Greetings, as I write this the boys are asleep in preparation for the start of school tomorrow.....yeh!!!
This week has gone well, the activities they have done on Tues and Thursday included: cycling outside the compound, nail painting, basket weaving, rope weaving and jigsawing, all of which were enjoyed.
On Wednesday we took Joshua and Ezra into Kampala with us as Joshua needed to get a new pair of glasses. While there I had my eyes tested and have ordered some glasses for myself, I'm hoping to pick them up tomorrow. They will help me with reading the small print in some books and, of course, improve my looks.
On Thursday Marilyn and I ran two workshops with the teachers, one on Children's Rights (and responsibilities) and one on effective teaching of mathematics. It was good getting to work with some of the new teachers and getting to know them.
Friday evening was the end of holidays Disco which enabled the children to show off some of their talents. It was a great way to finish the holidays.
Things have been very busy here in the compound in an attempt to have the new Nursery school ready for occupation which has been very exciting. As with all things they are not completely ready but enough to start with. It has been fun furnishing it with furniture from the containers and equipping it with play materials also from the containers. To have these things at hand is invaluable.
As well as starting school tomorrow, Hannah begins her treatment for her cancer. Please continue to pray for her and those treating her. As you can see from the photos she is a lovely young woman and we are fortunate to have picked up the cancer so early, but she is in for a tough time ahead.
Aron continues to grow, we had him here on Thursday night but have found the feeding every two hours to be too much for us so he is likely to go through to the home this week.
Our delightful Rhode has learnt to giggle at long last and enjoys standing on her feet. She is giving us much joy every day.
Thank you to those who have been praying for us, prayer works!!! Please don't stop.
Until next time
God Bless
Sunday, January 30, 2011
A Hannah Special
With Christine performing to 'Agnus Dei' by Michael W Smith
Hannah and Christine on New Year's Day
At the disco preparing to dance
The ballet at the disco
The last week
Sandra's birthday at the girl's family unit
Alvin (Annette's dear wee boy) more interested in a balloon
Friday night disco, girls presenting a ballet item
Winner of the dance cotest, Betty, getting her reward from Piet.Sunday, January 23, 2011
Another full-on week
Greetings again, another full-on week has passed. Last Friday night we had a quiz night for the children which was great fun involving 30 children in teams. Saturday morning was clean-up day, Matthew drew the short straw of cleaning outside and he wiped down all the posts on the veranda then decided to clean the barge board. One of the photos shows him using his initiative to save time walking up and down the ladder by using a string to get his bucket of water to him. It was fine until the string broke....
During the week we have had a team from Smallpoint Baptist Church in Maine USA here and on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings they took a Vacation Bible School for our children and children from the nearby villages. About 80 children took part each day and they thoroughly enjoyed the teaching and especially the music. The children have been singing the songs all day, every day since. The final chapter of the programme was today at Sunday School ( which gave us a week off from preparation) and we presented one of the songs in church today.
On Wednesday we had Owen's sponsor, Antje, here for the night with her daughter Tabea and a friend Eva. It was good to see them again.
Thursday evening was rather special. Because of the success of the quiz night the previous Friday, the children wanted to hold a quiz night where they asked the questions of the Aunties and Uncles. They spent two days preparing questions on six different topics to five teams of adults. Some of the adults were quite unruly and tested the children (no prizes for guessing who, Piet) but it was a fun night and gave the children a taste of what was needed to organise an event and how difficult it was to control people especially when they don't listen. I have to boast however that team KeJeWa (Kevin (Uganda), Jerome (Switzerland), and Warwick (NZ)) were the winners on the night thanks to a stinking bonus maths question which was too difficult for anyone else.
On Thursday night also we cared for our latest addition to our family, a baby boy, Aron, about 1 month old weighing only 2.3 kgs when he arrived. We are taking it in turns to care for him at night, he seems to need feeding every two hours at the moment so we can't do more than one night at a time. We also had him here last night and he is already putting on weight.
Friday night was 'George of the Jungle 2' at the Girls Family Unit so all-in-all it has been quite a full week. One week of the holidays to go so I think we will make it. We are likely to be involved in some workshops with the teachers this week though no definite days have been committed yet.
Finally, a very special prayer request. Hannah next door is nearly 12 yrs old and she has been diagnosed with a form of cancer. It seems to have been caught early but she will probably need some chemotherapy and there is a good chance that it can be eradicated. Please pray for her during this uncertain time, for wisdom for those who are treating her, and that the side effects of the treatment are minimal.
Well that's enough for now, until next time
God Bless
During the week we have had a team from Smallpoint Baptist Church in Maine USA here and on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings they took a Vacation Bible School for our children and children from the nearby villages. About 80 children took part each day and they thoroughly enjoyed the teaching and especially the music. The children have been singing the songs all day, every day since. The final chapter of the programme was today at Sunday School ( which gave us a week off from preparation) and we presented one of the songs in church today.
On Wednesday we had Owen's sponsor, Antje, here for the night with her daughter Tabea and a friend Eva. It was good to see them again.
Thursday evening was rather special. Because of the success of the quiz night the previous Friday, the children wanted to hold a quiz night where they asked the questions of the Aunties and Uncles. They spent two days preparing questions on six different topics to five teams of adults. Some of the adults were quite unruly and tested the children (no prizes for guessing who, Piet) but it was a fun night and gave the children a taste of what was needed to organise an event and how difficult it was to control people especially when they don't listen. I have to boast however that team KeJeWa (Kevin (Uganda), Jerome (Switzerland), and Warwick (NZ)) were the winners on the night thanks to a stinking bonus maths question which was too difficult for anyone else.
On Thursday night also we cared for our latest addition to our family, a baby boy, Aron, about 1 month old weighing only 2.3 kgs when he arrived. We are taking it in turns to care for him at night, he seems to need feeding every two hours at the moment so we can't do more than one night at a time. We also had him here last night and he is already putting on weight.
Friday night was 'George of the Jungle 2' at the Girls Family Unit so all-in-all it has been quite a full week. One week of the holidays to go so I think we will make it. We are likely to be involved in some workshops with the teachers this week though no definite days have been committed yet.
Finally, a very special prayer request. Hannah next door is nearly 12 yrs old and she has been diagnosed with a form of cancer. It seems to have been caught early but she will probably need some chemotherapy and there is a good chance that it can be eradicated. Please pray for her during this uncertain time, for wisdom for those who are treating her, and that the side effects of the treatment are minimal.
Well that's enough for now, until next time
God Bless
more pics from SS
Singing and praising psalm 139 with actions
God is watching watching over you
JOY No caption necessary!
Some of the team from Smallpoint Baptist Church USA reinforcing the message. Thanks team for all your wonderful teaching of our kids.pics from last week
A visit by Owen's sponsor. Tabea on violin, Owen on guitar, and Eva
New pavers for our veranda being laid
The team from Smallpoint Baptist Church, Maine USA leading the Sunday school
Children enjoying the musicMonday, January 17, 2011
Weekend pics
Our intrepid Matthew cleaning the bargeboard. Note the rope system to pull up his bucket of water to avoid climbing up and down the ladder.
Our swings are back up. Marilyn and Rhode enjoying a swing
A happy Rhode
Our table at the end of Sunday lunch, just as well it wipes down easily.Thursday, January 13, 2011
Time to catch up
Greetings, it has been more than a week since we last wrote and quite a bit has happened in that time. On Sunday the 2nd we had the whole Sunday school here, all 60+, to see a final film of the Christmas story from start to finish. After the younger ones left the boys and girls from the family units wanted to dance to Michael W Smith's Agnus Dei. They had seen this performed on Christmas day and it obviously impressed them so we had about five different groups performing it to the others. It was neat to see and we gave them the challenge to dance to a different piece of music and to perform in church. It hasn't happened yet but 'good things take time eh!' In the photos on the blog, the girl in the black and white top, depicting Jesus, was Marjorines elder daughter Christine. both she and her sister Rebecca had been staying here over Christmas and New Year which was really good. They are a good influence on the other girls.
The week following involved 2 days of further teacher interviews, we think we have the positions filled in the best way we can, but it has been a bit of a marathon effort. The children have had organised activities on Tues and Thurs afternoons which has kept us busy too. Wed. was shopping as usual and the traffic seems to be getting worse. We had a DVD night for our 'group' on Fri (only 30 children) and saw 'George of the Jungle' which was a real hit with them. We have another next week so thought we would look at 'George of the Jungle 2' then.
On Saturday I was extremely tired so slept most of the day out of neccessity and on Sunday we had a communion in church. It was the first communion we have had since we came here and it was nice. We made a cake for Marilyn's birthday (we being the boys and Marilyn, I was a dead loss still) and had an early celebration on Sunday night with the girls. On Monday morning we left for Jinja to stay for a couple of nights at a place called 'The Haven'. It is a fabulous place, well named, a great place to unwind. It is quite expensive but we felt it was worth it. Unfortunately we (I) had left a second small birthday cake at home so we weren't able to celebrate with that, but we coped. We then spent one night at the Kingfisher with the swimming pool, but Marilyn developed a severe headache during the night so we have returned home still tired unfortunately. The boys seem to have behaved well for Aunty Hilda. We have two more weeks of holidays left so we are praying that they will go well and we can prepare the boys for their return to school.
Well, that's enough for now, please pray that we may get an extra portion of strength and energy over the next few weeks. We have a lot of new volunteers and visitors here at present so we will get to know some new friends. It was good to welcome Arnout back as he returned after 3 months back in Europe, we look forward to working with him again.
Till next time God Bless
The week following involved 2 days of further teacher interviews, we think we have the positions filled in the best way we can, but it has been a bit of a marathon effort. The children have had organised activities on Tues and Thurs afternoons which has kept us busy too. Wed. was shopping as usual and the traffic seems to be getting worse. We had a DVD night for our 'group' on Fri (only 30 children) and saw 'George of the Jungle' which was a real hit with them. We have another next week so thought we would look at 'George of the Jungle 2' then.
On Saturday I was extremely tired so slept most of the day out of neccessity and on Sunday we had a communion in church. It was the first communion we have had since we came here and it was nice. We made a cake for Marilyn's birthday (we being the boys and Marilyn, I was a dead loss still) and had an early celebration on Sunday night with the girls. On Monday morning we left for Jinja to stay for a couple of nights at a place called 'The Haven'. It is a fabulous place, well named, a great place to unwind. It is quite expensive but we felt it was worth it. Unfortunately we (I) had left a second small birthday cake at home so we weren't able to celebrate with that, but we coped. We then spent one night at the Kingfisher with the swimming pool, but Marilyn developed a severe headache during the night so we have returned home still tired unfortunately. The boys seem to have behaved well for Aunty Hilda. We have two more weeks of holidays left so we are praying that they will go well and we can prepare the boys for their return to school.
Well, that's enough for now, please pray that we may get an extra portion of strength and energy over the next few weeks. We have a lot of new volunteers and visitors here at present so we will get to know some new friends. It was good to welcome Arnout back as he returned after 3 months back in Europe, we look forward to working with him again.
Till next time God Bless
M's B'day cake and the Haven
Sharing some cake last Sunday with the girls
Marilyn making her birthday wish
The view we woke to at the Haven
looking back towards our 'banda'. a lovely place to stay.sUNDAY SCHOOL AND DANCE
Shoes outside our house when Sunday school comes for a DVD
Watching avidly the Christmas story
Re-enacting a very powerful dance the children saw on Christmas day presented by the Canadian family
This was one of four or five 'arrangements', the music is from Michael W Smith 'Agnus Dei'Sunday, January 2, 2011
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Seasons greetings to you all. It has been a while since the last blog but a lot has happened since then. we have been successful in posting photos this evening, apologies (sort of) for so many but they show events in the best way.
Leading up to Christmas we had fun with the boys having a 'shopping night' to select the clothes they wanted for Christmas. It was the best way to shop and didn't cost us, great! They had wrapped presents for each other and were awake at 6am on Christmas morning so by 6.20 we were opening presents so they could get dressed. They did look smart in their new clothes. In all of the photos I took of them we had Raghma looking down from the wall so it was almost like she was with us. We went up to the home for breakfast then prepared for the pageant. We presented it outside under the tent and, although it wasn't their best performance, it was received well and they did enjoy it. The weather was not nice, it was raining all around us but not on us until the service was over, then it teemed with rain. When we lit the advent wreath, the four candles on the wreath went out during the service but the Christ candle remained lit throughout which was quite symbolic. Marilyn and I managed to go home over lunchtime and sneaked a roast chicken sandwich for lunch and had a bit of a rest while the children watched a video, then at 4pm we had the giving of the presents for all children. Each child got five gifts, all wrapped, so you can imagine the noise and mess at the end. Some delighted children however. The rain had eased so we went outside to the tent for a barbeque dinner and a bottle of soda after which the primary aged children watched a Christmas DVD at Papa's side. We arrived home about 9.30 ready for bed.
On Boxing day (called 2nd Christmas here) we had a rest from Sunday School. Instead the children put on items they had prepared for. Then after lunch we had church in the tent again with a visiting Pastor from Canada doing the preaching. Again we had supper up at the home and were ready for bed much earlier.
During the week the children went back to doing 'chores' again which they seemed to enjoy, especially those who are 'guards' for the morning when they dress in the uniform. On the Monday the Canadians took the older kids for Lacrosse which was fun to watch.We had a real clash with Paul on that day which included his throwing stones, so he went up to Papa's side for two days to give us all some much needed respite. He did not enjoy sleeping in their laundry. He is back with us now but we need a lot of prayer for him that he can refrain from name-calling, lying, and throwing stones.....please!
Also on Wednesday and Thursday we were involved in a panel interviewing teachers for the school. All contracts finished on the 31st Dec so we needed to start afresh and we interviewed 41 applicants over the two days. It was a real eye-opener for us. The literacy and numeracy levels are really very poor which is quite a concern. We are going to re-interview about 15 of them on Monday in the hope we can appoint enough.
New Years Eve was a good night. We had Oli Bola (sp) a Dutch 'delicacy' for supper which the kids love, then a display of new year lights with lanterns the kids had made. It looked very effective as the kids walked around with their lanterns singing songs. After this the primary age children came to Papa's side to see the new year in. We had some games, then a DVD, then 'champagne' and 'fireworks', they all managed to last the distance and had a great time. We were buggered by the end!!!
Today we had a church service of praise, worship, and prayer for the new year and then some time to relax.
It is now just after midnight so it is time for me to finish, once again we wish you a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
God Bless
Leading up to Christmas we had fun with the boys having a 'shopping night' to select the clothes they wanted for Christmas. It was the best way to shop and didn't cost us, great! They had wrapped presents for each other and were awake at 6am on Christmas morning so by 6.20 we were opening presents so they could get dressed. They did look smart in their new clothes. In all of the photos I took of them we had Raghma looking down from the wall so it was almost like she was with us. We went up to the home for breakfast then prepared for the pageant. We presented it outside under the tent and, although it wasn't their best performance, it was received well and they did enjoy it. The weather was not nice, it was raining all around us but not on us until the service was over, then it teemed with rain. When we lit the advent wreath, the four candles on the wreath went out during the service but the Christ candle remained lit throughout which was quite symbolic. Marilyn and I managed to go home over lunchtime and sneaked a roast chicken sandwich for lunch and had a bit of a rest while the children watched a video, then at 4pm we had the giving of the presents for all children. Each child got five gifts, all wrapped, so you can imagine the noise and mess at the end. Some delighted children however. The rain had eased so we went outside to the tent for a barbeque dinner and a bottle of soda after which the primary aged children watched a Christmas DVD at Papa's side. We arrived home about 9.30 ready for bed.
On Boxing day (called 2nd Christmas here) we had a rest from Sunday School. Instead the children put on items they had prepared for. Then after lunch we had church in the tent again with a visiting Pastor from Canada doing the preaching. Again we had supper up at the home and were ready for bed much earlier.
During the week the children went back to doing 'chores' again which they seemed to enjoy, especially those who are 'guards' for the morning when they dress in the uniform. On the Monday the Canadians took the older kids for Lacrosse which was fun to watch.We had a real clash with Paul on that day which included his throwing stones, so he went up to Papa's side for two days to give us all some much needed respite. He did not enjoy sleeping in their laundry. He is back with us now but we need a lot of prayer for him that he can refrain from name-calling, lying, and throwing stones.....please!
Also on Wednesday and Thursday we were involved in a panel interviewing teachers for the school. All contracts finished on the 31st Dec so we needed to start afresh and we interviewed 41 applicants over the two days. It was a real eye-opener for us. The literacy and numeracy levels are really very poor which is quite a concern. We are going to re-interview about 15 of them on Monday in the hope we can appoint enough.
New Years Eve was a good night. We had Oli Bola (sp) a Dutch 'delicacy' for supper which the kids love, then a display of new year lights with lanterns the kids had made. It looked very effective as the kids walked around with their lanterns singing songs. After this the primary age children came to Papa's side to see the new year in. We had some games, then a DVD, then 'champagne' and 'fireworks', they all managed to last the distance and had a great time. We were buggered by the end!!!
Today we had a church service of praise, worship, and prayer for the new year and then some time to relax.
It is now just after midnight so it is time for me to finish, once again we wish you a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
God Bless
Saturday, January 1, 2011
New Year 'fireworks'
the fireworks ready for action
letting them off
still more
the dead fireworks, a good time was had by all!!New Years Eve
Sarai' birthday crown and cake
New Year lights
'Champagne' ready for midnight
A toast to the new yearbetween Christmas and New Year
After 'playing' La crosse
Two of our 'new' guards in serious pose
Our darling Rhode
New Years eve meal, Oli bola
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