our last days of work...

9th July

Wednesday was field trip day for the children at Ruth Mother Care! I had been so looking forward to taking the children to Entebbe Zoo as lots of them had never had the chance to go before. We arrived at school in the early morning and entertained the children as Teacher Ruth prepared lots of yummy samosas and chapattis! 
The taxis arrived and Susie, Jon, Teacher Ruth and I were in with Nursery class while Kathryn, Teacher Monica and Anna looked after P1 and P2. The number of children slightly outnumbered the taxi's capacity so I had Edith on my lap. After lots of waving and the children repeating 'we're going to the zoo' for about 20 minutes, some of them started to fall asleep. I had Edith and Joy both sleeping on me. Oh the joys of children's work - Edith decided she needed to short call and I only realised when I felt something warm running down my leg. Time for a quick stop at the side of the road! We arrived at the zoo with lots of excited children who were fascinated by the status of the giraffes outside the zoo. We had lots of fun seeing all the animals including zebras and rhinos. We each had a few members of baby class to keep an eye on and with Anna constantly head-counting, we didn't lose anybody! 

Zebras 

Some of the monkeys in the park roam free along the paths. It was funny watching the children's reactions to them! Some of them were fascinated and tried to get as close as they could to them, others ran away and some of them tried to throw stones at them! 

Rhino

When we got to the chimpanzee enclosure we noticed that one of the chimps was called Ruth! Teacher Ruth thought it was hilarious and it caused a ripple of giggles among the children too! They loved watching the chimpanzees and Betty spent the first five minutes chanting 'hello chimpanzee!'. 

 We left the chimpanzees and came across a gorilla statue, which ironically, excited the children more than some of the live animals had! They each wanted a photo with it and we had to convince them to move on to see actual animals! 

Group photo under the 'Elders Tree'

 Part of the park looks out onto Lake Victoria. As we walked past it we noticed that the children were amazed by it so we sat down and let the children take in the view! I assume that lots of these children have never really been outside their village, or beyond Kampala, so to see the beach was fascinating!

After seeing all of the animals we stopped off at the playground before lunch. These kind of play areas are pretty rare so the children found it a tad daunting! Us teachers didn't take much convincing in getting up onto the climbing frame and encouraging the children to follow us! 

It was our last day with RMC :( After a very peaceful drive home (they all fell asleep!) we arrived back at school and said our goodbyes. A few tears were shed by teacher and pupil alike and I walked Bridget, Gift and Shadia home for the last time. We will really really miss this school and the wonderful people we have worked alongside since March. 

the triplets, Kembabazi and Patric - all from one family!

 11th July

Our final day of work! The farewell party for Family Believers Church in the slums. I think I speak for all of us when I say it's our favourite place! We had songs, games, bubbles, dancing, cake and performances from the children. It was so lovely and a wonderful note to end on. 

Washing hands before eating

Cutting the cake

Dancing

Esther and Sabeeti singing

At the end, we gave them all a bracelet as a goodbye present. If you have sent me any bracelets in the post then keep an eye out! 

Attempt at a group photo

 Below are some photos of the children's club teachers. If you're wondering why we've all got our hand over our faces, it's because Kathryn has a swollen eye and Susie bumped her head bungee jumping!!

Tomorrow we're off to Rwanda, another 11 hour coach trip! Please pray for safety amid current troubles in some areas of Uganda. Alex's wedding is on Saturday so please remember him and his fiancee in your prayers! Also please pray for health as we're all feeling a bit run down!

Lots of love x

see you Teacher Grace!

 Blessed Word Children's Club
Last Friday we had our last kids club at the lovely Blessed Word of Life Church. All five of us gappers, plus Moses and Nic were there to say farewell. We started with lots of songs and games and I even led a song in Luganda! 

Setting up before the children arrived

Singing

Playing 'under over'

We sat the children down and explained to them that we were going back to England and showed them a world map so they could see Uganda and England. Some of the children then did little performances for us - singing and dancing - one of the boys who comes every week sung us a goodbye song and burst into tears! Then we cut the cake and shared it round as well as some biscuits and bananas.

Group photo

Cake!

Afterwards we had a little bit of time just playing with the children. Bubbles and balloons and cuddles! Then we gave each child a bracelet as a goodbye present (some of which had been sent to me by 1st Northampton Girls' Brigade - thank you!). Some of the older girls started crying when it was time for us to leave which tugged on our heart strings for sure! The children at Blessed Word are so lovely and we will certainly miss them. 

Us with some of the Blessed guys

Farewell Party
On Saturday afternoon we had a party at the Smile House for all our friends and the people that we've been working with over these months. I love the parties here at the house as it's always a lovely day full of music and laughter - and food! Towards the end of the party they made each of us give a short speech before we had cake! I have made such wonderful friends out here and can't even imagine how much I'm going to miss them all. 

Hassan

Anna and I showing Hassan how to do the 'Essex pose'

Jon

Teacher Monica and Teacher Ruth from RMC

Bosco

Equator Trip
After church on Sunday we headed for the Equator! 2 hours and 7000 shillings later we arrived in the Southern hemisphere! It was good to see a bit more of the country and do something a bit more touristy!

Equator selfie 

Retail Therapy

On Monday morning we went to visit one of the widows, Susan. She makes jewellery for a living and we went round to buy some presents for our loved ones back home. The four of us girls were in absolute heaven when she brought out bags and bags of necklaces and bracelets! Jon was not so interested! It was great to get some gifts to take home and also support one of the widows we have come to know and love. The rest of the day was spent in Kampala at the craft markets!

beads, beads and more beads!

 Ruth Mother Care
On Tuesday we went to school for a farewell presentation. My Girls' Brigade company back at home had raised money to buy sports equipment for the school and so we were able to use that. We showed the children and teachers how to use the various things; beanbags, eggs and spoons, dice and balls! It was lots of fun and the children really enjoyed the races and games, Teacher Ruth was also eager to have a go! We saved the best til last with the parachute. The children were so excited by it and we had to keep an eye on lots of baby class members as they kept running underneath! As it's dry season here, the excitement of the children + the parachute = a lot of dust being whipped up!!

Teacher Ruth balancing a beanbag on her head for the race!

Beanbag races with middle class

Egg and spoon race with top class

Parachute fun

After break, the children put on a performance for us. They sang to us and performed some dance routines which was so lovely. It included a song that said goodbye to each of us individually. We have really fallen in love with this school and I wish we could stay and work there!

On Wednesday we went to the zoo with Ruth Mother Care.

Photos will follow!

Tomorrow we have the last children's club at FBC and I think it's going to break my heart!