Daily Diary Week 3
At Mmanze school
The internet cafe we are using is the slowest ever! and it takes about 5 minutes( I timed it) just to change pages so I haven't had the chance to do anything more than read Emails. However today is Saturday and I got here early enough so here goes!
The group are well and on the whole healthy and while some people have been bitten a lot, and some others reacted badly there's good medicine available here and it's cheap and it sorts everything out quickly. Personally I've only been bitten 5 times so far ( can you believe it Joanne - maybe the Mississippi ones just liked me better!!) and 4 were from the other night when I slept with a mossie in the room.
Since the last Email I sent we have finished painting and though we say so ourselves we are very pleased with the work we did, and it looks very professional. 3 coats on all the walls inside and out and all the bench seats and the toilets. The best touch was definitely the blue sponge prints we did on the cream walls of the outhouse toilets!!!.....Nativity scenes on the outside and sea prints and animal prints inside. Heather, Simon and Amy were responsible and the sponges were donated from DunLaoghaire art and hobby shop and were the business!! Simon and Amy easily got landed with one of the toughest painting jobs 'cause they had to paint the top sections of unplastered wall and the only way to do it was with rollers on pole extensions and they were always covered with paint and had really tired arm muscles every day.
We said goodbye to all the pastors and the children on Friday afternoon and it would be fair to say everyone was a little subdued on the way home. They have so little compared to what we take for granted and the kids would love to be at school but their parents can't afford to send them.
On Saturday we just hung out for the morning, but Rakyo and her husband Steve (our liaison - pronounced Rachel) had invited us to her home to celebrate her twin daughter's 10th birthdays. We had a blast and at one stage when Alex heard the sound of a trumpet outside we went out to the balcony to investigate and discovered a trumpeter playing on the other side of the road. We then had a surreal duet going on from balcony to road between saxophone and trumpet!
(it turned out they were a teenage brass band practicing and they've invited Alex and others to join them for practice this Monday!!)
On Sunday we went to the church of the school where we would be running the sports camp. It was a fairly formal Anglican service spoken in Lugandan, but we survived and afterwards we met the principal of the school and were shown around the primary and secondary schools where we would be for the next week.
On Monday we started the sports taking the primary first and then the secondary classes ( although as it's a big school it took us till Thursday to work our way through all the classes)
Our sincere thanks to O'Nells sports for everything they gave us, 'cause I really don't think it would have been possible without all the coloured bibs they gave us!!! Group 1 played soccer, group 2 played games, and group3 played rounders, each for 40 minutes and then swapped until everyone had learnt everything. The teachers were great and very supportive, particularly the games master, beatrice, robena and the principals.
Yesterday we finished the sports camp and are all wrecked, but the fun day yesterday went well ( 3 legged, sprints, long jump etc.) and we had enough small prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the end. - many thanks to all the pound shops in Bray, but particularly to Dun Laoghaire Arts and Crafts shop in the shopping centre for everything they gave us. The drive too and fro was a killer though but at least we were only doing it for 1 week and not the 10 days we originally thought. Two hours there and back on dirt roads and everyone was exhausted all the time because of that and playing for 4 hours in the heat. We had to leave at 7.30 every morning, which meant getting everyone up at 6.30 for breakfast 'cause there's no moving this group fast. We're all in good spirits though and the food they serve us in the house is lovely. Our host Mama Robena has been so very kind to us, and even invited us out for a real Ugandan meal last Sunday ( did you know there's a type of banana here that's purple inside and tastes of blackcurrant!!!!!....sincerely) Next week we are hoping to go overnight to Queen Elizabeth park in the west of Uganda to do an early morning lake safari and see hippos! followed by a drive to see everything else...it'll be expensive and we hadn't budgeted for it, but we'll manage and it's a chance of a lifetime ( who knows if some would get the opportunity again) I hope this sees everyone as well as here
Lynne and the africa team.
PS: The latenight compulsory UNO game has been replaced by 'Murder mafia'....a who-dun-it discussion game and monopoly!!
'What time is it Mr Wolf??'
Two new sports fanatics!
Desire and Simon reffing
At Mmanze Primary school
Super Alex Caped crusader!
The dancing troupe at Ndere cultural centre
sprint race
banana peeling competition