BLOD's Blog

Investment Year 2012

2012-01-25T10:28:00.010+03:00

We have just started the new Investment Year programme. The year always starts with some concentrated training, and this year it will all be taking place here in Kampala, over the next 4 weeks - so - at the moment there are 31 IY students living here with us. They stay from Monday to Friday and go back to New Hope at the weekends, giving the rest of us here a little breather!

Steve heads up the training with Jennie and Jessica (the other two IY staff). We have now made it through the first part of the first week, and here are some pictures all taken on tuesday afternoon .... lots of activity and play on the go...rice sorting, catching up on prescribed reading, playing cards .... Anya is doing her homework, Joel is burning our rubbish and Silas as you can see is getting 'bounced'.

We are sure that the next 4 weeks are going to be a lot of fun, even if a bit tiring. The good thing is that Ugandan teenagers are very good at sharing mattresses on the floor, squashing into small spaces to sleep, and eating very simply ... so the whole thing will not be as stressful or tricky as some of you may be thinking! Having said that your thoughts and prayers are appreciated, that we will have patience for different situations, and time for our own children.

The 4 weeks will cover all sorts of areas like how to journal, writing a CV, seeing God in your own story, world view, how to read/understand the bible, watching reading and listening with a critical mind ...and etc.

These young people have al just finished GCSE's, and most of them are aged 17 - 18. If you read this blog you will be seeing a bit more of most of them as we go through the year.

Silas in a skirt!

2011-12-04T19:54:00.003+03:00

One of Silas’ friends here in Kampala is Christine - she lives next door, and since completing her O-levels 2 weeks ago, has been around a lot more. She is a lot of fun, and has taken the time to play with Silas which is great for us. Although Silas is doing well and doesn’t seem to get too bored with just his dad and mum around(!), he really does miss the friends he made at New Hope. Afternoons can sometimes seem long as he waits for Joel and Anya to get back from school...so - we are very thankful for Christine ...and any grass skirts that Silas chooses to wear!

2011-12-04T10:48:00.004+03:00

Sunday lunchtime is a good time to get together....and people come when there is food on offer - especially students!! For those of us further on in life - do you remember the days craving a home made dinner, which, when it came (as a change from the student staple of beans on toast) was like a taste of heaven? We are hoping to invite young people who have been through New Hope and are now in Kampala studying at university, doing A-levels, or taking vocational courses, to come for a meal every now and again.

A chance to reconnect with their ‘brothers and sisters’ from New Hope, for us to catch up with them, and of course to eat!

One thing that can be lacking for an orphan is the ongoing interest that key adults take in you as you progress through life. Some of the children we live and work with become very self dependent because they are so used to having to make decisions alone, and are not used to having people take a long term interest in how they are doing. This is something that we feel we can offer as ‘parents’ in their lives. It is low key but helps them feel valued and known.

another saturday morning

2011-12-04T10:12:00.003+03:00

Our numbers have hugely reduced now that the Investment Year students have finished their final placements and gone back to New Hope.. this saturday even Steve was away - he was also at New Hope to run the 'hand-over'. When one IY finishes those students hand over to the next group - it's a chance to tell stories from the year, eat a meal together, and pass on information to the parents / guardians of the incoming students.

The house here was very quiet anyway...and Joel, Anya and Silas were on cooking the saturday morning pancakes. They are cooking with charcoal on a sigiri as it has become something of a challenge to find gas in Uganda lately. It is one of the items that has doubled in price in the last 8months. Anyway - cooking outside is a lot more exciting!

Matooke

2011-11-22T20:19:00.003+03:00

Anyone who has been to Uganda will know that matooke (big green bananas that you have to cook) is one of the favourite dishes. There is a particular way to peel, prepare and cook it, and it is generally the ladies job to do the preparing. I have been allowed to help in the cooking process before, but there is normally some level of surprise that a mzungu (white man/lady) can manage this particular task. It is a bit of a treat so we don't generally have it here with the IYs...and its also a bit of a fiddle to prepare! Cathie was my teacher/instructor on this occasion.

Steve in a dress......

2011-11-22T20:14:00.003+03:00

Last week Steve went to a Ugandan 'introduction' ...the first part of the wedding ceremony in traditional weddings. The dress he is wearing is called a kanzu. It is worn over trousers and with a jacket (just a little warm in this climate it has to be said!). The young man he is with is Silver - one of the IYs. Quite a sight I am sure you will agree!

Another school trip!

2011-11-22T20:05:00.004+03:00

Silas has been doing a topic about cars in school (his suggestion!), so a trip to the mechanics was in order! We have (sadly), got to know this particular garage quite well since our move to Kampala, as our car has had to have some substantial work done on it. Silas had a great time though .....with lots of pointing at crucial car parts .....Steve on the other hand had a slightly more frustrating visit... : our car has been making a strange squeaking sound since its last 'fixing' and Steve was going to check it out. He took it in to have a test drive so they could listen and make a diagnosis. Trouble was, there was no sound at all from the car ..(just steve trying to re-create the high itched 'eeeeessskkkkk' sound himself). The car behaved perfectly until it got to within sniffing distance of our house here and then the squeaking returned!

Saturday Morning

2011-11-12T18:51:00.008+03:00

A pretty normal saturday here in the IY household. We generally do cleaning and jobs in the morning - today we sanded down benches than needed a coat of varnish - heavy work..but there were plenty of us.

Juliet is catching up on here washing - all by hand so fairly time consuming,....

and the two girls Zam Zam and Fiona had been invited out to an end of term party at a school where they have previously worked on their placement...so they were all dolled up and ready to party - at 9.30 in the morning which was quite a challenge for both of them!

Silas was caught developing a new lego creation - also a very important job.

The teenagers we live with do work hard, sometimes needing gentle -or less subtle(!) - reminders to get going, but mostly they are willing and very helpful. All of them do their own clothes washing, we have rotas for washing up etc, and at the weekend they also cook and do some general household cleaning.

We have grown to know them more closely with living all in the same space, and they have made it fairly easy to share 'our space' ...

Rainbow Day

2011-11-11T15:31:00.003+03:00

Today at Joel and Anyas School it was 'Rainbow Day' in the primary section- they celebrate the great diversity of cultures represented within the school ..over 60. Children dress up in the colours of their nations flag, and there are various activities plus food tasting related to the different continents. Thanks to a masterful outfit made by her mum Anya got to be in the parade! Kathryn got involved in painting Henna on childrens' palms in the Asia section.

The school that Anya and Joel go to is an international school teaching the British curriculum, but most of the children are from East Africa - Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Then there are many others from the other African nations, China, Russia, Canada, Germany, Wales etc etc... We are so grateful for the chance to send Joel and Anya to this school. They have made friends and so far have fitted in well.

Our Friend Judith.

2011-11-08T21:12:00.005+03:00

We have a good friend here in Kampala - Judith - who has lived here in Uganda for over 30 years. She is a bit like an adopted granny for us out here. Well - she has recently bought and begun building on land near to Lake Victoria in Entebbe. We all went out to celebrate the work so far (feeble excuse for a bit of a picnic!). We ate under the little cook shelter and let off some chinese lanterns once it got dark. Anya even wrote a little poem to mark the occasion. There is still a long way to go as you can see - so time for plenty more celebratory picnics!!

2011-11-08T20:39:00.003+03:00

On Saturday it was the boys on cooking lunch ...as you can see they really took the task to heart and made the most of their role serving us beautifully!! These two are James and Silver ..both are doing placements on construction sites. Where they got the ties from is anyones guess - certainly not Steves wardrobe! (the white stuff is the staple posho that we all eat a few times a week .... its kind of like stiff semolina!)

full house

2011-10-25T19:59:00.004+03:00

One great advantage of having a house full with teenagers is that there are plenty of big 'brothers and sisters' for Joel, Anya and Silas. The house we are in is a typical city house here - not much outside space and walls surrounding what space there is. The children - of all ages - make full use of any available space, but it has been great for our three to have others around who are more able to play, apart from just their ageing parents! We are very grateful for these young people and the way they accept our own children.....

pancakes

2011-10-25T19:51:00.004+03:00

One of Silas' first reading books is called 'The Pancake'....of course providing the perfect excuse to cook pancakes for morning snack. He certainly takes after Steve in his culinary expertise ... we are now looking forward to the day when he can create tasty breakfast dishes without any supervision by the parents! He is still enjoying being the only Brown child at home during the day. He is gradually learning to read, which I still find a bit miraculous!

..Uganda v Kenya

2011-10-12T16:26:00.007+03:00

Saturday 8th October had a day all of us in Uganda had been looking for to in nervous anticipation. The reason? The last match of the qualifying for the 2012 African Nations, with Uganda needing a win (a draw could do? if Angola didn't win!). Who were they playing...Kenya! A local derby with so much at stake, i love football.

Uganda have not been to an African nations for 30 years, so surely this was the time?

Judith, Joel and me went, (like being back in South africa). We dressed and set off, fairly early as we knew it would be pretty busy, kick off was at 5pm so we left at 1pm....as we got closer to the ground, there were cars parked everywhere so following the crowd we turned up a dirt road and deposited the car and went the rest of the way on foot.

The colour and noise was stunning, i don't know if i have ever been anywhere noisier, we joined the never ending queue to get and after not moving for seemingly hours, we gave up and wandered round to another entrance where we got easily. It was 2:45pm so we thought we go up and find a seat and then maybe get a drink etc...as we found the section of the stadium we were in, it was totally full except for the back two rows, (2 hours before kick off) which we quickly grabbed and settled down to a long wait and the pre match entertainment! As we waited for kick off, people kept coming in, though we were already full. In the end it was 2 to a seat, all the stairwells and passageways were full, so we were stuck in our seat until the end.

The game was fantastic, with Uganda piling on pressure for most of it, desperately searching for the 1 goal they would need....as the 2nd half progressed, everyone knew in the stadium that Angola had won and so Uganda needed a goal, and so for the last 20 mins Uganda threw everything at the Kenya goal, but the ball would just not enter the net....at the final whistle the Ugandan players sank to the turf while the kenyan players celebrated stopping their neighbours getting to the finals....Disappointing but what a day, great fun and everyone should experience watching a football match in Africa, nothing like it....and of course there is always next time!!

Life...

2011-10-11T20:26:00.004+03:00

Time to play and relax is welcomed. There isnt that much space outside the house we are in, and no parks really to go to in the city, but at least there is room to kick a ball, read stories, and hang out with friends. We are liking the rented house we are in a lot, and it suits the needs we have - with us and the IY students. It isnt the long term plan but we reckon we will be here for at least a year. Joel is here playing out at the front of the house - kicking against the wall and the gate ...its all pretty enclosed as you can see, not much grass, but enough space nevertheless.

IYs at work

2011-10-11T20:11:00.005+03:00

Chapattis for sunday lunch has become a good tradition - the challenge is getting teenagers up early enough to cook enough for 13 of us before leaving for church at 10.!

The Investment year students who are living with us have to do a lot of general work. With no washing machine and no electric iron, clothes washing takes up quite a bit of time at the weekends or spare moments during the week. Everything generally gets ironed to get rid of the mango fly eggs (mango flies like to lay their eggs on damp clothing...the eggs then stay in the clothes and wait for some nice warm skin to burrow in to ..mmmmm - we should say we have never suffered from such choice african bugs!!)

We spend some part of saturday mornings cleaning the house together, everyone has to get involved before being able to choose what to do with the rest of the day. There are 8 teenagers living with us at the moment...or is it us living with them. Things are working well at the moment, and despite the odd confrontation or misunderstanding we are all adjusting to being around each other.

Ugandas Independence

2011-10-11T19:58:00.007+03:00

The 9th October was Independence Day for Uganda. Joel and Anya had a non-uniform day at school, having to dress up in the colours of the Ugandan flag : black, red and yellow. Here, with the IYs our main way of celebrating was to make and eat cake...of course, for the Investment Year students - celebrating freedom from the British is done with tongue in cheek as we are holding them to account and they are under our charge!!

...first wobbly tooth....

2011-10-05T10:22:00.002+03:00

Well Silas has lost his first tooth : at the age of 5 and a half. We all thought this was a bit early, but out it came without very much encouragement. He of course was very excited, and proud to show off the gap. In uganda there is the tradition of a 'tooth rat'! - who comes to get the tooth. We preferred the tooth fairy story, so did Silas!..., so he was expectant and happy to find some coins under his pillow the next morning.

...school trip

2011-10-04T16:41:00.006+03:00

i remember my first school trip, it was a long time ago when i was in primary school and the trip was to the natural history museum in London. Though it was a lifetime ago i still remember it so well, and remains a fantastic memory....Silas has been doing school for the last few weeks and focusing on animals and so a trip to the zoo was needed. Both of us were very excited and so this morning we headed off to Entebbe to the Zoo. We arrived at 10am and had the run of the place, Silas was very keen on seeing Giraffes, and as we headed off towards them, they were the furthest animals away, we got distracted by the monkeys. As we left the monkeys we wandered over to the lions who as normal were sleeping, so we thought!! There is a viewing point which overlooks the lions and as we studied them, i noticed that one of the lionesses was following Silas with her eyes, wherever he went so did her eyes. After quite a while we descended from the viewing platform and went across to the peacocks opposite the lion pen, after a couple of minutes i turned round to see that the lioness had moved and was now creeping and stalking towards Silas!! As we moved back towards her she was obviously taking great interest in Silas, thankfully there was fence between us, though was it thicker enough? I don't think i have been so close to a lion..

The adventures didn't finish there as a young camel also took interest in and decided to chase us!! Zoo's boring......Never!!

This could be a school trip Silas would never forget.....

Hi from Joel

2011-09-27T20:37:00.002+03:00

Joel here...hard at work (we think!) on the computer. Joel has settled into year 8 at school and made some friends,...highlights of the school day being swimming lessons, and football and rugby clubs!

Sunday Roast!?

2011-09-26T11:28:00.002+03:00

Eating lunch outside with some of the IYs. Sunday is a day that they cook...today was meat, chapattis, beans and 'doh-doh' (a type of green leaf!). Not quite roast chicken and crumble but very good nevertheless!

fun in the sun.

2011-09-21T07:44:00.001+03:00

Silas here - demonstrating our very simple solar water heater : a plastic bottle with a black plastic bag in it, filled with water and left in the sun. As long as its a lovely sunny day, we can get warm water for washing...not exactly a hot bath but its not bad!

school days

2011-09-21T07:35:00.003+03:00

Silas gets to spend all day with us! - here he is in the area that has become his school room.

Joel and Anya leave for school by 6.45 each day, they get picked up by a school minibus, - so we are now all attempting to eat breakfast at 6.30. Quite a challenge for all of us. Here's Anya after school with one of our neighbours friendly dogs Haki .....she's trying to look as tired as possible!

2011-09-13T20:13:00.001+03:00

giddy up!

2011-09-13T20:07:00.002+03:00

Anya and Silas got a chance to go for a horse ride while we were away with the IYs - lots of fun for both of them.

..Kampala

2011-09-13T16:33:00.006+03:00

..Just in case anybody is still reading the blog, it has been a long time since the last post, but heres a quick update from the last few months......

We have now made the move into the capital City of Uganda - Kampala. We are

settling in well to our new home and surroundings.

There has been a lot of change over the last month as we have returned to Uganda, spent 4 weeks at New Hope, reconnecting with friends, as well as packing up to leave. It has been quite a tough time of goodbyes

yes and changes, but also busy which has kept us all moving ! We are very happy with the house and it is a real blessing, the kids are very excited especially now we go upstairs to bed! Our neighbour has 3 dogs, hence the dog in the picture, the dogs have become Silas' best friends as each morning the minute the door opens he's off to find them and if he could i think he would ride them as a horse!

Joel and Anya have both started at a new school here in Kampala, its an international school so a complete change from home school / english school in Derby / village Ugandan school at New Hope! They get on the bus at 6.45 each day and have been adjusting well...though the differences have been something to get used to as well as all having to eat breakfast at 6:25am, its too early to talk let alone eat...

Since we have been here in Kampala, it has been fairly hectic, after a few days settling in we set off for a retreat with the IY's It has been good to reconnect with our Investment Year students and as they returned from their 2nd work placements, we all went away for a “Father Heart Retreat” where we spent time as a group seeing and experiencing God as our perfect father. It was a fantastic time and a real privilege to be involved with our I.Y’s as they started to deal with past hurts and pain and starting to see what God their father is like. In the afternoons we all enjoyed swimming in lake victoria which is always a highlight as its not often they get to experience swimming, as well as a few getting on a horse for the first.

Last weekend we have had them all come and stay with us to introduce them to the I.Y. house and for them to feel part of the new developments in I.Y. It’s been a bit of squash but a lot of fun

Life again changed for us as a family this week

as our first group of IY's arrived to live with us, so we have now become a family of 10, makes for a house full with all the challenges that it will bring as well as fun and successes. We are very excited as well as feeling slightly daunted with this new challenge we are entering in as a family and we will try and keep you posted.

..England

2011-04-27T12:15:00.004+03:00

..We've been back in England for nearly a month, so probably time to note down some things! It's great to be back, but does feel very different to last time we were back as this feels like we are visiting and will be returning home to Uganda in July. At the moment we are with my parents enjoying some beautiful sunshine, that we have even ventured to the beach, we did try going in the water but was a step too far! It was very different for our first few days in Derby as it felt freezing, Kathryn took the kids to school on the first morning with flip flops on and some very kind friends took pity on her and managed to find some proper shoes, jumpers and trousers! The kids are enjoying being in school and catching up with old friends, Silas and Anya particularly like the idea of taking your lunch to school!
Our first weekend back was at "home" in Derby at a church weekend which was excellent and a great time visiting with friends. On Saturday we head back to Derby and looking forward to catching up with friends. Since we were last back, the roads have all seemed to change in Derby, so sometime you could see us driving round in circles wondering where we are or where or where we should be!
Joel and i have taken up running to try and stay in some sort of shape..will let you know what happens.

...worth the wait

2011-03-21T19:45:00.004+03:00

For many of us a passport is something which enables us to travel and visit faraway places and we tend to take this little book for granted. But for Silas and for us it has taken to meaning so much more! Over the last few months Silas has asked each time we went into kampala if we were picking his passport and today we could say yes today is the day!
This little booklet is the final step of a journey we started in 2007, though it changes nothing for us because he is our son and no document or booklet changes that, he can confidently show it to others and say "hey i am a Brown". It's been a long process but its been more than worthwhile. Today we picked the passport from the High Commission and there was only one thing we could do and that was to celebrate with ice cream!

Silas and all of us are looking forward to returning to UK for a few months on 3rd April and i know Silas is going to be very proud to show his passport to anybody who asks and maybe people who don't!

A Long Dry Season

2011-03-12T13:47:00.003+03:00

It has been the longest dry season that we have experienced in our short 5 years of living here in Uganda. We have not had proper rains since the end of November, and personally we have not had running water since early January. However the situation is harder on those around us who depend on their crops and cattle. Some cows have just collapsed from lack of water, and we are needing good rain to come so that people can plant and so get a harvest in a few months time.

The other day though I was driving along a back street and saw these banana trees that have started growing after drought and fire - beautiful flowers making an appearance!
This week we have had two downpours - very exciting and refreshing!

coffee

2011-03-12T12:48:00.005+03:00

“As you know I am a coffee snob, and this coffee is great!” so said someone who had recentl
y had some Investment Year (I.Y.) coffee.

“Everyone’s a winner”- For every bag we sell of our coffee, IY benefits financially but also and maybe more importantly the many skills that running a business can teach you; marketing, budgeting, customer services, handling money and helping us to develop and encourage self sufficiency in our children.

The process of packaging the coffee starts with buying 60kgs (132lbs) from our supplier in Kampala and bringing it home in the car (by the time we reach home the very strong smell of coffee has filled the car!), we then pack it in ½ kg (1lb) bags and seal them with a charcoal iron. (The iron has proved to be much better than a ‘proper’ heat sealer! One final step is to put on the labels and to put some in our special gift bags. We then all rest and enjoy a good cup of coffee!

just for girls!

2011-03-03T21:26:00.003+03:00

Kathryn went with a Ugandan friend to a shcool that has become infomally linked with the girls in youth at CCD who have been giving to 'pads and pants'.
You can see the girls proudly holding up their new packs of reusable pads that can be purchased in Uganda and that should last them for one year.
Girls here often miss schooling each month because they cannot afford pads or other sanitary items, so they stay at home to avoid any embarassment. We have worked with Jessica, a good Ugandan friend of ours who has done the leg work in locating reusable pads, made the necessary contacts and then done the explaining and training for the girls themselves.
If you are interested in being involved either talk to Helen Millward in Derby (if you know her!) or just let us know.

Eating British style!

2011-02-19T10:03:00.006+03:00

I.Y. AT PALM RESTAURANT

“Investment Year is an institution of its own” said one of the IY members during the public speaking practice. This greatly struck and I agree with it. Many people have joined different institutions but if you critically follow what is behind all this is to get training about the life coming or what is going on.

This business dinner was prepared long before we got to know about it by our teachers as they know what food it is to us. We had to pick from a list of 15 careers they had chosen (e.g. Doctor, lawyer, film producer, agriculturist etc.) and we were to act as that person through the dinner.

The day which seemed too far came closer and closer up to when it happened. It was amazing seeing how beautifully all the business people showed up at the ‘Palm Restaurant’. Men putting on full suits and ladies as well not forgetting the risky high heels which made them taller for a moment!

‘Palm Restaurant’ was opened at 7pm as the senior chef welcomed us in and we had to interact with each other getting to know about where different ones of us were coming from and what job we did. The restaurant had good customer care services as the staff seemed to know what they were doing. (The IY staff served)

This time has been really a training of its own because however much we credit schools as being training centres, no teacher will ever come to class with a knife and fork and teach you how to use it! We need these skills if we are to interact publically.

As we were taking our last course which was coffee and chocolate cake, we heard from our guest speaker, Aunty Judith Goddard. Her speech was so strong but easy for some one with little faith and slow to responding to Gods call. For many of us fear failure but we were encouraged to hear about Aunty Judith has dealt with them in her life and kept going. There were many lessons to learn from her words and one of them is knowing and clearly following what the Lord requires of you, persistence being the key. Remember he who started a good work in you will fulfil it.

Zam-zam. IY student 2011.

BUSINESS DINNER

Among the million activities that are done in Investment Year, there stands this wonderful adventurous opportunity given to taste different foods, notably the ‘British foods!’ I never imagined of how the whites feel like when they taste African food like matooke which they are not used too, but it became clear to me when we tasted their foods like salads. It really was bizarre for many of us, it was like tasting herbs! I remember when every body took the first bite we looked at each other in wonderment thinking “what on earth is this thing we are eating?”

It was a wonderful night and we learned the new skills of using a knife and fork (British style!), and I now know that when I am in the UK I will not look out of place.

Mitala Isaac. IY student 2011.

Day in the City.

2011-02-10T20:30:00.003+03:00

I remember the first time I visited my capital city (many years ago!) I think I wandered around wide eyed and stunned at the amount of people, all seemingly going somewhere very important and in a rush. Part of Investment Year is helping our children to develop life skills and to be able to live and operate in different settings. As we live in the village it is important to be able to move around the city safely and confidently, so this week as a group we travelled to Kampala (Capital City). We split them into 4 groups and gave them a map, a phone with a camera and a list of useful buildings, sites and monuments (eg. Taxi park, post office, parliament, independence monument etc) that they had to find with the final place being the leaders with lunch! As each team drifted off into the chaos of a busy city, there was nervous excitement from each of our children as they headed, for most of them into the unknown! We went to the final meeting place, hoping that no one would get too lost…80 minutes later the team who headed off last reached their destination after successfully finding all their places. TThe other teams were not far behind. It was a fun day and I believe our children learnt a lot about themselves, working as a team, asking for help, reading maps and being in Kampala. A few of them also learnt how to deal with being stuck in a lift (elevator) for 15 minutes!!

We left Kasana with 15 of our children and happily returned with 15!

school days

2011-02-06T11:43:00.006+03:00

I remember the 1st day of the school year...for me at least filled with dread! Suddenly the holidays didn't seem half long enough. This week after a couple of months of it being very quiet here at Kasana, the sound of school returned and to be honest it was great to see and hear again. We enjoyed seeing the childrens enthusiasm for school and the desire to learn. Joel, Anya and Silas also went to school, Silas was very excited and was quite prepared to go by himself, we did remind him he was 4 years old and at least for the 1st day we would like to escort him to school. They all will do some school at the Kasana School as well as with Kathryn. We were excited to see how keen they were to get back to be with their friends at school. Joel is also working with a distance learning Year 7 package which looked very exciting and the science equipmet was better than what i had school!

I.Y. 2011 day 1

2011-01-16T07:59:00.003+03:00

January 11th 2011, a very special day for 2 reasons. Number 1, it was my lovely wifes birthday and we had a great day. Number 2 it was day 1 of Investment Year 2011. We are very excited tio see what will happen this year with this group and what God will do in each individual life. This is our 6th investment year and one of the great things is that each year is very different. The 16 young people embarking on the year are Joel, Wilson, James, Babirye, Fiona, Mitala, Nuulu, Emma, Joshua, Anei, Perez, Silver, Cathie, Willy, Zamzam. (see the video to see them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOWeEh1jZYI

Investment Year 2010 in a nutshell

2011-01-03T15:28:00.004+03:00

2011 is now upon us and before we put 2010 to bed, i thought i would take a moment to look back at Investment Year 2010. Thanks to Jennie for the summary as a lot of the words are hers, thanks!

Here is the “IY 2010 Year in Review” –

Reading

- Each of our 17 IY students read through the entire Bible and read a minimum of 8 books (many read more)! (Together, they read a total of192 books, not including the Bible-which means 192 book reports were turned in as well!)

Internships at the various New Hope Uganda sites:

- in accounts, construction, community relations, remedial tutoring, guest house, primary school, secondary school, Early Adulthood, special needs program, childcare/extension, and the clinic

Internships outside New Hope:

- worked with street kids and refugees in Mbarara; worked with special needs children in Guludene and Mengo; worked in a babies home and in a malnutrition rehabilitation center in Entebbe, a Christian school in Kampala, the clinic of one of Uganda’s leading doctors, and in the Kiwoko hospital laboratory, out-patients department, and electrical department

Other accomplishments and activities:

- served as interpreters for American lawyers at a remand home in Kampala

- started a coffee business and took over the running of and purchasing for the Kasana Children’s Centre gift shop

- business etiquette training and a business dinner

- The 8 boys helped run 2 camps for former street boys at Musana Camps

- Each IY either ran their own small businesses or made investments in various things to help with the costs of their further education

Each 2010 IY received training in:

- Personal financial management (through completing the 10-week Crown Financial course)

- Authority of Scripture

- Biblical exegesis and hermeneutics

- World view

- Courtship, Marriage, and family,

- What is salvation?- debates and biblical reasoning/discussion

- Church history/chronology of Scripture

- Entropy and stewardship

- Business etiquette and skills

- Public speaking

- Basic computer skills

- Basic photography

Unique to this year:

- This was our first year to have a reading list- we joke that each year gets harder and harder… Now that we know what they’re capable of, next year’s students will be required to read a minimum of 13 books and the Bible!

- We went to Kampala for a “Know Your Capital Day”- a day learning their way around the big city

- Girls’ week- a time of discipleship and fun and “mother-daughter” time with IY girls and the IY women staff members

- We spent time in “listening prayer” each morning we were together- learning to listen to God’s “still small voice” through His Spirit and His Word

- This was the first IY group to keep up with Bible reading throughout the year!

- We wrapped up the year with a Father Heart Retreat at Musana Camps

- T

In closing

As I looked over what God had done and what each of our IY’s had accomplished this year, my heart was full. But, more than the accomplishments and training was how the Lord knit our hearts together with the students this year.

The great thing about IY is that its not just the young people who are challenged, changed, impacted. This year has been so good for me to, as i have really started to see and understand what it means to be a father to our children, my 3 children (Joel, Anya and Silas) but also my IY children! They have taught me much and i am so grateful. Being a dad to 17 teenagers has been a challenge but so much fun.

IY 2010 was great and we look forward to IY 2011...and i will try and keep you upto date much better

..Happy New Year & Reunions

2011-01-03T15:14:00.002+03:00

Reunions! Don’t you love them? The thought of a school, work get together after many years fills some of us with dread, especially if there are photos of what we used to look like or enjoy wearing! But let me tell you about a fantastic reunion…..

As the 17 students, 5 staff and my 3 kids headed to Musana camp, after completing their last work placement and being apart for 12 weeks we were excited to all be together again with the opportunity to spend the week together. Our focus for the week was to experience God as our father. It was a great week as for many of our children, for the first time, they started to face the pain and hurt of the loss of their fathers in their lives and to recognise the impact that has had on their lives and on how that has affected how they relate to God as a father. We all recognised that even if you have had a great father, he is human and will make mistakes and cause hurt and pain, the only father who is perfect and will never let us down is God our father. It was a great week and we really appreciated their honesty and vulnerability and it was a privilege to part of the healing process!

That’s how we finished the year and what a way to do it! Now that’s my kind of reunion. (can’t wait to the next one!!) Happy New Year!

...P7 week

2010-05-15T09:24:00.005+03:00

Morning all! last week, or was it it the week before? we had our annual P7 week, a week long youth event, for our P7 class, the last year of primary school here and Yr 7 equivalent in Uk.....At the end of your P7 year here in Uganda, the students take their national PLE exams and therefore there is lots of pressure to read and read and read!!
Here at new Hope the traditional P7 week has been running for 16years as a week to 2 chill out, focus on character issues |(life is not all about books!), and looking at what God thinks about them...we spent time playing games, sitting out at camp fires, eating well, planning a p7 trip, throwing water at each other, feeding each other ...lots of fun...by the end all exhausted but all agreed it was a fun week, for those who know P7 week, the BLUES won....first time ever since i've done the week...

..school days

2010-03-24T06:27:00.002+03:00

This week has been exciting for Joel and Anya as after much thought and discussion they have started to go to the primary school here at New Hope, they were very excited over the weekend getting books and pens ready and on Monday headed off @ 7:20 am for assembly at 7:30am!! This will be a great way to intearact with more Ugandans and develop new friendships and to experience another aspect of Ugandan life. They won't be doing all the subjects and Kathryn will still be teaching them some. They have already enjoyed the fun of being back in a classroom and actually going to school. On Joels first day he had a test!!
We have been so proud of them and their attitude as they face this challenge and new experience...One note, Joel bought back some maths questions and asked yours truly for help, as i confidently wandered up to the table only to find i couldn't help as i had no idea!!

Snow White

2010-03-16T23:33:00.006+03:00

...as it's been so long since any post or what so ever...i thought i should really try and impress anybody who is still reading our ramblings...well it all happened without any effort on my part....it was all very exciting, at the beginning of the week there was a rumour that the president was coming to Kiwoko, our local town, but more than that he was going to land his helicopter on new hope land!! as the day got nearer the excitement built and much cleaning and slashing of grass went on... he was going to land in our football field on the mian site...as thursday afternoon went on we waited and waited and waited...finally the helicopter appeared and i have to confess we were all very excited..and so we ran to the field, the helicopter circled and circled until it decided to land in our football field (field!) at our secondary school, so a mad dash started...1stly the presidents guards/army in their cars sped off, with one falling out the back of the pick up as it hit a bump, he sheepisly returned to his seat. As we arrived where the helicopter landed, the president exited it and welcomed people over... of course we ran over like excited kids....Anya and i stood near the car, now i should mention that Anya was dressed in a snow white dress? as the president walked by he spotted Anya and came over and shook her hand and then of course as i was the Dad he shook mine!! It was all very exciting! Later on we returned to watch him take off...it was very exciting!!

...i love the smell of coffee in the mornings...

2010-01-20T22:31:00.005+03:00

Its been so long but hey some excoting news this end. Investment are selling coffee to help us become self financing and to learn new skills.

This week i went in to Kampala with Caleb and we have purchased coffee from the Mount Ruwenzori region of Uganda to be roasted in Kampala and then packaged for resale. There has been a growing coffee market in Kampala and we are hopeful that this business will be a success. We have already sold the coffee to short term teams that visit New Hope and then eventually to hotels and stores in Kampala. The long term goal will be exporting it to the US and European markets. The pictures above are of IY (Investment Year) students from New Hope who will be learning to run the business. All the profits will feed into that program and will help make it self sufficient.

While the world often sees the growing number of fatherless and orphaned children as a problem or burden, New Hope Uganda believes they are an unprecedented opportunity. Our mission is to work with this generation to “bring the Fatherhood of God to the fatherless” children of Uganda for generations to come. One way we can do this is to prepare our young adults to enter the market place if that is where the Lord takes them. New Hope is now roasting, and distributing coffee in a growing economy in Kampala, Uganda for the purpose of generating income and providing opportunities for the IY (Investment Year) students to learn new business skills and to help offset the IY programs expenses. New Hope Uganda Coffee Roasters' will become a self sustaining business after the first year of operation.

· IY students will learn vital business skills of marketing, sales, and accounting

· Income generation to help offset the cost of the IY program

· IY students will learn how to work as a team

· Project will help expose New Hope to potential partners

Happy new year to one and all.............................

..such a long time

2009-11-17T13:59:00.009+03:00

..yes we are still here and not been sucked into some black hole or a ugandan version of the bermuda triangle!!...still enjoying living and working in the pearl of africa...theres so much to be grateful for and one of these is the rain, though it came late..it is now here and everything is looking helathy and even my car looks a bit cleaner!!...Investment Year is drawing to a close and the last few weeks/months have been busy with one of the highlights being the opportunity to bless a friend of New Hope who had recently been attacked in her room, so we redecorated for her.....Note the special headwear needed for painting in Uganda!!
..Exam season just finished here with our S4(yr11) children doing their O levels, with them now relieved after a year of reading.....reading....reading...now they can catch up on some sleep, i've really enjoyed teaching the life skills once a week..and should be a great group for Investment Year next year. Four children from Calvary family have just completed their PLE, the end of primary school exam you need to pass to go onto to secondary school, lots of pressure then!! they can at least relax now until the results are due!!
...for those interested here are pigs (Tom, Jason, Daisy), when i tell our Ugandan friends our pigs have names it always gets a laugh!!Joel, Anya & Silas are doing well....amasing to think they are in Yr6, and 3 (where does the time go?) Silas also enjoys joining in school, can be a bit of a distraction i think!!

...chef

2009-10-03T16:14:00.002+03:00

Maybe there's more than one chef in the family!..Today has been a good day for rain, which is well needed, and hopefully a few more days...football tournament yesterday, our boys did really well and heart breakingly lost 1:0 in the semi final, with near enough the last kick of the game! i was proud of them as they had already played 4 games in one day to get that far and their commitment and attitude were first rate, even when in the semi, one of the opposition thought it was boxing and started to jab and move like an expert, landing a few punches as he did, my players were very controlled, it was the spectators we struggled with as a few charged on to join the fun!! Who says football doesn't matter!! it seems to wherever you are Uk or Uganda!!

..school trip

2009-09-27T09:46:00.005+03:00

do you remember school trips? i can remember one when i was in primary school!! we went to the natural history museum, it was so cool going on a bus and then seeing the dinosaus and the blue whale....what a memory.

This week, before Joel starts year 6 and Anya year 3 ,
we did a Uganda history day, we went to the museum, the independence and commonwealth monuments and finally the kasubi tombs (burial places of the last 4 Kabaka's, kings of Buganda)...it was a fun day which of course also included ice cream!! Joel just said he's favourite bit was the museum and Anya liked the traditional houses at the museum, i liked the tombs...they even had a stuffed leopard which had a pet to one of the kings!!...one of the kings had 84 wives!!...leave you to make any comments, wise cracks!!....
What is scary is that Joel is no to his last year of primary!!

. St George

2009-09-02T21:03:00.003+03:00

..Some American friends of ours son, who loves to wrap himself in the cross of St George...
what taste i say!!

...marshmallows,

2009-09-02T20:41:00.005+03:00

Marshmallows...don't you love them? well i do...tonight we were going to a fire outside and toast marshmallows...but it is raining, so as we are English we won't let a little rain stop us, so decided to toast them inside over candles!!
The family first had to get used to the taste and consistency of marsmallows and then to toast them without turning them into little squashy pieces of charcoal!!
..fun had by all.....................

leon...

2009-08-17T08:11:00.005+03:00

..one of my favourite funny films is 'Leon the pig farmer'...very funny, if you haven't seen it, go and see it, it involves a jewish man and a pig farmer!! honest it will make you chuckle...talking of pigs, we have just bought the kids a piglet each and as a family we are venturing into pig farming...what i know about pig farming....well.....lets see what happens...we now have 2 females and 1 male..so breeding is an option...i think? the kids have already given them names (Daisy,Jason, Tom)the smart ones will have noticed that there are 2 boys names!! I don't think Silas has got the idea of male/female names yet and his pig is named in honour of Thomas the tank engine.

Amasing what you can do with a pile of sand!!

..feeling grotty

2009-06-27T20:10:00.002+03:00

Well Kathryn has been away since the 17th and is back very soon...since she has been away we have survived (just!!) think we might have watched more movies and eaten more sweets than normal!! Joel got malaria and had it really bad but is better now even though a little and even i seemed to have picked up a fever which makes me sweat a lot (how nice!!)...
Chris & Jonathan now with us(from derby) for a month and hopefully they will a great experience of Uganda...Came with KLM, via many cities on the way, they left birmingham at 5am and arrived 11.30pm in Entebbe, safe to say they were exhausted...funny how just sitting and eating can do that to you...
All looking forward to wife and mums return.......

..fun in the sun..

2009-06-13T17:23:00.003+03:00

....It is so, so gr8 to have friend visiting, Mark, Ben, Ian and Matt have been in Uganda for the last 10 days, and with Joel K as well!
..honest it wasn't all swimming!! but when the opportunity came we took it!!
..the guys did lots of meetings, but always did a great job....We really appreciated spending time with good friends where you can just kick back and relax...and even sitting in a meeting and hearing Mark preach...and being reminded how good he is...
Joel K did so well and enjoyed the open space and being able to shoot arrows all over the place...and yes he managed to get it on the plane...
Over the last few days we laughed so much with the guys, especially around losing weight (talk to ian about how he judges whether he has lost weight!!)...
Thanks chaps for coming...it was so good to see you....

..signs of the times..

2009-06-02T15:12:00.002+03:00

In town the other day, sitting in traffic as is often the way...and while passing the time, couldn't resist taking pictures of these signs you would never see in the UK!! Now this is a miracle drug/herb as these arn't the only signs you will see as others promise increase for all parts of the body!! and even some reductions!! The amasing thing it is the same phone number for both gain amd reduction...How does that work??

...meetings

2009-05-20T08:42:00.004+03:00

ng
w
.....anybody who knows me, knows i'm not the biggest fan of meetings..and that could be putting it mildly!! But as in most things things are a little different in Africa!! Yes we have meetings but at least we can meet outside under a tree etc...the good thing about this is that constantly through the meeting we are always on the move to keep out the sun...so even though at the beginning of the meeting the circle is nice and big ..you soon know if its a long meeting as by the end the circle is very small and you are nearly sitting on each other laps!! The other one, which also happened yesterday afternoon was you set up outside and everything starts ok..and then out of nowhere the rain comes and its a mad
dash to the nearest shelter!! So sometimes even meetings can be entertaining!!

..sound of music

2009-05-17T09:49:00.005+03:00

...yesterday was a very exciting day for us all...New Hope have released our first cd (wonderous love)..it's been along time coming but it has certainly been well worth the wait....Grace and our children have done a fantastic job and i may be biased but it is very good...To launch we had singers from Kampala, one of them being particularly famous (well i was told he was!!)...he was very good and got us all dancing and tapping our feet.....it is available on cd and tape!! and you never know it may be on download very soon!! keep your eye on I tunes...
the internet has improved slightly even though i am typing this 100 metres from my house sitting outside the school trynig to be perfectly still so as to stay online....

..computers..

2009-05-12T16:04:00.002+03:00

...Computers don't you love them?.....they can be the best but when they won't do what they are told they can soon become very frustrating..2 weeks ago a team came to make the wireless internet system here better, unfortunately it seemd to suddenly become a whole lot worse and i have not been able to get anywhere near connected for 2 weeks...i am now sitting under the wireless tower and still struggling for it to get connected!!
but i really shouldn't compain as a few years ago you had to go at least 12 miles to make/receive phone calls...so the frustration is all relative..

----------------
Now playing: Madness - One Step Beyond (live)
via FoxyTunes

Waiter, Waiter.....

2009-04-22T07:51:00.003+03:00

...you know how it goes, Waiter, Waiter there's a fly in my soup........(feel free to fill in the punchline!). Well the other day one of our girls bought me a whole plate of flying ants and no sign of soup!! The family (Calvary) had got up at 2am and spent the next few hours collecting buckets of these things....you can eat them raw but they are so much better cooked!! I was very appreciative of the gift and can honestly say i didn't eat the whole plate, had a few!!
...enjoy your dinner!!

..life

2009-03-18T07:55:00.006+03:00

March 2009

This week we heard the best excuse ever for being late for school, one you will never hear in the UK….”sorry I was late but we think we heard a leopard and we didn’t want to disturb it so we ran home…… quietly, and waited until we were sure it was gone.” How cool is that excuse! Who cares if it is true or not - it was a beauty!!

For the last year Kathryn has taken over the running of the 6-12 year olds children church. This often consists of a group of about 80, outside on the grass, seeking shelter under the nearest trees. It is very enjoyable as well as a challenge due to big numbers, limited (or no) resources, and the language barrier - our Luganda is not great unless you want to keep greeting or else buy tomatoes and onions!! She has built a good team of helpers from our secondary aged children who live here at New Hope. She has also started to visit some of the families of children from the village every other Sunday afternoon.

Chelsea fans get everywhere!

We were introduced to Silas at the new Hope baby House and since then we have always felt a strong connection to the place and the babies there. Silas has too - he will always manage to pray for the baby house even when saying grace. The coordinator of the baby house left recently and until a new one is found, Kathryn is helping to cover some of the roles that need to be covered. This involves spending time up at the baby house with Hope and Blessed (the two ladies who run Hope House on a daily basis), giving some level of spiritual and moral support, making sure that they have the supplies they need and generally trying to be friendly! We appreciate these two ladies and think very highly of them – they constantly serve, and sacrifice for the little babies who are there.

In the early adulthood section which Steve coordinates, the beginning of the year has been a whirlwind and it seems like 5 minutes since the year began! At the beginning of February we always run a youth week for our P7 who have a big exam year. Our theme this year was “Seeking the face of God”. The goal of the week is to experience God as father, set priorities, have fun, get wet and eat food …and to build good relationships with the children. What a week! Exhausting but great fun, impacting for the children and we pray it makes a difference for their year ahead.

Investment year also kicks off at the same time. This year we have 16 young people aged between 17 and 21. Our goal is to invest in them in many ways - for their future, as well as now. The investment year is such a privilege to be involved in as we see the young people change, and gain new skills and confidence.

Throughout the year the young people get the opportunity to learn computer skills, have some driving lessons, handle money wisely, read the bible consistently, and run a small business. At the moment they are all working in different parts of New Hope, teaching, nursing, accountancy, secretarial jobs, receptionists and surveying. Later in the year they will have the opportunity to work in places in other parts of the Country …. and even other East African Countries, in a variety of jobs.
I got my hair braided – it took Aunty Gertrude a whole day and a bit. It really hurt. When we went swimming last w/e I learnt to dive without holding my nose. Every Friday morning we go up to the baby house and I am learning how to get them dressed and bath them….there is a baby called Jeremiah who is really cute. There are 6 babies there at the moment who have been orphaned.

A few weeks ago everyone at New Hope harvested maize…as you can see I was crucial to the whole operation. I am now potty trained and still like beans and rice.
In school I am learning about World War 2…..it is really interesting. Some of my friends and I are making a film on their video camera…..it is called ‘Last of the Ninjas.’ I am counting the days until Joel K comes.........it is going to be so exciting. Two weeks ago I cut my fringe and it is still trying to grow!

Remember – Uganda is a very nice place to visit! You are all welcome…though maybe not all at the same time!

Steve, Kathryn, Joel, Anya and Silas

..sorry i'm late...

2009-03-04T00:11:00.002+03:00

..i was often late for school and had a whole book of excuses, sorry the bus was late, alarm clock broke, my brother took my tie, got locked in the house etc...
well an excuse you wouldn't hear is one i heard today at our school here....2 girls arrived late for school and when asked why were they so late, they replied.."on our way to school, we think we stumbled upon a leopard!! we didn't know what to do so we crept back home as quiet as we could so as not to disturb it!! we waited at home until we thought it had gone!!
What an excuse....was it true? who knows, but i hope so because it is such a good one...

(there is a leopard in the picture!!)

...oo aar down at the farm...

2009-02-24T15:48:00.003+03:00

...at a farming seminar the other, day....i know..don't ask, farming gods way...all the way from south africa, even though i think started in Zimbabwe...well the plan was to take our investment year to pass on to them new skills and also see what we can take in to the local community and also here at new hope...Uganda is so fruitful or has the potential to be, we have 2 harvests a year!! but generally the yield is not so good...its all about involving God in farming and treating the earth/soil with respect! also doing things with the highest standard, and no ploughing or burning....well we are trying a little 6 x 6 attempt amd we will let you know...maybe it is the start of a whole new career!!

...whew.

2009-02-10T19:30:00.003+03:00

..this last week, has been our annual P7 week...this is a week of youth activities for our top end of primary school (yr 7 in UK)..Their year is huge as they have big exams at the end of the yeat (PLE) which they have to pass to go to secondary school and therefore lots of pressure, and so a week of building relationships, having fun, seeing what God thinks about them seems like a good idea....and so armed with lots of games involving water, string, food and team work we set off on the week...during the week we also repaired someones house, dug in a garden and constructed a temporary shelter as well as some line dancing, footy, wide games and movies (raid on entebbe), gr8 fun and pretty exhausting...but we survived...

Christmas

2008-12-21T09:48:00.003+03:00

..21st today and as we sit in shorts and teeshirts, feeling a little warm, we have christmas carols on, with many singing of snow, chestnuts, donkeys etc....still a little difficult to feel that it is christmas with the weather being so good, but we try and keep our traditions up, advent calenders, christmas pudding, carols, mince pies...no turkey but i think it might be pork...which is roasted over an open fire! similar to the chestnuts?
on tuesday i am taking some of the young people to Luwero prison, we'll take some food, clothes etc and takes some time to display what christmas is all about, songs, skits etc...there will be lots of people about 180+ prisoners and there are normally overloaded , 35+ to a cell!!..
From the last Blog, Tony is now back in Luwero as we did not have enough money to continue the treatment, he is doing ok, and i will see him again this week.
.Happy Christmas and New Year

2008-12-04T11:55:00.002+03:00

Uganda: Christmas 2008. After a fantastic time in England : friends, good food, hot baths, 24/7 electric, seeing family, smooth roads, and a family wedding….we are getting used to being back in our Ugandan home….boy it’s hot and so dusty…the heat is proving to be entertaining in our car as the windows don’t work… we can’t open them and so when sitting in traffic (which you do a lot in Kampala) we are drenched in sweat, or Steve is at least….how pleasant!? Kathryn loves school so much that she doesn’t just do it in the week, she leads the team which does Sunday school for the 6-13 year olds(about 80 of them!!).. Sitting under trees, doing everything in 2 languages, very little resources but the children are fun and it is lively!
It is so hot here but I like the feeling of being back and seeing my friends again, (Jensen, Ibra, Jeremiah, Sebufu). It was hard to come back and say bye to my friends in England. With Calvary family us as boys celebrated setting a new “bop it” team score……we danced in celebration. Banda School has started again, we made a circuit. I am getting used to school being just Anya and me with some interruptions from Silas. Joel

I am happy to be back seeing my Ugandan friends, but I do miss my English friends. I so loved going to school in Derby and wearing school uniform. I had a gr8 time in England seeing family and going to the beach. I like being back on my pink princess bike in shorts and tee-shirt….it is so hot but very nice…..Anya
Before we left for England, we had a young man, Tony, staying with us….Tony had been part of new Hope some years ago….He had been abusing drugs for a few years and was staying with us for help and support him but unfortunately this couldn’t work out long term .…the first week we were back Steve picked him up from prison in Luwero - he had been there for 2 months. We took him to a drug rehabilitation centre…this is proving to be very expensive and it looks like we will have to find another place, there are not that many options in Uganda….Tony is a young man crying out for help but going to the wrong places to find it, we pray and hope that he will find the peace and support he needs. We are involved in mentoring another young man, Moses, who was abandoned very young by his father and then over the following years by different father figures in his life. He is really struggling to relate to any father or authority figures and it is affecting every other area of his life…friendships, school, and family. Steve is meeting regularly with Moses to demonstrate positive Fatherhood and work through some of his difficulties.

This Christmas spare a thought for these 2 young men…

I am Loving the freedom of being outside, in just a nappy and sometimes not even that!! It’s Gr8 seeing Ava again. (They arrived at baby house same time and shared a cot together for the first 6 months) silas … ..We used to have 1 mop but after being back for only for a few days Steve used it as a defensive weapon, against a HUGE (6inch!!) snake, the snake and the mop are now both dead!! …As a family we love Christmas with all its trappings… especially as it reminds us how much God loves us all, may you experience that this Christmas…..have a great one and a Happy New Year. Thanks for all your love and support. Lots of love, Steve, Kathryn, Joel Anya, Silas.

browns@emcf.net blodsblog.blogspot.com +256774131671 (Steve) +256775669429 (Kathryn)
P.O. Box 16, Luwero, Uganda

..back..

2008-11-06T14:25:00.003+03:00

..well after 12 weeks of lots of food, friends, excitement, good roads, etc we are back in sunny and hot Uganda...the last 3 months has been a ball, and thanks to all who fed and watered us, it was so cool to catch up with so many people. Joel and Anya loved being back at Emmanuel school, thanks to all the team there..

we all have lots of great memories from our time in UK, freezing cold water at the beach, fish and chips, weddings (brother), real ale, REM, ccd youth, FRIENDS, lots and lots of gr8 food and company, westfield centre in Derby, driving a volvo!school assemblies/lessons, silas loving baked beans and sausage and beans in a tin, McDonalds, etc....

Now we are back in some ways its like we have never been away...since we were away our wing mirrors were stolen, so driving once again in Kampala has been fun especially with the extra challenge of no mirrors!! Also all our wires in the drivers door were cut!! and that means we can't open the windows.....(the A/C doesn't work as well!) so lots of sweating in traffic !!(i still think that is preferable to being cold....just!).

Back to New Hope tomorrow, think we are ready...are they??

..house building

2008-09-18T18:02:00.003+03:00

Orphans build houses for widows
Publication date: Sunday, 7th September, 2008

Orphans construct a house in Aweru Village, Amuria district
By Rehema Aanyu and Harriette Onyalla ORPHANS under the New Hope Uganda, a Luweero-based Christian non-governmental organisation, have built houses for widows in Amuria district. Jennifer Adit, a mother of six and a resident of Aweru village, was among the beneficiaries of the project. The youth use funds collected from bazaars, selling chapattis, soda, auctions and donations to fund the programme. Adit, 30, said her husband, Charles Ogwal, was killed by the LRA rebels in 2003. Since then, she has been living in Ojenit Internally Displaced People’s Camp with her children. “Even though we lack many things, I am grateful that we now have a house. I am very proud of it,” she said. For a week, a total of 45 orphans camped at Ojenit and donated stationery, clothes, shoes and sports gear to children orphaned by the LRA conflict and HIV/AIDS. James Kavuma, one of their leaders, said they were showing God’s love and mercy to the beneficiaries by sharing with them the little they have. “Because I am an orphan, I know what they are going through. We came together to encourage them to continue living, believing in God and not despair,” he said. Jonnes Twebaze, the coordinator New Hope Uganda, said apart from living and sharing with orphans and widows, they were also spreading God’s love. “At the end of it all, we are bringing hope to the hopeless and love and courage to those in despair,” he explained. The youth will also build homes for widows and orphans in Rakai and Gulu districts.

This was so exciting to read, this was in one of the national newspapers of Uganda (New Vision) about some of our children in New Hope, Very proud of them.

...UK

2008-09-11T23:46:00.003+03:00

..hi there, well we've been back a month, during the summer!!! and we have only had 2 days of sunshine, but we made the most of it and swam in the sea and an outside pool!! it was sooo cold. had a great time with family and some friends who saw us (bowens, coopers, and lorna and ken) my brother got married which was excellent and particularly good for joel as they played MC Hammer at the disco!!..Now in Derby and it is great to see lots of friends and eat lots of food and spend lots of time talking and catching up, funny how you jsut slip into the old routine....hot water, very nice, good phone network and no popt holes all a joy......

..off we go

2008-08-06T18:39:00.002+03:00

..well after months and months of trying to sort out different types of paperwork and collecting a variety of signatures, we finally have all the relevant paperwork for Silas, so we can now travel...we received the visa on Tuesday morning to great celebration and noise..think the people passing the car wondered what was happening and what all the noise was about.
So we leave here on Thursday (7th) and we are all very excited about it....the last 6 months has certainly been a trial and test of patience which we haven't always passed!!
the blog will continue over our time in UK, (hopefully) so don't go away..what are we looking forward to....nice cheese, friends, real ale, washing machines, friends, hot baths/hot water, friends, cricket on the tv, the cold(only joking!!), friends, etc...
see you soon

..water @ the equator

2008-07-27T09:50:00.002+03:00

...Ok, the equator and water going down plug holes...does the water really go down the plug holes different ways down depending where you live, north or south of the equator, or even on it. Uganda is on the equator and at the equator they do a demonstration to show in the north it goes clockwise and in the south anti and on the equator straight down....and it really does!! so for you science people, is it true??(I never was very good at science!!)

...passport fun

2008-07-27T09:27:00.002+03:00

passports are wonderful things, but sometimes boy the effort!!! the last few (6-8 months) has been the process of getting Silas a passport, he still needs a Ugandan one. Before you put an application in, you need signatures and letters from so many people (LC 1, 2, 3. Police(special Branch..is that the Sweeney?, probation etc...but before we could proceed we needed the court order..finally after 2 months that came through, and off we confidently went to the passport office, knowing we had everything we need......until we got there and were told we had 1 letter missing from a commissioner!!!! he wasn't in the office...over the last 2 weeks we have spent a lot of time in kampala and the passport office, kathryn went in for a day and ended up spending 2 nights....during this time she spent a lot of time waiting, waiting and......waiting until she was told they had lost the folder....you can imagine our thoughts....but with some help we managed to get a passport (HOORAY!!!!) kathryn even ended up in the strong room where they make them....so now his new passport is in the visa office, and should take 3-15 working days to process, hopefully not 15 as we plan to leave on 7 th August??!!

....hail..

2008-07-07T15:52:00.005+03:00

you learn new things every day they say...well i think i always thought it didn't hail in Africa..but lo and behold last night we had one of the biggest storms i have ever seen and it sounded like stones hitting our tin roof and as you can imagine fairly deafening!! As you can see from the photo they were fairly large and i think probably hurt if they hit you on the head!!..off to court tomorrow to see if we can encourage the judge to sign the piece of paper....

2008-07-06T10:16:00.003+03:00

e
well it's been ages, but yes we are all still here, and all alive and well, saw ben and ian the other day, thats for those who know them!. the last few weeks have busy with lots of things have been happening, a few week ago a double wedding which was lots of fun and very long, finally having lunch at 6pm!! one of the couples to marry were 2 former children of New Hope which was very cool. Next weekend is a 20 year celebration as New Hope has been caring for orphans for 20 years, so next weekend is a homecoming with all former children and staff coming to celebrate as one big family, should be fun...I have recently become the expert on Tug of war as we had Sports day at the primary school and i was judge and jury for the tug.....lets say very competitive`. even with one of the mums collapsing at the end of her team pull with over exertion!!
Even though the judge has approved the legal guardianship for Silas, we are still waiting for the paper!! we cannot get his passport without it..and we have booked our tickets back to the Uk, so lets hope and pray the judge gets a move on>>>>

...Hooray

2008-06-07T20:06:00.004+03:00

Hooray........at last the judge has granted legal guardianship to us for Silas, which means, he is now officially a part of the family, he can go nowhere, as you can imagine we are very excited and now means we can all come back to England...well we can when the judge signs the paperwork....this is how it works, the lawyer talks to the judge, the judge gives the court order, the lawyer types it out, returns to the judge who reads it, gives it to the clerk, gives it to the lawyer who gives it to the judge....who signs it (hopefully!??) we were just about there, when the judge decided to go on holiday and so we are still waiting.......well its at least good for the patience.....but hopefully this week and then we can get his passport and look to come back in August....

2008-05-16T12:35:00.002+03:00

well where has May gone, as a family and with the Investment Year students, we have been away for half of it...we had a great time, just very tiring, the first 4 nights we were in Jinja at a retreat centre, on the banks of the Nile and as you can see it had a trampoline which Jole and anya loved and with a fairly impressive backdrop of the Nile....there is a rumour that there is a picture of me on it, but unfortunately i don't have it!! the week was designed to give the young time to deal with hurt, pain and unforgiveness and to experience God as their Father, it was a good time for all....After we went up to Kobwin, near soroti, for those who know Uganda, to work with the small new hope team there, we are setting up a new childrens centre specifically for those children taken by the LRA during the war and working through the trauma as well as continuing the vision of Bringing the fatherhood of God to the fatherless. we went to weed the maise and to do some youth work in the afternoons....as you can see i look like an expert.....but looks can be deceiving! 5 hours of digging in the heat of the day...safe to say not the most fun i have had...in the afternoons we took on the local young people at sport, after losing narrowly to a controversial goal in football! we had a convincing 8-7 victory in the netball (golden goal decider)..it was great for us as a whole family to be able to go and for the kids to experience another part of Uganda,..drive home was alittle matter of a 10 hour epic, with the bus loaded up to the brim and even with a live chicken wandering around the back of the bus!!
all good fun and a great experience.....

..trip away

2008-05-01T20:39:00.002+03:00

..still no news from the judge regarding silas, meant to have heard monday now told its tomorrow, friday!! we will see...well we are off for a week with the investment year students for 4 nights in a retreat in jinja "transformation of the heart" and then 4 nights in Kobwin in the north of Uganda, where we (new hope) has some land where we are constucting a childrens centre specifically for those children affected and traumatized by the war in the north...we are going to serve the team there by digging, weeding etc as well as do some children and youth work in the afternoons...last time we were there..we got about 200+....we are going as a family and the kids are very excited about going away with the "big young people"...so an early start tomorrow...and just to let you all know we will out of contact for a week....

....a tad warm!"

2008-04-15T21:24:00.003+03:00

...well there i was last week thinking i was suffering from a little cold/flu, you know sweats/chills...(reminds me of a song..." i've got chills they're multiplying and i'm losing control....) on thursday after my own personal diagnosis was off, my temperature decided to climb to 108!! is that right? well it certainly felt that hot!! thought hey we are in Africa why not a malaria test and lo and behold yes it was....but before you can find that out, they need to get blood out of you!! we tried (kathryn and me) and both failed!! so our local clinic ma (Roger ) came and did the deed!!
The treatment consists of 6 tablets in one go and the 2 tablets for the next 4 days...those days being feverish, no appetite and banging head....better now, thankfully and it is certainly something i don't want again....well it took nearly 2 years for one of us to get it...

..school days

2008-04-05T09:40:00.005+03:00

..maybe Anya is the next Monet? who knows? Joel and Anya continue to enjoy school and even though it is very different from their experience in England, they are more than used to Mum being teacher, head teacher, playground monitor, secretary, care taker etc..and interruptions from random birds, bugs, bats, people as well as if the wind in the wrong direction the distinctive aroma of the nearest latrine!! how nice is that? The other day we had a day learning about Maise and following the process from ploughing, planting, harvesting and then visiting our maise mill to see it turned into Posho, it was cool...on another note, we are in court with Silas on 14th, he hasn't done anything wrong, i don't think? it is for the next process of legal guardian ship and then adoption so we are very excited about that...maybe not about spending a whole day in court, waiting, waiting.........waiting............................................................................

.coach brown...

2008-03-24T20:20:00.003+03:00

..hi all, once again a bit of delay in writing but here goes...Football here is just about the most popular thing in Uganda and here at New Hope the boys love it so we thought hey lets start some coaching..so thats what tim and i and have taken on, at the moment we have under 13's and over 17's and the secondary school team..next plans are to set up a 14-16 year old team..we have developed the field which we are very proud of and we also have nets...one of the biggest challenges is to keep the footballs in one piece, punctures are a common/daily occurence..big african thorns being the culprit..always looking for kit/shoes etc as most of the boys play with bare feet and are amazing with it!

..here they are...

2008-03-02T19:26:00.002+03:00

..all well here...just thought i would put some pics of the chidlers ...as you can see all doing well..big news is that Silas is now walking (HOORAY)..now means his clothes will stay a little cleaner for a little longer!! Joel and Anya doing well and enjoying school. the head teacher is too!! ..well here are myh kids and they are great!!

...frog chorus

2008-02-19T19:08:00.003+03:00

..hi all! the last couple of weeks have been so much fun as well as busy...P7 week has just finished, a youth week with our top of primary school (yr 7/8 in Uk) it a full on week og fun and games and challenges as well as having a theme, ours being 24/7...thinking about God being with us every minute of every day.. the young people are split into 4 teams who compete for everything...reds won!! we even had peop[le offering to clean for others people at 5.30am!!! thro the week i developed a throat infection and got the closest i have ever come to losing my voice...didn't lose it though, just croacked a lot which gave everyone great amusement. It really was a privilege to serve these young people, who made it a fantastic week.....

...bats & computers

2008-02-15T11:39:00.003+03:00

..well it's been an age since i last posted...what can i say except computer problems and internet access has been a real nightmare..but we are now back on (hooray!).. one nightly event we have in our house during the night bis the pitter patter of tiny feet....no its not another baby, but the sound of bats (running) in our roof space...yes i didn't know bats ran i thought they flew!! but bats it is and 2 intrepid adventurers (silver and moses) entered to take on the bats...and ultimately to win....i think they were about 20+ of them...The approach seemed to be to hit them hard and hope you kill them or at least knock them out, while this was happening the other bats were trying to escape...all done i a small space under iron sheets in the heat of the day...one way to spend a Saturday.....

...life begins @....

2008-01-10T19:16:00.000+03:00

....so they say that life begins at a certain age!! well i have now reached that magic number...40!! difficult to believe and also a little scary, so on my big day thought i would try and hold on to my youth by playing on Joels game boy, playing frizbee, watching movies and eating chocolate...maybe it's not so bad being 40 after all...i wonder if i can do that all year?..Kathryns dad is with us here at the moment and the 3 kids are really enjoying him, he likes to do some practical work while he is here...think he despairs of my tool box, which has to be the smallest in the world....with very little if nothing in it!!?? well it has screw drivers, string and super glue and a hammer..i've always found that is enough for me....nothing wrong with a bit of brute force and ignorance..
...well here's to us 40 year olds and a whole new life beginning....(wonder what i've been doing for the last 40 years???

..new year

2008-01-06T19:58:00.000+03:00

..well 2008 has started in style here in Uganda, with a fuel crisis due to the Kenya situation...the other day we were coming back to kampala from the far west of Uganda, and it had just been announced that there was very little if any fuel...we had over 250 miles to travel and less than a 1/4 of fuel left!! every petrol station was empty so we ended up buying on the black market 60 litres of fuel at double the price (5,000/litre instead of 2,200/litre!!)..well at least we weren't stranded!!...Even though its a little in convenient for us our thoughts are with those in Kenya, friends and family and hope and pray that peace comes quick..
Happy new year to all....

..Happy Christmas...

2007-12-21T13:46:00.000+03:00

...As Christmas draws nearer, it gets hotter and drier here but all excited with Christmas season and Rach and ant coming to visit for Christmas and New Year. Thought i would put a pic of the sun for those ones of you who haven't seen it for a while! plenty of it here, so we thought nwe should share some. New Hope is very peaceful at the moment as lots of the children have gone home to relatives for a couple of weeks, but still there are quite a few remaining who have nowhere to go....we wnnt with a few of the remaining boys from Calvary family and we took them out for Christmas dinner (rice, beans, matoke, and sodas!!) very nice and joel went for Cassava and loved it....a slightly different type of christmas dinner but we all enjoyed it.
..Joel and anya very excited about enjoying Christmas with their new brother, going to be fun!! (this saturday we are signing papers for legal guardianship of Silas, next stage of the adoption process)
We wish you all a happy christmas and new year......(have a good one)

the 3 C's...

2007-12-18T20:24:00.001+03:00

..computers don't you just love them?? you suddenly realise how dependent you are on them when they go wrong....well that is what has happened to ours, for some reason half the screen has gone hay wire and you can't see anything..lovely, just need to find a dell dealer..? no problem, but at least it is only 1/2 the screen so can carry on a little bit, gr8 timin g..which leads me to another C..Christmas, i love it..and i am starting to get used to Christmas being with heat and dust (i think) the other day we celebrated a British Christmas dinner with a few Brits...and even brussel sprouts, which some kind person bought out for us..Silas loved them...i think 1st time he tried anything quite like them and yes we had crackers too (thats the 3rd C)

..P5 trip

2007-12-03T19:42:00.000+03:00

..today was a day we had arranged to take our P5's (aged 9-12yrs) on a trip to the city and experience something very different to what they are used too. A person who sponsors the class had put aside some money so they could all have a trip to enjoy the end of the school year.
we thought we would take them to the wildlife centre at entebbe..At the moment it is very hot and dry, probably as hot and dry as we have experienced..as we drive on our mud roads, you hope there is not another vehicle about, but we seemed to be on the road on its busiest!! its when the lorries pass and behind them a dust cloud so thick that you have too stop because your visibility is down to a few feet!! It makes driving interesting to say the least!! Well the children loved seeing the animals, but the greatest excitement was seeing lake victoria, as most of the children have never seen such a big expanse of water...it made it more exciting for me because i again realise how amazing lake victoria is and because i see quite often you become very "bored" with it so seeing the children so excited helped us get excited....so a good day had by all, and finished with chips and sodas!!

stuck in the mud

2007-11-25T21:10:00.001+03:00

The last couple of days, we have had loads of rain, so everywhere is wet and muddy and some of the roads are difficult to pass. Tonight we were out and getting there was tricky so we thought we would come back another(safer!) way, well it all started very well and no problems....until we hit a straight bit of road, and then we gracefully slid in to a ditch, with our front tyres nicely buried....it was 8pm and so dark and no street lights in the bush!! the night sky was impressive though! as we waited for dave to come and help, another friend who was passing also helpp
ed push us out, it did give all the locals a good laugh..we decided it would be better if kathyrn drove the rest of the way home!!

..no kids!!!

2007-11-21T17:36:00.000+03:00

......hello again. kathryn and emma went to a very lovely waterfall - with impressive rainbow effects.
the queen is here!!! Did you know? All of Uganda is very very excited and roads are being closed down as if no one else needs to do anything - a bit tricky as we need to get to the airport on saturday. Well - we will see - ..........I read in the paper today that a fleet of dogs have been hired to 'bite'?! any demonstrators who might interrupt where the queen needs to go.
Hope England survives being queenless!

a normal sunday.....

2007-11-18T21:38:00.000+03:00

..........except for the fact that Emma (Hawley) is here which has added sweetness and joy to the day. Joel is particularly excited because Emma brought him socks! We lent out the car for someone to be taken to the hospital and it has just been returned with no wing mirror and the back brake lights smashed - oops! - luckily we like the person we lent it to. We both fielded 80 children during church......Steve did the running around screaming part and I did the sensible bit (some things never change!).
The biggest thing of note today is that this is the first time that I have ever written on the blog...i am now going to try and attach a picture??!

..Emma

2007-10-31T12:09:00.000+03:00

....This last week has been a very tough week for us all here at New Hope. On Wednesday Emma suddenly died while at University, he suffered a blood clot. It was all very sudden and very unexpected. He was 20 years old and just started university. Over the last year i had got to know him fairly well as he was part of the investment year programme, i always enjoyed his sense of humour and his commitment to what he was doing and his concern for other people. i also enjoyed teaching him to drive and we had lots of laughs together but he was a keen and enthusiastic learner. at his burial it was great to hear so many good things said about him, and in his short life he affected many people and lived a full 20 years and as someone said packed more into those 20 years than others do in 70+ years. Emma's dad, Joseph at the burial said that he believed that God had lent him Emma for these last 20 years, which i liked, and even though it is difficult to understand/make sense of, we still believe that God is good and in control. I appreciate the opportunity of getting to know Emma over the last year.....

.."we are family!!"

2007-10-22T21:29:00.000+03:00

..As sister sledge would say, We are family and what a classic song... come on lets all sing the chorus...We are family....ok very good. Life here at New hope is all about family and bringing and demonstrating family to children and young people who until they come here have no family, it is a privilege and challenge. This Sunday at church we were celebrating family. and we celebrated a wedding, 10 young people from New hope who have graduated from Uni and other institutions as well as dedicating the new babies who have arrived this year, there were 8 of them!! (we have had 4 babies arrive this month alone whose mothers have either died or abandoned them. The whole day was a great celebration culminating in having lunch together and then a footy match!! What a day and it is great to be a part of such a big family of all ages, colours and nations.

.....they think it's all over...

2007-10-14T09:25:00.000+03:00

..Well i made it, (just!!), when we woke the sun was already up and out and hot and so when the run started at 8am, it was already warm. The run started at the pace of a sprint but Isaac and i managed to go nice and slow....at least the start was enjoyable but the rest, confirmed to me once again why i don't like running, just hurts too much! Issac stayed with me up to about 12 kms and then i let him run on as he is only 16 and i think i was too slow for him but i so appreciated his support...the last few kms were tough with some horrible hills (survived by walking them!) the joy/satisfaction/relief to see the finish line , indescribable!!
Later there was a satisfaction of finishing...would i do it again???.....well i am thinking of the doing the Kampala 10Km...must be mad, obviously a sucker for punishment!!
It was all worth it in the end as i had trifle for dinner!!

...5 days to go!!!

2007-10-08T15:38:00.001+03:00

..What about the run i hear you cry..a pic of me wondering what was i thinking!!?? training still happening, even at 6am this morning, can you imagine..must be very serious or desperate. 10 miles still seems like so far, but hey you can only try..remember we are trying to raise money for Kiwoko Hospital, it is our local hospital and does a great job in this area reaching out in to the community. I do have sponsor forms here, so please feel free to donate...
..i was listening to the radio the other day whe an advert came on about the Kampala marathon and fun run and i thought hey i should do that..(the fun run, 10kms, not the marathon!!) how times have changed...Kathryn does ask after each training run, did you enjoy it?? and i am consistent with my answers...NO!!

..Mickey Mouse

2007-10-08T15:11:00.000+03:00

..It's the closest we are going to get to Disney land here in Uganda and it is called Didi's world! It is based in Kampala, so we thought lets go and have some fun..so we went one saturday morning and arrived at 10am. As we drove in to the car park, it was worryingly devoid of any other cars, must be closed we thought but no, we were just first there.
For the next 2 hours we were the only people in the park and one of the attendants followed us around and turned on each ride just for us, when we wanted to go on!! It was like having your own amusement park. the best part of the day was the bumper cars, where you actually allowed to bump into each other, head on as well, now thats what you call fun!!

..house

2007-09-16T21:06:00.000+03:00

..the youth group here we have called 12:30 @ 4!! will leave you to wonder why, if you don't know...well once a month we are going in to the local community. This month we went to an old ladies house to repair her house, a mud house, we were going to repair one wall and fix the iron sheet roof. I suprizingly was the foreman, and knowing a thing or two about mud houses!!! i asked someone who knew what they were doing. The best about mud houses is mixing the mud with your feet, now people pay big money for mud treatment and you can come here and have it for nothing!!
After an afternoon of mixing and putting on mud and iron sheets, we all had a great time and the old lady was very happy and it was gr8 for us as a group to reach out to some one else.
..Lots of rain here at the moment, and we are very grateful to be living in a brick house but very aware of those people who live in mud houses, which can easily be ruined by so much rain as well as crops...
for those interested?? the run is on the 13th october, still training, even though bed was a better option today!!

....monkey business

2007-08-21T12:18:00.001+03:00

..well the norridges and team are here for a few days, they seem to be enjoying Africa!! i think they were all a little disappointed there was some rain and not wall to wall sunshine. it is fun having a team as you get to look at life here thro the eyes of new people because things become very normal so quickly, so roads which are more pot hole than road, local butchers with meat hanging outside, getting used to waiting, cutting the grass without a lawn mower, power off and water running out, cold showers...all good experiences, they are all doing very well....
..running, still 5 days a week (even though haven't been today!!) October 13thb is the day....so we are on the countdown!! ...we run at 6.45, in the morning!!!! i know....

..football

2007-08-15T22:45:00.000+03:00

..had lots of rain recently and i am obviously getting used to the weather because even i have been a little chilly!! it's now 10:52pm and i keeping track of the football scores thro the computer, little sad really, especially as chelsea are losing at half time, to reading!! everyone else is in bed fast asleep, which i should be really....but what can you do?? the youth group i do here is fun and this weekend we went into one of the local villages, don't make me spell it, i can't even say it!! i know it began with a K!! to help a man who has leprosy to clear hs compound and to prepare some potato mounds, very simple, but hopefully something that will have been helpful and great for the young people here to give and not always be receiving!! could have done with a strimmer and not just a slasher!!

...back to school

2007-08-02T17:08:00.000+03:00

do you remember that "happy" feeling of going back to school?? new geometry set, which would be lost in a few days and what were all the bits for anyway??(wonder why i've got underlining on?? how is it on??
anyway back to the plot..the most exciting was a new class/desk etc... so Joel and anya were most excited about moving up a class!!..which they did and one way of showing it was to move desks, so they are now sitting in different places in the classroom!! both are glad to be back and i think their teacher is as well!!?

..we love July..

2007-07-24T20:24:00.002+03:00

July is such a cool month here in the brown house hold, with birthdays, Joel & Anya's and our anniversary (15yrs), i know we don't look old enough...well for a celebration we thought lets go for a swim, which we did but the weather had other ideas and decided to rain on us, at least it is warm rain...but our kids being true english kids thought we've paid for this so we are swimming and they did...i'm sorry to say i wimped out just a little too cold and wet for me, yes even here in Africa!!
...still running, i know i can hardly believe it too, but i'm certainly being stretched by my new training partner, and we get lots of strange looks from Ugandan children going to school thinking what is that crazy Mzungu (Iwhite person) doing?? sometimes i'm in full agreement with them.....

..what was i thinking??

2007-07-11T20:30:00.000+03:00

..Have you ever opened your mouth and said or agreed to something and wondered why did i say that? what was i thinking? well that has happened to me the other day. we had some friends over from Kiwoko hospital who said they had a sponsored run to raise money for the hospital which serves the local community here. Well big mouth here said "i'd like to do that" grerat they said, here's a sponser form...."oh by the way, how far is the run i ask (little too late!!)... Only 10 miles they said!!!!! 10 miles, what in one go i exclaim.
So now i'm committed to the cause, and anyone who knows me, knows i hate running. over the last couple of weeks i had a training partner who has now gone! the pic is some of our serious training. The run is in september, will keep you up to date on progress, and anyone interested in sponsoring let me know....10 miles here we come....

...ooo how we laughed!!

2007-06-29T11:25:00.000+03:00

..staying on the animal theme, sitting on my vertandah the other day minding my own business, someone asked if they could use my camera...seeing a dead snake, i thought, it would make a good picture. he dropped the snake on to the verandah at which point the seemingly dead snake suddenly became a very much alive snake!! it is safe to say we have never moved so quick...thankfully it was a little wet so the snake struggled for traction!! i asked matter of factlly what type of snake it was,...oh it's only a cobra!!!AAAAHHHH, what are you doing dropping it on our verandah!!! joel and kathryn seemed to enjoy it more than me though and relished getting as close as they could.
ooo how we laughed.....!!

....pets

2007-06-18T19:39:00.000+03:00

.. people here think we are a bit crazy!! and we have confirmed it by deciding to have a cat as a pet. The notion of having an animal which is of not much use, other than..(any suggested answers gratefully received!) is a bizarre concept. Our cat called "lola" has been with us for just over a month and fits in well as she is bonkers. she likes to charge around the house in the middle of the night running over beds and up mosquito nets, safe to say i'm more keen on having a cat than Kathryn!!

..water

2007-06-02T10:58:00.000+03:00

.a bit of rain this week, and when that happens we are desperate not to waste any!! hence the pic of yours truly trying to be helpful, in the end i just got very wet!!

lots of excitement here today (2/6/07) as Uganda Cranes take on Nigeria(football) in a key africa nations qualifier. There's real talk and hope of uganda winning?! we will see, at least it's an excuse to watch football and eat cake.

As there has been an overwhelming desire for more pics of me!! thought i would let you have 2 today, what a treat! (don't know who for!?)

..apologies!!!

2007-05-23T21:05:00.000+03:00

Hi again, 2 in a day, this is to say we were of course very excited by the visit of a team last month from derby, and we had such a good time we had no time to write anything on the blog!! as calvary family are here at the mo. they all say hi and especially to hannah and hannah (nice pic!?) the babies also say hi and thanks for painting our house they are very chuffed, the team made an impression and we are looking forward to their return!!?

it was great to have a lot of famaliar faces and accents and was so normal and of course they bought out essentials such as angel delight, marmite and trifle mix, YUM!!

tried marmite on some of the young people here but suprisingly didn't go down very well??

why is that??