We've had a manically busy week as usual! Lots of funny bits, some awful bits. Overall, I've probably had my most difficult week so far because of homesickness. It comes and goes, but this week I've just wanted a hug with people that I know and love at home :( On the plus side, life moves fast here and there's lots to do, so I'm learning how to get on with it and think outside my emotions because there's more important things to do here. Thank you to everyone who's praying - we've had a lot of trouble with sleep, so some prayer for that would be much appreciated. I'm waking up a lot during the night, all of us are having nightmares and Lucy woke up shouting about 4 nights ago. It makes us all tired, and we need to have lots of energy to cope with the heat and be the best we can for the children, so a change in that situation would be great. We've made some headway with the new things we want to set up - boys group started 2 days ago (more about that later!), choir starts this coming Saturday and the vulnerable women's group starts on Thursday. Please pray that we have wisdom about how to run these groups in a sustainable way so that they continue when we leave, and also that we'll have compassion and understanding for the people we meet. We also started counselling some of the girls from Gilgal school yesterday, which is a fantastic opportunity to show them how valued and loved they are. Again, more about that later!
Om Monday we had an amazing time swimming :D It was SO GOOD to be surrounded by water rather than bathing out of a bowl!!! And we had real showers so I got a bit carried away and washed my hair twice... It made me happy :) We drank soda and bought cake for Becky's birthday and it was generally awesome. A little tiny bit of Western life can be nice when you're in a rural area so much of the time! It is definitely making me appreciate what I take for granted at home. We sunbathed and relaxed... Miraculously, I wasn't wearing suncream (sorry Mum) but didn't burn! Talking of miracles, there was a giant raincloud coming right for the pool and we could feel spots of rain starting, so we prayed cos we didn't want to catch pnuemonia in the pool and die (!!!) and, I'm not even joking, the whole cloud REVERSED and moved in the opposite direction! 10mins later and the sky was totally blue again :) After a lovely day we went home and had soda and cake with the family. The kids loved it! Uno as usual, and then bed. Becky seemed to have a really good birthday. Admittedly, the cake wasn't the same as at home, but it really wasn't bad. The icing was yummy times! :)
Tuesday 13th - Went to a little nursery school that we walk past on the way to Gilgal in the morning. The kids always run out squealing and waving so you can imagine how over the moon they were that we were at their school! The lady who runs it is awesome; her house is next to this little wooden school building and she single-handedly teaches about 40 kids all day and obviously loves it. She's building another space to teach in on the other side of her house... They all wear little pink uniforms and she's put alphabet cards up in the classroom! It's very cute :) It's nice to be able to make the kids' day like that. We played some games and sang some songs with them then headed home for lunch. In the afternoon we went to the tailoring school and we were fully prepared for that to be awful cos of last week! But it was soooo much better - we took some fabric and spent time sewing with the girls all laughing cos we found it quite challenging... Lucy and Ellie managed to sew some hems but I couldn't even make the machine work for ages cos it's manual and the foot pedal is a total pain :) We're starting to get to know the girls better, which is a blessing. In the evening we did some creative stuff to decorate the house; I made loads of glittery stuff to stick all over the prayer wall so now the living room looks awesome! Then this guy called Maddy, who lives next door, came to visit cos he was going back to Tanzania on Wednesday to start his 4th year of medicine at uni. We went to visit him later and he gave us tea :D It was nice, we're being made to feel so welcome... We cleared our plans for a boys group, choir and vulnerable women's group with Pastor Ben and Mama Rachael, so that's REALLY exciting!!! We can't wait to get those started...
Wednesday 14th - Spoke to Nina and Nonno this evening (love you both lots!) It was really nice to hear familiar voices from home.. Went to Lilo today as usual and did the story of Samuel; the younger kids went great and they seemed to love it. We've decided to make them special folders to put all their craft stuff in so they can keep it all once we leave. They tend to ruin it all in the dust if we just give them the stuff they've made! We're learning more names; during the big game of dodgeball at the end I was sitting under a tree with a lot of the mute and physically disabled children and just talking to them. It was really nice :) Matebbe (the mute boy who's always the first to say hello to us) came over with his feet covered in some sort of resin from a palm leaf and I had to pick it off for him :S It sounds gross but it was kinda lovely, represented what we're here to do, which is serving the kids. The older group didn't go so well; we're having trouble connecting with them and getting them to respond to us in the classroom, so please pray for that. There are some older guys who would be great to have onside cos they seem to dictate the mood of the class! We just need to persevere and be patient - please pray that we have good, creative ideas about what to do with the older group. We're going to try some gardening at some point I think :) Becky's bible study went great in the evening and that's pretty much Wednesday done!
Thursday 15th - Had a difficult day :( Really missing people from home and struggling with the food here. It's very stodgy and after a while eating it can become a bit of a battle - please pray that I can get through that and just enjoy the food, cos we're blessed to have enough to eat compared to other people here. I need to hold onto my perspective! Becky and I went for a walk after going to Gilgal and bought some soda which made me feel better! Gilgal went really well this morning, apart from them starting 20mins late, which really put our time under pressure :S the kids enjoyed the story and games again, as always, and P5+6 went so much better! They're talking to us more; I think the question box idea is helping. Thank you to everyone who prays for us because it really does make a huge difference :) The name game with nursery only had one minor injury this time, which is better than the usual screaming that erupts when 80 kids all stampede towards one person! There's one boy, I don't know his name, who's a little star in that class! He's always beaming and has the most lovely little face. It's such a privilege to stand up in front of kids like that and be loved by them without much reason..
Uni deadline for Oxbridge; I'm feeling so nervous for the interviews already!!! Not looking forward to it at all... Hopefully I'm not flying home for no reason, otherwise I'll be gutted at the waste of money! Had a very interesting experience in the evening... Pastor Murenzi (headteacher at Gilgal) came round with another pastor from Kasawo. It was really kind of them to come all the way just to meet us. We sang "Amazing Grace", them in Luganda and us in English. It was really beautiful, but then he said he felt he should pray for Nicky... I was next to her on the sofa, he made her stand up so I put a reassuring hand on her back cos obviously I thought she might be a bit freaked out! All of a sudden he's yelling and spitting everywhere and trying to push her over!!! It was HILARIOUS, I can't even describe it to you! We were all trying not to laugh cos we didn't want to be rude and you have to teach pastors with respect here, but we were all cracking up. Ah it was one of the best moments of the trip :D
Friday 16th - Went to Teacher Jo's in Kampala instead of doing theological training. She gave us some help with teaching methods and stuff for the older kids at Lilo. It was so good being in a relatively normal house! She has this beautiful place in a green, grassy compound in Kampala... We had toasted sandwiches with CHEESE for lunch!!!! Yum yum yum... Still panicking about Cambridge interview (please pray!)
Saturday 17th - There was an insane amount of rain and thunder last night which kept us all awake. The metal roof is not good when it rains!! Part of the ceiling kinda split open too, so it'll be interesting to see what happens with that... We did washing and tidying in the morning as usual, then a girl from Lilo came to teach us sign language. Nicky and Lucy learnt a lot so they'll have to teach the rest of us who were doing the chores! It's hard keeping the house tidy with 5 people and so much stuff in only 3 small rooms. Very different to home, but we love it. It's amazing how your priorities and expectations change here; we feel so lucky to have that house cos we see how other people live in way more difficult and cramped situations. Kids club in the afternoon went great; we started our week of doing the story about the wise man and the foolish man and where they built their houses :) the kids met Scruffy the puppet again and seemed to like him (although one kid is always scared!) We're starting a choir next Saturday, which is gonna be good. Hopefully lots of kids will come; please pray that we all know how to run this in a way that works for them! Somehow I don't think getting them into lines ready to sing is gonna work all that well...!
I don't actually know much about girls group at Gilgal cos when we turned up there were loads of boys there for boys group..?! It wasn't meant to start till next week but Ellie and I took them to play football (looooads of yelling involved with that) and then did the story of Samson with them. We're doing a series on strong men of God in the Bible and they liked the idea of that. They wanted to do James the apostle next week, so we need to do some research for that... I'm properly excited about the boys group!!! It's gonna be so good once it gets going. We want to train some of them up to lead it once we've gone, and I think starting a mentoring programme for them between each other will work well. They were really receptive and talked a lot; it surprised me! There's so many issues with men abandoning their wives, marrying loads of women and not working to support their kids here, so the men need to be cared for an educated as well as the girls. There's often a focus on the girls and not enough done for the boys.
Sunday 18th - Went to visit a church in Kasawo with Pastor George in the morning. FOUR HOURS LONG!!! But the church was fantastic; they had some good teaching and were really lively! Everyone came up to us at the end to greet us and shake hands :) We did some singing and dancing in both services (they like it when the mzungus look silly) and Lucy did the preach. She was so good; she's really growing and coming into her own while we're here. It's great watching people's gifts grow and new gifts forming in them. Anyway, we've been invited there to a traditional African wedding in the next few weeks, which we're VERY excited about!!! We have to buy proper African outfits, called gomezes, to wear...
In the afternoon we had our one-to-one things with the girls from Gilgal where they could share their testimonies and stories with us. Some shocking stuff came out of that. We spoke to 8 of them and most of them have been shuttled around various family members all their lives cos their parents didn't want them. Lots of them had to work for food and not go to school, or had stuff done to them by witch doctors. That's a really big problem in the community - I know it sounds silly and magicky, but people really think there's power in it, which means that they're fearful and the witchcraft stuff can actually work. It's something we're constantly battling with, and it gets very tiring for us cos we're not used to it. Anyway, one of the girls has previously found the body of a child sacrificed by a witch doctor. Two of them are orphans and have nowhere to live outside of the school. One girl was gang raped. I don't want to share any names cos obviously these stories are personal to them, but please pray for all of them. They are all so beautiful and strong; it takes my breath away. They aren't small and sad and weak like the stories make them sound. They're overcomers who keep on fighting what's happened in their past and work really hard to make a new way in life for themselves. They're truly an inspiration. Please pray that girls group and "counselling" with us will be a blessing to them and that they'll learn how precious and loved they are.
We also learnt of a situation with a local pastor who we know quite well - he takes all the funding given to him by a Swiss organisation. Instead of using it to run a school, he has it for himself and we don't know what to do. He also has many wives, including young girls. One of them comes to girls group, and has nowhere to go now. She's been backed into a corner cos he pays for her education, food and clothes and also does the same for her younger brother and sister. If she doesn't do what he wants and sleep with him then she'll literally have nothing and now she also feels responsible for her siblings cos both their parents are dead. Please please please pray for her. She's a wonderful young woman. Also pray that we (and Pastor and Mama) will have wisdom about what to do in this situation, and pray that the man will change.
Monday 19th - DAY OFF!!! We made pizzas with the family in the evening and it was awesome! :) The kids loved it; most of the family hadn't tasted cheese before! The Italian side of me was very proud; they actually cooked properly in the Ugandan oven :D Esther fell asleep on Becky and couldn't eat hers, it was very cute! My SAQ form for Cambridge is due in on Thursday so that's quite a stress... It's almost done though and Mum and Dad are being awesome and helping me with it. I'm actually writing this really early on Wednesday morning cos my blog got deleted/lost on Monday with the slow internet connection right before I published it... SOOOO annoying!! Today we're in Mukono having our Oasis day off, going swimming again. Such luxury! We're gonna buy soda and have nice lunch.. Ah I'm excited! I should probably write about yesterday while I'm here actually..
Tuesday 20th - Ellie's birthday :) We were meant to go to a school in the morning at 10 but the pastor didn't turn up till 12, so that was a bit of an issue!! We obviously ended up not going cos we had to be back for the tailoring school at 2. African time is a real issue; everyone's always late! When we get home we'll probably be so used to it that we're the same, turning up everywhere an hour after we've arranged to be there :S The tailoring school went great again, although we were all lazy and tired from sitting around all morning! It gave me a much needed chance to get my journal up to date though... We started making dresses out of paper at the school and I actually sewed and made one!!! It was awesome :) I have to finish in next week but I can bring it home and show everyone - Nina, you would be proud! I met a lovely girl called Florence who's 15 and has been at the school for a year already; she was very patient with me and helped me with my dress. Bless her! In the evening we got out the water slide Maree gave us for the family and the kids had great fun sliding down it and getting muddy and washing-up-liquid-y! I felt really quite ill in the evening, so please pray that I get better and feel as good as possible. Being not well just drains us of energy here.
Anyway, I'll stop rambling now :) Congrats for reading this far, you're all stars! I'll speak to you soon, and I'm gonna try and upload some photos now....
Loads of love and hugs
Flick
xXx
Junior, our new little brother! Quite possibly the most awesome kid I've ever met...
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