Holidays week two part two

I'm not sure why we can only post four photos at a time but her are a few others.
Thursday and Friday were busy days, Joshua was sick, Owen canned off his bike and lost a toe-nail and there were a few other dramas as well but we survived.
Saturday was a beautiful day, so good that I was able to take some time to work on crosswords, sudoku and code-crackers that Doris had sent through the mail from the papers in NZ .Thanks to Doris for thinking of this, I enjoy the challenge. The boys had done their jobs well in the morning, helped prepare pizzas for lunch and generally got on well with each other during the day.
In the evening we had our second cookout and finished off with toasting some marshmallows which went down a treat as can be seen in these photos.

As has been mentioned earlier, one of the things the boys love doing is helping Marilyn cook. Here Ezra was getting quite attached to his pudding preparation.

We have found it challenging constantly having one or more of the boys around but there is only one week to go so we will manage. We DO have some good days. Thank you to those who are praying for us, please continue.
On Sunday we had a team from Russia take Sunday school which had it's own set of difficulties as anly one of the team spoke English, but the activity they presented was good. In the afternoon the boys led the church service which also made our day quite busy. Their rendition of 'Pharoah, Pharoah....' needed to be seen to be believed but was enjoyed by all.

We are grateful to those who have written, especially letters which we really enjoy getting, we received three today, and we will endeavour to answer when we can.
Our love to you all.

Holidays week two

Well another week has passed and I am later posting this blog because the power was off last night and we had exhausted the battery on the computer.
Anyway, this is the latest. Monday and Tuesday mornings we took a workshop on Mathematics for the teachers. Lots of 'hands-on' activities and games as can be seen by these first two pictures. It was good to see some excitement on their faces. The challenge will be to see how much they use. They have so little equipment and we can appreciate the NUMP program in NZ schools (I hear several of my ex-colleagues having a chuckle over that comment!)
While we were busy with the teacher training the boys were repairing the bikes. This photo showsJoshua and Cole helping Uncle Biira fix joshua's bike.
On Wednesday we took our two youngest, Richard and Mark, into Kampala for our shopping excursion. It was a real experience for all of us. Richard was full of 'Ai yi yi' as he saw all the traffic, and Mark loved looking at all the Toyota cars passing us. We had lunch outside at a restaurant and apart from Richard spilling his soda and dropping vegetables from his samosas on the floor it was fine. I don't think the cleaners were too pleased though. We lost Richard in 30 secs in the supermarket as he spied some bikes to ride and was off to investigate the moment our backs were turned. However, the boys needed toilets part way through so I was able to leave Marilyn to finish the shopping as I attended to that. Whew!! It was not a relaxing day out for us but we had fun. Next time we will go on our own!!

This photo shows one of the indiginous residents who come to visit daily. These grey monkeys are OK but there are some black monkeys who can be quite viscious and dangerous at times. They have attacked the dogs here.

There are more photos to come in part two

RAIN!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, the rainy season is upon us as you can see from this first photo.
The second photo is of a group of performers who visited here on Monday afternoon. I got a great video of Marilyn dancing with them but have been unsuccessful in posting it much to Marilyn's delight and relief. Some things are best kept in the family.
The first week of the holidays has been survived, the good news is that there is only TWO more weeks as it turns out that they only have three weeks and not four.
Tuesday was straightforward, we have two 'homeboys', Ezra and Paul, who hung around all day while the rest played at school or the home only to come back for food. We got a message about our stove on Tuesday to say that it had been repaired so we went with Brad to Kampala on Wednesday to pick it up among other things. It was a welcome day out. The stove is working well though it does have a scorch mark where it burnt. We were hoping for a replacement. The boys spent the day fixing a number of the bikes which needed repair and managed to get about 10 bikes operational.
On Thursday Alex and Simon came and stayed the night. It was good to see them and for them to be able to stay. The photo shows them sporting their Kiwi T-shirts. They were able to catch up on e-mails and even skype the Graingers which was good. On Friday we went to visit Mama Mark again to check that the wheels on the wheelchair were OK (and they are). We took all the boys with us which was good for them to see Mark and his situation and his home. They remarked on how happy he was and it made them think a bit.
On the way back we got a soda for the boys to share. Here is Ezra andJoshua sharing theirs.
You can see that the weather was fine here (it was about 12.30). When we got home the boys played with the bikes they had fixed but at about 3pm the heavens opened and it poured. The thunder and lightning was directly overhead, we have never heard such thunder before in our lives. The boys arrived home, absolutely drenched, so they stripped off at the door, dried off and changed then settled down in front of the TV to watch a DVD. You could barely hear it over the rain on the roof. The rain lasted for a steady two hours, and then it cleared up again.
This has been a pattern each day since, there is a time during the day where it really buckets down, then clears up.
Earlier in the week we were asked to take some workshops for the teachers on Mathematics on Monday and Tuesday mornings so we have spent the last two days preparing for this and think we have a reasonable programme for tomorrow. We only got the curriculum documents yesterday (Saturday) so we have had limited lead up time. We hope what we have prepared is what they want, we'll find out tomorrow.
Last evening we gathered with the other missionaries with Piet and Pita for a nice meal of Indian dishes (ordered from Kampala and picked up by one of Jimmy's friends). It was a lovely evening, Piet advised that appointments had been made for the Health Centre and that it would be getting ready tomorrow so that is good news. Please pray for the smooth operation of this.
Also please continue your prayers for us over the next two weeks, we are feeling a little more tired in not being able to have time-out but we are coping so far. Thank you once again for your e-mails and letters, we edo enjoy getting them.
Our love to you all

African dancing

I couldn't resist this!!!
Marilyn will kill me.
I hope the video works

The week that was and is and is to come.

A lot has happened over the last week, seems to be common here. We had a wonderful night out in Kampala on Wednesday, shopping during the day, where we bought a lot of early readers for the boys and assorted other books, a leisurely dinner at the revolving restaurant at the hotel, a sleep in on Thursday and a feeling of 'coming home' when we returned. The previous blog has outlined God's wonderful provision for wheelchair wheels. On Friday morning I went and fitted them and when I came home found that Marilyn had a fire in the kitchen. The gas stove caught fire, we think through a faulty shut-off switch but she was able to turn off the gas and smother it without any damage other than to the stove itself. We have returned it to the shop we got it from and are awaiting their decision about whether they will repair or replace it.
Also, while this was all going on we had a visit from Alex and Simon, the two boys who stayed with the Graingers last year. It was lovely to see them again and for them to see where we are. They stayed for dinner and left about 8pm. We hope to see more of them during the holidays.
Mama and Papa have returned home, on Thursday, so things are starting to hum around here again. There has been a lot of progress on the house next door and they hope to have it finished by October.
Saturday there was a TV film crew from The Netherlands here so the school held another sports day in the morning. They also wanted to film the family unit so we waited for the boys to return home. At 1pm when they were due to leave school, the heavens opened and it poured heavily for almost two hours. The boys ultimately returned in the rain about 3pm and we were able to pose several 'normal activities' for them.
Sunday we held Sunday school which seems to be improving, chicken soup for lunch (which Richard said he liked - last time we had it we had to force-feed him to try it, it made us laugh this time, he wanted more) and again the rains came about 1.30. We think this may be the pattern of things for a month or so. We made church in the afternoon, not too wet, and afterwards had to lay down the law about the boys hitting each other (and throwing stones). We were pleased when they finally went to bed.
Today we were able to sleep in - YEAH RIGHT. The first day of the holidays and indeed the boys didn't really surface until about 7am ready for breakfast at 8. We then did the Saturday clean-up jobs we were unable to do because of the sportsday and so far they have kept busy with assorted activities (painting, drawing, riding, reading .....). So far so good!!! We are expecting a full-on time.
Please pray for Mama's complete recovery, good health for us and our boys ( indeed all the children in the home), a satisfactory resolution of our stove, and for an extra portion of tolerance and patience for the Aunties in the home.
God Bless, till next time

A Tale of two wheels

Are you too tyred, perhaps this might give you a lift and chair you up.
In 2007 a team from Riverbend Bible Church visited a family with a young man named Mark who has Cerebral Palsy. Amongst other things they provided him with a wheelchair. Fast forward to August 2009 and we visited him last week. We had met them last year when we were in Mukono and we were greeted warmly as Mama Mark said she remembered us. She also showed us that one of the wheels on Mark's chair had broken and he was unable to use it. Of course, we undertook to try and get a replacement. We asked around without success until on Tuesday this week we went with Owen, one of our boys, to the Leonard Cheshire clinic for disabled people for a check-up. While there we were shown where they make wheelchairs and we enquired about wheels. I had not thought to take the broken wheel with me so they were unable to go any further with enabling us to get a replacement. They did, however, tell us where they got their wheels from which just happened to be near where we were staying in Kampala on Wednesday night. (We had a night out from the boys - which was lovely).
So, duly armed with the wheel I visited the company to enquire about a wheel. The salesman was not able to show me anything I could use, but then the owner of the business came to help. As he was talking to me he received a call from a supplier which he had to take. He then ordered for me two wheels which he thought might do and asked if I could come back in the weekend. I explained that we were going back to Mukono the next day so he said to come in around midday and he would pray that the wheels would be there by then.
Furthermore, he asked about what we were doing in Uganda and after a brief conversation he said he would give me the wheels without charge. On Thursday at 12.15 the wheels indeed were there.
So this is how Mark has two new wheels for his wheelchair. The pictures show the before (Mark on the ground) and after (Mark delighted to be in the wheelchair again) shots.

How's that for God's wonderful provision.
Praise the Lord

Paul's Birthday Photos

Cutting his cake at home














Unwrapping his presents at home.














Eating up with all the other children. Only 1/4 of the dining room shown.















Feeding the babies.

Whew, Monday's over

I know, I know, we LOVE Mondays, usually. today has been Paul's 7th birthday so we have spent the day preparing for it as well as the usual monday tasks. We had dinner up at the home, chapati's and mince at Paul's request. It was nice to see the boys back in the home but they do prefer to eat down here now. We have had a fairly settled time since we last wrote, had two young Dutch girls, Tamar and Marleen here for dinner and DVD on Saturday evening. They have been here for 6 weeks of their summer holidays helping out at the home and go back at the end of this week. They were both here for 6 months last year so knew the boys from then and wanted to see them in their new environment. It was lovely to have them eat with us.
We feel we are now more accepted here by the Ugandan aunties, when we walk around we are no longer Aunty and Uncle but are greeted as Aunty Marilyn and Uncle Warwick. It is a nice feeling! Also the number of e-mails has tapered off, a sure sign of being away for more than 6 weeks. Thank you to those who do keep in touch especially those who send 'snail mail' as we enjoy getting letters.
We are looking forward to Wednesday when we are going into Kampala for a night out at a hotel for a break away before the 4 week holidays begin. That's right 4 weeks!!!
Papa and Mama have yet to return from South Africa, the doctors recommended that Mama needed longer after surgery before she should travel so they are hoping to return on Thursday or Friday. Please pray for their safe return. Also pray for Mariska who is holding the fort, so to speak, and for the cooperative way in which everyone is working to continue. We continue to be blessed each day as we witness the work of God here. As was mentioned in our Monday devotions meeting, this place would not exist but for the grace of God.
Till next time, our love to you all

Wow!!

Had to blog this! I heard a door close at 6am this morning, just quietly, not slammed, and got up to investigate. Imagine my surprise to find 7 boys up and dressed ready to go to school, at 6am!!! (Timothy hadn't quite made it yet). They have exams this week so they got up to study which is what they are doing in the picture.
This other picture shows our racing car driver Richard on a cart which has been fixed. He was so chuffed at being able to drive it..... watch out trees.
It has been such a lovely morning, I didn't even have to get grumpy.

Monday morning update

And a fine monday morning it is too, so pleased to hear that the weather is improving in NZ also.
Some photos from Mariska's Birthday celebration.

The first shows Mariska with some of the children and their food.
Next some of our boys and friends eating theirs.
Then Matthew and Mark dancing at the disco, and Richard just starting to get into it.
The night was a great success and a lot of fun. We expected them to sleep in on Saturday but Paul awoke about 6am and once he is awake, Richard wakes and when they are, we ALL are. After breakfast and chores the older four went to the 'village' to play with friends. We expected them back by lunchtime (1pm) but they all came back about 10.30 because "it was too boring". I think they really wanted to help make pizzas for lunch so we were able to get a real assembly-line going. They enjoyed their pizzas too.
We left them at 3pm to go for a barbq in Kampala. Aunty Bira, one of the Ugandan Aunties came and looked after the boys. Marilyn had made them the soup for tea, popcorn for the movie and strict instructions to the boys to BEHAVE!!. It was lovely getting out with other adults and we had a nice relaxing time. We arrived home about 10.30pm. The other lovely thing on Saturday was we got a letter from Ragna from Germany which was nice.

On Sunday once again the boys awoke early, why can't they sleep in on weekends? At Sunday school we completed the story of Esther, the children are beginning to know what we expect of them and their attention is improving, a little. Owen's sponsors were visiting for a couple of days so they came to lunch and were able to spend some time with him and the boys which was lovely. Church in the afternoon is becoming more difficult, the service goes on too long for the children and the message is often a bit above them but we will persevere. Following church it was time to do haircuts again. Some of the boys have a fungal infection of their scalps so we needed to shave the hair off again to check them. Matthew did a wonderful job again and there were no tears this time.
Today they have all gone to school, WE LOVE MONDAYS when that happens. They have end of term exams starting tomorrow so some of them are a little nervous, though most of them are'nt.
Thats enough for now, thank you to those who comment on the blog or on e-mail, it is nice that people are following our journey. Your comments are always welcome.
God Bless.