Boxing Day

The children perform dances
and songs
while Grandad enjoys a swing with Rhode.
The Canadian family surprises all with a stocking for each child.
Our newest arrival, Klaus, who arrived via the Jinja Road Police Station.

Christmas night

A bar-b-que is a great idea but all those have to be cooked??
The family awaits
Toddlers are served
Our "miracle child" Petra ready to eat!
Movie in the little church "In Search of Santa Paws"-great entertainment.

Christmas morning 2

The Kings arrive in modern transport. No camels available.
Teacher Douglas conducts.

Long Ago a Child was Born
After morning tea Rhode enjoys some time alone with Nana and Grandad, who were pooped!

Christmas morning

All dressed and ready t0 go.
As the pageant starts
Mary (Mable) and Joseph (Ezra) set out for Bethlehem on donkey (Uncle Bosco)
The two narrators (Hannah and Timothy) with King Herod (Matthew)

Pressies for all

All were given a green bag for their loot.
And you thought your family made a mess!
Where is......? Two old fogies struggle to find the recipients.

Merry Christmas to you all

Firstly a slightly belated but none the less heartfelt Merry Christmas to you all. We have had a wonderful few days of celebration and now it is time to catch our breath somewhat.
Since I  last wrote we have been busy with the holidays and preparations for Christmas. The last week before the big day was spent in preparing our Christmas Pageant with the children. We had 75 children to include and managed it thanks to many being 'stars'(about 30) and sheep (6) and shepherds (7, good ratio of sheep to shepherds eh!) and angels (15) plus other usual parts. We presented a musical called 'Long, Long Ago' which involved about 10 children playing instruments at different times and was a neat play able to involve them all throughout. We started rehearsals on Monday morning and met each morning from 9 till 10.30 and it came together well though we were pretty 'knackered' at the end of it. Those who know us and our Christmas plays throughout the years will know of our love for a person dressed up in a gray blanket as a donkey, well that tradition is alive and well in Uncle Bosco who performed magnificently. We have tried to post some photos, unsuccessfully to date but we will keep trying.
Before that week we had spent some time preparing shoeboxes to be given out. On the Wednesday leading up to Christmas we were invited to take 20 of our children to the Queen of Buganda's Christmas party to give out shoeboxes to the children there. We took over 550 shoeboxes and at the end of a wonderful days party we distributed them all. It was a long day(we got home about 10pm) but was very rewarding.
We also spent time earlier in finding Christmas clothes for all the children in the home from the containers, and also provided 10 items of clothing for all of the workers in the compound. Then the parents who had been helping throughout the year were able to come and pick clothes also so we were able to clear some space from the containers which I am sure will be able to be filled up again. Out of all the containers of shoeboxes we are left with about 50 boxes left which will be handy for any special cases which may occur in the next few days. It has been very rewarding to provide these gifts to others, thanks to those who provide them.
Marilyn helped Reny and others to wrap over 500 Christmas presents for the children for Christmas day, each child got 5 gifts in the afternoon. A chaotic but exciting event. Our Christmas dinner was a barbeque with meat patties, sausages, chicken, chapatis, coleslaw, a bun and a banana, a veritable feast washed down with the obligatory soda.
Boxing Day, known as second Christmas here, was another great day. We had our Christmas concert, a presentation of dancing and singing by the children. It was wonderful to see the talent that the children have and are willing to share. They had movie in the afternoon and again had supper outside, with another soda of course. All in all we have all had a very good two days.
Piet and Pita returned to NACMU exactly one month after their ordeal in South Africa and we were able to have a wonderful service of thanksgiving for their safe return. They are still quite traumatised by it all and Pita has low energy levels so spent a week back in hospital in Kampala to rest. Piet is also emotionally drained but they were both determined to be here for Christmas and I believe it has been a tonic for them both. We even got our 'Christmas baby' yesterday, a boy we have named Klaus who is about 10months old, abandoned and in need of medical care but he is progressing well so far.
As I write this Marilyn is battling another dose of malaria, we have caught it early so hopefully she should be fully recovered by the weekend, but we are both very tired so please pray for us and for Piet and Pita for extra energy.
It was great for us to be able to talk to Chris, Jen and Pete on Christmas day as well as other family and we are looking forward to getting together in February when we visit NZ for 6 weeks. We have the holidays to get through first though.
Better finish here, will try to write more often when time/power/internet/energy allows.
Till next time, God Bless

Christmas Breakup

The Nursery School sing "Long Ago a Child was Born"

The Audience and school watch.
A traditional Dance

A much overdue catchup

Greetings to you all, wow it has been soooooo long since I have written, sorry sorry. It seems that when I have time, we don't have power or the internet or both, but we'll try now.
Firstly an update on Piet and Pita. They are still in Johannesberg but on Wednesday Pita got a clearance to fly so they are intending to fly home on Tuesday of next week. We are all looking forward very much to their return, as we feel this will help in their recovery. Things have carried on as usual here but there are always decisions to be made which often needs Piet's input.
We have had some visitors from NZ since we last wrote. Fistly Stephanie and Ian Cowan from Christchurch, a couple we didn't know, but through a friend of a friend they had heard about us in Uganda and as Ian was coming to Kampala to give some workshops to Radiologists, they came to see what happens here. Stephanie is very interested and involved in childcare especially with babies and was able to spend two days here enjoying the children. It was nice catching up on some NZ accents.
Secondly, we have just said farewell to Jackie and Jaimee from our church who visited for a week. We had a wonderful time catching up on things and really enjoyed their stay, although it was a busy time for us. We have been involved in interviewing teachers for the Secondary Vocational school and that has involved two days so far with probably more to come. We were also involved in appraisals of the Primary and Nursery teachers so it has been quite time-consuming. The end of year breakup went well, instead of each class providing items, each house performed a set song (Hark the Herald Angels, which Marilyn played the keyboard for), a poem, a skit and a dance. A different format from previous years but it went well. The P7 class have started a tradition of performing an item too, they sang When a Child is Born . After this the children had lunch and were given their Christmas shoeboxes (which almost guarantees that they come for the day), so school is over for another year, only 8 weeks holiday, YEY!!!
We have returned this afternoon from having three days out, to see Jackie and Jaimee off and to get some rest. We are pleased we didn't stay away longer as while we were away, the TV smoked and doesn't go, the washing machine stopped, two power-packs for keyboards blew, the microwave wasn't working (though I have fixed that one) and we are nearly out of gas and there is none in Uganda to be bought!! Earlier our gas heater for hot water caught fire so it is cold showers and doing the washing by hand from now on. Oh well, this is Uganda. The power situation is still awful, we have power shedding which means the power can be off each day for between 12 - 24 hours, but we can't complain because at least our generator can give us lights but not wall power.

Well that is enough for now, the battery on the computer is getting low so it is time to sign off. Please continue to pray for Piet and Pita, for their healing both physical and emotional, also pray for Rhode as she has had malaria and a high temperature this week and is not yet back to full health. Also please pray for us for an extra portion of energy, patience and fun.
Till next time, God Bless

P7 swimming day

The P7 class at the end of the day
getting in
Swabura who jumped in over her head, was saved by Marilyn then became confident in shallower water and by the end of the day was a real waterbabe.
Arnout, relaxing. It's a tough job but someonr has to do it!!

Progress Report

Now that we have more details about what exactly happened in Johannesburg last week, we would like to communicate this to you in order to set the record straight and avoid any conflicting rumors. Piet and Pita were in South Africa for a medical operation. The robbery occurred during the day, a couple of hours after they arrived in Johannesburg on the 16th of November. They rented a car at the airp...ort and went to a bank to get some money. They then drove to a guesthouse close to Sunninghill hospital - where Pita would be operated on - in the affluent Johannesburg suburb of Stanton. However, when they entered the guest house parking lot, a man walked in through the gate. Pita got out of the car and headed towards the guesthouse lobby as Piet finished parking. The man walked up to Pita, pulled out a gun, placed it against her head and told her to give him the bag she was carrying which contained their money and other important valuables. When she hesitated and refused (not realizing how serious the situation was) he shot her. The bullet went through the front side of her forehead. While the bullet missed her brain and exited the skull again, the hole in her head started bleeding profusely. When Piet heard the shot he jumped out of the car and attacked the robber who had grabbed Pita’s bag and bracelet as she lay on the ground. The robber fired his gun at Piet’s leg (though the bullet missed) and during the scuffle the man dropped the bag and ran out of the parking lot. However another robber then appeared. Piet attacked this man as well but when he heard Pita crying and saw her lying on the ground, he ran back to help Pita and the robber ran away with their valuables. Pita was conscious but bleeding heavily. They managed to walk to the lobby where they asked the staff (who were shocked and scared) to get a towel (to stem the bleeding) and call an ambulance. The ambulance and the police arrived about 10 - 15 minutes later. Piet and Pita were then taken to Sunninghill hospital and she was rushed into intensive care. The doctors quickly stemmed the bleeding and gave her new blood - which probably saved her life because she lost about 4 liters of blood. Meanwhile the police interviewed Piet. They told him that this was the 5th robbery in Stanton that week, and they suspected that the robbers had followed them from the bank. The next morning Pita was operated on. The doctors successfully removed splinters of bone from inside her head and patched up the entrance and exit wound to her skull. The police have, so far, been unable to apprehend the culprits or retrieve their stolen valuables. However Pita survived and she is now recovering well - and that is what is most important. As they say in Uganda: God is good, all of the time!

Have just copied this report from Facebook which Arnout keeps updating. It will tell you all what we know. Keep praying as they are both very traumatised as you can imagine.

Progress on Mama

Thank you all for your prayers. Pita (Mama) had a head wound not a chest wound. Yesterday she underwent a 6 hour operation to remove the bullet and all the bone splinters. She is making good progress and is now out of intensive care. God is good! Piet has a knee injury which is receiving treatment, so also needs prayer. We have sent Arnout there to support them and to deliver cash and clothes etc, and they also have their son there as well. Pray too for the renewal of their passports which were taken along with all their luggage.
Thank you again for all your prayers.

Please pray

We have just heard that Mama and Papa, who left for a 2 week break this morning have been robbed in South Africa. Mama has been shot in the chest and is in Intensive care. Please pray for them and all the children. We have had a prayer meeting in the church for all the compound and the children. Mama is to be operated on early in the morning. Please join us in our prayers.

Just walking Rhode

Coming to you Grandad
Made it
Now, what's Nana doing
All this walking makes me hungry and thirsty

Aunty Prossy

Aunty Prossy doing what she enjoys the most - NOT!!!

Where does time go......

Greetings to all, it has been so long since I last wrote an update but it only seems like yesterday. However some pictures will have kept you reasonably up to date. We have had the dentists here and gone. The opening of the clinic dental room was a grand occasion with a barbeque and entertainment to follow. We had a break of 4 days away as Marilyn recovered from another bout of malaria. We stayed in a wonderful place in Jinja called Holland Park, it was just what we needed at the time with a marvelous view out over the Nile and a really restful place.
This week the P7 students are sitting their PLE (Primary Leaving Exams) so we have been putting in some extra time on study. They had their SST and English exams today with Maths and Science tomorrow. Matthew, Owen, and Timothy are finally seeing some benefit from extra study so we wait for the results early next year.
Rhode is becoming more confident with her walking which is a real joy to see though she still likes her cuddles and banana.
There has been a lot of malaria in the home recently with many children and Aunties having a bout, the place has been sprayed but it is still happening so please pray against further cases. The twins, Rose and Fleur, have been in hospital last week but seem to be improving though they need our prayers as well. October was a very busy month with visitors and volunteers arriving, we will now have a somewhat more settled time in the lead up to Christmas. We received our first Christmas card a week ago and the children are starting to play and sing Christmas carols so it won't be too long, will it........?
Well that's about all for now, we still have variable power, it is often off at night and that prevents us from using the computer much
Until next time
God Bless

Dental Clinic Opening Party

Piet talking to Wilma whose husband donated all his dental surgery gear when he retired.
Handing over the key.
Matthew being operated on by Piet and Warwick
The boys drummed while...
The girls danced for the visitors.
Great hairy chest Hannah!
The lighting of a hot air balloon
And away it goes