Craig and Claudia in Uganda

A Successful Trip

2012-01-23T18:39:00.000Z

Craig and Emmy had a successful trip to Kampala last week. Thanks to everyones prayers, it was a successful trip. Work Permits approved and NGO application submitted! It was a pretty exhausting trip with Emmy and Craig visiting the many Ministry's to obtain signatures and stamps to submit as part of the NGO application but they managed it, in record breaking time.

After a hectic couple of days, they spent their last night at the Graduation Party for Emmy's aunty, so not all work!

More good news was that I had a phone call from a Rev Peter at Bishop Barham College, who is very interested to translate the Sunday school curriculum. This is really great news as he is very enthusiastic about the work. We are now beginning the process of costing the project and agreeing deadlines!

More news next week as the Crosslinks Smile Team arrives :-)

Prayer: Please continue to pray for the NGO application. The NGO board first have to meet and then agree whether to approve the application.

Official Business

2012-01-11T07:19:00.000Z

It has been a significant few days for Craig and I.

First of all on Friday I was able to make an annoucement to the Annual Brethen Conference (a four day conference bringing together Reverends and their congregations from all over the Diocese of Kigezi) that the english version of the Sunday School Curriculum was finally available. It was a great priviledge to be able to encourage the Church of the developments there have been in Sunday School Ministry, firstly in the number of Sunday school teachers that had been trained over the last few years and also to highlight the distribution of the Sunday School Curriculum. I'm yet to get the final numbers of curriculum sold over the weekend but we think it will be around 150 copies - which is fantastic! The next challenge is to continue the process of having the curriculum translated into Rukiga ready for next years conference.

On the Saturday I joined the children to do some teaching, along with Patience. This year's theme was Colossians 3:17 ' so I 'stole' the idea of WWJD and we made braclets out of paper and masking tape. You can see some of the children have them on in the photo.

Then on Sunday we had our first official meeting of the Board for the Bakiga Community Project. It was great to finally get everyone together. After sharing lunch we went through the formalities of appointing the management committee and approving the constitution. It was a successful meeting and a significant step on the road to becoming an NGO. Craig and Emmy will soon travel to Kampala with all the paperwork - watch this space for developments and please do pray, it is is not an easy process.


Craig, Saturday George; George; Oscar; Emmy, Sarah and Patience.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-05T13:05:00.000Z

After a rather sorry state of affairs at Christmas with Craig ill in bed :-( the New Year has got off to a good start. New Year's Day we had a very relaxing morning after the all of us, including Leo and Bethany stayed up to see the New Year in (though Bethany only made it to 11pm). Then we headed off to the Lake for a late lunch and a dip in the pool. Since then the weather has continued to be lovely and hot, so the kids have been enjoying having the paddling pool out.

Leo and Bethany relaxing by the pool.

Craig, now fit and well again, has been dashing around with Emmy and George finalisiing all the paperwork for the Bakiga Community Projects' application to become a NGO. They plan to head up to Kampala sometime next week to put in the application and also to pick up our work permits, which we hope will have been stamped.

Claudia has been preparing to teach at the annual Diocese Conference taking place at the Cathedral. She will be teaching the children on Saturday but before that she has been given some time in the main adult meeting to share about the developments and completion of the Sunday School Curriculum. This is an exciting opportunity, as people from all over the Diocese will be attending and it is hoped many will take the curriculum back to their churches.

Preparations continue for the Crosslinks Smile team who are coming at the end of the month. The beds have been installed with mosquito net poles and Charity is busy cleaning everything, ready for their arrival. Please pray for the team as they prepare to come http://www.crosslinks.org/smile/uganda-gap-team-2012

We wish everyone a very Happy New Year from here in Kabale and look forward to sharing all that God is doing here, over the next year.

Nearly Christmas in Kabale

2011-12-18T13:33:00.001Z

Having just baked my aubergine mince pies (All Nations Special) and marzipaned the cake, it's time for a quick blog update!

It has been a productive month, with lots happening:

We had a flying visit to Kampala earlier this month to make our application for extending our visas, ready for January (please pray that all goes smoothly).
Our friend Nelson from Church got married and we were delighted to attend his celebrations at one of the most organised Weddings we have been to in Kabale.
Craig got his exam results - passing the first module of his Masters in Development Management with distinction :-)
The Sunday School Curriculum is finally finished and is on sale in the local Diocese bookshop, which was very exciting after 3 years of hard work. Claudia will be speaking at the annual Brethen Conference in January, attended by churches throughout the Kigezi diocese and will have the opportunity to make it available there too:-)
Bethany got a bike, which she was very happy about.

For you ladies our there, Bethany and Claudia both had their hair done african style - which was fun!
We attended Leo's school for the end of term carol service, which was a lovely oppportunity to sing some Christmas carols.
Leo won a prize for Maths in his year group (like father like son).

Craig continues to work hard at preparing the paperwork for applying for the NGO status of the Bakiga Community Project. It is moving ahead slowly.
Claudia's added a blog to her online counselling service www.missionfieldcounselling.wordpress.com
We have now put a link on the blog to a page summarising the progress in the water projects

Now it's countdown to Christmas, with a trip to Queen Elizabeth for a few days relaxation. Leo and Bethany are looking forward to seeing a few elephants and going swimming. Then it's back to Kabale to spend Christmas day with friends. Claudia is particularly looking forward to opening the jar of 'cranberry sauce' she found in the supermarket - the little pleasures of life:-)

The Joys of Kampala

2011-11-23T12:54:00.000Z

As the end of term approaches the busyness continues and was added to last week, as we took a trip to the hot and dusty capital Kampala.

It was a flying visit but eventful non the less. A couple of visits to the Ministry of Education for letters to accompany our work permit applications. Then off to Immigration to file our papers. Meanwhile this was interspersed with a trip to the dentist for Craig, managing to avoid a root canal (sounds painful - so quite a relief). Then a trip to the hospital for Leo to have his heart murmur checked out. All went well, though I think Leo was disappointed to find he did not have two hearts like dr Who :-(

We managed a tasty treat at Spur Steak - which was really great! The rest of the time Emmy's aunty hosted us and we were fortunate to have arrived just in time for one of her son's graduation parties! So a full on Ugandan feast with Leo and Bethany assisting with serving up chapatti and chicken, opening bottles of soda and generally being very helpful.

Finally we headed back on the long road to Kabale, to be greeted again by a dark house as the power was off again :-( We now just have to wait to hear when our passports are stamped and then we can pick everything up and apply for Leo and Bethany's student passes!

Roll on the holidays! Send the chocolate now :-)

Busy Busy Month

2011-11-10T14:40:00.000Z

Life has felt a bit too busy the last month, probably not helped by a bout of sickness with the children and probably Craig and I are flagging a bit and could do with an extended weekend - oh for an English bank holiday :-) However on a positive we have had two birthdays to celebrate, so although busy, some of it has definately been happy busy! Bethany turned 5 and then Leo 7, after baking several cakes and entertaining several children, we can safely say, we are well and truely birthdayed out.

Other good busyiness has been at NTC, with the counselling service appearing to suddenly (it's taken 3 years) to take off in the last month. Most mornings I am seeing students now which I've really enjoyed. It's been interesting to find that the key was my trusty mobile phone. For those interested in cultural differences, as a counsellor in the UK, you wouldn't usually phone your clients to ask where they were and tell them you were waiting for them. However here, it seems, that is the key to client attendance and that actually telephoning them is actually very much part of the counselling process. Very interesting.

Although not busy at Rugarama Hospital, it's been very encouraging to see progress there this month. The HIV committee met and developments are now underway to up date the HIV counselling and care for patients. The team has been working very hard to make come changes and update systems, so I look forward to seeing how it all comes together in the next few weeks. I've also finally finished the Counselling Resource for the hospital, which I'm about to take to the printers.

Last but not least, the Sunday School Curriculum is in its final stages of being checked and edited. I've got a few ammendments to make and then hopefully that will be taking a trip to the printers too!

So all in all, a busy but productive time - looking forward to the weekend and hopefully putting my feet up for five minutes :-)

Godfather to Jeremiah

2011-10-17T08:39:00.001+01:00

Craig recently had the privilege of becoming Godfather to Jeremiah, the son of Oscar and Joy. Oscar was the Ugandan we met in the UK before coming out - he was doing a year working with a church in London. They have become good friends, so it was a great honour. A lovely function in the church, although all in Rukiga! - I think I said some of the right things I was supposed to say.

With the vicar and extended family

Oscar and Joy with Jeremiah and Joash

Jeremiah likes my tie

Back in Kabale

2011-09-03T18:22:00.004+01:00

We have now been back in Kabale for a few weeks now and are settling back into life here. It has been lovely to see everyone again and get back into life. Teaching at the NTC and Kabale University have begun. It was clear once we got back, that it hadn't been easy for Emmy to continue things with the project while we were away. They did manage to continue the construction of springs, which was encouraging and about 15 were built or repaired.

Working with the agricultural project proved to be much harder though. Prices have drastically increased here while we were away, so the cost of transporting cabbages has become pretty prohibitive. On top of that a number of members showed they were not going to be cooperative while we were away, leaving all the work on the shoulders of a few people. So we've been trying to discuss ways forward and soon will have a meeting with all the members. We will be looking to continue with just the ones that have proved cooperative and seek more profitable things to grow - probably potatoes for seeds.

Emmy has now started in the council. This has allowed us to meet with 7 local councillors from other sub counties to begin the process of expanding the work we do with water. Yesterday Craig spent the day with one of these councillors in his sub county looking at 10 springs we will work on. Over the coming months we intend to work on 10 springs in each of the sub counties. We are still seeking support from the district, but this is not proving easy, with lots of politics to be negotiated!

Claudia was really pleased that her sunday school curriculum has been used while we were away and she has already carried out some training while we've been back. She has also picked up some of her training work at Rugarama Hospital.It was nice for us both to have the chance to speak at the NTC chapel last Sunday as we said goodbye to the primary school teachers who had come for upgrading.

Craig's health is OK, but his chest is suffering a bit with the altitude here and the return to teaching. Trying to take it a bit slowly at the start. We are both looking forward to the children returning to school next week after they have just had another 3 weeks off after the long holiday in the UK!
Otherwise we are all fine and coping again with the more frequent power cuts! Craig has an exam for his masters course in October, so please pray for him as he prepares and meets essay deadlines.

Home Leave

2011-08-17T19:03:00.000+01:00

It's hard to believe our last post was back in April as we prepared for our 3 months home leave in the UK. It's certainly been an eventful few months and about time we got back to blogging!

First of all to say a big thank you for everyone's prayers and support. Just before we traveled back, Craig contracted typhoid :-( Not a great start to the holiday but Rugarama hospital looked after him well, though it was not a pleasant experience. Craig managed to finish all his treatment before we headed back to the UK, just in time to spend a week in East Surrey hospital. He had some unusual complications from the typhoid a few days after we touched down at Heathrow! We were very thankful to have been back in the UK, as Craig had numerous tests to try to discover what was actually wrong with him. It was also really helpful to have the support of friends and family, especially as it felt a bit of a crash landing for all of us.

Well, all is well now. Craig is pretty back much back to full health, though he does like to milk it still;-)

We eventually set off on our whirl wind tour of the UK (with Craig having his afternoon naps). I think we worked out we slept in around 15-20 different beds! We really want to thank everyone who gave us a bed for the night and fed and watered us all. The children really enjoyed playing with so many different children; toys and eating vast quantities of icecream. When we arrived back in Kabale, we were all told how 'fat' we had become, which was a great compliment for those of you who remember Craig's cultural lessons.

It was wonderful to see our family and friends after 3 years away. We enjoyed visiting all our supporting churches and sharing with them. We want to thank everyone for all the interest and support given to us. It was a real encouragement to us. It was great to be able to talk about the work we've been involved in. A highlight for us must be the Taste Of Uganda afternoon at our home church in Redhill. Two lovely Ugandan families we know helped out with cooking some authentic Ugandan cuisine and what with chapati making for children; music and images from Kabale - we felt very much at home :-)

Other highlights in no particular order: candyfloss at the beach with Nanna and Grandad ; Leo's first donkey ride; going to the cinema; walking in various country parks without being followed!; cheddar cheese; strawberry picking; hot showers and baths; no power cuts; feeding lambs at the Pomeroys; Wooky Hole; Christmas tree farm with Nanny Carole; eating icecream at Grandad's house and much more.

Donkey Ride Time

Face Painting Fun

Preparing for Home Leave

2011-04-08T10:19:00.002+01:00

Time seems to be flying by and life is a bit hectic here - hence the long break from blog writing.

My mornings have been busy either at NTC seeing students or at Rugarama Hospital meeting with HIV clients. Craig has been busy marking exams, attempting to finish teaching at both the NTC and Kabale University, as well as meeting with Emmy to visit various springs. The days seem to have been long and we are well and truly ready for a break.

There still seems alot to fit in here before we head back. There is a Sunday School Teacher Training Conference at the end of April. I've been trying to finalise the translation of the first year's Sunday School curriculum. Unfortunately it looks as though we won't quite manage it - so it will have to wait till we return.

Project News: Pretty the cow is doing well. The first batch of chicks given to the project, sadly most of them died. However we also brought some (100) and they are doing well - eating us out of house and home! The rabbits are multiplying as usual. Though after half the rabbit hutch collapsed and several escaped - Vuba our hungry dog, had a bit of a feast!

Good News: Claudia has had her 'Adventures in God World 2' published on Oscar www.oscar.org.uk

Cabbages and our Cow

2011-02-27T09:57:00.000Z

Last week we had two extremely tiring days harvesting all the cabbages from all the members fields. We hired 2 lorries and the members struggled hard to load 100 sacks on each one! Emmy went with one Lorry to Kampala and George went with the other. It was a big learning experience for us all, but we managed to sell everything in the capital and they came back with a pretty good profit for the members school fees. One of the lorry drivers was really helpful and put us in contact with all the people we needed to know.

The roads in the village caused great problems. Coming back after loading, the first lorry got stuck on one steep bit. By then it was already dark, so it had to stay there all night with the driver sleeping inside! The project then had to come early in the morning, unload half the sacks, carry them up the hill and then load them back on the lorry after it climbed up. Not fun.

The area where the second lorry went was a bit better, but still required members digging the road to make it wider. There was one field it couldn't reach, so that required me shuttling the cabbages to the lorry in the car - including reversing over a very narrow bridge with no sides. On the fifth journey the back of the car actually came off the bridge and it was really quite miraculous that the car didn't fall down in to the stream below. Thanks to all those who pray for us regularly....

We saw very clearly how difficult it is for the peasant farmers to improve their lot in life. Emmy and George were great though and the project is now all set to do the same after the next harvest in May (although we will be in the UK!). Lots of lessons learnt, but a step forward.

The project has also purchased a cow. She is a female, so will be used for reproducing and making milk. The main reason to have a cow though is to provide some of the manure we require for all the planting. Leo and Bethany want to call her 'Princess Pretty' (well, more Bethany than Leo....).

Sunday School Developments

2011-02-13T18:15:00.000Z

It was good to meet with Immaculate last week. Due to the school holidays we hadn't seen each other for about 2 months. However, she greeted me with good news that she had finished translating the first year of the Sunday school curriculum! There are a few more steps to take before we can go to print. We need to type in the Bible verses; have it proof read and retrieve the file off her computer which unfortunately has a virus. Hopefully over the next few weeks or at least before we come back on home we'll be able to go to print and start to distribute to the Rukiga speaking Sunday school teachers - very exciting!

There was more good news at All Saints Sunday school. After many months we have finally been able to buy: exercise books; pencils; crayons and flip chart papers. These resources are so helpful in developing the teaching Sunday school teachers are able to do. The last two Sundays have been great, seeing all the children sitting down decorating their new books :-)

Visitors - Graduations - Baptisms - Preaching

2011-01-23T17:50:00.000Z

It was good to have Steve arrive safely from the UK and make his way down to us from Entebbe last Sunday. It was a fairly relaxed week, a trip to Bukoora and a tour of various water tanks and cabbage fields! A late lunch at the beautiful lake Bunyonyi. A talk at All Saint Youth Conference - all three of us took part. A meal out alone as we had a babysitter (Steve) on hand :-) Finally we set him on his way on Friday morning, just before we spent the entire day at the NTC Graduation Ceremony with around 3000 students and supporters!!!

The Official Procession

Entertainment and note the many tents behind filled with students.

Saturday was another busy day, as we attended the baptism and function of one of the local Councillor's children. We arrived at the church at about 10am (the service started at around 11am) and we finally got home gone 5pm. The Bishop came to conduct the service, so it was an extra special occasion for the family. Leo is becoming a bit of a singer for local functions we attend and was called upon to sing a welcome song, this time Bethany stood with him to give him some support!

The Bishop and the Baby!

Bethany overseeing Leo's singing!

Today, Sunday, Craig and I preached at the NTC Chapel, as it was the final service for the current primary teachers on the their up-grading course. Then this afternoon we attended the Youth Worship at All Saints, as the Youth Conference came to a close. The worship was a bit more of what we've been used to in the UK, with even most of the songs being new - so an encouraging time for us. It was also great to see and hear our good friend Talent, along with a wonderful choir made of the vacists (students on holiday from Uni & school).

Sunday School Conference

2011-01-16T17:08:00.000Z

I had originally thought I would be leading a session training Sunday School Teachers but fortunately found out, with a day to spare that I would be leading a session on Prayer for children at the annual Diocese conference. The theme this year was based on John 15:16 ‘You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you…’

I spent the morning with around 30 children and as well as talking about Prayer we learnt a song called, ‘My Lord’ It was a great song to go with the theme of the conference – you can find it here on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz5dCj3McBw

We didn’t have a guitar but the African drum went very well and I was amazed at how quickly the children picked the song up and will be singing this afternoon in the main conference.

We now await the arrival of Steve Upton, who is presently on the bus approaching Kabale – looking forward to catching up with news and showing him around the beautiful Kabale.

Runyanjoka Tank Opening

2011-01-07T09:03:00.003Z

It was great to start the New Year with an official community tank opening at Runyanjoka.

After a morning of: collecting PA equipment, tents and chairs; setting up everything up; Charity and her helpers preparing vast quantities of food - The Guest of Honour the RDC; other Honourable guests and 300 community members arrived, for the official tank opening ceremony!

As in true Ugandan style there were many speeches, much spontaneous dancing and lots of food! Leo once again took to the mic for an official welcome song, he seems to enjoy the limelight! The RDC cut the ribbon to open the tank and the local priest prayed and gave thanks to God.

It was great opportunity to meet local leaders and potential MPs, particularly as we hope to work towards registering the project as an official NGO this coming year.

We hope you enjoy taking a look at some of the photos and that it gives a flavour of the day.

Pictures of the day on Facebook

New Year, New Challenges for East Africa

2011-01-03T06:26:00.000Z

As 2011 begins, this part of Africa is facing some major challenges with some important elections coming up.

Firstly, on Jan 9th, Sudan has a referendum on whether the mostly Christian South should split from the mostly Muslim North and become a new country of its own. The referendum is part of a 2005 peace agreement that ended two decades of violence between the north and oil-rich south. The conflict led to the deaths of 2 million people, many from starvation. Please pray for the country as it goes through this difficult process - that the referendum would be carried out peacefully and that the will of the people would be respected. Difficult issues here, with most of the oil reserves being in the South and the North threatening to impose strict Sharia law if the South succeeds. Please also pray that any instability does not spread in the region - Uganda has already sent some troops to its northern border with Sudan and is still on high alert after the bombings here by Somali terrorists.

Then in mid Feb, we have the general election here in Uganda. So far, the campaigns have been relatively peaceful, but many people fear intimidation during the election itself. Please pray for the country, that the campaigns would remain peaceful and that the people would be allowed to vote freely and fairly for their choice of leaders. Corruption is rampant here and it looms large over all voting that takes place. There is also some fear that the army might be used during the voting and that there could be widespread rigging. Please pray again for the people's will to be respected in all the constituencies.

We thank God that Emmy is unopposed for his position (the only district counsellor in Kabale to be so), so we look forward to him taking up his post after the election.

Finally, tomorrow we have another function to open a new large water tank. Because of the elections, all MP candidates in the area are keen to attend, so we hope to encourage them to support the work of the project! Please pray for no rain!!

What a Year!

2010-12-31T12:26:00.000Z

Well yet another year has flown past here in Kabale - it's hard to believe that we will be back in the UK in May after 3 years in Uganda.

It's been a great year with many opportunities opening up for us here. The Bakiga Community Project has grown now to 40 members and it was wonderful to get everyone together this week for a Project Christmas Party (and annual meeting). Soon we'll be harvesting cabbages once again for school fees and next week we have another official opening of a water tank that the project has assisted in building.

Craig and Emmy have worked closely together in recent months and it is good to see the progress they have made, making water available to those who have been suffering with no access to something most of us have on tap. So far 9 springs and 4 water tanks have been built, along with repairing 3 government tanks and a gravity water system. Didas has been working hard and members of the project hope to receive some training from him next year, which they are looking forward to.

Claudia's counselling opportunities have grown and she's really enjoying working at Rugarama hospital, introducing alcohol assessments for those admitted with alcohol related problems. She's also hoping to look at ways in which the hospital can provide support for those suffering with HIV/Aids. In recent weeks she's met some key nurses who she's looking forward to working with in the coming months.

Leo and Bethany have continued to enjoy school and Leo is particularly excited to be entering Primary One (P1) in February - this means a new school uniform (photos to follow).

We thank all our supporters, for enabling us to be here - for your prayers and interest in our work.

We also thank God for the privilege of living and working in Kabale and look forward in anticipation to the year ahead.

Emmy meets the President

2010-12-20T09:54:00.000Z

Emmy will have an opportunity to talk at a large gathering, hosting President Museveni on christmas eve. He will talk about being the youngest ever district counsellor in Kabale and talk about the project and how the government could help us expand. Please pray for him as his workload increases (he is still doing exams) and as such opportunities come along more often now.

We are off to Queen Elizabeth national park in January for a week away, which will be nice. All 40 of the project members are coming for a christmas lunch at our house on 29th Dec - which will be busy! Will be nice to have them all together though.

Christmas tree going up tomorrow - but of course, no snow here!

Happy Christmas to everyone....:)

Lots of Teaching

2010-12-16T18:25:00.000Z

It is now the 'holiday' time - ie the secondary teachers have left the NTC and the primary ones have come for upgrading. A lot more going on this recess session because of having started teaching at Kabale University. They also have a recess session working with diploma secondary teachers who want to upgrade to a teaching degree. Craig is doing some teaching about teaching methods and use of ICT which is part of a world bank program at the university. However, the usual degree teaching at the university is also continuing, so a bit busy! But nice to be meeting more teachers for training and they seem quite receptive to ideas.

Emmy is also trying to balance his exams at the university and demands on him from the project and his counsellor job. He is off to a weekend 'course' with the president's wife tomorrow. Should be interesting!

Still no sign of Christmas here - hot, blue skies and the shops seem oblivious. But in some ways, that is quite nice! Sure Father Christmas will still make it here ...:)

The Next Big Tank

2010-11-22T16:11:00.007Z

We are now just completing the next large tank. This tank was requested by a large community in one of the villages of Kitumba. They are high up on the hills, so fetching water has been very difficult, involving long walks down the hills to get water from a spring.

We took a long time to carefully organise with the community for this tank. We've had lots of meetings with the community and all the leaders and made written agreements about how the tank will be used. As usual, people will pay 100 shillings (3p) to collect a 20L Jerry can. This money is then used to assist with the rest of our water projects.

The community has been really good so far, excavating the ground, carrying hardcore, and they even agreed to pay for one of the lorry fulls of bricks. It is important that they have a sense of ownership of their tank and that they have worked towards it. The tank is about 10 feet high and 16 feet in diameter and will hold just over 50,000L (half of it is underground).

Emmy, as always, has been great organising everything and everyone - he is really getting into his district counsellor role now!

Two of the community leaders inside the tank.

Emmy greets some of the local community working at the tank.

Our Engineer - he has worked on all the tanks and done a great job.

We are about to begin a new tank construction at Hamurwa primary school, about 25km from Kabale. The school was really suffering with water when I went to visit it on school practice. We thank St Mary's Prep School in Reigate for sponsoring this tank - it will really help the school and the local community. Emmy and the Engineer spent the day today surveying the ground.

Counselling at Rugarama Hospital

2010-11-09T11:25:00.004Z

The first term at NTC has nearly finished and counselling work has been pretty quiet, so much so that I have some time to explore some other opportunities for counselling work in Kabale. It seemed only natural to take a trip to the local mission hospital Rugarama http://www.rugaramahospital.org/index.html

It is a well staffed hospital with a maternity unit/children's ward as well as adult wards. Dr Mateeka the medical superintendent, a lovely and dedicated Christian man oversees the work of the hospital. We've visited the hospital on several occasions: for Craig and his stitches and then for friends/colleagues who have been patients.

Today was my first morning at the hospital. I'm planning on being available for counselling one or two morning each week. The idea being to encourage staff to refer patients for counselling, especially those suffering bereavement issues or dealing with news of terminal illness', as well as other psychological problems - stress; anxiety etc. I will also just be around, so not sitting in an office waiting for clients. This is quite different to a UK counselling service as in the UK, patients generally take the initiative to book appointments and just drop in to access the service but here in Uganda, the culture is generally not to seek help.

It was helpful today to walk around meeting staff and getting a feel for the place. Most people I spoke to agreed there was a need for counselling but most generally think of counselling as in HIV counselling: pre-test HIV counselling or post test counselling, for those who have found out their HIV status. General counselling for issues such as bereavement; trauma; stress & anxiety; marital problems etc is rarely available. However that is not to say there is not the need, far from it.

I look forward to seeing how the work at Rugarama develops, not only the counselling but also with regards to training staff, which I hope to organise with Sister Rachel and Sister Evelyn.

Paulines House

2010-10-31T17:41:00.002Z

We did finally finish Pauline's House after a lot of work! We had to wait for the rains to come so that the mud could be made for the walls. We are very proud of the project members and how hard they worked and also thank the diocese who donated the iron sheets for the roof. We also finished constructing her toilet at the back of the house. Pauline is very happy!

The project is now paying for her children to go to school, where they also get given a meal. They seem to be doing OK so far.

Birthday Time

2010-10-20T20:23:00.002+01:00

Today was Bethany's 4th Birthday - it's hard to believe when we first arrived she was just turning 2! Time does fly. She had a lovely day, with several children around for lunch and to play this afternoon. It's really nice that as well as having friends at school that there are now more children to play in non-school time. We also had birthday cake which I had 'proudly' made on the charcoal.

Although fun was had by all, unfortunately we had a trip to 'A & E' this evening with Craig, who fell over in the torrential rain we have had this afternoon and got a nasty gash in his knee. Fortunately there is a new American doctor in town, so he managed to have his stitches with pain relief this time!

Thankfully our landlord was staying at the house tonight (usually he is in Kampala), so I was able to bundle Craig in the car and leave Leo and Bethany in Henry's capable hands. Please do pray for a speedy recovery and that Craig will get an opportunity to rest over the next couple of days, to give his bruised knees a chance to recover.

More Sunday School Training.

2010-10-13T19:31:00.003+01:00

What’s the connection between St Pauls in Kingston, UK and The Full Gospel Church, Kabale, Uganda? Well, St Paul’s is one of our supporting churches and is attended by the son of the Pastor of The Full Gospel Church, Kabale. It was through this connection that I was able to meet Pastor Benon and organise this week’s training for Sunday School Teachers. God works in amazing ways doesn’t he!

So on Monday I met with 11 pastors/Sunday school teachers and we spent the day together looking at Biblical principles of children’s ministry, how to organise a Sunday school and creative teaching methods – including storytelling and making visual aids (see photo).

It was an encouraging day and we hope this will be the first of other workshops in the future. It was also encouraging as we were able to distribute more Sunday school curriculum – this means that now the training and curriculum are being made available not only in the Anglican churches but the Pentecostal churches too. We continue to pray for opportunities to open up and see the children’s ministry grow and develop.

Busy Busy

2010-09-29T16:18:00.002+01:00

September seems to be flying by. Craig is incredibly busy teaching this month, having now started lecturing at Kabale University as well as balancing his commitments at NTC. Three days a week now he doesn't get back till at least 6.30, which is quite unusual here. Plus with the extra work at the project, now the repairs to various springs are happening, it does feel a bit hectic. Hopefully once we get into a bit of a vague routine, we'll be able to focus on continuing the build relationships with those around us - especially as there are two new families in Kabale with children (7 between them).

As for me, I'm back teaching guidance and counselling at the NTC - just 350 students this year and fortunately for just one hour a week. It's a challenge to try to enthuse them on the subject of basic pastoral care in schools, which is sadly lacking for many different reasons here in Uganda - lack of funding; lack of training and generally no form tutor system in most schools.

I'm meeting regularly with a local Ugandan lady who is going to begin to translate the Sunday school curriculum into the local language. This is a real encouragement and quite exciting that the material could in future be made available to village churches where no English is spoken.

Other news - we announce the sad departure of our chickens as due to Vuba (our chicken loving dog)have now been sold to a local restaurant. However Leo and Bethany are quite happy, as the chicken house has now become their play house! We also lost our cooker :-( The mice finally nibbled through all the wires and the oven no longer works. We are still debating whether to get a new one, a local oven or just make do. It is amazing what you can actually cook on charcoal, so I think as long as I can continue to make the occasional chocolate cake - the family will be happy :-)

Election Fever

2010-09-03T13:49:00.007+01:00

We are very happy to announce that Emmy won his recent campaign and has been elected the NRM (governing party) candidate for LCV district counsellor. Thanks to everyone who was praying for him. Although these were the primaries for next Febs general election - in the villages, the NRM candidate is almost certain to pass through, so this was the real fight!

It was an exhausting campaign which taught us a lot. Emmy had one real opponent who like most elected officials here used bribery to try and secure his post. We understand he spent in the region of £8000 which is a lot of money here. We campaigned with Emmy giving people a choice of development over bribes and so it was really encouraging when we learnt that Emmy won with over 70% of the vote, even though we didn't have large amounts of money to spend on the campaign. The fact the project had already been working and shown what we can do obviously greatly favoured Emmy. He did a great job explaining the real choices to people and people really warmed to him (at some points carrying him in procession!).

When he takes up his post in February it will possibly mean a greatly expanded role for the project. Emmy will be one of the district counsellors deciding how district money from central government is spent and will be in a position to enable the project to work across the whole sub county (59 villages), rather than just in Bukoora. We are especially interested to work with water as this was a key need seen in the campaign. We have already started building new springs (2 so far) and 2 more being worked on as well as the water tanks we worked on before. We are starting some work on repairing gravity water systems as well. We look forward to expanding this and have found 2 local young guys who have some training to work with us.

The campaign was also really helpful in getting to meet some good quality leaders from across the sub county and explain to them what we were trying to do. The next step will be to identify key new leaders in different villages who can take on the work of organising the project work in their village.

Please continue to pray for Emmy - he is the youngest person to ever attain this post in Kabale district and still has his studies and managing the project to contend with. He will also be under immense pressure to misuse his new post for self/family/interested parties gain and not the community. This will be hard to fight against, even for Emmy. We've already noticed a change in how people are reacting to him. There are also very high expectations of him - people from across the sub county spent all of Monday night at his house singing and dancing! Always hard to live up to.

We are happy that the rains have started again, so now the new planting season begins. We have 15 new project members, taking us to 40 now. Bring on the cabbages!

Building a Spring

A Day of Rest

2010-08-21T15:58:00.004+01:00

This seems to be a particularly busy season at the moment - even though the NTC is on holiday and we are only teaching the primary upgrade course, which is less hours!

Tomorrow (Sunday) sees us first visiting several churches to speak on Emmy's behalf in support of his candidacy for the elections on Monday 30th August. He is standing for LCV Counsellor for Kitumba sub county, which is a very influential post at the district level. He (and us) have been campaigning hard the past couple of weeks. If he manages to get the post, it could mean a dramatic increase in the scope of the what the project is able to do - extending from just working in Bukoora village to working across the sub county with government support. Emmy has been battling the bribery culture here and has been trying to offer people the choice of development opportunities over a short term bribe - it has been encouraging listening to him and how he has been learning what real development is. We pray he will make it through!

We then go up to Bukoora to meet the agriculture minister (who is also campaigning for her post!)to explain what the project would like to do in the future. Finally, in the evening we are again showing a film of the life of Jesus up in one of the villages (in the local language Rukiga). We showed it in Bukoora last Sunday with a turn out of over 300 people, which was very encouraging. Thank goodness not all Sundays are like this but thank God for the opportunities opening up now.

Claudia has recently done 2 training sessions at Bishop Barham University for aspiring Clergy and their spouses looking at effective ways of organising children's ministry in their churches. People had come from all over Uganda and even Rwanda, which was very encouraging and Claudia was able to begin to distribute her Sunday School curriculum.

Craig has also been busy rebuilding a spring, which has actually turned out to be quite tricky, but we are getting there! Thanks to Helen Davis (our recent visitor from Redhill who is a water engineer) for handy suggestions and detailed plans to use ....:) Working on water repairs is becoming a bigger part of the project now and Emmy is seeing through his campaign the scope of the need that there is here. It has been a useful first project to quickly learn a lot of the skills needed!

The Davis'

2010-08-09T07:56:00.005+01:00

We have enjoyed our time with Simon and Helen and the family. Its been a busy couple of weeks so far and just a few days left. They've experienced digging in Bukoora, a project trip to Bushara Island (including swimming lessons for the members!) and Queen Elizabeth park safari. This weekend was a very productive one as we held a meeting for old and new members of the project. 14 new people joined the project on Saturday and they will begin planting from the end of this month. We have also visited various water tanks and springs to show Helen what we are doing on the water front. Yesterday (Sunday) we had the privilege of visiting one of the rural churches next to the lake. A very beautiful setting and the Davis' first experience of a Rukiga service. We had already helped people buy subsidised bibles at the church and were able to bring another 20 bibles for them, which went down really well. Today we are off to look at another spring.

We are happy that the water and power have done their usual thing (today no power - last night no power!) - to show how things really are here!

The children have loved having Jonathan and Matthew around to play with and they have even been to school together here, which has been nice.

It's not all work, work, work!

Training Days

2010-07-20T08:35:00.003+01:00

I've been encouraged that some training opportunities have opened up in the last couple of weeks. I spent a morning at Kigezi High School with the staff leading a workshop on supporting students who are HIV+. We spent some time discussing the psychological response to becoming HIV+. We then went on to look at practically what needed to be put in place to support students. This began the process of working on a school policy, covering issues of confidentiality, keeping student records, supporting students taking medication and what to do when a student gets sick. The workshop went well and I hope that now contacts can be made with other schools, so they to can begin the process of putting support in place for HIV+ students. We will see what develops.

It was also time again on Sunday to meet with local Sunday school teachers. This time around 10 teachers met to discuss and learn about 'Praying with Children'. Again the focus is always very practical, encouraging creativity and the use of natural resources. I've found that an important part of meeting together is to share knowledge and ideas. At the end of the session the teachers split into groups and put actions to the Lord's Prayer. (see photos)

Finally this week I am meeting with trainee pastors at Bishop Barham University to look at Biblical Foundations for children's ministry. I'm really looking forward to spending time with the students as I've found from speaking with the Sunday school teachers, there is a real need for leadership in children's ministry - this a wonderful opportunity.

Uganda Mourning

2010-07-15T08:42:00.002+01:00

Just got back from a tiring 24hr trip to Kampala by bus. News of the bombings is everywhere and it really feels Uganda is waking up to a new reality - no better shown by how we were body scanned going into the Kampala bus station. Very surreal. 76 people now confirmed dead and more than 65 in the hospital. Most are in their twenties going out for a night watching the world cup. Very sad. We know the places that were bombed quite well.

Insurgents in Somalia are trying to dissuade Uganda (and Burundi) from providing peace keeping troops there. Ugandan forces are doing a great job in very difficult circumstances trying to bring some stability to the disaster that is Somalia. We know some troops that have returned on leave and hear their harrowing stories. Some would argue that Somalia is deemed as too dangerous to put western troops in any number. Somalia is a real concern to all of Eastern Africa now.

So Uganda is heading into a really uncertain period. On top of this, there is the hotly contested election due in Feb 2011. Some are concerned the government will use the bombings to crack down on opponents as the election comes near. Please pray for the country in the coming months. Uganda was just getting used to several years of relative peace and calm after the atrocities of the LRA war in the north. People are feeling quite nervous.

To stress again - we are not really affected directly here in Kabale since we are 7 hours from Kampala. Security everywhere is being beafed up a bit including here near the borders. A sad and concerning time for the country.

Kampala Bombings

2010-07-12T19:34:00.002+01:00

We're sure many of you have be heard that there were some bombings in Kampala last night, during the World Cup. It was very sad this morning to hear that over 60 people were killed and many injured.

Kampala is a good 7hrs drive from Kabale, so we were not affected at all. However Craig and Emmy are actually travelling to Kampala tomorrow evening. They'll be in the capital for just one day and then come back again, stopping at Mbarara for boxes of Bibles.

We've been impressed with the British High commission sending text messages to us, advising about safety in travel - where to avoid going etc. So for those who were concerned - no worries :-)

Sunday School

2010-06-15T07:03:00.002+01:00

As most of you will know Craig is on School Practice for 3-4 weeks. Whilst he is off whizzing round the roads of Kabale visiting various schools and seeing a variety of lessons things have become a little quiet for me on the NTC front. No students and no counselling needed :-(

Time for coffee and Oprah I here you say! So what am I up to? As you may have read I've been writing curriculum for Sunday school for about a year now, so that the teachers have a resource they can use week by week. Hand in hand with this I've been involved in training, so that the teachers can begin to put together more creative Sunday School lessons but without the resources that are so readily available to us in the UK. This has been encouraging, especially to see the difference it makes practically to how Sunday School is taught.

For the next three weeks (though it will probably take longer than that) I'm now working at collating the materials I've been writing plus adding more to form a three year Sunday school curriculum. This will mean Sunday school teachers will have an overview of the Old Testament, the life of Jesus and the story of the early Church in Acts that they can use with their children. It also means the resource can be reused once the three years have elapsed.

Included in this resource will also be ideas for teaching: structuring lessons, storytelling, making visual aids and praying with children. My hope is that the cost of the resource will be small (just printing costs) so the resource can be widely available.

I'm very excited to be involved in this work, as certainly in Kabale there are no resources available for teaching children the Bible. I'm also excited about the possibility of being involved in training pastors in children's ministry at Bishop Barham and I wait to see what opportunities open in this area.

Bukoora development

2010-05-22T16:36:00.003+01:00

We spent the day today with the project members building the next storehouse. An NGO has donated 25 iron sheets to us for the roofing, which really helped. Since the sub county is giving us lots of chickens, we needed a new storehouse for the potatoes and the chickens will go in the old one!

We were very excited to see some developments in the village though. Since our tank opening a couple of weeks ago, the sitting MP has suddenly organised laying piping all the way to the village. We believe he is also installing large water tanks. Some villagers will then pay for the privilege of having a tap and can sell water themselves. This is a great development coming after 5 years of promises! There is a local saying which goes "When you shake the tree, the people get to pick up the fruit". It seems the project has shaken the tree a little and the MP is now keen to get this water up and working in record time before the primary elections in August. Great!

Opening the tank

2010-05-10T14:50:00.002+01:00

We had a fantastic day on Saturday (8th May)having our big function to open the tank. After weeks of organising tents, chairs, food, drinks, guests, PA, MC etc it all went really smoothly in the end - and no rain!

Over 300 people turned up for the official opening. We had all the leaders from the subcounty and the new prospective MP (he is pretty sure to win). They all promised assistance to the project, which is great. It was really helpful for getting the project widely known, which will help in the future.

Leo did a great song at the beginning to welcome everyone and didn't show any nerves whatsoever. It was lovely to have all the members of the project together with the community as we discussed what has been achieved so far and the hurdles ahead. It really showed the community what can be done when people work together. It also put Bukoora on the map!

Reporters were there as well and an article will go in the national newspaper and even Craig's speech and the MP's was recorded and played on the radio!

It was a big day to organise, but these functions are important here in the culture and really help in making the contacts we need for the future of the project. We managed to feed everyone, which was a real effort in itself. 3 goats slaughtered, mountains of rice and posho and beans. Charity did really well organising it all.

Claudia's mum is with us at the moment, so had an experience of an African party! She seemed to enjoy it all....

Several local priests came too and prayed for the tank and the project and a collection was taken to help the project. All in all a lovely day under an African sun and a great success. We thank God for all the contacts made and the growing positive response to what the project is achieving.

You can find pictures of the day here

Scripture Union Conference

2010-04-28T17:07:00.003+01:00

The search for 'The Truth' began on Saturday at Kigezi High School at the annual Scripture Union Conference. We met with about 100 children, aged 5-12yrs, as they began their month long holiday. The theme for the four days was 'Searching for the Truth' based on John 8:31-32 Jesus said this, 'If you hold on to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'

I was speaking in the mornings on the theme and it was a great opportunity to talk about Who tells the truth; Where can we find the truth; What is the truth and Why do we need to know it. The children did really well understanding my English accent, though I'm now much better at speaking slower and with a slight Rukiga accent(It seems to help)! We enjoyed some interactive Bible Stories to illustrate the theme - Philip and the Ethiopian; Peter's great escape and the Wise and Foolish Builders. The children were really good at participating, with many hands going up when volunteers were asked for. Then on the last morning together many responded to the challenge to decide if they wanted to be a friend of Jesus and live a life based on the truth of the Gospel.

It was great to be involved in the conference, though at times it felt hard work but certainly our last morning together was very encouraging. Before I left Sara, the SU co-ordinator asked one of the children to pray for me, a little girl called Marvel (7yrs old) prayed and that was a very special way to end the conference for me.

House Building

2010-04-18T10:15:00.003+01:00

We have been keen to encourage the project members to get more involved in helping their community. So this week we got started in our first project, rebuilding the crumbling house of Pauline. She has 7 children and has been abandoned by her husband. Her mud house is very old and close to collapse. The project has been busy cutting trees and demolishing the house. This week on thursday we begin making the mud (water supplied by the water tank) and reconstructing with the help of an engineer. We will also construct a toilet for the family, which they have never had.

We are trying the get the wider village involved as well, but this is proving to be difficult - people unfortunately can get quite jealous. However the church leader is great and is really trying to mobilise the village for us. If this all goes well we will look for other projects - now that we have 30 members of our project, we have quite a good workforce!

Pictures can be found here

HIV/AIDS Counselling Workshop

2010-04-14T14:49:00.006+01:00

Craig has reminded me it's time for a blog update. Time has certainly flown by with various workshops taking place and I'm looking forward to May, when I hope to recover with a babysitter (my mum) coming for two weeks - hooray!

I'm happy to report that 27 students at NTC have completed their Sunday School Teacher Training. They will all receive their certificates of attendance before they depart to different parts of Uganda to begin their teaching. Rev John is keen for the course to run again next year and my hope we will advertise it more widely so more students can attend.

The HIV/Aids counselling workshop went well on Monday. I was co-leading with a Ugandan lady called Annie. We met with about 25-30 participants from local churches. During the day we covered basic counselling skills and talked about the feelings a HIV+ person can experience. We discussed some of the goals you can have when counselling a HIV+ person: including helping them to come to terms with their HIV status; encouraging them to join a support group and how to prevent transmission of HIV to others. Many questions were raised but it was good to end the day by looking at making an action plan, of how the church can respond to HIV/AIDS.

Today I concluded my Guidance and Counselling module at the NTC: How to support a HIV+ student. Again many questions were raised, especially regarding the stigma that can be experienced by students and although Uganda has done very well in reducing HIV/AIDS - it is still very much an issue that needs addressing. I also spent some time talking to Gilbert from SPEAR (in conjunction with World Vision) who was conducting free HIV testing at the college today. He highlighted the need for education and counselling as many students were coming back for retesting - most probably because of risk taking activities. My hope is that we will be able to introduce some lectures on HIV/AIDS prevention at the beginning of the next academic year to raise awareness amongst students and link with SPEAR, so regular free testing can be offered to both students and staff.

April already

2010-03-31T14:33:00.002+01:00

Where is this year going? The rains are still with us and are causing some problems with land slides as you may have heard. We are due another 2 months of rain - but it is needed for the crops. We are gearing up for the next planting season and tomorrow we go to the government seed producer to collect 15 sacks of potato seeds - will have a big weekend planting!

Tuesday Emmy - bless him - had another trip to Mbarara to buy the next batch of 150 bibles and came back laden down. They are bought in no time at all, so keeping up with demand is impossible, but we try.

We had a busy, but rewarding weekend last weekend. The NTC had their annual scripture union conference. Claudia spoke on Saturday about relationships and fielded lots of questions from the students. I spoke on Sunday on 2 Cor 12:7-10. It was well attended and we pray the students got a lot from it.

We unfortunately heard today that our tenant renting the house in England is leaving in about 2 months. Please pray we manage to find a new tenant by that time as mortgages don't pay themselves! It's quite difficult to organise everything from here, so we are really looking for the right person to be found.

This weekend coming has 2 weddings for us on the same day! Will have to find a way to shuttle between them as we can't let either of the people down. Will be fun I'm sure.....:)

The year ahead for Uganda

2010-03-19T05:36:00.002Z

Uganda is heading into quite a difficult year and we are seeing the beginnings of that already. In the first half of 2011, there will be a general election here which is going to be the closest race in its history. Tensions are rising. This week there were student demonstrations and strikes at the NTC, related to the student elections at the college. Two recent bi-elections have turned a bit violent. Tribal tensions are really rising which have been further badly damaged by the burning of the ancestor tombs of the largest tribe on Tuesday this week.

It is difficult to imagine a free and fair election taking place, but how people will respond this time is unknown. Nobody wants a repeat of the events in Kenya two years ago.

Please pray for Uganda as it tries to find its way through this election and as the different tribes try to understand what it is to belong to one country (all be it that that country is a colonial construct!). Important decisions are being taken which will either lead the country forward or throw it back many years.

Immediate Impact

2010-03-15T15:17:00.002Z

So it has been nice to see the impact of the water tanks. It is supposed to be the rainy season, but it has now spent 2 weeks without raining, so the small pots people have at their houses are empty. Many people are coming to use each of the tanks which has been great to see. The third tank has now been repaired as well, so each part of Bukoora now has its own working large tank, with a combined capacity of around 150,000L. It has also been good to see a couple of building projects get started now that they have easy access to water for mixing cement.

We have had a good couple of weeks talking in local churches around the parish explaining what the project is doing and we are getting a lot of support from people who really appreciate the different aspects of what the project is doing. We are hoping to hear soon whether the local sub-county is going to support us financially - which would be great as the potential for what we can do is enormous.

We have been keen for the project members to begin to work together for the good of the community as well as for themselves. We have decided to begin some projects aimed at the real poorest in the village. The first begins on Thursday when the project members will come together to begin to rebuild the house of a local woman. She has 5 children and has been abandoned by her husband. Her mud house is literally about to collapse - with holes in all the walls and the tin roof. On thursday we will begin cutting trees (which she owns) for the construction and then in a couple of weeks, demolish the house and build a new one. Now that we have water, making the mud walls is quite simple and of course the project will give us all the labour we need. Once again, Emmy has been a real star in getting this all organised and we hope to take on other such work in the future.

Kigali

2010-03-07T14:32:00.002Z

We have just got back from a nice 3 day break in Kigali. We had a nice time staying with a UK family who work for Send a Cow. We also use a mechanic in Kigali now to work on our car. We had the last (hopefully) of a few quite big repairs done this trip and the car is now running very well - but it has been a bit expensive. The joys of running a car in Africa! The car has been such a blessing with the project though and we are really glad we got a Rav 4. We have now managed to increase our limit to 10 people in the car! The children also really enjoyed going swimming a couple of times while we were in Kigali - Leo is learning very well now and likes jumping off diving boards!

We have just sent out our latest newsletter - if you don't get it and would like to please let us know. A few emails seem to have changed and have failed. Please let us know if your email is different(Galpin, Aldens, Culverwell, D&C White, Knapps, Adcock, Mclean).

We have just had a week of delivering several tonnes of cabbages to local schools and it has been nice to see things working well at the project after quite a lot of difficulties. We have also been busy distributing bibles and fixing water tanks - both of which we hope to do a lot more of in the coming months!

Tank, Visitors and School

2010-02-20T18:01:00.001Z

It has been quite a busy couple of weeks. The new term at the NTC has started again properly as has teaching at Nyabikoni Secondary school. Craig has been able to begin a bible study course at the NTC, working our way through the whole story of the OT! He is also hoping to look at some bible study skills in preparing these trainee teachers for when they lead bible studies in schools themselves.

Claudia has enjoyed her start at NAFODU and has had lots of clients which is good. Some harrowing stories though. She is also getting used to her slots on the local radio!

It has been really nice to have a couple of visitors recently. Homfray studied with us at All Nations College and came to visit for a couple of days while visiting East Africa. Antonia works for Crosslinks heading up the short term teams program - she came to check out some possibilities and see what we were up to. They both enjoyed visiting the project and seeing Kabale and it was nice having some faces from home.

We have now finished renovating the large tank on the other side of Bukoora. It was a small job really and is already holding a lot of water. The guard is in place and people are now able to collect water there at a cheap price. We are told there is another tank too that needs renovating, so probably the next project .....

Finally, Bethany has been at school for nearly a month now. She seems to be enjoying it so far - only a few tears! Having Leo there really helps and also an American family have started sending their 2 boys to the school as well, who are friends of Leo and Bethany. The house is much more peaceful in the mornings now - she returns at 12:30 and Leo at 4:30....:)

(Hope you like the school regulation hankie!)

Just a Tap.

2010-02-08T16:00:00.002Z

We were recently asked to visit a water tank in Bukoora that needed fixing. It needed some guttering replacing and a new tap. Not a big job really and we were very happy to assist the community with this very much needed repair. The tank had been built by government, but unfortunately, quickly vandalised. We instructed that once the repair was complete, the community employ a guard, who could be paid from the payments taken from people collecting water. (It’s quite normal for people to pay up to 500 shillings (15p) for a jerry can of water – we will charge 100 shillings). Everyone, including the community leaders were agreeable and very happy that this repair would now be done.

How long do you imagine this very large water tank had been left needing fixing? - a water tank that saved people an hour to two hours walking, carrying heavy jerry cans of water. A week? A month? Can you imagine our surprise to hear it had been four years! Apparently soon after it had been built, the guttering was stolen and the tap cut off, leaving the tank unusable.

It’s incredibly puzzling to hear that a perfectly good water tank could be left in disrepair for so long. It was equally disheartening to hear how someone would destroy something that helps so many. Why? Why did someone break the tap? Why didn’t anyone replace the tap? Why wasn’t some effort made to restore the guttering? Was it laziness? Was it money? Why didn’t anyone try to fix it? Did they fear it would be destroyed again? Was it that no one felt it was their responsibility? It’s difficult to answer these questions but if we were able to encourage people to come together and work together to fix the tank, couldn’t this have been done earlier? It wasn’t like we were doing the work for them. We were left scratching our heads…

What rendered these people to feel so powerless? It’s hard to answer – although the massive alcohol problem in all villages is always a factor. It’s also difficult to know how best to assist with these problems, without rendering the community even more powerless. In assisting, we need to balance how to empower, how to encourage, how to build confidence, so that the communities see that they have the resources and abilities within them to solve these problems. All we did was supply a tap and one bag of cement and even that will be repaid from the money collected from the water. They did the building needed, brought the sand and other materials and supplied all the labour – we just got them to do it! (although Craig's brick laying 'skills' were put to use when the Engineer building a wall was so drunk, the wall starting leaning over!).

Our prayer is that God would continue to raise up leaders, like Emmy (our project manager). People who can lead, encourage and empower their own communities. People, through whom, communities can see that they can solve their problems for themselves. For us our prayer is that God would help us to facilitate training and equipping of these young leaders, so that communities around us can be given back the power to break the cycle of poverty for themselves.

Cheques

2010-02-05T16:30:00.002Z

Hi all - just a quick post.

We have recently received a few cheques which we think are in support of the project. If you have recently given us a cheque - thank you very much! - but please do email us so we know who to thank and to make sure the money is used as you intend.

Thanks very much

Time for an Update

2010-02-02T17:45:00.003Z

January was a busy month, though we did have a great few days away in Kigali staying with some friends who work with 'Send a Cow' and are involved in some environmental projects. It was great to get to go swimming, enjoy some good old British company and buy some decent bread and ham! Oh yes and we got the car fixed by a proper mechanic!

Once back in Kabale, harvesting began. So far two Pick Up Trucks of cabbages, several sacks of carrots and many sacks of potatoes being harvested. This week Oscar's field was harvested, Emmy's field will harvested tomorrow and there will be more cabbages by the end of the week. It's been good to see the project members coming together to assist each other but it has not been without it's challenges. The prices in the market have been low the last month, so although we've had a good harvest, the profits have not been as high as we'd hoped. It has been a challenging time to say the least.

This week saw Bethany's first day at school and Leo returned to school and Top Class! All went well, though unfortunately Bethany was sick today, so had her first day off too.

Next week Claudia starts work for NAFODU (National Federation for Democracy and Human Rights in Uganda). She'll be counselling at their offices in town, two mornings a week. She also has to take part in the local radio show on Monday, along with her colleagues Joseline and Cleophas, talking about counselling. There is apparently a 30 minute phone in, so it's sure to be an interesting experience!

Water Tank

2010-01-13T13:14:00.004Z

So after a long haul of nearly 2 months, the water tank is finally finished! Many thanks to the different people and churches who have supported this construction. The plaque on the tank reads "Bakiga Community Project 12 Jan 2010". We spent the last couple of days fixing up the rather elaborate guttering system to collect the rain from 3 different roofs and take it to the tank. We were delighted it rained Monday night, which gave us enough water in the tank to flush it through for cleaning. Even in one night it was nearly up to Leo's knees (he couldn't resist a little paddle!) - which shows the kind of rain we get here.

I'm pictured here with the Engineer (right of me), Emmy and Saulo the community leader (far right). We really believe the tank will assist the village and hope the 50,000L capacity will last right through the dry season, removing the need for 2 hour treks down steep hills to fetch water each day. It will also give the project water for irrigation and be able to help provide the water needed for the soon to commence rebuilding of the village church.

Will be having an official opening in the coming weeks, after collecting some water.

Thanks again for everyone who supported this work.

You can find more pictures here.....

Children's Conference

2010-01-09T17:32:00.007Z

The Kigezi Diocese held their annual conference over the weekend, where around 2000 people crammed into the Cathedral on Rugarama Hill, overlooking Kabale. The theme Romans 8:35 'Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?' I was privileged to be meeting with the children along with Patience, Catherine and Penninah.

The first day we met with 35 children in a hall directly next to the main conference, which shall we say had it's challenges: a very loud PA system and people constantly coming through taking the children's chairs! However the children enjoyed hearing the story of Joseph and playing games with balloons after lunch.

Day two after our first session outside in the sunshine, Patience finally managed to find another room a short walk down from the main site. After running around to get a key, we met with 60 children in a rather dusty but somewhat quieter hall. The children heard the second part of the story of Joseph and spent time drawing pictures of Joseph. This was a novelty as it is rare that children will have the opportunity to do colouring in Sunday school.

Day three we arrived to find our room open and ready for us - hooray! But where were the children? There was about 30 and we'd heard the the main conference organisers had talked about keeping the children in the service as it was the last day! Aaaah! We were all frustrated, the other teachers talked of the frustrations and challenges of working in Sunday school, that people just don't really care. Patience went off to the main conference to attempt to release the children to come down to their sessions and Catherine lead some worship whilst we waited. Finally we decided to start with the small number we had but no sooner has I begun my talk than in flooded 200 children!!! Can you imagine.

The last session recapped what we'd learnt the last two days and then went on to explain what it meant when Jesus died on the cross. We were all encouraged to see over 50 children decide to become Christians. We prayed for them and they were given small pieces of coloured material to remind them of the story of Joseph and of how much God loves them.

It was a great privilege to share with so many children and to work with some wonderful Christian women who are really dedicated to teaching children about Jesus. I enjoyed the weekend very much but after a trip up to Bukoora in the afternoon to check on the water tank (more from Craig on that one) - I could sleep for a week!

Project

2010-01-06T11:52:00.004Z

We are now in the second year of the project. 15 students are in school/university and we have been considering the way forward. We have learnt lots from this year - about being very careful who to trust and work with and keeping a tight rein on costs. We have again, even this year, been let down by one of the early members of the project, which was very sad.

We have been discussing with Emmy (who continues to be fantastic) and yesterday we had a big meeting with all the members and new prospective members. We are changing the direction of the project a little. It has become evident that the degree of need in the villages is enormous - even from those who have parents. Rather than just focussing on Orphans, we have decided it is more important to focus on hardworking and trustworthy young people, whether they be Orphans or not. To that end we have allowed a group of young people who had already organised themselves to work together to join the main project. That now takes our number to 30!

The young people in the village have very few role models - with many of the older men spending their entire day in the bar. One or both parents may have died or fathers just not around. Yesterday was very telling when we had over 20 of our youthful members working in fields as we watched a local older leader stagger back drunk from the bar at noon! We feel this role model function and ability to get the youth to work together is a very important part of the project's function.

Emmy continues as the project manager, assisted by Jorem. We have also appointed Elias, who is a trained Agriculture teacher, to advise the project and teach the members. He is also good at helping ensure everyone turns up to work! He has been a great help. Saulo, the main village leader has also joined, and again has been a great support and encouragement of the project. It has all been about finding quality people to work with and this has taken time, but we feel the shape of the project is now evolving well after a year of ups and downs.

We have found it is no longer possible to pay for labour, which means hard work for all the members. Earning school fees from the land is certainly not easy, but we look forward to 2010 as the year the project really takes off.

Happy New Year

2010-01-04T17:07:00.003Z

We wish everyone a happy new year and hope you had a great Christmas - with or without snow! We had a nice Christmas with an American couple who have worked here for 20 years. Always good to hear their stories and we had a great mixture of English and American seasonal food!

We had a good week in Kampala having a break away from Kabale. The children enjoyed going to the cinema and playing on escalators which they have there! We also had to have some repairs done to the car. We were really pleased to see that the road to Kampala had improved quite a lot and it now takes under 6 hours to drive there. At the end of January we also hope to visit some friends in Kigali, Rwanda.

We start teaching again this week. Claudia is also giving several talks at a childrens conference over the weekend. We are hoping to begin a program of bible studies at the NTC this term, which we have started discussing with Rev John, the chaplain. We had a lovely day with him and his family on Sunday as they baptised their new born son,Isaac, in their village. Two and a half hour service, but it was nice! A real treat was the offering where people gave beans and pineapples - things they had grown in the field. Money doesn't feature that much deep in the villages.

Harvesting the project starts in earnest this month as all the fields are becoming ready. The project has a lot of school fees to pay now, so we pray we will harvest all that we need. The water tank is also nearing completion - we will visit tomorrow and hope to find it more or less finished. We are hearing the local government is considering supporting the project, so please pray that it actually comes off and they agree to donate - it would be very helpful! We are also considering various options to expand the project, so need to make wise decisions.

We have now registered Bethany ready for starting school with Leo on 1st Feb. Leo will start having full days at the school as well - growing up very quickly now!

Christmas pictures on Facebook

'Word had got out we were coming.'

2009-12-14T18:59:00.007Z

We arrived in Bukoora this afternoon to find 50+ children waiting for us. We are had organised with Emmy to give out some clothes, toothbrushes and soap to 30 children but word had got out we were coming!

There are many children living in poverty, we pass them as we drive up to Bukoora each week: children surrounded by rocks, hammering away to make small stones for building material; others carrying heavy jerry cans of water and piles of sticks on their heads for firewood and some just sitting on the road side with nothing to do. We hear their screams of 'How are you Muzungu? (white person) and frantic waving as the car drives pass - it is bitter sweet, seeing their smiling faces but also their dirty rags and knowing you can't help them all.

It was a thought provoking day for me, it brought home the reality that the poor will always be with us but reminded me of the importance of making a difference with what we have. Leo and Bethany enjoyed helping to distribute everything. It was a good experience for them to give away some of their old t-shirts that don't fit them any more and learn that not all children have clothes and toys like they do.

So this Christmas as we prepare to exchange gifts and enjoy good food - I do thank God for the wonderful opportunities that have opened up for us here in Kabale to work with the those in need and hope there will be many more in the coming year.

Paying the price

2009-12-10T17:46:00.003Z

The water tank in Bukoora is progressing well and we hope to begin collecting water next week. Thanks for all the support and promises of support! We have been encouraged to write a blog explaining the thinking behind still charging for the water once the tank is built - although at 1/3rd of the usual price.

In all of our projects here we are trying to ensure that the community has as big a stake in their progress as possible – so that they own it. We are discovering here more and more that just giving people things with no expectations on them is really not helpful at all and especially so in this culture.

The village leader in Bukoora has been really supportive in this and we managed to encourage villagers to come and assist in the building of the tank (although at times this was quite hard work to ‘encourage’ them to come!). Mainly by carrying rocks and sand and helping digging. That way it is their tank, not ours.

As well as paying for maintenance of the tank, the money will provide a long term income for the project once we eventually leave. In the short term, we are considering using the money to possibly subsidise another tank.

Our main argument is that people value things much more if it has some cost to them and especially so in the culture here in southern Uganda. Having a cost also encourages self reliance and self confidence in the communities. This is true for water, school fees and bibles:

The community project runs not by giving orphans school fees, but by enabling them to earn the fees for themselves. We will also not be giving bibles to people, but selling them at a subsidized rate.

We really encourage supporters and supporting churches in particular to discuss some of these issues and will be very interested in any comments or thoughts that you have - please do leave your ideas .........

Grasshopper Fever!

2009-11-20T06:47:00.007Z

Having been woken in the middle of the night with the sound of very loud humming and clickity noises on the tin roof, this morning all became clear.... the grasshoppers had arrived!

A sense of excitement filled the air, as bushes, trees, houses became covered with these flying-jumping grasshoppers. As I drove Leo to school we passed children smiling as they clutched bags of these fat juicy green insects. On my return to the house, I heard sounds of delights as Charity and Junior were running round the field catching these jumping little pests to fry and eat for lunch!!! Yes, here in Uganda the humble grasshopper is a delicacy, a sought after bite to eat and costing around 1000 Ugandan shillings for a kilo of fresh grasshoppers in the market.

We've been told they are here in Kabale for few weeks, hopefully the Grasshopper Fever will die down as no one has done any work this morning and it's already 10am!!

Bethany with our pot of grasshoppers - munch munch!!

Christmas Water Tank

2009-11-13T10:36:00.003Z

We have been asked by one of the community leaders in Bukoora to see if we can assist with the difficult water situation they face in the village. During the dry season, people will often have to walk up to an hour each day to fetch water. The alternative is to buy water, but it is expensive.

We are planning to try and build a very large (20,000L) water tank. We will sell the water, but at half the price the villagers usually pay. Selling the water will then also provide an income for the project going forward.

We have produced a leaflet which you can download here.

If any one is able to publicise what we are trying to do - all support would be much appreciated!

Thanks very much.

Talks Talks Talks ......

2009-11-08T17:16:00.006Z

I enjoyed my time with the Kitumba HIV/Aids support group yesterday. This time I spoke on being accepted and loved by God, as one of the big issues is being rejected by family, friends and the community. I talked about how Jesus was a friend of outcasts, often eating with them and spending time with them. I was also able to give out cabbage and carrot seeds, as well as some Bibles - which were received very well.

Today I ran the first of an 8 week course training Sunday School Teachers at the NTC. Rev John had enthusiastically arranged for the course to be given the go ahead and we had 22 students attend today. This week we discussed some Biblical Principles of Children's ministry which will lay a firm foundation for the rest of the course. I'm looking forward to finally being able to run these training sessions. It is also encouraging to know that these students will be going back to various Churches in different parts of Uganda after the conclude their time at NTC Kabale and will take these skills with them.

Training

2009-11-04T17:16:00.002Z

Emmy and Jerom have just finished a very nice week on a training course organised by a local NGO. They have had an all expenses paid week at a local hotel in town (very nice food!) learning all about planting potatoes, making and looking after seeds, dealing with diseases and how to look for good markets. Very helpful for the project and good for them to have some high quality training for the future.

All the 20 fields have now been planted and the rains are excellent this season - so we look forward to a great harvest. We are also investigating the possibility of building very large water tanks in Bukoora, where often people must walk for 1 hour to fetch water, during the dry season. The alternative is they must buy water for 200 shillings per Jerry Can (15 litres). We have been asked by local leaders to assist. Finances allowing, we are considering building a very large tank (around 20,000L)with villagers also contributing a little each. We will sell the water for 100 shillings per Jerry Can and it will also provide an income for the project.

Leo and Bethany had a nice day at a new travelling "fun fair" which arrived in town last week. The rides looked a bit dangerous - especially the one where the electric controller was kept in a large container of water, cables and all! Leo loved it though and it was nice to give them something out of the ordinary. The power did go off during the second ride, so good job it wasn't a big wheel!

Saturday Claudia is giving another talk to one of the Aids/HIV groups in a local village (with translation!).

Craig's head is healing well, but still waiting for the hair to regrow properly!

Seal the Deal

2009-10-29T19:15:00.006Z

Here in Uganda we are acutely aware of the effects of Climate change on the lives of the poorest people. Weather patterns have been changing all over Uganda leading to recent severe flooding in the North, droughts in the East and disturbed rainful patterns here in Kabale. The whole country - including our project - is still suffering from the poor rains last season. When it doesn't rain enough, families don't have enough food - as simple as that.

Below is a petition from the UN Seal the Deal site calling on leaders to ensure this last chance climate summit in Copenhagen Dec 2009 is not wasted.

Please sign!

Meet our Guard!

2009-10-17T15:49:00.003+01:00

So, after the break in of last week it was advisable for us to employ a guard at the house. In fact people were surprised we had lived here a year without one! Although we were a bit reluctant to go down this route, circumstances made it necessary. So we needed to get someone who came recommended for being trustworthy. Enos is known by both Charity and Emmy and used to be a guard at a local school - so very experienced. He now guards the house each night and is also good at playing with the children who like to follow him around before they go to bed!

A very nice guy and quite a sight with his torch, whistle and panga (!). Everyone can sleep soundly now.

Been a busy couple of weeks with the project and the NTC. 15 fields have been planted, so nearly there now - 3 more to go. Emmy and Jerom are having training next tuesday organised and paid for by a government farmer agency. Held at a local hotel - so will be very nice for them!

Teaching and counselling going well at the NTC. Craig is currently pursuing setting up training for qualified teachers working in local schools. Claudia is trying to organise training for students at the NTC who work with Sunday Schools.

Claudia's preach was well received and Craig's head is healing well - just waiting for the hair to regrow. It had better do....!

Not the best week ........

2009-10-09T14:43:00.003+01:00

One of those not so good weeks.

Started on Tuesday when I (Craig) was running to get out of the school gate when a big downpour had begun. School gates are metal with a small gap to pass through. You must duck to fit through. In my rush I didn't duck enough and cut my head quite badly - needing stitches at the local "hospital". Not a great experience and very painful - especially the treatment! I now have a half shaved head and a row of stitches, much to the amusement of my students....

Then yesterday evening, someone broke into the compound after we had gone to bed and stole one of the water collectors at the front of the house. It is not so much the container, but the fact they got in, is a bit disconcerting. We will have to hire a night guard for security now, which is unfortunate.

On a lighter note, had a good day today planting several fields. All 15 members of the project helped out, so we got loads done and just in time for a good downpour of rain. Most fields have now been planted.

On Sunday, Claudia will be preaching at the NTC. Do pray for her - it was very short notice!

A Busy Start

2009-09-24T15:34:00.006+01:00

It's been a busy week and it's only Thursday! We're both back teaching at NTC which is great. Unlike last year when the teaching didn't begin until mid October, the term has started promptly! Most of the students have arrived now and Craig's classes are slowly increasing in number as everyone registers - we think in his first year classes, there could be up to 100 students. My counselling starts tomorrow, so I hope there will be a good up take as the service gets under-way for the new academic year.

We just got back from Bukoora, having finally nailed up the guttering on the store house so that the new water tank will fill as the rains come. Craig also organised with Emmy what fields need to be planted and it is hoped over the next week or so, the planting will be done ready for the down pours!

Craig is actually out at the moment, having done a very fast turn around and driven up to Kigezi High School where he is leading a Bible Study for around 100 students. He's planning on taking them through a history of the old testament, so will be meeting them hopefully for the coming few weeks.

We were very excited to hear that Bright's grandfather and grandmother became Christians last week. They had been followers of local religions and their children had tried in vain to lead them to Christ. We were able to give them a Rukiga bible some weeks ago through the project and people believe it is that that spoke to them. They speak no English so nothing we could say! Ro 1:16 - "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes". There was a party and local church leaders came to pray for them - a fantastic experience and shows what only God can achieve.

Hope in the Midst of Suffering

2009-09-17T16:33:00.007+01:00

Today I gave my first talk to a HIV/Aids support group. I picked Emmy from university, as he would be translating for me and we drove to a Kakomo Health Centre to meet with the Mwendo HIV/Aids group. When we arrived we were met by a smiling group of about 45 - a mixed group of men, women and children. Willy, the co-ordinator of all the eight support groups in Ndorwa West County, was there to greet us and introduce us to the group.

It was a hot day and we sat together outside for the meeting. Willy gave an introduction, of how the group had grown from 15 members to now around 80 members. He explained the groups many struggles: some members experiencing rejection, being chased from their homes; others who struggle to gain employment and parents who have difficulties in paying school fees all because they are HIV+. It saddened me to hear their stories but then there was the encouragement of them meeting together each month, finding hope as they supported one another.

I spoke about the feelings people with HIV/Aids often have to cope with: fear; anger; sadness; worry; shame and guilt. That although they may not experience physical healing of their HIV+ status, that there was healing for the mind, heart and soul. Jesus wanted to change the negative feelings they cope with into peace, joy and hope. We looked at a number of Bible verses of how there is life in Christ, even in the midst of suffering.

After the talk we distributed carrot and cabbage seeds to the group. The idea is that the group will be split into smaller groups to plant this season but then once the harvest comes and produce sold, the profits will be used to buy seeds for everyone. They can then plant individually and use the profits in the second season, to pay for school fees.

I’ll be visiting all eight groups over the coming months - about 700 people in total, which I’m looking forward to. It is hoped eventually if the cabbage/carrot project works well with this first group we will expand it to all the groups.

Isaac has Arrived

2009-09-14T16:41:00.002+01:00

We had the pleasure of visiting Kabale Hospital Maternity unit again at the weekend. Rev John and Sarah are now the proud parents of a beautiful baby boy, Isaac. Sarah is doing well, having had a c-section. They hope that they will be discharged today and be back home together. Please pray for them, especially Sarah who was finding it a struggle to walk around when we saw her on Saturday. Rev John is the chaplain at NTC Kabale where we work and Sarah is also a reverend, who was involved in children ministry in the diocese.

Kristen and Jonathan

2009-09-09T07:12:00.005+01:00

We had a lovely week with Kristen and Jonathan before they were whisked off for their marriage! We visited the project and they were very good at harvesting wheat. They also met all the members and were introduced to the African necessity of giving many speeches on such occasions! After a few days touring the delights of Kabale, the NTC, the market etc we had some days in Queen Elizabeth national park and were fortunate to see the famous climbing Lions. We also managed to get stuck in a large muddy 'puddle' - first time for us to ever get stuck in Africa! A few tree branches later and lots of pushing/pulling got us out! It was lovely having them here and look forward to whoever wants to visit next! All our love to them and congratulations on the wedding!

You can find more photos on our facebook photos page

Bibles

2009-09-04T18:05:00.003+01:00

We have now managed to donate 70 bibles to date - half through the project and half to Sunday school teachers that Claudia is training. They have been really well received as people very often can't afford to have a bible of their own. An American company, Christian Literature International donated 50 bibles back in March and we are delighted that they have just agreed to donate 80 more to us, since we have exhausted these already. They donate them free of charge to us and we pay the postage from the US with funds donated by some of our supporting churches. The bibles have study aids at the back, which especially help the Sunday school teachers. Please pray we find the right people to donate these bibles to.

Project Update

2009-08-30T18:06:00.003+01:00

I have now updated the Project Website with the new families who have joined. We have finished harvesting this season, but the harvest was poor due to lack of rain June - August : everyone is suffering badly here. Rains have started again now and we pray for good harvests over the next six months. We also met with the local MP, requesting help for the project and he was very enthusiastic. Please pray the government will be willing to assist us to meet the rapidly growing demand for help that we are seeing in Bukoora.

Sunday School Teacher Training

2009-08-27T06:55:00.000+01:00

After many months of waiting the Sunday School Teacher Training Conference finally happened. 100 Sunday School Teachers and School Chaplains from the Kabale District came together for a long weekend of training at Kigezi High School. The accommodation was in the school dormitories and the conference hall was a large, dimly lit and dusty classroom, with a tin roof. Not perhaps what many of picture when we hear the word ‘conference’.

There was a real thirst for the training, as people had given much to be there: in time, making their way by public transport i.e. pick up trucks, boda bodas or walking and money. So I felt very privileged to have been asked to be involved in such an event. I was especially encouraged to have been invited back for the second day to do another talk, which hadn’t originally been part of the plan!

I spoke on several topics, all of which were translated into Rukiga: Biblical Principles of Children’s Ministry; Making Teaching Aids and Planning a Sunday School lesson and How to use simple language when explaining to children. They were all very practical and used easily and cheaply available resources. It was great getting everyone drawing Noah and his ark and telling the story with pictures. We also learnt action songs – with translation into Rukiga!

One thing that was highlighted over the weekend was the real lack of Bibles. Many Sunday school teachers don’t have Bibles or anything to help them understand it. No Bible study aids or concordances. So when they found I was providing my curriculum to use for the next four months, the news was greeted by a round of applause. I was also able to distribute 30 of the study new testaments donated to us from America – we will be seeking more!

The weekend left me feeling very encouraged to know the curriculum had gone out to so many teachers and around 70+ churches. We hope this will now lead to more regular training.

Visitors!

2009-08-15T13:41:00.002+01:00

We are really looking forward to picking up Kristen and Jonathan on Monday from Kigali. They will be with us for a week and we have good plans including seeing Lions and a party at the project in Bukoora. Just hope the rain keeps off a bit after a heavy downpour last night - although good for the crops!

Will be nice to have a break from the NTC. The supervision program for the student teachers was very interesting (but exhausting)and I learnt a lot about education here and the challenges everyone faces. The standard of teaching and education is a real problem, but it was good to visit these schools in the rural areas and give some specific feedback to individual teachers. Having seen teaching in schools now, it gives me more thoughts about what to present at the NTC and I will be approaching the principal soon with some ideas ..... we shall see! Highlights include 80km drives to the middle of nowhere to watch lessons and observing Swahili lessons!

Claudia is giving a talk at a Sunday School Teacher's conference. She is talking about how to plan sessions and giving ideas for making resources from locally available materials. She will also give out her curriculum that she has put together - so we hope it will be well received. It is a good opportunity and we hope it will lead to further, more regular training.

Lake Kivu

2009-08-03T08:31:00.005+01:00

We have just got back from a lovely 5 day trip to Kyumba on the shores of Lake Kivu. Lake Kivu is a beautiful fresh water Lake that marks part of the western border of Rwanda and Congo. Kyumbya has been a resort for missionaries in East Africa since 1946, so had some real history to it. There was a nice beach and the children really enjoyed swimming and playing in boats - it was lovely and warm. There were about 60 people all together from America and Europe and it was great for the kids to have lots of other western children to play with. There was also a preacher from America and it was really nice to get some input for ourselves.

We spent our 6th Wedding Anniversary going for a kayak ride together out into the lake to visit some Islands - very romantic!

It was a long drive, right through Rwanda (on really good roads!). It was interesting and sobering though to pass the many genocide memorial museums and to realise these were the very same roads about 15 years ago that held the roadblocks that led to the deaths of so many Rwandans. The country has moved on dramatically since then though and is developing far better than Uganda.

More pictures in the photo gallery and on facebook.....! facebook album

We are back in Rwanda in two weeks to pick up Jonathan and Kristen from Kigali.

Pastoral Care - A Challenge in Ugandan Schools.

2009-07-23T12:21:00.005+01:00

It was good to meet with Enid today but it is a real challenge to begin to address some of the pastoral needs of the students. Unlike UK schools, there are no tutor group systems. Students arrive and are shown to their dormitory (many students are boarders and this is the norm for many students) and then the studying begins. Presently there is no system for settling new students in, they really do just get on with it unless they are fortunate to know another older student in the school who will show them around.

Although all students do have a teacher allocated to mentor them, practically due to the schedule of study there is little time for students to be able to see their mentor. Many staff also feel ill equipped to mentor,having not experienced being mentored and due to the minimal training received. Also due to the low wages any time teachers are free, they will often go to their second or third job.

So having discussed some of the challenges, Enid felt the best way forward was to organise some basic counselling training for the teachers and then to look at the possiblity of training a group of students as peer counselllors. I'm looking forward to working with Enid and seeing how things develop.

Progress at Last

2009-07-22T08:48:00.003+01:00

Just a quick one to report I have finally heard some news regarding the training of Sunday School Teachers. I had a text to say a conference has been organised from 14th - 18th August. They have put me (Claudia) down as one of the speakers. So it will be good to hear more of what the conference will include and what input I'll be able to have. Hopefully though this will be the start of some regular training workshops, which will focus on practical skills and ideas that can be used week by week in Sunday schools.

I now just need to get the Sunday School curriculum finished for the rest of the year (4 months material) as the conference will be a really good opportunity to give the teaching material directly into Sunday School Teachers hands.

I also have a meeting with Enid, a member of staff from Kigezi High School tomorrow regarding pastoral care. It will good to meet her and have opportunity to see what the needs are and whether I can be of assistance. Enid we found out is also the sister of our landlord Henry.

Happy Birthday!

2009-07-17T18:55:00.005+01:00

Today marks the one year anniversary of us beginning the blog.

Back in July 2008, we had just finished our year at All Nations Christian College and had returned temporarily to Redhill.

Our post of 17 July 2008 was to inform everyone that Craig had been accepted to work at a teacher training college in Kabale, Uganda! A lot has happened since then and as we look back on our first year, we thank God for his leading and the opportunities he has opened up for us here. Many of these opportunities were surprises to us - especially the project and the training of Sunday school teachers! We have had the privilege of working with some fantastic people here, especially Emmy and Ivan and the Sixth form leavers group of teenagers. We thank God for these people.

We have been welcomed at the NTC by some great staff members.We are enjoying our roles there and coping with the massive changes that it represents for us!

The children too have settled remarkably and are really enjoying their life in Kabale. Leo's school has been more than we could have hoped for.

There has been frustrations and difficulties too and we thank everyone for their continued interest in and support of us here. The blog has been viewed nearly 2500 times by supporters in over 15 countries! Your emails, phone calls, blog comments, skype chats, facebook messages, prayers and parcels(!) make us feel really supported - thanks so much. And of course - thanks to the internet......:)

We look forward to what the next year holds for us and are glad to no longer be in the 'settling in' phase. We will continue to share it all with you ......

Ivan's Project

2009-07-11T19:06:00.005+01:00

Since we started the project last year, Ivan has been keen to set up something similar in his home village, Muyebe. Ivan is the student we are assisting through the project to go to university. He has just finished his first year of Agricultural Science. We have built a storehouse with his Father and planted 2 fields. Ivan has been very proactive, organising 10 families at his village who have lost their fathers. He has also found someone to donate land for free and registered his project with the church.

Our project is supplying some seeds, but he has organised all labour and land - the mothers are working together and will share the proceeds to pay for school fees and school materials for their many children.

Today we had the pleasure of meeting this group for the first time. We had gone to Muyebe to harvest Ivan's first field. From the money kindly donated by individuals and churches, Claudia put together a pack for each child (toothpaste and toothbrush, exercise book, bible, pens and a complete outfit of clothes). As you can see in the picture these really are the most desperate of children.

We are so proud of Ivan doing this under his own steam. He plans some bible studies and wants to organise some teaching by local people on bringing up kids. They started digging their large field today and will plant sweet potatoes. We will keep you posted...!

Let there be light

2009-07-04T09:53:00.003+01:00

Once again the realities of life in the village came to the forefront recently. Emmy will study at University starting August, but will not board at the university, so he can continue managing the project. This means he will need to study at home in the evenings, which is not possible without power and light. Some people use paraffin lamps which gives poor light and the paraffin is expensive. We decided to buy him a car battery - which can be charged in town for 500 shillings (20p). We think it should provide light and charge his mobile phone for about 2 weeks before needing charging. He was very excited to have power - the first time ever in his house! It also means the other students in the project who live near by can come over for some light to study.....!

The fields are near to harvesting now and the wheat looks great. We will take it to town to have it ground to flour and then sell at a better price. We just need a bit more rain!

Craig starts supervising the student teachers on teaching practice from Monday. This will be 3 weeks of travelling around local secondary and primary school observing and meeting with the student teachers. It will be quite a demanding few weeks, but looking forward to it. Just hope that having a Mzungu in the back of the classroom doesn't cause too much of a distraction!

Kids Packs

2009-06-30T07:29:00.003+01:00

As part of the Bakiga Community Project as well as planting fields, distributing bibles and mosquito nets we are also putting together Kids Packs. As we go to the villages we often are greeted by the wonderful smiling faces of children, waving and shouting 'How are you Muzungu?' It's amazing really as when you take a closer look at these children, they are often dirty and their clothes are really more like rags. Usually these children are just sitting around, there are no toys to play with or playgrounds to go to, it's certainly not like the childhood many of us would imagine and want for our own children.

So we are putting together some basic Kids Packs: a set of clothes (£1-2), toothbrush and toothpaste (30p), a writing book (15p), a pack of coloured pencils (25p) and a pencil sharpener (15p) so a grand total of just under £3 (9000 Ugandan Shillings) for each child. Not a lot of money to us but for a family with four, five or more children they just can't afford such luxuries. At the moment we hope to distribute some Kids Pack to the children who visit Ivan's home (around 10 children) and to a family who live next to Jerom's field in Bookora.

We will of course keep you up to date and hope to take some photos when we go, so you can see some of the children we meet.

Personal Gifts

2009-06-20T07:23:00.003+01:00

We want to thank those friends and churches who have sent us some personal gifts for our use here in Uganda. We have also been really encouraged by people's financial support of the project - thank you so much. Can we ask that you please direct all such future one off gifts and project support directly to us and NOT to Crosslinks - you can email us. This doesn't affect the monthly support that so many of you signed up for last year - that stays the same! Hope this makes some sense.......:)

Uganda life

2009-06-17T19:03:00.003+01:00

We met again today with the 20 A level vacists. It is actually quite enjoyable having the house invaded by them all. We did a good bible study on temptation and it was again interesting to note the different cultural views on issues here. We very much enjoy our time with this group and will miss them when they all go off to university in September. They also seemed to enjoy Claudia's home made pop-corn!

Two days ago we spent the morning clearing land in the swamp, ready for planting. Leo loves it there - jumping in the water. But it was the worst work we have yet done - cutting this thick vegetation with slashers. Six of us from the project worked at it for about 3 hours - but had to stop due to blisters and bleeding hands. Not fun. We decided to hire some 'skilled' (tough) locals to finish the job - apparently 2 of them finished in just a day. At least we tried!

The NTC has begun exams now for the next couple of weeks, followed by students going on school practice. Craig is also doing some A level marking from the UK via the power of the internet - helps keep his hand in the UK system. The preaching at the NTC went well and they seemed to enjoy a slightly more interactive approach. Claudia is up next!

The power situation got really bad this month, so we have bought some batteries which charge when the power is available. We can then use the power of the batteries when the power goes off. Works pretty well and at least gives us the internet back and one plug in light! Definitely a big improvement. Only thing is that the water has just gone off for some reason today - we don't know why. Hope it returns for tomorrow.

These of the joys of Uganda....!

Resources

2009-06-10T15:29:00.002+01:00

Just for information - I have put the children's powerpoint in the Resources section of the blog. I have also uploaded Claudia's Sunday school curriculum that she is writing - for those that are interested.

'No Power!'

2009-06-04T06:43:00.004+01:00

The last few weeks the electricity supply has been pretty bad and the last few days it has tended to go off around 9.30am and then return around 6pm. This means no oven for any bread baking and no computer, printer or internet! Craig has been having serious withdrawal symptoms but joking aside he has been trying to finish preparing his sermon for Sunday, so quite frustrating. So this morning the bread and cake are in the oven and I'm hoping the power won't go off before they are cooked. Leo has just gone to school and Bethany is watching Barney ABC, which she is very excited about. Although its good for the children to know the DVD player is not always available! So we wait and see....

It does make you think though, how much we take things for granted. How many times do we turn on a light, boil the kettle, watch the TV, use the computer? Not forgetting the many gadgets we have for doing all sorts of things - bread makers, hair dryers, toasters, washing machines, tumble dryers, electric power tools, lawn mowers etc.... I wonder how we in the west would cope if we had our electricity turned off everyday (or even one day) - apart from the feelings of frustration, annoyance, I imagine we would phoning to complain and petitioning our MP's for action. Here people just have to get on with it, it's just how life is. There isn't enough electricity produced in the country and the electricity that is produced, some is actually sold to neighbouring countries! When life is difficult there is little anyone can do, so when we talk about 'No power' that is often how it is for the people too, they have 'No Power'. So when we read Jeremiah 22:15 - 16, it is a challenge to us, what does it mean for us to defend the cause of the poor and needy?

On another note - Craig has been assisting the church run a leadership course this week, with a group of upcoming potential leaders from across town. Organised by Wyclif who attended an intensive course in Kenya last month. Integrity of leaders is a big issue here (and in the UK now we hear!). We recently read Uganda came 4th from bottom in a global corruption report - so this is a good opportunity to explore important issues with these young people.

Quiz Answers

2009-05-17T17:11:00.002+01:00

The fast answer is that nearly ALL of these items are considered as luxuries here. That said, some are seen as more important if any money becomes available. As you read prices, bear in mind an average wage (eg for a primary school teacher) is 200,000 shillings per month (£65) and many people don’t earn a wage at all. A person digging in the village is paid 2,500 shillings per day (£0.80p).

Milk : A luxury for most. It is bought from a milk cooling station in town and then must be boiled before eating. Some in the village have their own cows to produce milk.

Electricity : A REAL luxury! Only 5% of Ugandans have access to electricity and, as we have found out, it is very expensive and very unreliable!

Eggs : Cost 200 shillings each and wont usually be bought. Only eaten if people own chickens themselves. Often given as gifts.

Charcoal for cooking : Charcoal is used by many, but at 12,500 shillings (£4) for a sack it is bought in small quantities only. A lot of people consider charcoal as too expensive and cook using firewood instead – much smokier and less heat, but cheaper.

Bread : A luxury – very seldomly bought, unless for special occasions. Bread and eggs might be given for special visitors.

Tap on the compound: A real Luxury – Very few in rural areas have their own tap – a village shares taps or collects water from rivers/lakes/springs. Connection fees are high and water can be stolen, which deters people. Also many people can’t afford to pay for the water anyway. We have recently installed a tap on Charity’s compound.

Meat: A real Luxury. Maybe eaten once a week by some families. Often only at special occasions like Christmas, Weddings etc. Costs 4000 shillings a Kg (£1.30)

Juice: Never bought – costs 3000 shillings (£1) a litre, imported. People who grow fruit make their own (including us now!)

Lantern: Luxury – most people rely on candles (or strangely torches on mobile phones) for light after dark. Paraffin is too expensive (about £1 a litre).

New shoes: Luxury – people buy second hand “refurbished” shoes from the market.

Fruit: A real treat of being here is that a great range of fresh fruit can be bought at reasonable cost (a bunch of 15 large bananas = £0.50p). Passion fruit is 2000 shillings (£0.65p) a kg! Not Sainsburys prices, but still a stretch for many here.

Fish: Like meat a Luxury. Lovely fish – Talapia can be found from the Lake, but price beyond most people. Some can afford to buy dried fish in the market (covered in flies!).

Nappies: Only white people and the richest Ugandans buy disposable nappies. They cost about £0.25p each and are often fake! We only use them for Bethany at night times. Most rural Ugandans use nothing – children run around bare fleshed and dirty bottoms are cleaned with leaves. We haven’t seen hardly any washable nappies either (apart from ours!). Babies just wear clothes or nothing.

Toothpaste: Luxury – water will do!

Cooking oil: Luxury – 5000 shillings (£1.75) per litre. Seldomly used in cooking and then used very sparingly.

Margarine: Luxury – 7000 shillings(£2.30) per kg tub. Since bread is also a luxury, little need for this. Bread can also be eaten plain.

Salt: Essential! All Ugandans have to add vast quantities of salt to every meal they prepare. Adds flavour, but not great for the heart!

Bible: Luxury – A Rukiga bible costs 14,000 shillings (£4.85) and is beyond most people. Some people have very old bibles (KJV!) or just new testaments.

Mobile Phone: Very expensive, but becoming very important for many people, even in the rural areas. People will try to buy second hand phones. However, charging the phones is a problem – they must be brought into town to be charged at a cost and people can only afford to load very small quantities of airtime (1,000 shillings at a go - £0.30p). This 1000 shillings must be made to last, so calls are very short (and sometimes appear rude!). Mobile phone use is rapidly growing in Uganda.

Manure for planting: Luxury – most people plant without, unless they have cows/chickens. This affects yields.

EXTRA BONUS Toilet : Luxury - Only 5% have access to piped sewerage. About 60% have good access to a latrine (usually a long drop).

And Finally .... School Fees: The biggest essential and cause of most difficulty for everyone. They vary but are usually in the region of 150,000 shillings per term for a secondary student. A massive expense, especially for the notoriously large African families.

Attack of the Tetse Flies.

2009-05-15T16:06:00.004+01:00

Last week we ventured to Kigali, Rwanda once more. The internet has been down for most of the week and to be honest it has been a blessing as I have had to think long and hard about writing this blog - it is not for the faint hearted!

Kigali was a breath of fresh air - great roads with central reservations, quality supermarket where we can get genuine products and treat ourselves to a Danish pastry or two! However after two days the kids were getting restless so we decided to venture eastwards to the game park. It was a good opportunity as we wanted to check it out incase it was any good for when our visitors come. We are sooooo glad we checked as it was awful! We can laugh now that we are back safe and sound but it was a bit of nightmare to say the least.

Firstly we paid quite a bit to get in because we had a foreign vehicle. Then as we entered our car was surrounded by a swarm of tetse flies, we promptly shut our windows (in the stifling heat)and went about killing all the ones in the car. It was a blood bath! We continued on, encouraged to see some baboons and antelope.... however that was where our encouragement stopped. We then travelled around the park for nearly 9 hours, as we took a wrong turn which wasn’t on our map and landed up driving through swamps, straddling crevasses, driving over rocks, through prickly bushes and no animals in sight (well half a dozen zebra which cheered Leo up). Our car took quite a battering - we hit a couple of large logs hidden beneath the swamp waters, ran over a snake (oops) and got stuck on rock, which a truck of Rwandans lifted the car off.

Craig as always was such a good driver, appearing calm and collected throughout though he hadn't a clue where we were. We stopped several times as we bumped into various Rwandans wandering around on foot, to ask for directions. The fact they were on foot, suggested to us that the promise of a lion or elephant was unlikely! Anyway we finally made it out of the park, with another blood bath of flies which Leo did a good job of bashing to death. Actually found some park rangers and had to ask in French how to get out - but they didn't really know where on the map their ranger station was either!

We did actually eventually land up the path we should have taken in the first place which was equally as horrendous as all the wrong ones we went on. Anyway I drove back to the hotel, which was actually really nice and had a little playground – well a swing and roundabout which the kids loved and we had a great meal there. Sadly it is unlikely we will return to that area, though the food made the trip a little worthwhile.

So we made it back to Kabale where I went about cooking dinner for my hungry family - it was then a very very bad smell wafted out of the cooker. We had to dismantle the cooker for the second time to find yet another dead rat. I was glad the bad smell was the rat and not my cooking. However it was disgusting getting rid of the decomposing thing and all the time we could hear Leo crying because he wanted to see the decaying corpse and we told him he had to stay in bed. Anyway in the morning, he was happy to see the rat's head in the burning pit – he’s such a boy!

And so ended our 'holiday' in Rwanda ..... feeling very relaxed!

Powerpoint for Children's Life in Kabale

2009-05-14T10:42:00.005+01:00

I am uploading a powerpoint of a day in the life of the children. It is BIG = 4MB, but if you are interested please feel free to download!

We hope this powerpoint will be of interest to different people : Friends and Family because of the children, supporting churches it might be a useful resource for children's groups; Crosslinks - other applying families might be interested. Let us know what you think.

For Katy - Hope this works for you before Saturday!

click here to download the powerpoint file :

Children Powerpoint

Quiz

2009-05-14T08:48:00.003+01:00

How much of what we regularly buy, do we consider to be 'essential'?

For most Ugandans, which of the following are seen as luxuries and which are seen as essentials? :

Milk
Electricity
Eggs
Charcoal for cooking
Bread
Tap on the compound
Meat
Juice
Lantern
New shoes
Fruit
Fish
Nappies - of any form - definately disposables are luxuries!
Toothpaste
Cooking oil
Margarine
Salt
Bible
Mobile Phone
Manure for planting

Answers and explanations in a few days! ………………..

Schools, Colleges and Universities

2009-05-01T07:17:00.002+01:00

We yesterday spent the day talking with various education institutions about people we/the project support. Emmy is looking for a university place in September to study Development studies. Unfortunately his A level grades weren't good enough for him to go to Bishop Barham, but we are pleased that Kabale University have agreed to take him. Being there also means he can be a day student (ie still living at home) which will enable him to continue to manage the project up in Bukoora - which we are really grateful for.

Junior has now completed his first term of A level, but found it really hard going. We went to talk to his headmaster about his options and requested that he drop one of his subjects (economics). Nearly all A level students here are forced to take 4 A levels (and a general paper) and it is just too much for many of them. We had some interesting discussions about the merits of taking fewer subjects and concentrating on passing them rather than failing many! The headmaster eventually agreed and we think this will help Junior next term. Schools are very academic here and put much pressure on their pupils and many pupils buckle under this pressure, which is quite sad. The A level syllabuses are also very difficult - much harder than the UK! And on top of that all education is in English - their second language, adding a lot of complications for rural pupils like Junior.

Jerome is still doing well at College and is enjoying his Entrepreneurship course. Most of his lessons are in the afternoon, so he is still making the effort to cycle up to the village each week to help Emmy with all the project work up there. Again, much appreciated by us.

Ivan returns from university today and we look forward to having him around to help with the project for the next few months. There is always much to do! We will be discussing with his father soon about how the project can assist with the loan he took out for Ivan's fees.

As for us ... teaching the primary teachers has begun, but the amount of teaching has been reduced since fewer teachers can afford to come for upgrading (they must pay for themselves). This means only teaching monday and tuesdays, so feels a bit like a holiday after all. Next week, we are going down to Kigali for a few days visit and to do a bit of a recky ready for when Kristen and Jonathan (friends from UK/Canada) visit - they are flying into Kigali in August. The Children are on holiday as well now, until end of May. Leo has his first Ugandan sleep-over tonight (Friday) with the Slaters (an American missionary family who have been here 10 years and have 4 boys (!)). Leo is very excited - but not as much as us - we are going out for a meal for 2, for the first time since we arrived! (The Slaters are also looking after Bethany while we are out...)

Bye for now .....

Rally Driving in Kabale

2009-04-20T18:20:00.003+01:00

If you've ever wanted to get behind the wheel of a rally car and experience the power-slides, handbrake turns, skid cause and control - Kabale is the place to come. Well not quite! The rainy season is well and truly here and on a recent trip up to the project, we were very glad to have a 4X4 going up the hill. However I say up, as due to an excess amount of rain the road had turned into a bit of a muddy ski slope. The wheels of our trusty RAV4 got caked in mud and we found ourselves slowly sliding down the road. We came to a stop and found some very helpful locals who explained another car had had similar problems and they had guided it down. So around 6 Ugandans guided the car down, pushing on the passenger side of the car to stop it sliding into the ditch alongside the road. Myself, the kids, Joy, Oscar and Amy (Oscar's visitor from the UK) walked behind trying not to fall into the mud bath - as usual, all good fun!

Easter Day went well as All Saints, I made up a Easter Story box to tell the Easter story - so there were lots of props and also actions for the children to do and get involved. I'm still waiting to find out when we can run our next training day for Sunday school teachers but I'm currently writing the next few months curriculum in preparation. It has been good to see the children's work slowly developing and becoming more interactive, despite the challenges of trying to teach under a tent in the pouring rain.

Just after Easter we attended a training day on HIV and Aids at the NTC. After a delayed start (just 2 hours waiting) it was interesting to hear some of the issues and concerns Ugandans have about HIV. It also highlighted a need for promoting pretest counselling and post-test counselling at the college, to help people decide if they want to be tested to findout their HIV status and then to talk afterwards once they have the results.

Other news - We continue to harvest extra large cabbages and the spinach looks as though it is going to take over the garden. I've started to experiment with spinach recipes: spinach pasta, creamed spinach, stir fry spinach and of course spinach pie! Unfortunately for those of you who know Craig, he hates spinach, this I see as a minor problem but a challenge none the less in getting rid of our spinach mountain!

End of Term

2009-04-10T07:30:00.004+01:00

We are now approaching the end of the term for the secondary students at the NTC. This also marks the end of the main teaching - next term, they will have exams and then go for teaching practice, under our supervision. We have a couple of weeks break and then the primary teachers return for the upgrading program - but during these weeks we are expected to mark the exams which were taken in January - so no respite!

The car recently succumbed to the pot holes and broke a support strut in the suspension. It goes in for welding today - hopefully not too expensive, but nothing is cheap here! Quite frustrating and completely avoidable if only some of these 'holes' (read craters) could be repaired from time to time - very wishful thinking! We did plan a trip away over the easter break, but that wont happen now.

On Sunday we are off to a local school with the senior 6 Vacists to support them as they take services and lead a program there. Today Leo has a birthday Party to go to - the son of the owners of the Royal Supermarket in town. Tomorrow the children have an easter egg hunt at the house of the Slaters (missionaries from America with 5 boys!).

Last, but not least .... the mouse (rat) is dead! Thanks to a strategically placed piece of poisoned bread. Still no cooker though as the electrician seems to have disappeared. Claudia is doing well with the charcoal cooker and has managed several meals for visitors without the cooker.

Projects

2009-04-10T07:24:00.003+01:00

We had a long day up in Muyebe yesterday - finishing the planting of Ivan's field. It is now half planted potatoes and half wheat. We all caught too much sun in the open fields and are nursing some red skin - but looking forward to the tan! We and the children also practised our Rukiga with the women digging with us - much to their amusement.

Emmy has been very busy this week organising the planting of all the fields in Bukoora: His and Jeromes - Wheat/Cabbages/Potatoes ; Bright - Potatoes; Ronald - Wheat; Valentine and Gulliver - Climbing Beans. So lots to do. The rains have really kicked in now, so good to have everything in the ground.

Jerome has now started his college course in Town, funded by the project. A 2 year residential course on Entrepreneurship. Emmy will apply for a course and Bishop Barham College, starting September. More updates will be on the projects website.

'Where's my Sock?'

2009-04-05T18:43:00.006+01:00

For anyone who has ever asked the question 'Where's my other sock?' please read on, the mystery is solved!

On Friday I found that the ignition switch on the cooker wasn't working and on closer inspection, neither was the oven. We only bought the cooker in August and so wasn't too pleased. We called a 'trusty' electrician who came round yesterday to sort the problem out. After dismantling the hob, we were all very surprised to find three socks (2 of Bethany's and 1 of Leo's), a torn up plastic bag and various other homely comforts and on top of this all the wires to the cooker controls had been chewed and cut! Only a truly cunning mouse would dare to make a home in such a place, we just wondered how he hadn't electrocuted himself in the process.

Tonight we have laid various poison traps around the place, to rid the house of the mice who have taken up residence, having been told the rainy season is a time when they tend to come inside to shelter. Updates to come ....

Cultural Misunderstandings

We have often wondered why Ugandans are often late for meetings, however we recently found out why. Craig had arranged to meet a man who is involved with the community project at 10.00am at his house. On arriving the man was no where to be seen, so Craig rang him to find out where he was. The man told him he was in town, with not a hint of an apology. Craig, puzzled, drove into town to meet him. On arriving the man said he thought they were meeting later... at 4pm!?! Apparently rural Ugandans run on Rukiga time - 6.00am (dawn) being the start, and so if someone says meet at 10.00, a Ugandan can hear 'meet you at 4.00pm'(10 hours on from 6:00am)!

Also, it is common to be asked 'Can I borrow 25,000 Ugandan Shillings (£8) and I will give it back next week?'. However, translation is: 'Can you give me 25,000 shillings and not ask for it back?!' Money lent is rarely returned, as we are learning. However I'm reading a book called , 'African Friends and Money Matters' which is helping to make sense of many cultural differences. All good fun.

A Busy Weekend

2009-03-29T12:22:00.005+01:00

Yesterday was one of those days when everything happens at the same time. We had the privilege of hosting over 20 of the senior 6 vacists (the students who have completed A level and are waiting for university which starts in September). They are a lovely dedicated group who organise themselves to preach, lead services, sing, drama in schools and colleges all over town. We do our best to give them some support, so the house and garden was taken over for the day. We did a bible study on leadership (Uganda is country often lacking leadership of integrity) and they did some rehearsals and watched lion the witch and the wardrobe. We hope to do some work with them with music in the coming weeks as well. They are very talented. Claudia did well with the food, since we were expecting only around 5 - very African!

Claudia also had an engagement speaking at the NTC Christian Union conference. She was asked to speak about "what makes a good relationship?" - apparently the answers are: love, faithfulness and good communication - so Claudia informs me. She returns again today to take questions.

Bethany and the giant Cabbage

2009-03-25T16:41:00.002Z

We have been harvesting and planting at the house too. Cabbages, potatoes, carrots, spinach, beans and pineapples. All helps keep our living costs down and we have donated several bags of cabbages to a project in town that helps feed some of the town street children. Rainy season is just starting now, so looking forward to more produce.
Going by the size of this cabbage, should be in for some good harvests!

Trust

2009-03-18T17:55:00.004Z

We've had a bit of a difficult few weeks with a couple of the people we had got to know quite well. We are learning that trusting people here sometimes needs to be a careful process. We had a few things stolen and these people acting dishonestly with us - even though they were quite close to the whole family. Very frustrating and quite sad really. It is a difficult fine line between not allowing people close to the family and recognising that sometimes people here want relationships with Mzungus (white people) for less than worthy reasons!

We had a helpful chat with missionaries who have been here for 20 years. Apparently some within this culture value deception highly. It has even sometimes been that when the Jesus film was shown, people saw Judas as the hero character!

We are fortunate though to be working with such great people as Emmy up in the village and the youth at the church are fantastic. We are also really grateful for our housekeeper, Charity, who works very hard and helps us with the kids and has proven very trustworthy (and also a good judge of local characters!).

On a lighter note, I have just been marking tests for the students. A selection of names put down for the lecturer (me!) : Clag, Crag, Claig, Graig and even Claudia! Must be doing something wrong .......

We have also just ordered a box of 50 bibles written in plain English from the US. Yes they are proper English! When they arrive, we look forward to starting to distribute them as part of the project. Very few own their own bibles here, due to cost. Having spoken to people in the project it was mainly felt that people preferred bibles in simple English than the local language, which can be difficult for people to read.

What to do in a power cut

2009-03-12T06:58:00.006Z

Uganda has one of the highest population growth rates in the world. We found this article attempting to explain the problem quite entertaining. See what you think: Uganda Blackouts fuel baby boom or this link - depending where you are(!):Uganda Blackouts fuel baby boom

The Projects - A New Website

2009-02-20T18:41:00.003Z

The projects are expanding in scope and progress, so we thought we would put together another site so that people that are interested can explore in more detail. We are really pleased with the progress being made and the first harvests are just coming now. If you wish to read more about what we have been up to check the site : The Smiths Community project. We will endeavour to keep it reasonably updated with what's going on - the next few months will be busy as they are planting ready for the next rainy season.

Whoever does not have ...

2009-02-14T16:20:00.006Z

We spent a lovely day today at the field project in Emmy's village, Bukora. It is generating a lot of interest and people are requesting to join now. We are keeping it to people that have lost parents and are facing particularly difficult situations. A neighbour to Emmy has joined - Bright. He lost both his parents and is living with his grandparents who can't afford to send him to school for his GCSE year. We were again challenged by the willingness of these poor, aged and sick grandparents to feed and shelter Bright in their home.

With the same thought Emmy has also been feeding and sheltering a teenage boy who came across the border from Congo as a refugee. Quite a few refugees have come across and this impoverished village met and shared out who would look after them all and Jimmy who struggles to provide for himself and his brother and sister volunteered. There are lots of problems in the society here, but this generosity despite poverty is amazing to see. Both Bright and Jimmy (brother of Emmy) will start school again this week which is great. Jimmy surprisingly took quite a bit of convincing since he has missed so many years and is now older than his peers in the same class. But has now finally agreed. Emmy's sister, Queen, has refused to return to school after so long and is struggling with things at the moment - do pray for her.

On Friday we had a nice day with the boys from the youth at Church - taking them to the lake and attempting to teach them to swim. They were very brave and did well really, but we were glad for the life jackets!

Touring

2009-02-06T07:58:00.004Z

We have had a couple of weeks now between the primary teachers finishing their exams and the secondary teachers returning for the next term. We have taken the opportunity to do a bit of visiting around, which has been really nice. We first visited Kisoro - about an hour or so further down the Kabale road towards Congo. It is the last big town before the border. A real frontier place, but has a lovely national park which includes 3 volcanoes which mark the border. There is also caves, monkey and Gorilla treking. We didn't get time to explore fully, but will return - hopefully when they have finished building the road!

We have just got back from a visit to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda (Now that we have our passports and work permits!). It is only a 2 hour drive from Kabale and even the border formalities were pretty straightforward. Kigali is much more developed than anything in Uganda, so it seemed like a little taste of the west – we stayed in a hotel and had some nice food, which was a great change after 6 months! Claudia could even buy hair mouse! We also visited the genocide memorial which was harrowing. A great memorial, but the details of what happened are shocking – 900,000 people killed in 3 months, unbelievable. The memorial itself has 250,000 graves. We were amazed how ‘normal’ the country seemed though and it is actually prospering now more than Uganda. There has been a real effort to come to terms with what happened and to move on. We went with Emmy who has Rwandaise friends - it was special to be in their home and hear the accounts of what happened from local people. We will definitely go back to visit.

We also had a lovely day with many of the youth from different churches in Kabale (about 70 in all). We went to Lake Bunyonyi, mostly playing games and having fun, but also a nice opportunity to pray for the ones going off to university or boarding schools this week. Quite funny following the pick up with over 30 of the boys crammed in the back - health and safety!!

Hello Again

2009-01-21T19:16:00.002Z

Been a bit of a while since we have been able to write anything. Our new reliable internet has not been working for about 3 weeks now - all good fun. Also means emails have been difficult to send. So we are borrowing a friends internet and doing a quick update.

We have been to a couple of village christenings over the Christmas holiday. It is nice to be getting to know families more now and to attend big occasions like this - even if the service does last 4 hours (17 babies being christened!). Leave it to your imagination how Leo and Bethany coped - especially as we were sitting on benches and service was in Rukiga. Nice to visit a local church though and we were able to say a few words and bring greetings from the UK.

Leo is still on holiday but soon goes back - beginning of Feb. He (and we!) are looking forward to the start of term. It will be the start of the new school year in Uganda, so he will go up a class and he feels like a big boy.

Claudia has started counselling a student at the school that Leo goes to and it seems to be going well so far. She is also now having monthly supervision from the UK via the internet (when it works!).

The primary teachers at the NTC have had exams all this week, once they are over the marking begins, which will be considerable. I hope this gets finished before the secondary students return in Feb. The teaching has been less over the 'holiday' though, so have been able to relax a little as well.

James (our neighbour) and his family took us to their home village - Kanungu a couple of weeks ago. The road was rough and hard going, but we made it there. It is right up by the Congo border and one of the areas where refugees are being catered for. The area is beautiful and we all enjoyed visiting the village and meeting the extended family. There is also Emmy's family there, so he came too and we took him to see his Grandmother who he hadn't seen for 2 years. It was great to enable them to see each other again, but you wouldn't believe the road we had to drive up...!

We had a lovely day 'retreat' at the house with the boys from the church youth. They are a great bunch and we hope to build more friendships with this group - although when they return to school most of them leave the area for boarding. They all want to come again, but that may be because of the food Claudia cooked!

WORK PERMIT NEWS : We heard today that the permits have been done and our friend Colin the dentist is going to Kampala tonight. He will collect them for us and bring them on Friday. Thanks for all your prayers on this - we think we are finally there.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-06T14:55:00.004Z

We wish you all a happy 2009. We had a lovely meal with our neighbours and their 6(!) children. A good friend of ours Ivan also stayed up with us. There were even fireworks at a local hotel that we could see - which were great and set off exactly on time!!

Ivan has been helping me build a slide and swings for the children in our garden. They look good (pics on the photo gallery) and the children love them. We met Ivan early in our time here, but he has been at University and just come back for holiday. He is the first person in his village to make it to University and we are starting to expand the project by extending the same work to his family. Following the same pattern of helping his family plant unplanted land and building a storehouse. We anticipate the land can generate enough profits to pay his university fees, which would be great.

The first project is doing well. Fields will be ready for harvest in Feb and the storehouse is nearly built (pics in the gallery). Emmy and Jerome have decided to use the first part of profits to pay for their sisters and brother to go to college/school for the first time in years which is very exciting.

The new year began for us with a trip to Kampala re visas. The extensions we got expired on the 3 Jan! This time much more straight forward since we know this friend of our landlords in the immigration. He has kept our passports and promises to finish the work permits and send them on to us. So we will see ... The hardest part was finding fuel for the trip. There is a big shortage in Uganda and especially in Kabale. Prices have shot up (£1.25 a litre) when you can get it at all.

We wish you all a peaceful and blessed new year

Happy Christmas!

2008-12-24T16:22:00.009Z

We wish everyone a Happy Christmas and peaceful new year.

With thanks for everyones prayers and support over the year.

Lots of Love,

Craig, Claudia, Leo and Bethany

Poverty

2008-12-14T10:41:00.002Z

We wanted to do a post that tries to explain the struggle that everyday life is for most people here in Uganda. As we begin to get to know more families better now, we see the struggle that it is to provide food and shelter, raise school fees, deal with illnesses and death and generally survive.

Most people out of the towns don't have formal jobs, but work in the village land. But again as we have seen with Emmy and Jerome, many families don't have the resources to plant all the land that they own. They are reduced to growing just enough food to feed the family which provides no savings for the future or in case of unforeseen problems. It also means they have very little money for school fees or anything else they need to buy in town (and crucially medicine and doctors fees).

For those that do have jobs, average salaries are around 200,000 Uganda Shillings a month (£70). Even teachers and nurses begin on salaries like this - the lecturers at the NTC earn about 400,000 which is considered a good salary. However, prices put many commodities out of the reach of all but the richest: Petrol £1 a litre; Meat £5 per kg; Milk 30p per litre ; Sugar 70p per kg ; Bread 50p per small loaf; Flour £1.10 per kg; Cereal £2 per box. Electricity for the 5% who have it is more expensive than the UK. This is before rent etc is paid from the salary. The staple diet is maize and beans grown in the villages. Secondary school fees range from £30 to £150 per term for each child.

This post is prompted by spending the afternoon talking through a problem with someone from church where his mother was arrested for failing to repay money to a money lender. With 100% interest added, over £1500 was owed. The original money foolishly (but maybe a little understandably) borrowed to help pay school fees and for food. The Father doesn't support the family. Such lack of any resources leaves people with very few options - they are looking at selling the only small piece of land that they own which they use to grow food. We have hired a lawyer, but things don't look great. Do pray for this family.

The daily struggle invades all aspects of most people's lives: Students that fail to finish school or have to register late, lecturers and teachers who can't devote themselves to their jobs because they must take on other jobs to support their families, corruption rampant where people take any opportunity they can see to raise some extra funds and most sadly a desire by many young people to escape all this by leaving the country - unable to see its beauty and potential. As one person put it to me - it's not beautiful when you have no money to live on.

In the midst of all this we see a vibrant church and people with a real dependence on their God, even for their most basic everyday needs. We see a great willingness to share financially with people whenever there are funerals or weddings - everyone in the community contributes. Such are the contrasts of Uganda. Our relative wealth challenges us daily, as does the impossibility of helping all those we know well that face dire situations. But we thank God for the opportunity we have to share the daily lives of those around us and seek with them God's provision.

Cooking in Kabale

2008-12-09T17:38:00.004Z

'The Powers off!' has become a regular comment by Leo and Bethany over the last week and this has been a bit more of a challenge than usual, as our gas ran out about two weeks ago now and we can't refill as there has been no gas deliveries to Kabale. Apparently it should arrive next week but that is what they said last week! So the weekend was fun cooking completely on our lovely charcoal burner. Cooking beans and potatoes had lost their appeal so we attempted spaghetti and an omelette (not together of course). I also tried out from my trusty 'More-with-Less' cook book making my first bottle of tomato ketchup!

'More-with-Less' is a world community cookbook written by the Mennonites, when my sister first gave it to me, I did wonder why she had given me a cookbook with so many 'bean' recipes!!! However living in Kabale with a limited choice of food and no processed food or microwaves, it has been great! I'm also increasing grateful to Esther Clift who recommended I bring a pressure cooker with me, I always thought it was a bit old fashioned but it saves fuel (so environmentally friendly) and tenderises meat in 30 minutes (better than 4 hours in the oven).

My last culinary ramble is to say 'we will eat mince pies!' I have to say Christmas without a mince pie would have been a bit sad but thanks again to Esther, I have managed to make my own with aubergines, pineapple, raisins and a some good old mixed spice.

Finally a note regarding PARCELS (especially those containing chocolate items), we have been advised that it is best to send them registered to ensure safe delivery. Sadly a few parcels sent to us, haven't made it through the various handling systems here.

Village Project

2008-12-06T16:34:00.003Z

We are very excited to be starting a small project in one of the local villages. Despite Uganda making much progress with dealing with Aids, it is apparent that many young people in the villages especially, have lost parents to Aids. This leaves families headed by teenagers and young adults struggling to cope with finding school fees for themselves and their younger siblings, caring for the family as well as coping with their own school/college work. Emmy (21) lost both his parents 5 years ago. He is trying to take his A levels, pay school fees, look after his younger brother Jimmy who is sick, work in their field and provide food for them both. A desperate situation that many find themselves in.

This leads to many of these families being unable to use all the land that they actually own. They have no resources to buy seeds and potatoes for planting or to hire workers. The young head of the household just doesn’t have enough time to dig the land. So we are starting a small project, initially with two families: Emmy and a neighbour of his, Jerome, who has lost his father (both pictured at Emmy's house). We enable them to hire workers and buy seed and potatoes so that all their land is planted. When harvested, this money is to be repaid and then will be reused in a similar way with other families. Enough money and potatoes are kept for planting next season and the families then share the remaining profit, which should be considerable. Obviously, having us on the ground ensures saving for next season actually happens. Both Emmy and Jerome are working hard digging themselves and organising their new workers. We are also going to build a store house for the potatoes at Emmy's house. The project has also given us great insight into the way village life works and enabled us to get to know many people there as they get used to the RAV 4 driving up and down each week!

If anyone is interested in supporting this project please let us know - we are keen to expand it after this growing season. All money we provide will always be repaid by the families at harvest time and then reused with another family. Emmy will take responsibility for finding people in the village in similar situations as himself.

More pictures in the gallery ...

The first harvest should be in February – will keep you posted on progress!

Updates

2008-11-30T09:19:00.002Z

Hey - 2 entries in one day!

Term will finish for us next week - although the students themselves seem to decide when they will leave! Unfortunately it is not rest though since the primary school teachers then come for 'upgrading' - so not sure what holiday we get! Teaching is going well for us both and Claudia is enjoying her lesson a week with the whole of the second year group. She is also having regular clients for her counselling which is encouraging. I am beginning to understand that many of the students at the college are there because they have few other options and the places are subsidised by government. Although many are keen to become good teachers, this enthusiasm is not shared by all - which is evident by their attendance and effort in their work. This can make some of the teaching a bit hard going and I must be careful how I try to tackle this - lets remember most of them will earn teacher salaries beginning around £100 per month and face classes of 60/70 + !! The new year 1s are more enthusiastic, so I hope I can build on that with them before they go downhill! The example set by lecturers at the college also varies considerably.....
All this needs wisdom and energy to maintain enthusiasm to strive for what education can be ....

We have just changed our internet which is now reliable and much faster. It is also very expensive and we pay per GB - please no big emails!! However, it is now possible to talk on skype if you see us online.

We continue to get more involved with church with Sunday school, leading a weekly bible study and working a little with the teenage music group. All enjoyable, rewarding and frustrating in one big mix!

Prayer letter will come soon and news of our new project in the village which we are really excited about.....