Papa's b'day

Caleb, always with a smile
Pastor John, always with children around or on him
The girls singing
Guitar group performing
Girls dancing
Papa with his sized 13 crocs
The card from the family units, made by Matthew
Our friends Alex and Simon

Murals, clothes and birthday

Greetings to you all from a warm and sunny Mukono. Sorry NZ, we note in the news that you have some extremely cold weather at the moment. We could do with some ice here but only to put in our drinks or on our sunburn. We had a day out today at a place called African Village and were able to swim in their pool and just relax in the sun, we are both feeling slightly warm tonight. It's a tough life but somebody's got to do it.......
Since writing last time we have had two murals done in the boys bedrooms which they really love. The team also did a mural on each of the girls bedroom walls so all rooms have been brightened up. The team left yesterday having made good progress on the family unit and with other things. Another team from Holland arrives on Friday (with 17 people in it too) so we will love to see what talents they bring with them. This is a very busy time here as it is important to have enough for the teams and other volunteers to contribute, though there is no shortage of construction tasks to be done.
Claudia's mum and dad have returned home to Holland but not before providing some new clothes for the older children in the home which was greatly appreciated.
On Sunday we celebrated Papa's birthday, always a celebration that the children (young and not-so-young) really look forward to. There were items of singing, dancing, and playing instruments for a concert followed by a bar-b-que supper. The children who Marilyn has been teaching guitar and keyboard to, performed well, they are very talented children. Marilyn took a tumble on some wet grass during the concert and sprained her ankle. Fortunately it was not broken and after a day off it on Monday and some TLC it is coming right again.
Piet's health continues to improve but he still needs our prayer for more energy, and wisdom to know what he can and cannot do in any one day.
Well that's about all for now so until next time
God Bless

murals and new clothes

Mariska from the Livingstone team in front of her mural in the big boys room
Her nearly completed mural in the not-so-big boys room
The boys with their new clothes courtesy of claudia's mum and dad (with help from others). They love new clothes
Rhode showing off her dimples on the swing

Water water everywhere

Water bought to our door. Boy did we appreciate that!
Paul and Mark fishing.
More intrepid fishermen/fisherwomen
The team doing foundation on next part of family units.

Time for a catchup

Greetings all, time for a belated catchup. We have been incredibly frustrated by the unstable internet which keeps disconnecting ( even now it has gone off twice) but we will persevere. The past few weeks have passed in a blur of routine work at home, in school and in the containers. There is a team from Holland here, a Livingstone team, 17 young people, who are working with a variety of projects. They have started what will be a fourth family unit across the road and they are making good progress. The third family unit is also progressing well.
We must remark on an occasion the Monday before last, which we attended. We had a gathering of the management and heads of departments for supper, sodas, and socialising in Mukono which included some team-building activities. It was tremendous fun and Marilyn and I both remarked on what a diverse, creative, and wonderful group of people there are working here. We feel quite privileged to be part of it. Some photos may appear on the blog soon.
The other MAJOR event of the last two weeks has been the fishing contest. The children have been involved in fishing the fish ponds at the farm just outside the gates. On the first weekend 52 fish were caught,( many of them small so they were thrown back) enough big ones to enable us to have fish and chips on Sunday night instead of the usual sausage and chips. The winner on the day was Timothy with 13 fish caught. Yesterday was contest part two and 107 fish were caught, again enough for supper tonight. This time Brenda was the winner with 20 fish caught. (Aunty Renske was reported to have caught 25 but we reckoned it was the same fish caught 25 times!!!). It has been great fun, they even got up at 6am to go fishing they were that keen.
Our darling Rhode is developing into quite a character and gives lovely kisses especially to her 'grandad' and continues to bring us much joy each day. We have not yet been able to get her walking unaided but it won't be too much longer.
We need some specific prayer at present for Marilyn who has been battling a heavy cold over the last two weeks, and also for Piet who has been struggling with his energy levels. He is to go for tests tomorrow so we pray that those seeing him will have the necessary knowledge and wisdom to identify his needs. Pray also for Pita to help her to not worry too much. With Papa's birthday coming up this week, we want him well as the children have been preparing items for the celebration. There are several members of the Livingstone team who have returned from Safari with illnesses so please pray that they will be restored to full heath too.
The internet has disconnected about 20 times while I have been writing this (no exaggeration), so I'm going to end before I throw the whole thing out the window.
Many thanks to all our many friends who have kept in touch one way or another, we do love hearing from you.
Till next time, God Bless