Homeland or Foreignland

So my Year For God is entering the final stages and quite rightly people have been bothering me to tell y'all whats been happening! The reason i haven't yet is because i'm been trying to make sense of it all myself and i guess now i've come to the conclusion it doesn't make sense!

A few weeks ago we started the goodbyes as Katie and Tess left for their Debrief, We then celebrated the DTS graduation for the Febuary DTS, it was in Uganda style long and tedious but i was so proud to see an amazing group of people finally graduate after seeing them all arrive in Uganda 5 months ago not having a clue what they were getting into. I had a great few days with them as we prepared to say goodbye, unfortunatly that day came far to quick and all i have to say is thank guys for blessing my life and letting me be part of this time with you!

For me the hardest goodbye came all too soon, my partner in crime, sister and friend, the girl i don't think i would have made it without even if she did make me crazy sometimes :) Becca I love you and i know that this whole going home process would be easier with you! When you've been with people for so long they do become you're family, and when you're gone through so much together especially at Amecet you get someone that can fully understand what you've been through and expereinced. I guess on leaving thats what was the most scary, i knew that although home had changed i would be able to understand it and catch up with the changes, but would others be able to understand me? unless you've been there you can't ever imagine what it's like, because it's crazier and more intense and more amazing that anything you could imagine! Through the last 11 months 6 girls have understood that and have seen the change in me, not only was my environment changing but the people who i'd had to support me through the last year weren't going to be there, i seriously didn;t know how i would cope.

The one comfort i had, the greatest comfort is that i will always have a constant in my life, someone who will understand me more than anyone, that has been with me more than anyone and that gets me more than i do. Almighty Father, Loving God, who tells me time and time again "i can do all things though Christ who gives me strength." Because of that i knew that i would make it and i Knew i would be ok, God called me for a year but he knew i would be going home at the end of it and so he would be there and will contiune to be there.

Going home i can't even tell you how i felt, i kept wanting for someone to tell me how to feel but no one could, i fugured that was okay, i didn't know if i was excited or sad i felt guilty for the sadness and for the excitement, i was a mess of emotions, i had imagined the day so many times i didn't even feel real. The only feeling i was sure of as i walked into the airport was imense pain... from my foot!!! Yes in true Verity style i had fallen down the steps of the bed at the motel and broken my little toe!!!

Since being home life has felt like a dream, sometimes i think being here is a dream, sometimes it feel like the fact i went was a dream, i'm pretty sure all the people who have unexpectedly found me standing in the kitchen or on their doorsteps thought they were dreaming, but it sure was fun making them scream!

And now i'm back!!!! Life goes on and contiune to try and find my way!!

Follow my next adventures: http://followingtherighpath.blogspot.co.uk/

Moving back to Jinja!

So I kept writing blog posts and then not having internet to post them so here is my week!


From: 2^nd July!!!

So i don't really have that many words to say, tonight is my last night here in Soroti!!! i have had the most amazing last couple of days which makes it harder to leave but hey it's good to end on a high!

Rose (whom i love to bits) started calling me 'auntie tee' which just break my little heart and the kids have been super cuddly, we've had lots of run chilling on the trampoline and sitting with them.



This evening the older kids did a dance for us they tied banana leave grass skirts around their waists (traditionally) and shake their butts!



 it was so fun and really great! Then all the kids prayed for us (yes i teared up) and 2 year old Cathy came and laid her hands on my head!!!



i know i should really say more but i don't have the words (shocker!) The KIds have amazing heart and the aunties do an amazing job, i am going to miss them all so much and i have been so greatly blessed these past 3 months!

oh one more thing... we got t-shirts!!!!



3^rd July!

Well it took me and Becca 8 HOURS to get back to Jinja on Tuesday, about 1 hours into the journey the wheel locked and we all ad to get off the coach in the middle of a swamp while we waited for a new coach, then they actually managed to fix our bus so we were of again. Our bus ws almost going backwards t was going so slow and we waited a Mbale (half way point) for 2 hours while we were picking up new passengers! So yeah that was a long journey but we made it and arrived with all our bags on bodas at about 5pm J





4^th of July! (celebrating not being American!!)

Wednesday we took some time to relax and catch up with the girls that were already back on base, we spent a lovely few hours at a hotel on the Nile, we sunbathed and swam and got sunburnt :/ but it was fun! And yes Uganda is nice and hot and sunny!!!!



5^th of July, Thursday’s prayer and fasting!!

We had a good morning of base prayer and fasting, praying for the team that is hopefully going to be going to London for the Olympics. We also had a great time of reflection about this year which is crazy to think about all that has happened and all that we have achieved! In the afternoon I went with the Evangelism team to Jinja Main Men’s Prison. It has the most amazing location looking over Lake Victoria. The prison wasn’t as extreme as I thought it would be, that doesn’t mean it was nice but there was a big court yard and the rooms were on the corridors that overlooked it, we went up to the 3^rd (top) floor and in the far corner in the 4ft wide corridor was church!!! There were probably about 50 prisoners all dressed in yellow having church! It was insane, they were prising and worshiping with more enthusiasm than I have ever seen in a western church. And I wanna know why, really in the west do we take that much for granted that we can’t fully appreciated what we get from God? If we were in prison would that do what it takes for us to fully understand all that we get from God rather than taking everything for granted? It makes me wonder what we think we need to bring us joy and happiness. Are you fully content with what you have or are you always wanting more. These prisoners had nothing they were sleeping on mats on the floor, with all that they owned (mainly washing buckets) piled at the end and yet from their faces you could see that they had everything! They were fully satisfied and content in Christ, doesn’t that just show you how great God is and how much he provides and satisfies you!



Friday= shopping day, truthfully I don’t have so much to say about his day! We shopped till we dropped but I think I have everything I need to take home, I just hope it all fits in my bag!!!



Saturday we had  YFG outing to the Kingfisher Resort as all of us were back in Jinja so we spent a day relaxing and catching by the pool (I promise you we don’t just relax and sunbathe ALL the time) but it was a good day and we had fun sharing, praying and encouraging each other!



So it’s been a pretty good week! Sunday the DTS returned from outreach, it was good to see all them again, hear their stories and be together again, I also went to church with Naomi, church is outside the pastors house so we enjoyed sitting in the sun string at the blue sky and being amazed at how beautiful God is!!!

Reunited with the father

They say life’s a bitch, and death? He comes like a thief in the night and takes those you love from you.

When Jesse first arrived

Yesterday we lost Jesse, at 3pm Els picked him from his bed to find she was holding a lifeless body, people had been in the room the whole time and heard nothing, he’d made no noise, there had been no fight. Jesse had been doing well, making so much progress he’d come so far we were sure he was going to be fine he’d gone from 780g to 1170g in just a week, i guess that goes to show how fragile life is, especially for premature babies. We don’t know what happened, and we never will it’s not like in the west there are no extensive checks, he was here, now his not that’s all we know.

They say death comes like a thief in the night and takes those you love from you, but I disagree.

Yesterday when I looked down on Jesse he was the perfect picture of peace, the corners of his mouth were almost curled upwards in an almost smile. Death is the most powerful expression of love the earth has seen; almost 2000 years ago Jesus gave his life to show how much he loves us, to give us eternal life and to give us the chance to live, with him, forever. Try telling me death isn’t beautiful.

We talk about someone being taken away, Jesse wasn’t ever ours to start with, we were his guardians, looking after him for his almighty father, and his father decided it was time to have him home, he wasn’t taken he was returned, he went to a better place. Does that mean it hurts any less, that I haven’t asked myself a million times why him, that I’m not angry or upset? No. I had to say goodbye to a beautiful baby boy, goodbyes are hard, I don’t understand why he had to go. But I know God’s plan is bigger than mine and he knows what he is doing. I will see Jesse again, and on that day when someone has to say goodbye to me, I’ll be safe, I’ll be home, I’ll be celebrating with him in paradise.

See how big he got!!

Death isn’t about pain or suffering, Jesse isn’t hurting anymore, he doesn’t have to be tired and exhausted after feeding, he doesn’t have to struggle for breath or fight to keep is warm. Jesse’s face told me he was in that place with no more pain, no more suffering, where no more tears will be shed; he’s where he belongs, with his father.

We mourn the lost, but we will not lose hope.

I wanna run on greener pastures,

I wanna dance on higher hills,

I wanna drink from sweeter waters in the misty morning chill

My soul is getting restless for the place where I belong,

I can’t wait to join the angels and sing my heaven song.

 I will not be afraid.

Rest in Peace Jesse, I love you, I miss you <3

Miracles and Medicine!!!

This past week I have been reminded that Amecet is a very special children’s home and we have the ability to care for children in extraordinary ways!!! Yes working with HIV positive children in Africa you expect illness and we’re often treating fevers and making trips to the clinic for malaria tests, however the house (well at least the medicine room) now looks more like a hospital than ever!!!



Evalyn trying to drink from a bottle
but she was to weak

I can’t even tell you how it all started the last week has become a bit of a blurr, so I guess well just start with the smallest! Amecet not only takes in HIV positive children but also babies who have lost their mothers, last saturday Els came bac from the hospital with the tiniest baby I had ever seen (at that point) Evalyn was born at 7months and was already 10days old, her mother has pre-eclampsia and so the birth was enduced to save the life of the mother, fortunately both mother and child survived the birth however the mother was paralysed down one side along with many other illnesses and was sitting in the ward on the floor, the baby being held by her 10 year old sister. Evalyn came into out incubator and I was fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time to learn how to feed her. She has a feeding tube that goes through her nose into her stomac and we push milk straight into her tummy by syringe, this quite simple task can go terribly wrong if the tube is in the lungs or you push the milk in too quickly so each staff member is being trained and until more people know how this is a time consuming job.

Putting a feeding tube into Eunice

Since I’ve been at Amecet babies have been like busses we have no new ones for a while and then they arrive in pairs, and this was no exception a  few days later our second prem baby of my stay arrived, Eunice, also born at 7months and 2 weeks old, her mother was in a coma and died just 2 days after Eunice came to us, Eunice started out well and was even able to suck from a bottle however this made her tired and she too went on a feeding tube, A few days later Eunice started having problems with her gut and went from one extreme to the other, currently her dihorrea is so bad she is dehydrated and is being fed ever hour milk or rehydration fluids. She was taken for an IV however after it taking almost 15 attempts to get it in and then only staying right for 45 minuets we had to give up on that for today, her veins are so so small that the IV isn’t taking, tomorrow maybe we’ll try something different and for tonight we’re praying she stays strong and keeps her fluids.

Jesse's first meal at Amecet

Eunice wasn’t the last arrival either, bus number 3 arrived Thursday, another premature baby, born at 6 months and a couple of weeks old, his single mother seemed ignorant to the severity of Jesse’s condition at only 20 years old she hadn’t been aware of the abnormality of how small and weak  he was. Jesse weighed only 780grams (1.7lbs) when he arrived and he was almost starved to death as he was too weak to drink. In 3 days with an IV and a feeding tube he made it to a Kilo, still very small but going in the right direction! I was given the challenge/privilege/scary job of feeding Jesse for the first time through the tube, my hands were literally shaking but he took the milk really well so all is good!!!!

It is amazing babies are alive, they are 3 liiving miracles and each day as they gain strenght all we can do is be thankful that God protceted them untill they came to us, and feel so blessed that we have the opportunity to help them!

All this drama is exciting, scary and sure does keep us busy feeding the premmys (or peanuts) is almost an ongoing job but they really are fighters!!! Still while all this is going on the rest of the house is not immue to sickness!!!
Today rather than taking the children to the doctor, the doctor came to Amecet (luckily the clinic is right next door, we eben have a connecting gate!!) Mary, Musa, Rose, Sarah, Norah and Levi have all come down with Malaria in the last 2 weeks, last Sunday we had 3 children on IVs because of the dehydration the Malaria had caused, Rose made the start of my night shift fun by vomiting up her dinner all over the living room for the second night in a row, she continued to throw up after meals and now has dihorrea. Musa is in a bad way right now, he vomited on me when we went for a Malaria test and I’ve had to clean up pooop galore from him the last 2 days! He has dehydration and is just so weak a boy that would polish off 200mls in a matter of mins only drinking 40 you know something isn’t right and after a few weeks of this and 2 treatments of malaria we’re worried about him, he doesn’t seem to be getting better we can only pray his new medicines work!

As well as the malaria’s baby Benna is also suffering, and has dihorrea and is lethargic and weak, Abai, Mary and Charles have all had fevers, pains, some of the girls have bad coughs and I forget how many children are on antibiotics!!!

I also wish I had time to tell you about our adventures to the villages yesterday however I’m gonna let Els do that, check out Amecets blog: http://amecet-soroti.blogspot.com/

Once again i'm sure i've forgotten to tell you so much stuff, maybe i need to write more often, then my posts wouldn't be so long!!! And please continue to pray for all of our children and al the aunties who are dedicated to okoing after them!

That one is my prayer

Jesus,

Give me grace, give me Wisdom, give me love unfailing
Open my eyes to give and not grieve
To seek without ceasing
To serve without payment
 
Free my heart to strive and not stumble
To fly without falling
To release, not from repentance and free form resentment

Hallelujah my king my lord and my saviour,

 My comfort and shelter, protector triumphant
 
Teach me your ways Lord,
To shine in the darkness, to hear from your greatness, to see without judgement and speak fourth the kingdom.

It's all an adventure!!!

This week a few of us took an adventure up Soroti rock, it wasn’t as hard to climb as we’d expected, it only took 1 hour from leaving Amecet (at 7 am) but it was a lot of fun, when we reached the top we didn’t encounter ghosts or snakes like we were warned about, however we did meet some breath taking views! Despite how easy it seemed, there was some pain along the way (Yay for my feet growing this year and my shoes giving me blisters) ad we did feel that we deserved the treat of ice cream when we’d finished!
 

Now you might be thinking Durrrr life’s an adventure for you, NEWSFLASH you’re in Africa idiot. But I was thinking last night about how even everyday things are an adventure!!!

As I mentioned in my last couple of blogs, our awesome toddlers are all on their feet, we now spend endless hours chasing them around the compound! Those of you who are parents or older siblings will know the excitement and worry that comes from walking toddlers! This week rose decided that she likes the slide, now we don’t have one of those little kids plastic slide and there’s no soft ground if you fall off. This week I’ve anxiously watched Rose climb the steps and panic as she comes to the top and doesn’t know how to make it onto the ledge at the top, as she practiced more and more she was able to do it. For her it was an adventure, that slide was her rock and she was determined, I sat and watched her and panicked every time she wobbled almost waiting for her to fall (funny how we always expect the child to fall rather than make it?)

 

I think life is like that rock of that slide, when a door is opened we walk through it, despite the pain we are aiming for the success, and sometimes we aren’t aware of or ignore the dangers so that we can make it. At the end of the day in both these situations I knew that even if an accident happened, it wasn’t going to be life or death (unless those snakes on the rock were poisonous) despite the pain and the fears we make it to the ice cream or bottom of the slide.

 

Ever thought of God as the Auntie (well uncle) or Parent watching you struggle with the slide? Ever wondered why he didn’t come and carry you? If I had gone running to Rose every time she panicked on the slide she never would have learnt herslef. I was watching her and I was ready to catch her and give her medical attention if she fell but I also had to trust her and believe in her, I knew she could make it even if she didn’t. Sound like God yet????? Many times we wonder where God is, why we aren’t flying on his wings, but he’s there ready to catch us when we fall, when you don’t notice him, it’s because you didn’t fall, we should be thankful rather than angry really!!! He was believing in us!

Many times this year I’ve felt like I’m walking into the unknown, I don’t know where I’m going, I don’t know what’s at the top of the rock or even if I’ll make it, I’ve been scared to step onto the ledge at the top of the slide because I don’t know that it’s safe and whether I’ll wobble and fall, how many things have you failed to step out do due to fear??? I’ve been reading ‘Making Jesus Lord’ By Lorren Cunningham, he talks about laying down your rights, now you might think I’ve done that, I left the comfort of my own home, culture, comforts and language and came to a foreign and different land, however you can travel and still hold onto almost everything. Laying down your rights is the ultimate test of your sense of adventure and trust that God is the loving parent watching over you. I realised I have to lay down my right to be afraid, because fear stops me doing things, it is a barrier, stopping God calling me into places I don’t want to go. Fear is me holding onto my plans instead of following Gods adventure!

Now I’m not saying this because I’ve got it all sussed, I’m not ready to walk in front of the firing squad,  I’m challenging myself, and I’m asking you to join me in the climbing the mountain to lay down your rights, because with every step we take; our burden becomes lighter, our God provides our strength and we get to see God using us in amazing ways!!!! I CAN DO ALL THINGS IN CHRIST WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH. (I just have to let him!)

There’s a plan and a bigger picture, Jeremiah 29:11!!! “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, not for disaster but for hope and a good future.”

The world tells us we have to make the plans, God tells us he already has, which path do you want to take? What’s holding you back?

 

We can make our own plans

But the Lord gives the right answer

People may be pure in their own eyes

                But the Lord examines their motives

Commit your actions to the Lord

                And your plans will succeed.

And for those of you who read my last post.... We survived the night shift, the kids with Malaria recovered quickly, I even managed to make porridge, and get the kids dressed, medicined up and ready for school on time, PTL!!!!

A bit of a catch up

So the last week or so has been busy and exciting.

Kids wise they are progressing so much, Rose is standing by herslef lots not and  is even taking a few steps here and there, Rafael has finally made it to standing solo and Nelson is the happiest little boy!
The toddlers all love the swings and often will crawl of of the veranda over to the swings to give us the hint that they wanna swing- the beauty of swing is that often the kids smile and laugh and then fall asleep! rather than be cared for,
In the last blog i told you a little about Apio Ruth, she is doing so well, sitting without support, eating proper food at meal times, the other day she drove me crazy. Every mouth full she would shake her head viciously, then when i fnly got the food in her mouth she would put her hand into her mouth pull the rice out, look at me smile and then drop the rice on the floor!!! I've never seen so much rice all over her- however although she annoyed me, i was also incredibly proud of her fighting, it shows her growing up and taking initiative, being cheaky is massive because it shows so much brain development!

We have a new boy, he is very weak and very sick, he has HIV and TB and wasn't being looked after, we are really praying that he grows and gets strong while he is with us so he can return to his uncles. We also have 2 new babies, i don't know if i told you about Benna and Sarah, they are both too cute! They are doing really well! Unfortunatly we found out this week that one of the babies we have is probably deaf and blind- this is major, it is also scary, children here are often expected to be the carers not cared for, this little boys will need lots of time and money, his futuer is scary and he ned lots of praying for! Another sad note, is that one of the babies who went home 3 weeks ago has died, little patrick had malaria and wasn't given medicine, it's sad but it is the reality for many babies, medicine is money so they just don't get helped the way they need to be!

On a happier note, i spent the weekend back in Jinja it was good to see the girls and rest hve a screaming/crying free weekend, Friday night was fin night on the base, Me, Tss and Naomi did a tongan dance i learnt 30 mins before and had done twice, it was pretty funny, i guess i realised that beng at Amecet i had started to run on grown up sensible mode ( i didn't think i had one) so crazy dancing was a breath of fresh air! I'd missed the girls lots, but i also missed the children while i was away! The cries of "Auntie, Aunite" as i walked throug Amecets gates made me pleased to be back!

And now, i'm working a night shift, we had 2 children with malaria, lots of babies who don't want to sleep and 3 white girls who don't know how to mke porrige! I'll let you know how it goes!

A love i don't deserve

Boom.
As i was reading this is 2 Timothy 2:11-13, all i thought was BOOM!
Sometmes i think i've got it all figured out, i understand it, somehow i've made sense of it and then BOOM. i realise actually i don't get it at all....

For some of you, you will have been asked to imagine your whole life, everything you've done wrong, every thought, action, word being played in the movie of your life, and everytime you CRINGE! If judgement really was like this i would never want to die. The truth is we've all messed up and done stuff wrong, and if the people around us new everything we had done wrong friendships, families and relationships would probably  be very different. At least i don't think i would choose to be friends with myslef. But the truth is even without a movie of my life, God knows it ALL, and if there is one person that will never leave us it's him, now try and make sense of that!

But not only does he continue to love us, he continues to forgive us...
"A thousand times i've failed still your mercy remains, should i stumble again still i'm caught in your grace...."

Have you ever been really mad at yourslef? When you do something stupid, you weren't thinking, you just got caught up in it all? Sometimes it can be realy hard to forgive yourself. But God forgives us freely, unconditionally and eternally, he doesn't sit there are think hummmm nahh i don't think i want to forgive you this time, or well maybe you just went too far today. He forgives us over and over and over again. And the reason that he can do this is becuse he sent his son to die, for me, for you, for every person who ever walks this earth, he paid the price. How someone tell me how that is fair or how it makes sense?
It doesn't. But it happened, because God loves us that much.

We've all messed up and done stuff wrong, which means we can't go looking the creator of the universe in the face for every long...

I don't understand it, sometimes i find it hard to accept it, if i've let myslef down, i sure have let God down, and i don't want to face that. But the truth is i can beat myself up about it or i can let it go and experience the truth and the freedom that comes from the mystery, and it comes with 2 small words... I'm Sorry.

38 hours and 3 hours sleep!

The last couple of days has really been about a reality that i think unless you see it, it's so easy to deny....

So, on Saturday I was working the night shift, this means that I had the day to relax and do nothing until 6pm, so I was lying in bed writing some e-mails when Rachel  comes and asks if I want to go with them to the villages (4 of the children were being taken to visit their families) at first I said no, because I didn’t want to miss out on lying in bed. But as I thought about it I was like, “really you’re gonna miss out on this because you’re lazy? How many times in your life are you gonna get to go to remote African villages?” So I grabbed my bag and ran out of the door.

Funny how being lazy can stop us from so many opportunities!

It was amazing to see the kids re-united with their families, they were all so excited to get to spend a few hours with uncles, grandparents and siblings! It also bought the harsh reality about where these kids come from though, we drove down dirt ‘roads’ ( more like footpaths) which were miles from anywhere and would take the families hours to walk to markets or main roads, and when we got there the house? Well a mud hut with a grass roof was what me us as most of the houses, but the kids didn’t care about that, it was home and that’s what was important!

As we were travelling we were asked if we could go and visit another house because there was a baby that they thought we could help. We arrived at the house, it was smaller than my bedroom and home to 9 people, lying on a mat by the door was a skeleton. Well actually it was the mother, she was dying of AIDS because she had stopped taking her ARVs (Medicines which help maintain your immune system) she really was nothing more than skin and bones, most of the time she was unconscious and she had no awareness of anything that was going on around her, her husband had also died of HIV and 8 children were left to look after themselves. In situations like this the oldest girl becomes responsible for caring for the family, in this case she was 14. She had not been in school for over a year because she was caring for the mother, baby and the other 6 children (2 of which were older boys) She was exhausted! The children, neighbours and grandfather agreed that it was best if we bought the baby (Nelson) who was 1year and 4 months old, to Amecet at least for a few months, this would enable the daughter to care only for the mother and bring her some peace and relief, when (and I say this because it seems inevitable) the mother dies, the children will receive support from other families who will help care for them, but unfortunately while the mother is still alive the children must struggle on alone!

We made the journey back to Amecet with a frightened Nelson (who had probably never been in a car before) 2 excited children and 2 chickens (presents from their families) John’s grandmother had been so excited to see him and was so grateful that we had taken him to visit, it was a beautiful, yet short time but it was amazing to be part of that experience!

After that long day I proceeded with the night shift! Nelson had a fever of 40.2 which is very high and we were preparing ourselves for a long night! Luckily it was pretty quiet and power was there however I dionly got 3 hours of no contiunous sleep and so I was exhausted I lay in bed on Sunday morning unable to turn my brain off! I was lying in bed thinking about magic stars, jam doughnuets, cheese toasties and mac and cheese! Things I still have to wait 3 months to eat! And as I lay there I thought wow mothers really do have it hard! They go through the sleepless nights having o get up every 3 hours to feed screaming babies and they have over 9 months of not eating certain foods and getting weird cravings, so I guess it’s something like how I’ve been feeling and mannn it sucks! Sorry mothers!

At 3 I headed back to work and even though I was extremely tired it was an amazing afternoon! Rose managed not only to stand up by herself but also to take her first (and only) step towards me! I was so excited and so proud of her! Rafael also stood by himself for a few seconds and Apio is starting to sit by herself and hold her cup! We also had the new shape sorter out and Rose really worked out the cylinder shape and both children loved clapping when they got one in, I was really enjoying my time until Charles bit me! Now all of these children are underdeveloped and should have started doing these things months ago, but we finally have hope that they will make it! Nelson was tested positive for Malaria and had to go on a drip which meant he was stuck in a chair for most of the day!

We had a crazy worship session after dinner which is always an amazing time! The kids were all singing, dancing and going crazy Rose and Apio were clapping along and even Nelson was out with a smile on his face!

After dinner Nelson had to go back on the drip and... it wasn’t working, nothing seemed wrong but the IV wasn’t flowing properly, there is a doctors surgery next door and we managed to get one of the doctors over to insert a new catheter, I could feel the boys pain but on the second try  it was successful and the IV worked fine! Nelson is now so much better and has been walking around with the stroller and really loves the swing!

It amazing how if you put time and love into a child they can really progress, it makes me wonder why even more isn’t being done to help them, how much is a child’s life and progress worth?

By Monday night I was certainly ready for bed, with a lot to think about!!!

p.s I still haven’t caught up on sleep and so if this makes no sense sorry! And I’m sure I’ve misses something!

It's the small things that make life so spectacular

This past week the children have been so beautiful, it’s blown me away to see such gentle, caring and loving hearts from these kids in so many situations.

On Saturdays the older children go to a HIV/AIDS support group, for going each child receives 5,000 shillings (which is a decent amount of money) to pay for transport and a snack, so Auntie Els buys all the children Soda afterwards. This weekend and lunch time both me a Rachelle were told by the children to go and get cups and they each poured a some of their coke into our cups until we had a full cup each! Now 1. As a 6 or even 12 year old I wouldn’t have thought about sharing my drink with an adult and 2. If I got a treat once a week I wouldn’t want to spare any of it! But these children willing shared out of loving hearts!

In the past couple of weeks a few more westerners has arrived on base and we have been trying to work more with Apio, she has experienced extreme trauma, neglect and abuse, and as a result is so underdeveloped, where other children her age are starting to walk she cant even sit! However this week she not only managed to sit on her own for a little bit, she also started to use her arms to pull herself up, and even by herself from a half lying down position she managed to sit up all by herself! This is so much progress because she is so weak and previously would just be propped up in a chair! This week she even took her cup from my hands and tried to feed herself although she wasn’t strong enough to old her cup for a long time her determination to progress and the smile on her face when she succeeded was nothing short of beautiful!

We’ve also been trying to get the kids off the veranda more and so we’ve played in the swings and on the trampoline lots this week. However Rose went from peacefully sleeping in the swing to projectile vomiting! I had to lift her out of the swing, getting vomit over me and the take her and wash her off which was easier said than done due to the lack of water. Now that doesn’t sound like a spectacular event, but for me it said a lot, these children are innocent and helpless, and the work here shows caring hearts off the Aunties who clean up vomit, diarrhoea, and work their butt off for these children. There’s such a beauty in the way that God breaks your heart for what breaks his! 

Us girls had a nail painting sesh! They were so excited by a small thing, that made them feel spectacular! We had hour of fun choosing the colours, painting, decorating their nails and stopping Rafael eating the bottles of nail polish! The children weren’t bothered about perfection, they were just excited about having something that was them, that was individual and they could be proud of! Something I feel like we’ve lost, it’s all about perfection and opinions for us in the west, we almost stopped caring about our own dreams!

The outward beauty of the children was shown by a massive photo taking morning, which was so much fun as we thought of lots of crazy poses and generally loved on each other!

Yesterday Julius (one of the babies) got to go home, to his young, widowed, innocent father who clearly didn’t have a clue how the look after a baby! This boy has the opportunity to bring joy and healing to his father’s life, but he’s gonna need a lot of prayer that his father has wisdom and help in bringing him up!

In other news, 2 very important girls have entered and re-entered my life this week, Rachelle (Rachel) is my new room-mate, she is Dutch but her English is amazing and we’ve already spent a lots of time laughing and getting sunburnt! She’s already thrown up all over the floor, so she sure is my type of girl! Haha! Double trouble were reunited this week and Becca arrived in Soroti, our team work has already gone to use and we have the kids making a wall display of Noah’s Ark!

Becca and Beatrice enjoyed stabbing my toe with a needle to see how many different liquids they could get out of it! (No I don’t know what I’ve done, but it hurts and is red and swollen right next to my nail, any ideas?)

And I was awake for a while last night chasing the world’s biggest mosquito round my net, I haven’t worked out their role in making life spectacular yet! However I am now fully recovered from my Malaria, Thank you for your prayers.

                                                                                                                                                

life's unfair?

In the last 2 weeks a lot of stuff has happened, and it’s got me thinking how much we say life’s unfair, but is it???

In the 2 weeks 2 newborn babies arrived Stephen and Blessing, they were both less than 1 day old when they arrived at Amecet and both lost their mothers shortly after birth- now that not fair. This however meant that for a week now I have had the privilege of holding feeding and changing newborn babies, not something you get to do on an everyday basis. In a couple of months hopefully these babies will go back to other family member who are willing to love and care for them.

2 Tuesdays ago I took a trip into the middle of know where to see a girl who used to live at Amecet. We had to make a 2 hr journey part of which was along a dug up mud track and the cars wheels on the left were on ground at least 50cm higher than the right! The journey was bumpy and exhausting because there isn’t the development of proper roads, now that doesn’t seem fair. However Naome who we visited is doing well she is enjoying school and getting a good education and was super excited by our visit and the gifts we were able to take her!

A week ago Catherine was adopted, she had been at Amecet for a couple of months after she was almost killed due to the neglect and abuse of her family, she was starved and poisoned. Now that sure isn’t fair.  She now has a home with a family who love her very very much it was a happy to see her go however I will miss her little face!

I did my second night shift, it was busy lots of the children had fevers or weren’t drinking well so by morning I was exhausted. Now what’s not fair, the fact that I’m tired or that the children are sick? What is exciting though is that I got the (somewhat scary) task of deciding to give a child medicine and hearing the peace as they slept the rest of the night!

The girls here have been asking me lots about England recently and what it’s like, they want to her all about the machines we have that they believe we use for everything (well we almost do) and they love hearing about family life and out houses. Then I compare what I left to what I’ve come too, the fact that my bedroom is bigger than houses that I’ve seen, now how is that fair?

And these past few days? Well I’ve been sick, I got malaria and it sucked, I vomited and had a fever, I had injections that mad me feel I was being stabbed again every step I took. I thought I was better and realised how much I’d missed being with the kids, so I let Rose sleep on my hand (so clearly I had to lie on the floor with her) and Rafael climbed all over my back- a bit like a massage! And then mu stomach got worse and I ache and I’m back in bed. Now this doesn’t seem fair!

But because I’ve been lying in bed I’ve had time to reflect and think about it, and yes it does seem like life is unfair, the world is unfair and it’s all just this big mess. But unfairness creates these wonderful opportunities and lessons to learn. We view unfairness as negative but instead grasp the opportunity to make a difference and see the joy that can result when we step into try and make sense of even the tiniest part of that mess!

To Act or To Respond???

How many times have you heard the phrase, treat others as you would like to be treated? It is taught in schools, part of guidelines at clubs, workplaces and even acknowledged in meetings. This command from Luke 6:31 is not only expected in a Christian environment, it is a expectation of worldly living. It is often heard alongside turn the other cheek.

We are taught not to hit back, not to retaliate. You are taught not to steal because that is wrong and hurts someone else, you don’t take without asking because it is rude, if a hungry person begs you for money you give so you don’t feel guilty, you wouldn’t break the law because you don’t want to go to prison on pay fines, if you are walking through a door you hold it open for the person behind you, why? Because you don’t want to be seen a disrespectful.

All the above statements are about avoiding something, you don’t want to be seen and rude or disrespectful, you don’t want to hurt others and you for sure don’t want to get arrested. All of the above actions have consequences that you are responding to and so you treat others how you would like to be treated so that you avoid those consequences. You turn the other cheek as a response to being hit, you are nice to someone who has hurt you after they have acted to make a point, yes as a response to their actions.

But is what God is asking us to do is this statement all about responding or making a point? Luke  6:31 in the message version says, “Ask yourself what you want people to do and then do it for them”

This isn’t about turning the cheek in a situation or avoiding those consequences. Instead it’s about spontaneous unprompted Acts of Kindness. Let me give you an example, it’s a cold day and someone walks into the common room/staff room drenched and upset because they just got dumped, now you are likely to stop and make them and drink and give them a hug or a manly pat on the back- you respond to that situation, that’s normal and I’m certainly not saying that it’s not right. But how often do you just make a cup of tea for the person who is having a joyfully happy morning and walks into the room right after you. How often do you make dinner for your housemate, not because they need it but just because?

If I think about what I would like someone to do for me, I would love to open my bedroom door one day and find a bar or chocolate just sitting there, but would I ever think to randomly leave a bar of chocolate outside someone else’s door? Truthfully, until now, no. But God isn’t just asking us to respond to people in a loving way he’s asking to do that Act of Kindness just because. And if you feel like in doing those actions you would be a big flashing sign saying “hey be nice to me back”, do something you can’t be paid back for- pay for the car behind you at the toll or leave a bottle of nail varnish in the restroom. Why? Well wouldn’t you like someone to do that for you?

Acts of Kindness are about taking action and last time I checked God didn’t ask us to just sit back and respond to the world, he called us to make a statement, be an example and take action!!

week 1 at Amecet

So the first week of my new adventure has begun, I am now living in the town if Soroti (still in Uganda) and working at Amecet n'ainapakin (shelter of peace), Amecet is a children’s home primarily for HIV affected and infected children. There are currently about 20 children ranging from just a few weeks old to about 14 years. In the last 10 years of Amecet over 400 children have come through the doors. Amecet takes in those who need a safe place, medical attention and care. Often the aim is to restore children so they can be returned to their families or villages, although where that is no possible, the children are either adopted out or stay on a longer term basis.

My life in Soroti started after a very bumpy 6 hour journey, I am staying in Amecet’s staff house, there are currently 18 staff that work here. My first shift was last Sunday, I was working an A shift which is from 7am-3pm. The morning shift consists of Bathing, changing and feeding the Babies, the playing out of the veranda with the 1-2 year olds, the older children go off to school. The babies have to be regularly fed and changed so as you can imagine in the past week I have learned how to fold, change and clean cloth dypers, I have changed 45 nappies in the past week and fed 14 bottles, without killing anyone!!! (good start)

The second shift is the B shift, this is from 1pm-9pm and the routine is similar, meal times are crazy but so much fun and after eating the children gather around an African drum for a time of worship, with much dancing which is so much fun! I spent some time with the older children during my b shifts this week, and had great fun jumping on the trampoline with Christine 2. (Where more than one child had the same name they are numbered)

We saw the first rain in a long long time this week and the kids were loving it!! All out on the veranda with their hands out in the rain, excitement really was in the air!

The great thing about working with children you don’t ever have to grow up, you get to play and do all those things you’re meant to but never really grow out of, and it’s perfectly acceptable to dance round like an idiot!!

Friday is my day off so I went over to the sports fields for a walk, I watched some football games (boys and girls) saw the Ugandan version of the walk of witness and almost got charged at by a bull (I was generally scared for my life)

Unfortunately my Saturday morning shift started with some rather upsetting news that baby Jabeth dies during the night,  he was only 6 weeks old, he wasn’t sick and it’s all a bit of a mystery however we know that he is safe in heaven now. Jabeth was wrapped up in the way they do here then he was put into a coffin which was carried out by some of the older children (precious) and then he was returned to his village for burial. The power was out (maybe in sympathy) and some of the children were very frightened by it, as you can imagine when a perfectly healthy baby dies how much that scares a HIV infected child! So your prayer are so much needed for here right now.

Tonight I work my first night shift, 7pm-8am, I have no idea how I am going to stay awake but it’s all part of the adventure!

If you want to know more about life at Amecet you can check out the Amecet blog:

http://amecet-soroti.blogspot.com/

March!

So I gather I haven’t written about what I’ve been up to for a while now! March was a good month and my 7^th full month in Uganda. I continued to work in the pre-school almost every morning.

On the 8^th of march for international women’s day the females of the base took a trip out. We went to the kingfisher resort for the day and spent the day in and around the pool, it was so much fun teaching some of the African’s how to swim and playing with the young children who came so that their mothers could have a break! We shared a wonderful bring and share lunch which included pasta salad, amazing rice dishes, chapatti, mandazi’s and lots of yummy fruit!

The new DTS continued with their learning and we continued to get to know them more and show them around Jinja, we took a trip to the source of the Nile. I’m not going to lie there isn’t much to see except some bubbling water however it is something pretty crazy to say I’ve seen and I now want to go to the mouth of the Nile! It was a really fun day that we spent relaxing and laughing, it’s fun days like that which allow me to feel that not only am I serving here in Uganda but I am so blessed to have all these amazing tourist/cultural adventures as well!

Our ‘Big Sister’ Naomi surprised us when she returned from a medical visit back in England, me and Becca flew out of our chairs when she appeared at the dining table on Sunday evening, and she was just in time to celebrate her birthday which we did by a ‘surprise’ bonfire which was a great evening and we saw some great African and Tongan dancing around the fire!

I was sick a few times during March which was not fun, but I am very grateful for some amazing room mates and my lovely mama Jeanine who always made sure I was doing okay!

I had 3 lessons during March to teach the VTS (vocational training school) ballet which was very fun, they might not be pro’s and I think they thought I was trying to kill them but we did enjoy the time and it was a great opportunity for me to share some more western culture rather than the normal tribal dancing!

Pre-school continued to inspire and challenge me, I got to continue to teach song time and by the end of the month the kids had a whole load of new song and actions that we loved to sing every day! I also taught the Bible  section of the kids day a couple of times which is an challenging for me as the children to struggle to listen to me talk for a long period because of understanding my accent, however I love being able to see the children learn and grow. I successfully completed the task for hand writing the letters A-Z in all of the children’s books, the letters were all written out 8 times with 3 words for the kids to copy. I also had to draw lines into the books- it was a beyond time consuming task, however I see it was one of the best ways of serving however boring it means that the teachers can get on and teach and the children sit around so much less that’s what allows me to go on, knowing that it makes a difference.

The end of March saw me preparing of my move up to Soroti. My last few days of pre-school were sad and I just sat and cuddled the kids who were climbing all over me! We had some great song times and danced around singing loudly without a care in the world. I just loved being able to be so care free with the kids, showing them about the simple joys in life! I certainly will miss them and the teachers who I had a lovely meal with my last day there- Ugandan’s sure do know how to bless people!

I was sent on my way to Soroti with some wonderful prayers and blessings from the Hopeland community and the YFG’ers who I had a lovely last meeting with (which include juice and cake) I’m going to miss my friends, room mates and family from Jinja so so much, but I am excited for this next adventure that you will start to hear about very soon...

where i am suppoed to be?

So this is something that I’ve been thinking about for a while now and it was preached about on Monday at devotions so I thought I’d share my thoughts once again.

Where are you right now? Are you working in an office, teaching, studying or somewhere on the other side of the world in a remote village no one has ever heard of?

How did you get there? Did it take months or years of consideration, planning weighing up all options or did you wake up one day and just decided to do it?

Are you doing what God wants?

Why do I even care? Does it even matter anyway?

1.       I’m in Wiraka, Jinja, Uganda

2.       God called me, I followed

3.       Yes, I believe so

4.       Because I’m where I’m meant to be at the right time and nothing could be better!!!!!

Okay so this might seem kind of random. But recently I’ve been thinking about life, aim and purpose, my future where I’ll end up and who I’m going to be. Trying to put everything together and not coming to any conclusions. And then I stopped and asked myself, does any of that matter right now? For right now I’m where God wants me to be. And no matter where that is it’s the right place.

Being in Africa so many people have spoke written and e-mailed the words “I’m so proud of you” and yes it’s great and it uplifts me each time I hear or read it, everyday that encourages me. But then I look at who I am and ask why? I am just a normal 19 year old, who is doing what God called her to do, for me being in Africa might be easier for me to do than for the girl with severe dyslexia that God called to university. So what makes me different? Would those people still be proud of me if I was just studying at home?

The truth is that God has a calling for everyone whether you know it or not. God has a plan and a purpose for each one of us (Jeremiah 29:11, “for I know the plans I have for you” says the Lord) for some people that plan is to travel into the deepest darkest parts of the world to bring the gospel, for some people it’s to be a nurse, for others Gods calling is to be a stay at home mom! And you know what... it’s all something to be proud of!!! The challenging is standing up and saying “Here I am Lord send me” and sometimes we don’t even know where that will be.

I didn’t know where God was going to send me when said to God “nothing’s going to hold me back, I will follow you to the ends of the earth”. Now you might be thinking that I made a pretty stupid statement back then because since I had to make the hardest decision I’ve ever made and spend a year I Africa, but in fact it was probably the wisest decision I have ever made, because nothing can be greater than doing what God asks you to do, and when you’ve already said yes it makes facing the challenge a whole lot easier because there is no backing down! God’s love drives us every day!

God is proud of us whatever we are doing and whoever we are. Doing what you were made to do and what you are called to do will bring YOU the greatest satisfaction and the most joy in life. We all have our own calling and God will speak it at the right time, when you need to know and not too early and not too late, God speaks with perfect timing. Stand up step up, say yes to God and in his perfect timing he will use you in ways you had never even though were possible!

Placement goes on...

Wow, it has been a busy few weeks and i’m so grateful for some time this weekend just to relax!! I am now 5 weeks into my placement at the pre-school. Middle Class certainly keep me busy! We have about 30 4-5 year olds in our class and with limited space it can certainly be challenging. Staff shortages have been an issue these past few weeks and i have been given the task of teaching the children numbers and sounds from the alphabet. It’s certainly a challenge to get all the children to listen to me and make learning fun! (major respect to all teachers that manage it) However ‘teacher Tee’ has managed to master song time! I spend about 30mins a day teaching the kids Jesus your my super hero, our God is great big God and other HBC songs! The winner however has to be the little green frog song, thank you to my cousin for teaching me that many years ago!!! In class the kids have been learning about how they are Gods children and are specially created by God, they have also been praying for their needs and for each other. It’s beautiful to see a 4 year old stand up and pray for their sick parents or school fees!

My afternoons are spent preparing books for class, writing out letters and number for the kids to copy- man I wish we had a photo copier!! Haha! 

The head teacher of pre-school has pretty much adopted me and Becca as her twins, Mama Jeanine is an amazing lady! She works so hard in the pre-school and caring for her family, she has so much wisdom and faith I just love her!!! She has also blessed me with dinner 3 times now, and boy does she make some good chips!! J

Since I last wrote we have seen some visitor to the base, Kirsty joined me at half term which was great! I r4eally hope she enjoyed seeing life as I know it and working in the pre-school. It was really eye-opening to me to see how different my life is now to what it was! While she was here some of the girls celebrated valentine’s day with a meal in town which was r3eally good just to relax!

This past week our YFG co-ordinator from  England visited, it was great to see her and chat though our experiences so far! I was blessed by our spontaneous one to one and i’m sure i talked far to much! Haha! It was great to hear her wisdom and for her to be able to see and say how well we are all doing!

The next DTS have arrived and it been fun to hang out with them for a few days and watch them settle in to base life remembering how I was 6 months ago! We have also moved rooms in the last week due to the amount of on the new DTS so we now have A PROPER TOILET and a decent shower (yes it’s still cold) moving was an entertaining process I certainly now own far too much!

This week Ella who was last year YFG feb student returned to England for her debrief, I remember meeting her for the first time when she was 6 weeks into her placement (where i am now) and suddenly she’s finished! It’s crazy to think that’s going to be me before I know it! I’m certainly not ready to leave yet I still have so much I want to achieve and learn before that day comes right now the thought of having to leave this place is sad i have defiantly settled in and really love Uganda now, i just pray that when the day comes i will be ready to leave ( but hey i still have 6 months!)

Once again my blog post is scatty and unstructured (just like my brain) still I'm sure your get the picture!

Start of term!!!

well it's 4:30 on a friday afternoon, and i think i kind of understand that end of the week feeling tezchers get, i mean as a student 3:15 on friday was the hilight of my week but i really don't think that compares to the feeling teacher get!
Now don't get me wrong, i have had an incredible start to my placement but it has been hard work! the first week i spent my time helping clean and organise, i don't think i have ever seen so many disorganised boxes, there was stuff EVERYWHERE at the start of the week, but after mnay hours of sorting organising and cleaning the shelves were re-stacked the resources orderd and the place dust free!! the first thing that really hit me about how this is an afrian pre-school not in the UK was that the hand made resources and games are all stored on peices of old box or plates, there are nice cabinets and draws to store things in. You might be thinking durrrrr you are in Africa but sometimes i do forget that it's different here because i now see this as home, especially when i see games i had as a child or domino's that i can picture in a box at my gradparents house!!
Pre-school term started on monday this week (6th feb) a staff shortage meant that for this week both middle class (4yrs) and top class (5 years) were both in one class with one teacher are 2-3 helpers (thats me!!!) we had about 60 children and so i'm sure you cn imagine with the start of term hype it has been a crazy week! The program the pre-school uses is a Bible based sylabus, the day (well morning 8-1) consits of singing, leaning about the Bible, memory verse ( this week was psalm 119:89-90) learning manors (e.g. how to greet someone into your home) and education (alphabet, numbers etc) everyday the children also learn about the weather (all week it has been sunny!!) and the day of the week, date and month! During free time the children work on projects (this is what we would call classroom playing) and have domino's, puzzles and matching games which are all educational resources as well as being able to colour and draw.
This week i have also worked with smaller group (15-20 children) teaching them, on thursday we looked at numbers and the children had to count from 0-7 and then match the number and words. After we had learnt to numbers they then practiced writing, i found challenges with mixed abilities in my group and some difficlties in lauguage, although the children are learning english and are expcted to speak it not all understand me or speak it!! Today (friday) i worked with a group on the alphabet, one issue i found was that half way though learning some of the letter cards were missing!! At this age the children also have a short attention span, the different approach here in Africa meant that i had to try and engage the group for almost half an hour, this i have learnt is hard enough at the best of times but especially with a group of non-understanding misbehaved 4 year olds!!! They are certainly going to be a project!!
The cutest moment of my week has to be when 4 year old patience sat on my lap and fell asleep, bless the little girl she was curled up for almost an hour!!! The girls in true girly fashion have taken a liking to my mzungu hair and are constantly twisting an braiding it!!
I think thats about it for these weeks but i will leave you with some prayer points:
pre-school: language barriers
disapline with the children
staff in pre-school
preperation for the next phase of my placement (at amacet childrens home)
financial security and trusting God with my money!!
Good healt
Rain!!!! haha it's been far too hot lately! haha
oh and as a last point, we have been harvesting and shelling the maize that we planted the first week we were here! it's been amazing to see the whole process go through ( even if it is going to make posho YUCK)

Just a thought...

So i keep thinking of random quesrions about life, questions i don't have the answers to but i think about so i decided to share these THOUGHTS with you, you get them fresh out of my head which could explain if they don't make most sense, but i'd love to hear your views :)
so here;'s the first one :
So here's the thought, last week i met someone that i had heard about but never met. i didn't have that much infor about them but i knew that she was a christian. When i met her she was not what i had imagined. Why is it that we auomatically have a sterotype about what a chirstian is like, how many times have you met someone with bleached hair, pericings or tatoos and thought whoa you cannot be a chirstian!!! Even within oursleves there is an expectation that you will be plain and boring no wonder no body wants to join us!!! As 'good christians' we always preach about how it's wrong to sterotype and judge people, yet sometimes i feel thats all we ever do to ourselves. Why is it so much of a shock when you meet a chirstian chearleader or california girl? When you think about a typical christain girl are they middle hight with straight brown hair and green eyes not too pretty but not ugly in jeans and a hoody. Or do you see this tall beautiful girl dressed head to toe from top shop with hilghted hair waist length hair? In our imagination of people why do we always try and take the personality out of what it means to be a chirstian? Now i know many chirstians with dyed hair, the lastest clothes and independant styles, no 2 chirstains are the same so why do i continue to sterotype them? Personally i feel like it's the vibe with give off, it's what we expect when we walk into church and few people are trying to break out of that mold. Now i don't have any answers only questions but i think the more we conciously think about it the easier it will be to make a change our view and the views of others :)

Dts Graduation and holiday!

So the reason that i haven't blogged since we've been back is coz i've been on holiday!!! :) the first week back on base we just got our selves re-situated! at the end of the week my mum dad and brother flew out for graduation... graduation was a big day here we "put on smart" (looked pretty) preperation included prealling hundreds of irish potatos and cutting piled of greens!!!! Our graduation service included worship, speaches from our base and school leaders and performances of song which saw the DTS on our feet dancing our little cabina's off to some African pop! haha! we clebrated our first night of freedom with a trip to flavours cafe for dinner it was really great way to celebrate with our friends and some of our parents too!
while the parents were out here the took the tour of Jinja (not sure of what they thought of the cramed minni buses boda rides and posho and beans that i now call home!) it was really good to be able to share my new livestyle and living conditions with them though i now wont have to try and explain things so much when i come home because they know what things are like now! We took a nice holiday and gorilla safari tour in Queen Elizabeth national park and Bwinidi forest! i nearly got kidnapped by a chimp that very nearly landed out of a tree onto my head, and i have now officially been to the equator and trecked in the rainforest, which was very steep and so many times i got caught in the undergrowth and fell into some holes!!! However i did see gorillas which are amazing animals HUGE but so beautiful and they have such personalities, we also got to see an 8 month old baby which was thr cutest!!! The hotel lodge we stayed in nearly sent me into cuture shock, we had big beds and hot water and A BATH!!! i nearly cried!! haha, we then spent a few days in Kampala with Becca, unfortunatly i got sick with what has turned out to be a parasite! (YAY!) it was good to explore the city a bit more, if yyou ever find yourself in the city check out 1000 cups coffee shop for some amazing drinks and the national theatre for some more cultural experience, i'm sure Tim thoroughly enjoyed dancing up on stage whilst making music with a pot and spoon!!!
We ended the 2 and a bit weeks of family time together back in Jinja with a white water rafting trip on the nile! Mum and dad did surprisingly well the boat stayed upright the whole time however i did end up in the river twice, once bumping onto a rock and getting a lovely bruise, the second time the boat was stuck in a surfing wave and had to be evacuated however i had already been thrown overboard and was floating fdown the river on a kyak!
It was really good to see the family for a few weeks and catch up with home and recieve a whole suitcase of presents!! Thank you to every9one who sent me presents letters and cards! It's been sad to watch Mum dad and Tim return to nice sunny (hem i mean freezy freezy england) but i am excited to start work in the pre-school on base for the next 2 months and i know that i'm not ready to leave Uganda yet!

Week 1 of outreach

okay so i realisd i missed this week out, which is a shame because it was the best!!! we were in Mutwala Kenya staying on the banks of a river in a mud hut with the nicest family community, we did lots of school visits, which included skits, preaches, games and dances. I gave my first preach at a primary school, i talked about how Jesus is our healer and how he is the light of the world (from the story of JEsus healing the blind man) i was amazed at the response of the kids, so many of them decided on that day that they needed to lay down their worries and fear and trust in God! it was amazing considering i wa freaking out about what to speak about, but what can i say... the holy spirit really doe work thourhg you and give you the words to say!!!
Every evening we did crusades at the top of the hill and showed movies, unfortuanly it rained a few evening and got very muddy, trying to climb muddy hills in flip flops is the ultimate fail and many times i walked bare foot in the dark home having to be pushed up muddy slopes or caught at the bottom when i went flying!!!
Every moring we would collect water at 6 from the river, this involved more battling with mnuddly slopes whilst carrying a jerry can on my head, i am proud to say in true verity fashion i slipped and fell getting coverd in mud and busting my shoulder!!!! However the jerry cans of water were essential for washing and bathing (pouring a jerry can on water over your head!!!) clothes washing took place in the river (veruy african i felt)
and now it seems like it was so long ago i cant think what else to say right now, it seems so long ago!!

Outreach weeks 6-8

we moved 30 mins down the road to Kikatiti and our school leader Misaki's brand new house which was probably the first African owned house I've been to that i could actually live in, it had tiled floor and everything! However a lack of outside space did mean we were very much on top of each other!!
The first week mininsty was at a church 40 mins down the road and the walk in the mid-day heat was not fun! However we got lunch and we helped complile and distribute chirstmas packages of basic foods for the local people! We also ran crusades at the church and really got to integrate with the local boys dancing african style, i really had a WOW i love Africa moment that night as i lookde out over the plains towards the mountains as the sun set- some things you just don't get in england!
Christmas in Africa was certainly an experience, chirstmas eve we stayed up doing hair and playing christmas songs till 2am! Christmas day we got up at 6am to clean the house, sort rice, seperating out stones and chaff and doing our daily duty of collecting a 20 litre bucket of water and carrying it on our head! We then spent 2 1/2 hours in church at a thanksgiving (not Christmas) service and then spent the rest of the day at the ceremonial opening of the house! Boxing day however was way more Christmasy, we had presents under the tree and did our secret santa!! i got a scarf, necklance and earings as well as a load of biscuits and sweets :) thank you Peacey :) A few of us then went to a hotel and laid buy the pool and got lasagne and garlic bread!! That evening we watched movies and relaxing which added to the chirstmas spirit!
Our second and third weeks we worked with the local church in town, we joined with them for our weekly prayer and fasting and it was really good to take sometime to specifically prayer for home :) We spent a few mornings spiritual mapping/ prayer walking. During wich i watched a boy chase a chicken, visitefd a clinic to pray with mums and babies and visited a catholi8c priest's house and ministry. We also did seminars in the church during the afternoons and had some more film shows.
We had our first storm since being in tanzania, boy did it rain we were running around outside trying to fill up barrells to collect the precious water, it did save a trip to collect wateer the next day!
We also visited an orphanage twice, they have 6 kids there all pre-school aged yet they sang and recited Biblle verses for us in English and swahili. The orphanage was really nice and the children really had their own space with only 2 in a room and they had wall alphabet charts in english and swahili!
New years eve was spent in church, we had prayer, worship, a skit and dance upto 11 and then me, Katie and Becca celebrated the new year with mountain dew and biscuits! We had no power but still we stayed up in the dark talking and stuff untill 3am (english new year!!) And we were back up at 8 for church! I managed to bust my shoulder during the skit on new years eve and so water collecting for the last week didn't happen for me!
Outreach ended with a Safari :) a group of 6 of us went to Arusha national park for the day and saw giraffes, zebras, buffalo, pumba, flamingo's, water buck, buch buck and a few other random animals and birds, as well as LOADS of monkeys :) it was an amazing way to finnish outreach even though we did get battered and bruised from standing up with our heads out the roof when it was so so bumpy! But we did get to eat our PB&J sandwiches with some giraffes at lunch time so it was deffinatly worth it!!
Our jouney back went smoothly it took 17 hours which was pretty good and most of it was over night so we could sleep! I can sucessfully say that i managed to put on a lot of wieght during outreach so much so that my jeans don't fit!! haha, me and Tess and litterally going to be running our butts of for the next few months!
Debrief week has been relaxing we've just been getting oragnaised and chilling out as we prepare for graduation on saturday!