20th - 22nd September 2009

This week has been INSANE. Literally, insane. Ridiculous, crazy, add on any other synonym you can think of! :) I am thanking God for his goodness right now, and the fact that he is always faithful; this will make more sense to you as you read about the events of this week. It's hard to know where to start because so much has happened, but I'll copy bits from my diary, go day by day and do my best... I'm going to break this down into a few different posts so that there's a manageable amount to read! Happy reading people :D


Sunday 20th - Still in Kampala, weather is very hot! We went to church today with Maree, our coordinator at a place called Calvary Chapel. It was awesome :) African churches have a lot more dancing than they do at home! There was a gospel choir and everything, it was a great time of rest for the team cos the last 5 days have just been exhausting. Going to our placement in Namaliri village tomorrow... feeling nervous and unsure what to expect. It's strange to be leaving just as we've become settled in Kampala. I'm missing friends and family lots and trying to keep everyone in my prayers, but that's a lot of people!

Monday 21st - Got to placement :D The van was loaded with a LOT of luggage (and a mattress...?!) but we managed to get there. When we got there we met the family that we're living with for the next 5 months. Our Ugandan Mummy and Daddy are called Rachael and Benedict; they were so welcoming! They have seven children: Jonathan and Timothy are away at uni in a larger town. Abigail goes to boarding school (she's about 15). Joshua and Caleb are 12 year old twins, Junior is 6 and Esther is 5. They are such a lovely family and I think we'll settle in really quickly. The 5 of us were pretty nervous to start with, had a lot of people to greet and introduce ourselves to. Because we're mzungus, people treat us differently; it's very weird. Difficult to get used to. People here are very talkative and really look after us well. We had a huuuuge lunch (I'm gonna come home massive!) Interesting differences are: the lack of toilets (we have a pit latrine). I'll have thighs of steel when I come home, that's all I'm saying!! Showers are "baths" out of a plastic bowl, with cups in the open air, which is actually surprisingly nice :) you can see loads of stars here cos there's no civilisation with street lights! There are cows, goats and chickens wandering everywhere...

Our house has 3 rooms; there's a bedroom for 2, a living room and another bedroom for 3. It's quite cramped but we're being inventive with storage solutions :D I've stuck photos up everywhere (literally) and I've brought books with me so it feels like home. That's pretty much all I can briefly sum up about the village from today!

Tuesday 22nd - My diary starts "Today has been AMAZING!" Doughnuts and tea for breakfast (Mama Rachael is such a good cook) The loo (or lack of it) is an experience and a half...! We sorted out our programme today... Day off is Monday, visiting schools in the area on Tuesday mornings then a tailoring school in the afternoon. Teaching in a school for the disabled on Wednesday mornings, then leading a church bible study in the afternoon. Teaching at another school in the village on Thursday mornings, then going round visiting houses in the afternoon. Theological training and team meetings on Fridays. Kids club on Saturdays and a youth girls' group in the evening, then sunday school/church/community evangelism on Sundays. Lots to do!

This afternoon we visited Gilgal school where we'll be teaching; met some kids from the village who all tried to grab our hands and followed us everywhere! Some of them had terrible burns on their arms and faces, others were malnourished. It's hard to see things like that; I hope my hurt when I see it never lessens and that I never get used to it, cos it shouldn't be that way. We attempted to do our own washing when we got home, and manged surprisingly well! :) It'll just take too long to do it on our own every week, so we're going to pay a lady from the village to help us. Loads of these big, disgusting flies got into the house tonight, there was lots of squealing and general panic as we tried to get rid of them - good times!


Read on for other posts.....