a few highlights..

Sorry! I know it's been a long time... "you've been lost" as they would say out here... so, where to start?
On Thursday we went into the slums to do a bit of community outreach. We were aware that we often visited the same families so we went with the intention of meeting some new people and going to new homes. I was in a group with Nic, Kathryn and Jon. We met and prayed with lots of new people. I always love this time as we can get to know the families of the children who cling to our arms and encourage them. This Thursday in particular involved a lot of piggybacks and running down hills. The children are so full of love and joy and I've learnt many lessons from them. They are not rich in the way the world views wealth, but they have an abundance of love and faith in our God and their riches will be overflowing in Heaven. 
In that community I have adopted a little shadow who doesn't leave my side while we are there. Her name is Juliana and she is incredibly beautiful and very very cheeky! She's the one on my back in the photo below. Last week I gave her a bracelet from my wrist and she gave me her ring - a ring pull from a carton of juice. These kids know how to steal my heart! 

Piggybacks!

Praying with a family

Yes, this is four children sitting on my lap at once!

This is Esther. I remember meeting her on one of our first visits to the slum. On her back is her younger sister Alice. I'm not sure I've ever seen Esther without her sister. She carries her round day in day out, cuddling her when she cries and feeding her. I can't imagine a young girl of Esther's age in England having the responsibility of caring for her baby sister. It's not unusual to find children caring for their younger siblings as their parents often go out to work and childcare is not really an option. Unfortunately, Alice is scared of white skin, but I often offer to hold the baby for a while so the older sibling can have a break (and I'm not complaining!). They should be able to run and play and laugh without the worry of a little brother or sister attached to their back. I guess it's just a challenge to see such a young child having such adult responsibilities. 

Early on Monday morning we were back off to the hospital. We had noticed last week that the children's ward could do with livening up so we took some pictures down to stick on the walls. Kathryn also gave out some bracelets to the children.

We saw a very poorly baby who was suffering with malaria. He was attached to an oxygen tank that towered over him and his breathing was very fast. We prayed with the mother for healing and a swift recovery. We also visited the pre-natal ward where we met a lady who was having contractions. During our prayer - she left to go and have her baby! It was very exciting!


On Tuesday and Wednesday we went to a new school called Ruth Mother Care. It only caters up to P2 and has two very lovely teachers, Teacher Ruth and Teacher Monica. Susie, Anna and I went to observe nursery class for the first half of the day and Kathryn and Jon were in P1 and P2. At break time we led some games with the children and introduced them to 'mingo mingo'! After break we took a lesson. Some of the children are too young to write so I took them outside and tried to do some phonics and letters with them - they spoke as much English as I speak Luganda!! At the end of the day we gave out toys and soap as a 'thank you for letting us visit your school'. I really enjoyed the day and we went back on the Wednesday where we taught some more lessons. We are looking into making this school another one of our Smile projects and I hope we can go back to teach there again.

The school building

Baby Class

Clearly engaged in our lesson!

Wednesday - teaching the sound "a"

These are just some of my highlights from the past week or so. We're off to the slums now so I will end there!
Thank you for all your prayers and messages of support.
God Bless x

So we have a lot to catch up on!

Wednesday 5th February

Went to school! I had my P3 class and ended up teaching an English lesson. We did the difference between "a" and "an". Susie was helping me in this lesson and we discovered that the children have a slightly different way of pronouncing the vowels which got a little confusing at times! 

Thursday 6th February

We did some aid sorting in the morning and almost went crazy trying to find pairs of shoes! Then in the afternoon we got ready for our trip to Rwanda!

Friday 7th February

The first day of our Rwandan adventure! We needed to renew our visas so decided to make a trip out of it. We got bodas down to the coach park and were very surprised to hear that the coach had wifi!! So we settled down for our 11 hour journey... A few hours in and we stopped off at a petrol station to find that the toilet was not a toilet... or even a long drop... but a little cubicle with a drain in the corner! Oh the stories we could tell you about our toilet experiences! 

At the Rwandan border we all got off and our passports were stamped before we walked through 'no man's land' that was neither Uganda or Rwanda. Back on the coach to Kigali where we all got a bit confused by the time before Alex told us that Rwanda is an hour behind Uganda! We jumped onto some bodas who took us to grab some food. The boda bodas in Rwanda are a lot different to Uganda - each driver carries an extra helmet for the passenger and only one person can go on the back. That wasn't the only thing, I was surprised at how many differences there were between Uganda and Rwanda! They have such smooth roads and I couldn't believe how little traffic there was. We definitely were not in Kampala anymore! We stayed in Discover Rwanda Youth Hostel which was such a lovely place. 

Saturday 8th February

We all got bodas up to the genocide memorial site. We had a look around inside and I was shocked that I'd never really learnt about the Rwandan genocide before as it impacted so many millions of people. I don't think the five of us gappers have ever been so quiet for such a long time! It was really tough to hear about the events but it was important for us to do. I can't quite fathom how one human being can be so intrinsically evil to another.

Afterwards we met Alex in the cafe with his friend Trice, who is from America. We went to visit Alex's sister Julie who lives in Rwanda and some of Alex's nieces and nephews. In the evening we went to a lovely Mexican restaurant called Meze Fresh which turned out to be a great evening :)

Sunday 9th February
On Sunday we took to the streets of Rwanda to try and find church! We scraped together some GCSE French and tried to communicate with the boda guys... although we couldn't give the name of the church or the pastor... 
We followed the sound of singing and were relieved to find Alex, Julie and Trice in the church we'd found! It was a really good church service, I particularly enjoyed one of the songs that involved a lot of jumping and dancing - much to the other gappers' amusement/embarrassment. 

In the evening, KJ and Jon went off to the cinema to watch some hobbity lord of the rings thing (can you tell why I didn't go?). The rest of us went out for dinner at the loveliest Italian restaurant! I got way too over excited about the apple crumble on the desert menu, but I haven't had apple in such a long time! Back to the hostel after that for our last night in Rwanda.

APPLE CRUMBLE 

Monday 10th February
After taking a boda ride in the rain, we jumped back on to a coach for another 11 hour journey back to Kampala! At the border we renewed our visas (new stamps in my passport!) Not much to report about that, apart from the fact that we spotted some zebras at the side of the road! Oh and also the incredibly cheesy music that they very loudly played on repeat for about 7 hours; with lyrics such as "there are no mosquitoes in Heaven".

Tuesday 11th February
Despite all being pretty shattered from the weekend's adventure - we were all up at 6am for school! I have a new teacher in P3 with me who teaches English and Literacy One. After lunch, P1-P4 got sent home - which was a bit of a God-send as we were able to leave too and get some rest! (and when I say rest, I mean getting home and realising you need to wash all your clothes from the weekend!)

Wednesday 12th February
Back to Chosen again. In the evening I took Susie to the doctors surgery as she hadn't been feeling very well for a few weeks. We went in to see a French doctor named Monica, at which point I had to exercise maximum self control as she was listening to Susie's chest and made her do some breathing exercises which were pretty funny I won't lie. She then sent Susie off to do a stool sample and blood test, and it turned into quite an eventful evening! The nurse struggled to even find a vein (I hope you're not squeamish) so settled for taking blood from her hand. Susie then looked at me and went white as a sheet and then passed out in the chair. I asked the nurse to find us a bucket but she kinda just stood there, only jumping into action when it was too late and Susie had already been sick over herself and the floor. (yes Susie did give me permission to tell you all this) Anyway so Nurse Grace took over and we sorted her out and they tested what they had. The results came back that Susie had a tropical parasite in her stomach called Giardia and also suspected Bilharzia. Poor Susie :( I went round and picked up a pack of pills for her and we braved the journey home, praying that Susie wouldn't be sick again. We eventually got in and she was sent straight to bed.

Thursday 13th February
Nic, Brain, Kathryn and I went to the FBC slums to remind everyone that kids club was starting up again. Anna, Jon and Innocent went to Blessed Word to do the same, and Susie stayed in bed! It was so lovely to be back there, I've really missed them! Afterwards we went off to KBC for our various activities, I went to choir - without Susie!

Friday 14th February
Happy Valentines Day! Jon, Anna, Nic, Moses and I went to FBC for children's club. We played lots of games, had some songs and played with bubbles! We had biscuits and gave each child a new toy! It was such a great afternoon and I love blessing the children there. As we get to know the kids more we get to know their little personalities and each of us seem to have gained a little 'shadow' who appears at our side as soon as we arrive!

Saturday 15th February

Normal Saturday duties! I was very excited to receive some post! Thank you to the Claydons, Englishs, Grace K and 1st Hawkwell's Juniors for your parcels and letters :)

Sunday 16th February

Off to church in the morning where we heard an American pastor preach on our talents. In the afternoon we had a barbecue at the Smile House for VOW (which Alex is part of). It was a great afternoon full of very good food and fellowship. 

Monday 17th February

We left early in the morning to go hospital visiting. The five of us gappers were accompanied by Nic, Brian and Moses. We split off into two groups and went round the wards. In my group, we spoke and prayed with an elderly man called Livingstone and his family who weren't really sure of the problem; but he looked very frail and unwell. We also visited baby Omar who was suffering from malaria and wouldn't look at us when we first walked in as he thought we were doctors and he'd grown to dislike them! There was another lady named Juliet who had malaria and TB, she had traveled a long way to get to that hospital and was unable to eat much at all. Lastly, we went to see a lady who had had a very severe skin reaction to some medicine that she was given. It was quite upsetting to see as she seemed very uncomfortable however she was willing to chat to us. Many of the patients we saw mentioned that they were struggling to find the money for the hospital fees and the medicines so please keep these families in your prayers, and pray for a swift recovery for all of them. 

Today (19/02/14) and yesterday we have been at school again. It's dry season now here in Uganda so the weather just keeps getting hotter! I don't mean to rub it in, I know Britain is pretty miserable at the moment! Thank you for all your prayers and support. Please pray that we will be able to rely on God's strength more as we're pretty tired at the moment! We're all absolutely loving it though, God Bless you all :)

Victoria

On Monday Nic, Kathryn and I went to visit a lady who some of the volunteers have known for a long time. We jumped on two different taxis to get there and had to ask a few boda drivers and shop keepers where to go, before meeting up with Harriet, who cares for the lady we were visiting. She led us to their shared compound where we tried to prove to some of the little ones that we really weren’t as scary as we looked! Some of them accepted our high-five offers, but others preferred to keep their distance!

We went inside their home and sat down. From what I could see, their house was made up of about two or three rooms. We sat and spoke to Harriet and another lady before we noticed a face poking out through the curtain in between the two rooms. The curtain was pulled back to allow a little old lady to shuffle out towards us, her body bent double due to the small second-hand jerry can that she used as a walking stick. Her face was sunken and the lines on her face suggested years of struggle. This was Victoria. Despite everything, her determination prevailed as she headed straight for Kathryn and I. Now there’s something likeable about someone who goes straight in for a hug before the formal introductions. Victoria went in for the double, embracing both of us simultaneously. As I put my arm round her, I felt her shoulders beneath her dress and the brittleness of her bones as she tried to hold herself up. We took on her weight as she began to mutter something in Luganda and Nic later told us that she was crying. Happy tears, we hope! Nic helped Victoria to move round and sit down next to me on the sofa. She took my hand in hers and rested her head on my shoulder.

Harriet then pulled out a bag of handmade jewellery. I’ll buy a few things, I thought to myself. Next thing I knew, she was pushing a ring onto my finger and fastening a bracelet round Kathryn’s wrist. “They are a gift to you” she said, refusing to let us pay for them. Her generosity amazed me, she has many mouths to feed and lives to care for and yet she willingly gave away these beautiful pieces of jewellery to us.

Next to me, Victoria started to groan in pain. She placed my hand on her stomach and her family told me that she has stomach ulcers and cancer. Her family reckon that the ulcers in her stomach have been there for up to 50 years! Unfortunately, Victoria is now too old for them to perform surgery and palliative care is very limited here in Uganda. She has to live every day in constant pain and discomfort. 

One thing that stood out to me about Victoria was her piercing blue eyes. She picked up my hands and placed them over her eyes, and Nic told me that they were also causing her trouble. I felt so helpless but I knew that the one thing I could do was pray. We prayed for the Lord to comfort her and take way the pain that she is so bravely enduring.

We stepped outside with Harriet who told us that the centre of the compound was their church. She told us about their plans to build a big church with three floors: one for a car park, one for the church and one for church activities. It was inspiring to hear such big dreams and we promised to go back and visit one day.

After leaving, Nic told us that Victoria is in her nineties! He said she is a fighter and I couldn’t agree more. The pain she was going through did not stop her from joining in our conversations and making us feel ever so welcomed and loved.

It was a truly humbling experience that I’m sure I will never forget. Please remember this family in your prayers. 

safari!

Sorry it's taken me a while to do this!

Susie, Kathryn, Jon, Brian and I went on safari last week as a little team holiday! Anna stayed behind in Kampala to sort out what she'll be doing on return to England...

We arrived at Murchison Falls National Park on Tuesday 21st January in the morning ready for our safari adventure! We had already seen some monkeys and elephants before we'd even reached the gate so we were very excited!

 As it was safari, I should probably start with some animal photos...

Baboons are actually very intimidating up close!

We stayed in a campsite called Red Chillli Rest Park. They had some little resident warthogs who we'd often find wandering around! We named this one 'when he was a young warthog' (Aimee you won't get this because you've never seen Lion King).

On our second day we went on a boat ride down the River Nile. It lasted three hours and was the highlight of my trip! We saw so many hippos and elephants  - it was amazing! The boat went down to the Murchison Falls waterfall and we climbed out on to a rock to have a photo. We also saw crocodiles and giraffes and all kinds of birds. I don't consider myself much of an animal person but that soon changed when you get so close to such majestic creatures! I was left in awe of the beautiful creation that surrounded me.

On the third day it was Kathryn's birthday! We of course had to abide by the Smile Uganda tradition of soaking the birthday girl with water!

Happy 19th Birthday Kathryn!

We had a fantastic time and lots of photos to prove it!

We're now back at work. We popped down to Chosen School the other day to plan for the upcoming term. We got to catch up with Moses, who stayed with us over Christmas, which was lovely.

Lots of time has been spent in and around the sea container, sorting aid and finding school equipment to give out before the new term starts.

Today we are doing lots of admin for Smile's sponsored children. We've caused some giggles from the local volunteers as we attempt to pronounce some of the Ugandan names! Smile's support of these children is invaluable, and hearing some of their stories is heartbreaking. There are still children who are in need of a sponsor, some of whom we work with week by week - if you're interested.... www.smileinternational.org/sponsor-a-child

Also, if you're on facebook, please like our page! www.facebook.com/smilecharityuganda

Please continue to pray for the work of Smile International and Smile Charity Uganda. Children in Uganda go back to school next week so please remember them too. Thank you so much for all your support and I promise to write a better blog post next time!!

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.

Christmas and New Year

I will start by saying Merry Christmas to you all and Happy New Year!

We had a very warm festive season out here in Uganda which didn't really make it feel like Christmas, especially as lots of the songs are about snow and snuggling round the fire! 

On Christmas Day we went to Church in the morning. Then I took up my duties as Head Chef for Christmas dinner - helped by Jon, Anna and Kathryn! Amazingly, I didn't burn anything or give anyone food poisoning - and it tasted pretty decent!

Over Christmas we had a boy called Moses come to stay with us. He goes to the school where we teach and is a boarding student. The plan was for him to stay at school over Christmas but we invited him to come and stay at the Smile House for a few days - the last place you want to be at Christmas is school! He also celebrated his birthday while he was here, so it was nice to make him feel special and before he left he called us his 'family'. 

On the day after Boxing Day, we were visited by Kelly and Jono, who we met back in November when they came to the children's club with us. It was really great to catch up with them and hear about their trip to Kenya!

 On New Years Eve we went to church. Me and Susie popped next door to the shop and were interviewed for Ugandan TV! They asked us what our new years resolutions were! 

 We got up to all sorts on NYE and it was certainly different to any that I've celebrated in England! New Years is much more of a religious event in Uganda and lots of people go to church. It was pretty cool to see two baptisms at 5am! We finally got to bed at 7am on New Years Day!

Tomorrow (Monday 6th) the five of us are going on a youth camp with the youth of Kampala Baptist Church. We'll be there until Friday so don't get offended if you try to contact me and I don't respond! We're really looking forward to building on our friendships with the guys at KBC - although we're not as excited about the camping bit!!

January is looking like it will be a very busy month, and mostly spent in tents! I will try to keep you all updated as much as possible :)

Thank you for all your love and prayers over Christmas.

God Bless you in this new year.