New Beginnings

Hello, sorry I haven't updated this yet!

Where to start..?!  

On Sunday we attended church for the first time.  We will be going along to Kampala Baptist Church (KBC for short).  We went to the English service which is about an hour and 45mins. It was quite a similar service to the one at home. Though I really enjoyed the music and singing, we sang familiar songs, only they were slightly more upbeat and tuneful..! We even ended up staying for a wedding service,which took place after the main church meeting. It was great, a bit noisier than the usual wedding ceremonies back home.
   There is even a choir at kbc on Thursday evenings, so I will hopefully be able to get involved with that, as well as helping in other areas at the church.  After church we had our first chapatis (basically a thick pancake..)!  We took the rest of the day off watching a film and chatting with the other volunteers that stay here.   We are all settling in well, already feel at home around the Smile house. The local team have been very kind and welcoming, it has been good getting to know them all.

On Monday we met with the project manager here, Alex. We discussed how we were settling in and what we hope to get out of our time here in Uganda.  We also talked about what projects we will be involved in over the coming weeks.  In the next couple of weeks we will be heading to a village Smile have not been to before, and will help start up a new kids club as well as helping in the local school.
  Monday afternoon we went into the main city to get Ugandan sims and also get some other things.  I still don't have a clue where things are, or even how to get into town..! But that will come in time I am sure.
  Today has been a quiet day, we had a meeting with a couple of the local volunteers to talk about the kids clubs we will be helping at and also to start planning some lessons we could do.  In the late afternoon we went for a walk around the local neighbourhood.  I will have to get used to waving to all the local kids... All very excited to see white people! "Bye Mzungu!" 

It is interesting seeing all the different building and sights! It is such a mish-mash of stuff, nothing like the UK. Though it is challenging seeing all the poverty, seeing people who have literally nothing.  Especially when we were in the main city, when there were small children who came up to the car begging. 

It has also been funny adapting to power cuts.  The electricity was off most of the day, but that all part of the experience..

I will update soon, and hopefully post some pics!

Hope you're all well,
Ken