Days 7 (and 8 & 9)...

Parting is such sweet sorrow, and so it was on Friday afternoon....

Friday was a somewhat different day for all the teams. The realisation that the time with staff and children at Glory for Education was almost over led to many folk changing their daily routine. Builders mixed blocklaying with conversations with the kids and staff, including a stirring account of how the school Principal Sam was converted some years ago. He and his wife now live (with their children) in one of the school, classrooms yet do not see the construction of a home for themselves as a priority, preferring rather to see the work on the school progressed for the good of the children.

The kid's club folk brought their formal programme to a close, culminating with a rendition of the 'Funky Chicken' by the Head Mistress, Annette that would have been unthinkable at the start of the week. The team is delighted to report that as the week progressed, the teachers and children became much more responsive to the work being done by the team. The children have demonstrated remarkable memories, and have been left with a number of memory verses from the Bible, together with clearly presented Bible stories which will doubtless speak to them into the future.

The medical team also had a different day. Debbie had identified a boy with a serious eye infection and was determined to facilitate some form of intervention on his behalf. Thus it was that a charabang departed from the site on Friday morning in search of specialist medical facilities, with the boy, his mother, Debbie, Dianne and Garvin on board. They visited a local facility, but it had no suitable testing / treatment capacity, so the team headed into Kampala. After visiting the Kampala International hospital (established by Ian Clarke after moving on from Kiwoko hospital) they went to an eye clinic where swabs, bloods etc were taken for analysis. We hope to get the results before we leave next week and trust that a suitable form of treatment can be identified before our departure...

I should also mention that Dianne has had the chance to spend time with a local family who live on the same track as the school. Please pray that these unexpected contacts will bring additional blessing to the folk around the school.

After the bus had returned mid afternoon, we presented the school with the gifts which had been generously donated or purchased through fund raising (footbal shirts & footballs, stationery and pencil cases). One of the difficulties we learned about during the week was the difficulty local families have in paying the school fees. Although these fees are very low, the families concerned are often extremely poor. This results in the staff sometimes having to accept a reduced income, or forego their salary altogether for a time. A number of the team had discussed this issue and decided to pay one month of the teachers' salaries out of their own pockets - the joy on the faces of the Principal and staff was something to behold! Thanks go to FoL for facilitating this process with the team.

So, after a week of real toil, the team headed back to Kampala to prepare for the weekend off. We had booked a weekend break at the Jinja Nile Resort hotel before departure, so headed off on Saturday morning for some R&R and I'm pleased to report that the entire team is now back to full health and strength.

_________________________________________________
...so Jonny said "But McBlogger, you are going white water rafting (on a route which includes category 5 rapids), as you are the only leader with insurance and someone has to look after the younger folks as they face near death-experiences". It may be I exaggerate slightly on the the near-death bit, but it was definitely included a series of near near-death experiences! So while the rest of the team enjoyed the delights of lying by a pool in the equatorial sunshine drinking from tall cool glasses, McBlogger plus four fought for survival for a few hours on the River Nile. Happily, all survived to tell the tale with very few injuries (although Jess was struck on the back of the head by her brother's paddle as he fell into the Nile and any input to his watery departure by McBlogger will be denied unless and until it can be proved otherwise).
_________________________________________________

We had decided earlier in the week to conduct our own Sunday morning service at Jinja. So it was that we gathered on the the upper banks of the Nile, accompanied by the roar of rapids far below to sing, hear God's word and take communion together. The bread was sweet (no, really sweet) and the wine bore more than a passing resemblance to red water melon juice, but the experience was one which will live in the minds of the team for a long time to come.

I will sign off now, but would ask you to continue to remember the team in your prayers. We face another busy week and have to pack a great deal into the next 4 days. It will be strange to split the team across two sites, but this is the only way to ensure the work is as near complete bfore departure as possible. We hope to start putting the roof on the staff block at Glory for Education before departure on Thursday and the work at Kiti will be exhausting as the school now has 500 children attending on a regular basis.

Take care & until the next time,

'McBlogger'