Day 21 and 22

Day 21
We started off our day at a little more leisure which was lovely! We split our team to visit two projects. Five of us went to Joe’s project at the Namuwongo slum area. The project is called ‘Hands of Hope’ and is run by Joe Cummisky. We had a lively morning in their nurseries. We enjoyed playing with the little ones who were very affectionate and full of beans! We had fun doing the Noah presentations and seeing the little ones singing and participating. The teachers are doing a good job with all the wee ones from the slums. We were impressed at some of the older nursery kid’s levels of English. We had a great chat with Joe who was kind to give of his time to fill us in on all that is going on with his very diverse project.

The rest of the team visited the Hospice in Kampala. We heard the history of the work and about the home visits made daily to many who were dying with cancer or complications from HIV/AIDS. As a result of the project morphine had been made available for pain relief and very significant progress had been made with training health staff across Uganda in effective palliative care measures. There was opportunity to interact with some of the children who were receiving Day Care at the Hospice and we were pleased to be able to give the children small gifts.

Patients waiting to be seen at the Hospice

Children receiving gifts at Hospice

Day 22
The team headed off this morning with great excitement to visit an abandoned babies home. Sanyo baby home has 40 little ones ranging from 3 months to 3 years. We had such fun playing with the babies, learning their names and experiencing some little personalities! It was shocking to meet the youngest baby who was abandoned and just arrived in the home yesterday. Deborah was very frail and had very prominent bones. Many of the kids are left in latrines, dustbins or abandoned on streets, hospitals. These wee ones are the lucky ones who have managed to survive and are now thriving on the love and care they get in Sanyo. Many of the children are adopted in Uganda and also outside of the country. It was a privilege to visit the home today and also to learn from the Social Worker about the processes of Ugandan local and international adoption.

Wenford relaxing at sanyu while the others fed all the babies

David had left a Greek New Testament with us to deliver to Father Aloysius on the Entebbe Road. We took the opportunity after Sanyu to see him. He was delighted to receive the New Testament and offered to come with us to deliver some relief items to needy local communities. We called at a school in the slum area and left clothes and footballs for distribution and then he brought us to see Airfield View Primary School which was being run by Volunteer director, Mary Smith from USA. Mary told us the story of how God had given her a vision for orphans and those sexually abused and she had bought land to build an orphanage for those who had been traumatised and bereaved through the terror of the LRA. Already Mary had opened an orphanage in India and had come to Uganda 3 years ago investing all her resources in the school and in land for an orphanage. On her own she had established the project and it was amazing to hear how she had established the school and was working towards her vision with no outside help. She had met Father Aloysius 2 weeks earkier and asked him to bring any visitors he met to her school. We had asked Father Aloysius to bring us to places of need and he had immediately thought of Mary. She told us she had been praying for folk to visit and had just that day prayed for a football (we brought her 4) and we were her first foreign visitors. Wow – to be an answer to prayer and to be able in just a little way to bless her by providing a few simple resources for use in the school – which was so impressive. What a mighty privilege for us to meet Mary and see the work. We will definitely follow up this amazing networking opportunity. Only God knows where this connection will go.

Day 20

Hidden Treasure Christian School in Wakiso District

Today we visited Hidden Treasure Christian School in Wakiso District. The school, which was about 40 minutes from central Kampala, is one that has been approved by Fields of Life for a school build and is awaiting sponsorship to allow progression of the project.

After arriving in the town we were met by the Pastor/Head Teacher who jumped on a boda boda and we followed him up firstly a short mud road and eventually up a narrow grass path in the most beautiful surroundings to where we stopped outside the simple, tiny wood building that housed the little school and the 75 pupils.

The school had originated 7 years ago from a Sunday School with the vision of giving a Christian education in this little community where both alcohol and marijuana related problems abound. The Pastor and his wife and 3 other teachers welcomed us and showed us round the little campus and it was immediately evident the excellent care and attention that the children received.

The children were a little timid at first as they were not used to school visitors, let alone white ones, but they soon warmed up as Hannah and the team told the Noah story as the HeadMaster translated. The children sang heartily and were excited as they listened and sang. The visit was rounded off with the presentstion of simple gifts to all the pupils and teachers in what was a very needy school.

As we looked around the tiny classrooms which contained the most simple of homemade furniture and little if any resources, we were glad to have visited and everyone counted it a privelege to have spent just a little bit of time with some very special teachers and children.

As we consider "Charlenes Project", which will involve Charlene raising money to build a school in Uganda Hidden Treasure Christian School will be one that we will consider a worthy option to assist if God so leads.

Charlene has had to drop out of school this year due to failing health from cystic fibrosis. Charlene was originally scheduled for Uganda with the team this summer but sent us on the look out for a school for her project when she had to remain in Belfast City Hospital being unable to travel. She is currently undergoing assessment for lung transplant, travelling to Newcastle next week for a weeks intensive assessment. It is her desire that if she is unable to continue presently in school - she will do all she can to help others receive an education in Uganda.

Day 19

Day 19 began early but in relaxed mood as we made our way to Makerere Full Gospel Church for 9am service. There we received the customary warm Ugandan welcome and joined with over 800 others in an uplifting lively and challenging worship service. The choir was all you would expect from an African choir and the Pastor gave a truly inspiring address on qualities required from a true Christian .The second of the 3 services for the morning lasted until 11am and as we left the Church was filling again and the 3rd service was beginning.

We travelled for about 2 hours by bus to District of Jinja to the area where the river Nile flows out of Lake Victoria. This is an unbelievably beautiful area and we had a light lunch on a balcony overlooking the River Nile and Lake Victoria.

We then spent the next 3 hours travelling round the Jinja rural area in our mini bus giving out teddies, blankets, clothes, sweets to people who are unbelievably poor but seem so grateful and content with life. It was very rewarding to see the hard work of folk back home in making blankets and teddies reaching such needy and deserving recipients.

Until Tomorrow. Wendy and Sarah.

Day 15

On the bus on the way to school - another early rise and sleepyheads on the bus.

The welcome at school today included an incredible display of Ugandan dance. Some of the team attempted to emulate the Ugandan children - Basil in particular displayed a hidden talent. We have a copy of this on video - this can be seen on request - despite Basils protestations of confidentiality within the team!

Both Kids Club and I'm Special, You're Special were presented to the 350 children in Kiwoko Primary School this morning. The parents received programme input. As in other schools teachers were very pleased with all the programmes delivered and with the resources, gifts and books left with the school.

As always the little team of workers put both swing and goal posts in place for the Primary children . It is not an easy task in the 40 degree sunshine. Afterwards they got into conversation with a teacher around the war in the area and the situation about so many orphans. He also pointed out a witch doctor in the vicinity of school and the guys got to meet the Bishop of Luweero.

In the afternoon some of the team headed to Kiwoko Secondary where they presented to over 800 young people. Afterwards they had many individual conversations with young people and questions ranged from ones around sexual infections to situations about friends who were being offered money for sex to allow them to pay for school fees.

Some of the team headed to Shammah to see Daniel the Head Teacher, planning to deliver some gifts in the little church community near the school. As is typical of Daniel, he immediately welcomed us, even though our visit was unannouncd, immediately saying he knew of an even more needy community, not far from school. Arriving at the little scattered community, need was everywhere as the team members were surrounded by nearly 100 small children and women with babies in arms. We were shown the little church and the community wanted to have an impromtu church service to celebrate the arrival of their visitors. It was so noticeable that virtually all the community were women and children with very few men to be seen anywhere. As gifts were distributed house to house some comments were so humbling; "We never thought white people would visit our little commuinty and bring gifts to us all". As we got inot the bus and got ready to leave we watched as the women got the little children in line to give them a little piece of the bread and sweets that we had brought. It was obvious as the children eagerly devoured the meagre offering, that they were very hungry. One of the men who said he did not believe in God said - "Today I am going to church to thank God for your visit to our community". Daniel encouraged us by saying that our visit would support the owrk he and the pastors were trying to do in this very needy community. He pointed out to us that the village folk were already heading to their little one room church to give thanks to God for what they had received. Again as has been so often the case over the last two weeks we all acknowledged that we had so much to learn from our Ugandan neighbours.