Two weeks over

Greetings, two weeks of holidays are now over and with only this week to go we can see the light at the end of the tunnel (and it's not a train coming towards us). Things are settling down with the girls, there are still some fights and squabbles and vociferous arguments but they are decreasing in frequency and intensity. We have had a good week, the activities provided by the volunteers for the children has been great, all have enjoyed them so that has helped. This week we have a trip to Jinja for a swim on Thursday, a busload of over 40 kids so should be fun.
On Saturday night we had a cookout with the girls as well as the boys. It was fun seeing them tuck into sausages, onions, potatoes in the fire, coleslaw, a pasta salad Marilyn had made (which they all loved, we hoped to have some leftovers for lunch but there was no way they were going to leave anything). Also, of course, the marshmellons (as they call them) toasted over the embers. I have had two attempts at posting some photos without success but will keep trying.
We have another wee girl arrive this week, Mikaela, about a year old and in an awful state when she arrived. We dedicated her at church yesterday and there has been a noticeable difference already in only a few days.
We give thanks to God that baby Dina has survived her heart surgery last week and is making good progress. I got a million dollar smile from her yesterday and she has had to learn how to suck from a bottle again. Thank you for your prayers for her, now we pray that the other wee hole will heal itself without the need of another operation.
There has been quite a lot of illness among the Aunties recently so please pray for Reny, Renske, Eunice, Jessica, and last night Marilyn lost her voice completely and is suffering from a touch of the flu so please pray for her too.
Today and tomorrow we are looking after both houses as Marjorine has taken two days to visit her family and get them prepared for the start of the new school term, will be interesting how the girls cope.
We have had a change to the internet plan we are on. We now cannot pay for a monthly rate and leave the internet on all the time, but rather it is a user pays system so we are not going to be on-air as often as in the past. We are being cautious in our usage as we have had some stories about the connection running out in a few days, time will tell.
Finally, we heard yesterday that our son Chris had fallen while running and has broken his leg which will curb his activities immensely so please pray for comfort for him and that it will be set properly and heal well when it is finally operated on.
That's about all for now, till next time
God Bless

First week over

Greetings, the first week of the holidays is over and I have to say that overall it has been an enjoyable week. The boys have shown good responsibility in turning up to places and events without needing to be chased up. We realise how far they have come when we 'compare' their behaviour to the girls who are still in the 'settling in' phase. The highlight of the week was yesterday with Grandparents Day, a day when 35 Jaja's (older people, some younger than us) were hosted to a day of entertainment and food by the children. The photos give you a glimpse of what the day was about but you needed to be here to get the full flavour. For most of the children here they have no grandparents, so this was the beginnings of an endeavour to have them mix and get to know this generation. In preparing they learnt a lot about many Ugandan customs re greeting older people, serving them food and drink, giving gifts,showing respect etc.. so it was a good experience all round. We are hoping for a quieter week this week.
In addition Marilyn and I began the first of our Bible study evenings with the other missionaries. There are currently seven long term missionaries here and we felt there was a need to meet for study and prayer each week, we have undertaken to begin the studies but the view is for others also to do so in the future. The first evening on Thursday went better than we had hoped so that was good. We are learning a lot about each other as people and not just as fellow workers. We also learnt that Isaac, who had been tested as HIV positive for a long time, was tested this week and the result came back HIV negative, which we thank God for. As they say a lot in Uganda, God is good..... All the time.
Our dear Raghma now has 4 teeth and loves walking, not on her own yet, but she can move around our couch at high speed. She is still adorable and is called by many Miss Family Unit. One of the nurses, Miria, has a particular role in tending to her in the home and she is just great, but all the nurses love Raghma.
We received some mail this week which we always enjoy, a special thank you to Angel Doris for her regular postings which are always full of snippets of news, it is a real ministry to the missionaries which we appreciate.
Thank you also to those who pray for us, we need your constant prayers, and ask this week for special prayers for baby Dina who has heart surgery tomorrow morning to close up a hole in her heart. It is very serious in one so young (not yet 3 months old). We pray for a successful operation and a good recovery.
Till next time, God Bless.

Costumes through the ages

Leaves with Leah and Joel
Fur with Tamar
Skin with Priscilla
Clothes with David and Sandra

Grandparents day 2

Serving the jaja's, handwashing
Aunty Marjorine and teacher Douglas
Timothy and Joshua in the skit the children performed
Our drummers in action

Grandparents day

Meeting at the gate
Walking up the hill
Being served sodas and homemade biscuits (by Marilyn)
Guess who?

Permanent Neighbours

Yes, the girls are here!! we have had a very full week of preparations and it was touch and go as to whether they would actually make it..... but they did, so now the fun starts. There is a noticeable increase in the amount of noise there is here as many other children also seem to come down to visit and even our own boys are becoming loud again. It is a bit of a baptism by fire for Aunty Marjorine as it is school holidays but so far so good. There  are some activities planned for them during the week but also a lot of free time. The boys are over the moon today because they got their bikes back. They have been repaired since the last holidays so Marilyn has spent time today playing nurse to those who have tumbled off. Today they spent an hour and a half working in the various departments helping the Aunties and it was a big improvement from the last holidays, they all turned up and worked well. Marilyn has been busy making curtains, sorting out sheets and towels etc.. so we too are feeling weary. The team from Holland leave tomorrow having reached their goal of getting all the walls up to the roof line on the third family unit. They have been an outstanding team as they have travelled together before and worked on similar projects so have been very focused. The weather is changing to the rainy season so we are getting rain most days although at this stage we are still able to get the washing dry. Please pray for baby Dina who is having open heart surgery next Mon, and for Iscar who has been struggling again with high temperatures and is most unwell. We give praise that Caleb comes home from hospital today. He has had severe mouth ulcers and been unable to eat. Please continue to pray that his immunity improves. That is all for now, thank you for all your prayers.

Girl's Home at last

Very appropriate
Grandad with his little sweetie
One of the three bedrooms before they get untidy!
Learning to cook pikelets on gas cooker.

Containers again

Wildlife

Greetings. Monkeys on the roof, lizards up the walls, spiders in your hair and now frogs in the bathroom to name some of the Ugandan wildlife we have come to experience, hence the title of this blog. It has been a busy time since we last wrote. As you can see from some of the photos we have had a number of containers arrive (5 to date with one or two more coming) and they have had to be off-loaded which has required some juggling. One container was full of 'crocs' which may be a Godsend to solve the difficulty we have in providing shoes, another task ahead of Marilyn and I. We have also been busy getting things ready to receive the girls on Saturday in the home next door. We are quite excited about that but there is a lot of preparation needed but things are going ahead quite well. Marilyn and Marjorine have been busy washing bedding and towels, setting up the rooms, making curtains etc.. The girls seem quite excited and are definitely ready for it. Saturday signals the start of the holidays so it will give them time to settle into life together. The boys are also looking forward to the holidays as indeed we are (Yeah right!!)
Today we celebrated Paul's 8th birthday with fried Irish (potatoes) and meatballs in a sauce (his request). He was thoroughly spoilt with all the gifts he received and had a good day. In spite of occasional lapses in behaviour, he has really come a long way in the past year. Thank you to those who have been, and are, praying for him, please don't stop.
I won't talk about Raghma in this posting just to give you a break. I won't tell you she has three nearly four teeth and endears herself to everyone with her gorgeous smile, you'll have to wait for next time!!
Until then, God Bless

Paul's Birthday

King Paul on his birthday-10th Aug
The whole family photo shot
Presents from the home
My nice new blanket from Aunty Sandra and Uncle Bob.

Containers, containers, and more containers

Piet backing up to unload
W organizing stacking of shoe boxes
Ladies from school children carrying shoeboxes.
The 3 stooges deciding what to do next.

Greetings to you all. The week that has been, has once again, been a full one (are there any others?). One team from Holland were farewelled and another team welcomed. We helped out with a tabloid-type sport's day with the intention of showing the teachers that sport's days can involve all children and not just a select few. We also spent some time tidying up after the shoeboxes and trying to give out shoes to the children who need them. This is becoming quite a difficult task as there are some sizes we simply do not have. Black uniform shoes are not used in Holland as they don't have school uniforms, hence the scarcity.
The boys continue to keep us busy too, with things ticking over well, but there always seems to be one (or more) who have "issues". We have dealt with an 'outbreak' of bullying recently and hope we have nipped it in the bud.
We went into Kampala on Thursday for shopping and had to go through metal detectors to get into shopping malls and supermarkets with security sort-of tight, but not really!! There were, once again, far fewer people shopping so it was quite pleasant. We do look forward to our day out as we always try and have a nice lunch (pizza this week). With elections coming up in February next year we are expecting some unrest so I guess these security arrangements may stay in place until after then. Otherwise life in Uganda is great, the weather has been lovely and warm, unlike what NZ has been experiencing.
Finally, the pictures we posted of Raghma show just how much of a character she is becoming, she continues to give us great joy. From the last photo you can see how she swim crawls (very fast now!).
Had better go up for Monday morning devotions, thank you to those of you who are supporting us in whichever way you are, we love hearing from you.
Till next time, God Bless

Update on our wee girl

I have a new trick. I can walk along the couch!
Sometimes I move too fast for photos.
The boys with Aunty Tammy and Aunty Tama
I'm nearly out the door-watch out!