Day 12...

Such a lot happened during Wednesday, it's hard to know where to begin. But as Julie Andrews has so helpfully suggested previously, I'll start at the very beginning...


Wednesday was always going to be the last full day of 'normal' work at the two schools. With some relief (owing to the previous exertions associated with concrete blocks), the remaining builders at Glory (4 weary souls) switched their attention from the staff accommodation block to the 'flower beds' in front of the school buildings. We had been asked to 'tidy up' these beds if at all possible, and so embarked on what proved to be something of an archaeological dig. Having erected our strings lines, we began to dig trenches for a line of crudely fired clay bricks to surround the existing plants. We had not anticipted locating the remains of an earier dynasty in the process. As we laboured, we unearthed clay bricks which carbon dating has since proved are at least two years old. Inspired by this discovery, we pressed on and by the end of the day had made a fair job of establishing a boundary to the school vegetation patch!


Meanwhile, on a planet far far away (25 minutes via the dusty B753, barely wide enough for a goat, never mind a bus full of goats), the medical and kids' club teams were making fantastic progress with the pupils at Kiti. Much to her delight, Debbie was able to get through an unexpectedly long list of folk seeking eye tests. As always, the occasional applicant complained of near blindness, being completely unable to see the sight cards during preliminary tests, in the hope of acquiring a pair of shiny pair of glasses. However, such actors are apparently fairly easily identified - a result confirmed when the application of a pair of plain lenses to the individual results in perfect vision!! Dianne also found the pupils to be open and responsive, keen to learn more about how they could contribute to promoting good health for themselves and others.

Finally, the kids' club team found themselves dealing with huge numbers of pupils, both morning and evening (the school was split to facilitate the team). Again, the response was inspiring, although exhausting for the (enlarged) team. I am confident that a much good seed was distributed through the faithful work of the kids' club team members.

On the way back to the guesthouse in Kampala, Debbie managed to procure the eye infection test results (and the requisite drops for treatment) for one of the pupils at Glory. This was undoubtedly yet another example of having a positive impact on the life of another, and illustrates beautifully the text emblazoned on the back of each team members t-shirt - Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God (Micah 6v8).

All in all, another great day.

More in due course,

'McBlogger'

Days 10 & 11...

I need a massage... I need a massage... I NEED A MASSAGE!!!

But more of that anon...

Returning to Kampala on Sunday evening, the whole team agreed that the decision to have a weekend break at Jinja had been a very wise move indeed. ]If you doubt the luxury of the hotel, please Google 'Jinja Nile Resort' and scan some of the photos!!] However, it also served to remind us all of the enormous privilege we enjoy from living in N Ireland - our disposable income in East Africa is far is excess of all but the most affluent Ugandan. So, gentle reader, please remember to appreciate what you have (money, good food, comfortable shelter, good quality health care, irrespective of what you may think of the NHS etc etc) and be willing to share some of it with others less fortunate.

Enough sermonising - Monday morning saw an enthusiastic team making its way to Kiti (pronounced Chitty, as in Bang Bang) Primary to implement a similar programme to the first week. For some of us, this was a poignant time where we had the opportunity to refresh old aquaintances from our last visit (see the first entries on this long running blog). It was also extremely encouraging for the whole team to see the potential scale of the positive impact on a school that a few years of careful development and management from teachers and external support organisations can bring. The school now has in excess of 500 pupils running from nursery to P7 which ensures the buildings are now operating at maximum capacity. The efforts of members of the previous team had also seen the construction of a kitchen, the drilling of a borewell (serving the whole community) and the installation of mains electricity, all arranged after our return. Even the play area looked fantastic, the result of careful planting of grass to replace the hard baked dusty earth. It was wonderful to see these new facilities in operation, giving the school a real air of prosperity. It also great to meet some of the pupils being sponsored by team members and see how they had grown and were progressing with their studies.

Suffice to say, the last two days have been exhausting for all and during our return to Kampala this evening, not a word was spoken by anyone on the bus - a significant change from earlier times!! The medical team has commented on the greater openness and responsiveness of the pupils at Kiti and the kids' club are having a wonderful time with their carefully crafted programme. After a day of training, all the Kiti children will shout "Magooooooooooo" (nickname of one of our members) at the least provocation, in honour of his previously mentioned exemplary 'funky chicken'.


A much reduced building team continues to work at Glory for Education. Jon arranged to tear his calf muscles at Jinja and others wanted to rest their weary backs, leaving 3 or 4 of us to continue the labour, mainly stockpiling concrete blocks at strategic locations around the house in support of our Ugandan builder Johnson (200 blocks this morning - hence the pressing need for a massage!). At present, the wall are nearly complete (two courses above the ring beam almost finished today) and the roofing joiners arrived on site on Monday afternoon to start their work. I expect the first timbers will be placed on the walls tomorrow (Wednesday). The much reduced (yet beautifully formed) building team also spent time this afternoon setting out a brick border to the embryonic flower beds at the front of the school and hope to finish this task tomorrow.

Well, a queue of folk has now formed to access the PC the PC, so I will sign off. Hopefully (PC permitting, for it could not acces t'internet hier soir) I will be able to post some more tomorrow.

Oh, I nearly forgot - Jamie appears to have developed a remarkably deep tan. Despite rubbing after-sun into his body every day since we arrived, his tan appears to get signifiantly deeper day by day. It may or may not have something to do with the fact that the contents of his bottle of after-sun were (helpfully) replaced with self tanning lotion by other team members at the start of last week!

'McBlogger'

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'

Days 5 & 6...

mmm...not quite sure where to start this evening. The last two days have fused into one long feeling of tiredness. You know the feeling where you've had a party late in to the evening and waken the next morning feeling exhausted? Well, it's nothing like that. Imagine a party that goes late into the following week and you'll get a little closer.


I'm delighted to report that the building work has forged ahead and we have now reached block 7 level all round the staff house - this may not impress anyone else, but it has fairly stirred the emotions of the building team! Three clear factions have emerged in the battle to erect this superstructure, (which would doubtless be visible from space with the right telescope). The combined wisdom of many years has blended to create a senior league team in the form of Ivan and Scott Senior. These two have refined the art of laying and relaying blocks using the 'Jacarson block tilting' technique (further information may be available from an appropriately phrased Google). This rather gentlemanly approach has been challenged by the raw power of Jon & Jonny. Team JJ has reset the upper limits of block laying terminal speeds through pure brawn, supplemented from time to time with a little brain. Working together in pure poetic motion, they move like an F1 pit crew setting string lines, laying mortar beds and flinging 20kg blocks onto the walls as if they were made of concrete. Last and not quite least, Scott Junior and Magoo (generally aided by Ricky when he's not dead, but a bit more of that shortly) have showed remarkable tenacity and determination in continually fixing the work carried out by others. If all goes according to plan, the walls (inculding a cast ring beam above block 8) will be completed by next Monday evening.

The medical guys have really found their feet and are engaging actively with the classes on critial issues associated with their health. It is apparent that (much like in N Ireland) there is a great deal of misunderstanding of various health issues, particularly around sexual behaviour. Debbie has also identified a couple of cases where an increasing serious corneal infection has the potential to lead to blindness if not treated pretty swiftly.

Please pray for the teams as they approach the end of this challenging week. They have already made an enormous impact on the school and we hope this will continue well into the future. I know that the staff block will bring much needed financial relief as the school has to meet the cost of rent for staff in the local village. I also believe that the young people will benefit in all sorts of ways from what they have been taught about thier health and about the good news which brings the ultimate in good health - eternal life'

Meanwhile, I'm happy to report that the reports of Ricky's death are greatly exaggerated. He and Sarah took today (Thursday) off work to rest due to feelings of exhaustion. When the young lads who had been playing football with him earlier in the week heard about this, they danced around the playground singing 'Ricky's dead!' - an interesting perception... I'm glad to be able to inform you that both Ricky and Sarah are feeling much better this evening.

Tomorrow will be the last day at Glory for Education school for most of us and the teams are already sad about the impending separation. We hope to present gifts to the school in the afternoon and close down the medical and kids' clubs, buth the building will continue into next week. So I'll sign off now and thank you for reading thus far. If all goes according to plan (Ha!), we will be in Jinja (a resort at the head of the Nile) for a bit of R&R this weekend. If t'internet extends thus far, I'll tell you more. If not, please feel free to use your imagination!

Take care,

'McBlogger'

Days 3 & 4...

McBlogger would like to take this opportunity to apologise to (what appears to be a growing) audience for the failure to post anything yesterday. I could blame lightning strikes on the guesthouse, consumption of the telephone cable by termites, or simply a breakdown of the PC due to one Uganda's more minor earthquakes, but it was actually due to excessive devotion. Sorry, that should perhaps read 'excessively long devotions' after dinner leaving no time to write before collapsing into bed. This is perhaps an apposite point at which the flag some of the gross inequalities foisted upon certain members of the group. Whilst the majority can enjoy relaxing together over a cup of hot chocolate in the evening, 6 male stalwarts have to make their way each evening to a remote guesthouse some distance from the rest of the team. There, they have to squeeze themselves into rooms significantly smaller than those enjoyed elsewhere, use a shower which has yet to deliver warm, let alone hot water, and is prone to stopping completely mid-flow which is more than a mite inconvenient when one's eyes are full of shampoo. But I digress... You doubless want to hear of the team's sterling work, transforming the lives of folk all over Uganda. So:

Monday morning saw the team rising bright and early (actually, this is not strictly true) (actually, this not even remotely true). Despite Garvin's enthusiastic (and somewhat optimistic) plans, the team emerged for breakfast in dribs and drabs. I'm not entirely sure what a drib is exactly, but let's carry on... Suffice to say, we were late leaving the guesthouse for the first day of REAL work. The plan had been to leave early, sneak across Kampala before any of the locals noticed and thereby arrive at our destination on time. The reality was that we got caught in Kampala rush-hour traffic during the Kampala rush-hour - a big mistake. You may have heard that road traffic behaves a bit like a fluid - a fact exploited very effectively by road planners. Well, Kampala is no exception, except that the result is more like flushing a toilet filled with lego bricks - it is extremely colourful, makes a lot of peculiar noises and can give rise to consternation in the mind of the observer. However, after nogotiating several U-bends we arrived, flushed with success at the school we came to support.

'Glory for Education' is the snappy (and typically Ugandan) name of the school. A primary school with about 170 pupils (P1 - P7), it has benefited from considerable support from Fields of Life. Our team has three key roles to fulfil during our time in Uganda:




(i) Building an accommodation block for teachers at the school
(ii) Running kids' clubs, including sports activities
(iii) Medical work giving first aid advice, relationship advice (important in a country devastated by HIV/AIDS) and opthalmic examinations.

As a member of the building group, I will be better placed to give detail on this element of our progress as time passes. After meeting the Principal and Headmistress, each member of the team was asked to sign the school's visitor book. I'm not entirely sure why this done at the start. After all, what can be said at this stage - 'Glad we arrived safely'; 'Nice bit of jungle around here'; 'Why have a school so far from anywhere?'; 'Can you direct me to the nearest pit latrine?'?

To be slightly more serious, we were made most welcome and after general introductions, we split into our groups and started work. As I said, I will be drawing something of a veil over the work of the other teams due to apalling ignorance on my part, typically fuelled by a failure to listen to anything people tell me. The building team (10 of the guys) came fully equipped with enthusaism for the job in hand. Sadly, this level of equipment did not extend to any knowledge or experience of actually building anything (apart, where possible, from tension in a carefully crafted manuscript; something McBlogger knows nothing about). Thankfully, FoL had demonstrated admirable foresight in ensuring a Ugandan builder was on site to meet us and to assit in our labours. Johnston (for that is his name) is a veritable jack of all trades and swiftly sized up our team's capacity for house building. After recovering from this (quite understandable) shock, he showed us how to mix mortar, line up blocks and generally build walls. I have to say that after a slowish start, the team has shown a real aptitude for the work. If I may be permitted the liberty of compressing time, the first two days has seen the erection of 4 courses of concrete block for the staff house - 8 rooms in all, so real progress has been made already. As mentioned previously, Jamie's gloves (and his surprising physical strength) have been a real hit. Special mention should also go to Phil for his mortar mixing capacity and to Jess for her block pointing capability. Others have shown the power of a team working in harmony to achieve a common goal and I'm sure that we will see more of this in the days to come (naming names from time to time).

After a slightly shaky start (largely due to language difficulties), the kids' club has really begun to find its feet. The building team are regularly assailed by the sound of well known choruses wafting up the hillside.

The medical team is dealing with teenagers who are at that awkward stage where it's not cool to respond in class. However, there's a lot of determination to see that some key messages get through and I expect to report real progress here also. Our optometrist, Debbie, began her eye survet work with an examination of the school teachers. The cost of such a test in Uganda would be well beyond the means of these individuals and they were delighted (to say the least) to have these tests carried out. One teacher explained that they suffered from dry gritty eyes. Debbie's many years of experience equipped her to deal with this complex symptom. She explained it was due to the dry gritty atmosphere (orange dust pervades everything) in which everyone in the school was forced to work!

Sadly, the school suffered two deaths yesterday. A P3 child had been bitten by a dog and had died as a result of the infection which set in subsequently. Also, the Aunt of a P7 child died (I don't know the cause yet). This meant a funeral this afternoon (Tuesday), resulting in the cancellation of the planned sports programme. Please pray that the team would be sensitive at this difficult time in the school, whilst recognising these tragedies may perhaps open doors for some to the spirtual reality of eternal life in Christ.

One of our team, Jon, turned 50 yesterday (at least, that's what the cake said), so we all went into the centre of Kampala to 'Fang Fang' for a delicious Chinese meal.

Not a lot more to report tonight as my poor little fingers are red raw from sunning myself all day whilst the team got on with the important work of building. Also, medical research has indicated the potential health benefits resulting from sleeping between days. I'll try and add a little more tomorrow if possible.

Keep watching!

'McBlogger'

Day 3 - Sunday...

I'm pleased to record that it turned out mild again today. Indeed, it's so mild that, as far as possible, we are sticking to shorts and t-shirts (apart from Jamie who we suspect will stick to skirts this week to complement his pink lipstick and cerise working gloves). What is cerise anyway? I'm fairly confident it must be some form of kevlar to give added protection to delicate hands, but was surprised that all the girls seem know about it.

It's bizzare to record, but already it feels as though we have been here for days (2 at least). Thankfully, Bex's substantial supply of illicitly purloined sick bags (yet another reason for the revenge of the cabin crew) held up until mid afternoon. From now on, however, I fear Moses will have to focus on cleaning a small panel of the bus more frequently than he would like.

It is wonderful to record that equal opportunities legislation has firmly arrived in Kampala. From now on, any poor soul suffering from low core body temperature and impaired hearing is amply catered for by the Kampala Pentecostal Church (KPC). One is assured of a warm, yea stiflingly hot welcome in KPC and the worship is conducted with such enthusiasm and volume that only the completely deaf could fail to be impressed. Actually, it was a wonderful time of fellowship and the preaching was both scriptural and challenging.

Due to time constraints, we had to travel directly from KPC to Lowero. I don't recommend consuiming a packed lunch on a coach driven at speed on Ugandan roads - it becomes unpacked rather quickly!

You may have heard of the work done by a lovely retired Ugandan couple called Sam & Mary Matumba. Together with their children, they have devoted themselves to caring for six local families who have suffered from the ravages of HIV/AIDS. On our last visit, we worked with two of these families to paint their houses (provided by FoL etc, working through Sam).

Sam had transported the children to his house to enable the team to spend time with them all and it was fantastic to see how the children have grown. Most of the afternoon was spent with the majority of the team singing, playing games and chatting with Sam's family and the children. It was humbling to see the joy and contentment in the lives of these young folk, especially considering many of them are HIV +ve. Thankfully, the ARV (anti retro virals) are provided free of charge and they generally enjoy a fairly good standard of health, boosted by the improved diet facilitated through the giving of Christians in N Ireland. I am continually struck by the enormity of the problems facing Africa, and can understand those who are tempted to write off the value of trying to make a small dent in such a huge problem. However, spending a short time with those whose lives have been completely transformed (physically, mentally and often spiritually) convinces me that making a positive impact on even one person's life is the most useful thing we can ever do.

As with all good stories (and although poorly written, this is a good story), there was a lovely twist to the afternoon. A few of the team, including McBlogger, had the rare and wonderful privilege of visiting Kiwoko hospital at Lowero. You should be able to find out about it using Google, but this hospital has strong remarkably strong links with Bangor and I have wanted to see it for myself for several years. What a place! Christ's love is shown on a daily basis to many sick folk in a professional and compassionate way. Please pray the for the continued funding and support to see this work grow in the coming years that his kingdom might be extended.

It is a measure of the quality and perception of the staff at Kiwoko that Rory Wilson (former Bangor GP and currently medical superintendent) had the presence of mind to move to Kampala for the weekend, only returning when he was sure we had left the hospital. Rory passed us by on the Lowero road some 1/2 hour after he had left....

Such is the enthusiasm for church, that the team agreed to be subjected to another hour of reflection, ably led by our resident pastor, Ivan the Terrible. Thankfully, our reflections were not terrible by any means...

I am now surrounded by a crowd of individuals who really should have had the forethought to shower after their day's exertions, so I will sign off now.

Never fear, I will return in due course,

'McBlogger'

Days 1 & 2

It's hard to believe that the team has been on the go for nearly two days, but a quick look at the dwindling supplies of water and food rations confirms that the team is eating and drinking far more than is really good for a normal human being...

Day one started much like any other day - alarm at 4.00am, followed by light breakfast, dash to church, dash to Aldergrove, dash to check in, frantic dash to security, frantic frantic frantic negotiation with the delightful & friendly (sic) staff at security and a final marathon sprint to the gate. Alas...

We needn't have half killed ourselves, as the Lord had arranged for a 1 1/4 hour delay to take-off. Nonetheless, this wee respite allowed the older members of the team to catch what was left of their faltering breath.

Thankfully, the connecting flight in Amsterdam was held back for us, so we had an effortless and speedy transfer to the KLM flight to Entebbe. Primary occupations on the flight were watching films, eating, sleeping, watching films, eating, sleeping, watching... well, you get the picture...

We arrived happy, content and full of the joys at Entebbe, remembering to apply liberal quantities of deet before exiting the plane (I don't think Siobhan and Jess realised just how potent their sprays were, but it provided instant protection from mosquito bites for 280 passengers!). The light mood continued into the night for at least 8 1/2 minutes until the bags didn't appear...

Actually, I exaggerate slightly (actually, I always exaggerate slightly) - we were only missing 7 bags. I suspect this was a swiftly executed form of revenge by the cabin crew for the deet incident as Siobhan's bag has not been seen yet, some 24 hours later! (Update - 5 bags were retreived today (Saturday) and hopes are high for the last 2 arriving on Sunday (apart, possibly for Siobhan's bag - air hostesses have long memories and are slow to forgive - Maureen may have better 'luck')).

I'm glad to report that Moses (no, not that Moses) was there to meet us and safely transported us to our humble abode where we enjoyed yet more food (I see a theme emerging here....).

Today (Sat) has been both relatively relaxing and encouraging. After changing copious quantities of cash at the local shopping mall, we enjoyed coffee, cake, burgers, chips, buffalo wings and coke (I told you a theme was emerging). Suitably refreshed, we made our way to the orphanage referred to in an earlier post (below). Although Mama Flavia was not there at the time, we were made most welcome by the children, and McBlogger was particularly touched (some would say he's been somewhat 'touched' since birth) to find that a few of the children remembered him and others from the team in 2006. BTW, Noreen askes to be remembered to Chris Rose... It was wonderful to see the continued good spirits in these children, particularly their optimism for the future - remarkable considering their often traumatic past.

Team devotions this evening compared the confusion at Babel (Genesis) with the apostles speaking in tongues (Acts), and it was agreed that we wanted to be folks from Acts, where we could clearly share God's love with others.

Anyway, it's now late, so I'm signing off - hope for more tomorrow.

'McBlogger'