New school term!

Hello!

So my apologies for having not blogged over the past month.  I can't believe that it is now March! The past 5 months have just flown by..!  I will give you an update of what we have been up to over the past couple of weeks.

  So on February 2nd the School 'summer' holidays finished and we started a new term.  This season we have been teaching 3 days a week.  On Mondays we run a 'catch-up class' for the children in the slum area of Nabulagala where we have the kids club and also ran a class in December.  This is an exciting new project, in which we are able to work with children currently not at school because they cannot afford to pay fees, or are unable to attend for some reason.  It is also a good opportunity to help the younger children who are not quite old enough for school to get a head start in learning English and Maths.  We have been teaching the basic phonetics and the alphabet, as well as numbers 1-10 and helping them learn to count.  Though it is still early days, it has been encouraging to see how the children have been improving in their English and counting.  It has been very worthwhile and hopefully we will be able to grow the project and help the children even more.  

  On Tuesdays and Wednesdays we have been teaching at Ruth Mother Care.  This term we have sorted out a timetable with the school so it has helped us plan more effectively for the lessons.   Each day we teach all the classes  English.  This has been good, and as we have all been working in the same classes, it has given us more to teach one on one support with the pupils and help them understand the work, and ensure they are understanding what they are doing.  

  I really enjoy working at this school, the pupils and staff are so friendly and welcoming.  As some of you may know we are currently running an online fundraising page to help us buy textbooks for the school.  Back home in the UK people would be amazed to hear that the school runs without electricity and computers, let alone having no textbooks to help the pupils learn!  A donation of £5 would be enough to purchase a textbook, which will still be useful for a number of years,   Please take some time to read our fundraising page and please do consider fundraising or donating, however great  or small you can spare,  any donations would be very very gratefully accepted!  

Fundraising page found here!!!

On Thursdays we have continued our community outreach in Nabulagala.  This is a good opportunity to meet local people who live in the area,  We spend time encouraging the local Christians, praying and helping to answer any questions they may have.  Over the past couple of weeks we have met several Muslim families who have been very interested to hear the gospel about Jesus, and have spent time asking lots of questions about the christian faith, which has been good.  Please continue to pray with us that we can share the good news and bring words of encouragement to the people there!  
  We also spend the time talking to families who Smile have built relationships with over the past few years.  It gives us the opportunity to ensure they are all in good health and lets us see if there are any practical ways we can help them in their day to day lives.

On Fridays we have been running the kids clubs again which has been good.  This term I have been at Family Believers Church in Nabulagala.  We have continued teaching the parables of Jesus, as well as singing songs, playing games, and giving the children biscuits.  This is always great fun, if not a bit chaotic at times,  but also an exhausting end to the week!  

I can't believe I will be heading home in just 4 weeks!  It still feels like I've only just arrived!  But I am very much enjoying the work, and very grateful for the continued prayer and messages of support I receive from home.  Please continue to pray for us as a team and for good health as we have been a little bit ill this past week and a bit tired from the constant workload!

I hope you are all well!

Kenneth x

Kuffu mission trip

  On Sunday the 18th of January we headed off to a village called Kuffu, where we would be running a week long mission at a local church called Goshem.  During the week we ran a kids club,  where we sang songs, taught bible lessons, and played games, showed 'translated' Christian movies, and spent time in outreach to the community.
The Goshem Center is a local church run in the village of Kuffu. It runs various different programmes, including a school, a 'catch-up class' for young girls who have had to leave education, a children's play area, and also various projects that support the local community.

Kids Teaching

On the Monday to the Friday we ran the kids club from about 10am until about 2pm depending on how long the lessons took.  Each day we would start thethe club with about 30mins of singing.  This was good fun, the kids enthusiastically joining in the songs and dances.  One day I even helped play the Ngoma (African drums) which was good fun.

Some pictures of the songs

  After the singing we would split the kids in to 2 classes, one for mid primary upwards, and one for the younger children. I was teaching the older class along with Ruth and Brian.  Each day we  taught them a parable which Jesus had told.  We taught them about, The Great Feast (Luke 12), The Lost Sheep (Luke 15), The Lost Son (also Luke 15), The Two builders (Matthew 7), and The Hidden Treasure (Matthew 13).  We tried to tell the story in a way which the Children will always remember.  This was achieved by doing various activities, such as acting out the story, teaching them memory verses, and playing a game related to the story. For example, when we taught about the Hidden Treasure, we set up a Treasure Hunt!
My highlight of the teaching was the Thursday when we taught the story of the 2 builders.  We made this story unique by getting the kids to build their own houses.  We split the class in to 2 groups, one group building on sand, and the other building on hard ground!  After they had finished their respective 'houses' we then poured water ("rain") on the 2 structures. Thankfully the house on the sand fell down, whilst the house on the rock stood firm!  This was a really good way to teach them and get them actively involved, whilst reinforcing the meaning of the story!

The house on the sand

The house on the rock

The house on the sand fell flat

The house on the rock stood firm!

 On the Friday afternoon after playing games and giving the kids porridge, we had a general assembly and tested the kids on what they had learned throughout the week.  The kids were able to tell us all about the stories they had been taught (in to great detail as well, which was great!) so it was good to know they had taken the lessons in.  We then had a prize giving, rewarding the kids that had done exceptionally well and been very active in answering questions during class etc.  We also gave the rest of the kids smaller gifts for coming along and getting involved!  I really enjoyed working with the kids and it was quite sad to leave them on the Sunday even though we'd only been there a week.

Each day we gave the kids porridge

Films & Outreach

  Each evening we showed a translated Christian film and gave a short talk to the people who attended.  Translated films are pretty much a film in which the original soundtrack has been edited by someone who speaks over the top, translating the dialog into Luganda.  This was a good way to invite people from the local community and share the Christian gospel in a unique way, the films were very well attended throughout the week.
  On the Saturday we spent time reaching out to the community.  We offered fumigation of local peoples homes, as well as spending sometime speaking and praying with them.  This was a good experience, allowing us to meet the people who lived there, as well as getting to see the surrounding area and how people live.  It was quite a humbling experience, seeing first hand inside peoples homes.  What really struck me was how little possessions people had, some owning not much more than a mattress.  They also must collect water from a local pump, and cook on a fire or charcoal stove.  A far cry from back home!

Innocent ready to fumigate!

During our stay there we had an experience of 'village life.'  We were camping in tents, ending in quite a sore back after 7 nights on the hard ground!  We also had to collect water from the pump, to eat, drink, and wash.  Needing to boil the water, to ensure it was safe to drink, using a charcoal stove to cook, as well as using a basin and cup to wash!  It was a very interesting experience, and it was an opportunity to see the various challenged people face living in more rural areas.  On the Sunday got to experience the church , which was very long, and very noisy!!

Despite it being a challenging and very tiring trip, we all really enjoyed our time in Kuffu.  I will always remember the experiences we had in the village. It was also very interesting to get a new perspective on how people live  around the world.

Moses and I making Chapatis

Tomorrow (2nd of Feb) we start our class in the slum area at Family Believers Church, for the children who don't currently go to school.  We will be back at Ruth Mother Care on Tuesday and Wednesday, Outreach on Thursdays, and starting kids clubs again on Friday.

Recently, due to the very dry weather, National Water have been unable to supply enough water for peoples homes.  Thankfully we have been able to avoid running out of water so far, but it would be greatly appreciated if people could pray for God's provision in this matter.

I will keep you updated as the school term starts again!  It was very nice to be able to Skype those of you back at home who were at choir practise on Thursday.   I hope you are all well!

Kenneth :)

Safari!!

Last Sunday afternoon we left Nansana and drove to Murchison Falls National Park located in the North West of the country.  The park is about 300 kilometers from Kampala, so it took us about 6 hours to get there.  Five of us went, me, Kathryn, Ruth, Moses and Ronnie who would be our driver for the few days.  We arrived about 8pm on Sunday evening and we stayed in a nearby guest house, before entering the actual park on Monday morning at about 11am.
  The Park is home to a great number of animals, including 4 of the big 5 (Lions, Leopards, Buffalo and African Elephant. unfortunately there are no Rhino in the park.)  Out of these we managed to see Buffalo and Elephants, as well as Giraffes, Hippos, Baboons, 3 species of antelopes, Wart Hogs, Crocodiles, Patas Monkeys, a Turtle, many different species of birds, and probably some other animals that I have forgotten!  It was amazing!!
  On the Monday we went for a game drive when we first entered the park.  We met a park ranger at the entry gate called Savior who offered to guide us to the best places to spot the animals for half price!  Which was great, and despite it being around midday, when a lot of the animals are usually hiding from the heat, we managed to see a large variety.  Savior also told us about the animals and what species they were etc.  Which was very informative and interesting.  I really enjoyed the drive and we managed to get very close to a herd of elephants which were eating beside the road.
  On the Tuesday morning we went for another  game drive to increase our chances of seeing one of the cats (Lions and Leopards..) but unfortunately we didn't spot any.  Our guide told us that it is likely because of the high moon light and so they would have hunted during the night and rest during the hot daytime.  The highlight of this drive was definitely seeing a herd of about 10 Giraffes really close up!  They are incredibly beautiful animals, very elegant despite their size!
  Another memorable moment from Tuesday's game drive was when a Baboon jumped into our car, grabbed some Bananas and then jumped straight back out! hahahaha... It was terrifying and hilarious.. Then to top it off, after our game drive, another Baboon jumped in and grabbed our biscuits!  Thankfully Baboons have not yet discovered how to open screw tops!! And one of the rangers chased it off and managed to get our biscuits back.... hahaha.
 During our stay we had decided to take our own tents and camp on the other side of the River Nile which runs through the park.  The view from our campsite was very beautiful, overlooking the Nile and beyond in to the National Park.  As it was an open campsite there would often be Baboons, or Wart Hogs searching for food!  One night there was even a Hippopotamus grazing in the camping area! 
  On Wednesday we went up from our campsite up to the actual Murchison Falls. This was incredible and very picturesque as it looked down the River Nile.
  In the Afternoon, we took a guided boat trip up the Nile towards the Falls. This was really good, and we were lucky enough to see a large number of Crocodiles and Hippos, as well as several Elephants drinking by the river bank, a turtle, and numerous birds. It was also very interesting to hear about some of the animals and their lifestyles.
 On Sunday we leave to go to a village for a week long mission (18th-25th).  We will be doing various activities, including running a kids club, community outreach, movie nights, and fumigation of peoples houses.  I am looking forward to this and will keep you all posted when we get back next Sunday (25th).
  Here some photos from our few days of safari to give you an idea of what we were lucky enough to see!  (We have around 700 between us so this is just a few of the highlights!)  Hope you are all well!

Kenneth