of our Ugandan friends have never been taught how to swim which lead to us all becoming swimming teachers!

On one of the nights we had 'date night' where the guys had to ask a girl to accompany them to dinner! It was an evening full of food and dancing and lots of laughs! The leaders of the camp (including Alex) then treated us to a impromptu dance performance!

It was a really great week and gave us the chance to build on our friendships with the youth of KBC. We had lots of fun and were all encouraged in our faith.

We arrived home from youth camp on Friday to a mammoth pile of washing to do before leaving again on Sunday morning! This time we were off to Goshem School for our Bible week. We arrived at about half 11 and went into the Church service which was "just about to finish". Two hours later it ended! We got to work putting our tents up that would house us for the next week.

cows getting into our tent was a daily concern

Each morning one of us got up with Moses at 6am to make chapatis for breakfast. Then we had devotions together before going up to start work. Every day we had praise and worship with all the children together before they split off into their different classes. During this time I put my South African drumming lesson into practice by playing one of the African drums!

singing on the first day (Teacher Grace and Teacher Moses)

There were four classes. Susie had Infant Class which was children up to year 1. Kathryn had Middle Class which was year 2-3. Anna had Higher class: year 4-5, and Jon had Top Class which was year 6-7. (Primary schools here go up to year 7). Each gapper had a translator with them too. I was the substitute teacher! Everyday someone would stay behind at camp to pray, so I would pick up their plan for the lesson and stand in for them! It was a good role as I was able to see each of the classes, but also a little bit daunting as I just had to go with a lesson that someone else had planned! But my fellow gappers are very helpful and the children were very good so it all worked out!

Top Class and Teacher Jon 

Higher Class, Teacher Anna and Teacher Innocent

Middle Class, Teacher Kathryn and Teacher Olivia

Infant Class, Teacher Susie and Teacher Lawrence

The week was based on Saul and David. My favourite day was David and Goliath, and I got to go round to each class as they acted it out! Susie's class was so funny as Moses played Goliath and the smallest boy in the class played David, he was only about three years old!

David hiding in the 'cave' waiting for Saul!

After teaching we all came together again for games. We played 'duck duck chicken' and lots of team games. My team was Red Team (again, the best). We played water and flour games on the last day which got a bit messy but was very funny!

After games, we would give all the children some porridge for lunch and then they would go home. In the afternoons we would shower - well I say shower, we would fill up a basin of water and wash! All of our water had to be collected from the bore hole. I'm sure I built up some muscle after carrying the jerry cans every day! I was amazed by the children we met at the bore hole as they were only small, yet they still managed to pump the water and carry it home. It's not a light task - trust me!

On Tuesday and Friday, we went for some community outreach in the afternoons. We went round to houses to help them get rid of bed bugs and cockroaches and general creepy crawlies! Lots of the children who had been to the Bible week lived in the local area so it was nice to see where they came from. Some of the things we saw were quite upsetting and there appears to be a lot of poverty there. There were two little boys who were very malnourished and when we went to their house we found their drunk father sitting with a group of friends. I would really appreciate prayer for this family as the children are being neglected and money seems to be spent on alcohol rather than food.

Lots of the families were very welcoming. One family had a pet tortoise which reminded me of our tortoise we used to have, but the lady told me not to pick him up because he would bite me!

a toy made from an old jerry can

Every evening we showed a film which attracted lots of people from the community. Each film had a message about God and gave the opportunity for some good conversations. 

It was a very long and hot week, but I enjoyed it! We're all very tired now but we feel accomplished and will be returning to Goshem very soon for teaching!

Tomorrow myself, Susie, Kathryn and Jon are off on a bit of a holiday! Brian is taking us on safari! Please pray for safety and God's provision for us on this trip. Anna is staying behind to begin applying for jobs for when she returns to England! We will come home on Friday.

Thank you for all your love, support and prayers. Lots of love and God Bless.