''For
I know the plans I have for you'', declares the Lord, ''plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen
to you''.
Jeremiah
29 : 11-12
As
we write this the final team of the term have just left and we are
now washing 14 sets of sheets and towels – by hand!
Difficult
to believe we are almost at the end of term, Wakissha mock exams and
the school exams start on Monday for 2 weeks, then a week after that
the students leave with their reports.
Once
we have finished up a few things here we will also be leaving so will
see some of you very soon.
It
has been a very busy term with lots going on with all sorts of
quizzes at The Bridge, The Rock busy with patients from the school
and the community, prefectorial elections, Visitation day, which
included a very long session of voting on a new PTA, and of course
finally seeing the 'extra foot on the basketball posts' completed!
As
always it has been a joy to be involved in Activate even though that
has been with S5 and S6 only. Kato Patrick continues to tell us how
much he is enjoying Activate with S1 to S4. The students tell us he
is a great teacher (and goes without saying he is less batty than the
mzungus they had previously – I mean us Elspeth, not you!).
We
have survived the prefectorial elections which were very exciting.
Electioneering, free and fair voting (we were told), and then of
course the handover ceremonies which took the best part of a Sunday
afternoon and evening, with cake at the end and the added bonus (for
us) of the Wimbledon men's tennis final on World Service radio when
we got back to Mirembe!
Stan
found out he was guest speaker only when we arrived in the school
hall, so a hastily scribbled speech on the back of a scrap of paper
was followed by a brilliant and very encouraging talk based on bread
and yeast – really don't know how he does it.
It
has been a term of many visitors, mostly with only a day or two
between them, so feeling a little tired now. We have already told you
about some of them in the last blog.
This
month we have had Em Ball staying – daughter of Phil and Michele of
ServeDirect. Em was one of the first to teach at WTA, spending her
gap year and subsequent holidays teaching on the old site. She spent
2 weeks with us and then left to travel with her boyfriend. Their aim
– to travel through five African countries in five weeks – quite
a challenge when you consider it is now often taking us two or three
hours to get from Kampala to here!
Not
long after Em left we had the Chase team of 14 staying, from Waltham
Chase Methodist church. We won't try and list everything they did,
will let the photos speak for themselves, but they did a lot!
They
were a lovely group of people with a very wide age range, from 14 to
– well let's just say a little bit older! They had a very diverse
skills set which of course was brilliant news for WTA, The Bridge and
The Rock.
Fortunately
we did find a small window of two days earlier in the month to head
off to the Haven at Jinja and relaxed (as you will see from the
photos) beside the Nile. It was very peaceful and set us up nicely
for the rest of the term.
This
will be our last term here at the school as Project Guardians
although we hope to return to Uganda in the future as tourists – it
is a beautiful country with beautiful people and it has been a
pleasure and a privilege to work amongst them.
We
have made some wonderful friends, from Charles, the staff and some of
their children, the students, the children who come to the Bridge and
many members of the wider community. We will certainly never forget
either them or the experience and we are so grateful to ServeDirect
for giving us the opportunity and stacks and stacks of support.
We
are not going to name names as everyone involved in ServeDirect has
been great in one way or another, so thank you. Also we must thank
Helen and Steve Richardson for introducing us to Jerry and Elspeth in
the first place.
Please
continue to hold Wobulenzi Town Academy, The Rock and The Bridge in
your prayers, and also please pray for the next Project Guardians,
that the Lord has already planted a seed in the hearts of the people
he has chosen.
And
please also pray for us. Some of you have already asked us what we
are doing next and the answer to that is we have no idea. First we
plan to have some downtime to relax and unwind, and then, as always,
we leave such decisions to the Lord and will wait to find out. His
timing not ours.
Thanks
again to all of you who have supported us in this adventure, both
financially and with prayer, newsy emails, phone calls and cards –
bless you all.
This
may well be the last blog for some time – we hope you have enjoyed
them.
Please
continue to keep up with what's happening here by following
ServeDirect on their website (www.servedirect.org) or on Facebook.
With
love Sue and Stan
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| Activate - praying for the UK at Brexit time |
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| basketball posts being dug up - to add an extra 12 inches - who knew there was a regulation height! |
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| discussing the back boards with Roger |
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| off to be lengthened and welded |
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| back in use! |
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| rats for Biology practical - need add no more information...... |
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| Madam Deborah's wedding |
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| Our lovely Eva (Deborah's sister) dolled up for the wedding |
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| Annette (Charles' wife) and Headmistress Gertrude |
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| steps you have to take to get a radio signal for World Service! |
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| Ethan's football training |
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| getting coals for the irons - no electric ones here |
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| Jennie and Melissa visit - and bring Pimms! |
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| some old bloke visits Kasalina school |
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| quiet time in the kitchen |
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| fitting books and craft into the new storage unit |
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| done! |
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| our neighbour cutting down his mango tree - he is up there somewhere! |
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| nearly finished! |
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| digging - with baby on the back of course |
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| discussing items for the assembly with Engola Arnold |
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| pre-baptism class led by Emmanuel |
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| prefectorial elections - campaigning |
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| new prefects being sworn in |
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| hall decorations - now we know why there is a shortage of TP in the latrines! |
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| celebration cake for the new prefects |
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| and certificates for the retiring ones |
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| the point at which Stan realised he had to make a speech! (He was number 6!) |
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| speech from the Headmistress |
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| speech from the retiring Head Prefect - Prossy |
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| speech from some old bloke who was apparently the guest of honour! |
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| regulation hair shaving for all |
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| using Roger's hand-made gym equipment (plastic bottles and cement!) |
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| Saturday afternoon board games |
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| the brick maker next door |
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| Maths quiz at The Bridge |
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| The Bridge - no shoes allowed |
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| Ethan playing 'Simon says' - Ugandan style |
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| Madam Brenda telling the children ' walk, don't run' |
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| some R & R at The Haven by The Nile |
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| hornbills |
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| lunch! |
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| Visitation Day - selling liquid soap and bracelets made by the Entrepreneurship club |
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| visiting parent in uniform! |
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| waiting for parents to arrive |
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| and a lovely welcome when they got there |
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| preparing for the 14 strong Chase team - extra seating! |
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| poles up, canvas on..... |
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| why does this remind me of New Wine? |
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| fun at The Bridge |
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| cake baking (or rather frying) lesson at The Bridge |
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| starting the alphabet wall mural at The Bridge |
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| amazing! |
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| Chase team - worship..... |
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| .......and lessons |
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| and not forgetting jelly (fruits of the spirit illustration) |
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| first taste of jelly ever for these students |
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| they liked it! |
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| line dancing in the evening |
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| orderly queue for the craft lesson |
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| learning the memory verse for the day |
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| goodbye Chase team - you were brilliant! |
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| new baby at The Rock |
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| WTA church - sermon by new Head Girl Akullu Stella |
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| small taste of traditional dancing |
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| worship - Wobulenzi Town Academy style! |
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| Home soon for some R & R and a catch up with this one :) |
