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| Agnes and I get tearful |
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| The kids enjoy a great meal! |
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| Joel presents me with my necklace! |
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| Goodbye Silus (the preacher) |
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| Thank you for my gifts Deborah! |
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| Justine and I with a final Hug! |
Sunday, 20 March 2011
A Truly Ugandan Farewell!
A Tearful Goodbye to Jolly Mercy!
So my first trip in Uganda has come to an end, I can't believe how quickly 6 weeks flew by! I am currently sitting in Entebbe Airport waiting for my flight back to Heathrow and can't help but feel quite emotional about the time I've spent here, the people, the place, the kids have all captured my heart and I am already planning to come back at the end of May for another month. It is quite simply a beautiful country with beautiful people, the send off I was given was testiment to that. My farewell started on Friday afternoon where the children were given the afternoon off and I was treated to singing, dancing and speeches from the Teachers and CALM Africa staff, the songs by the children were heartbreaking, with words like "Alison, Alison, don't forget us Alison" and we will miss you, here and there, we will miss you everywhere!!! But the moment that broke our hearts was when 13 year old Shadia who is physically disabled sand a solo,at that point all the adults were in floods of tears.
Part 2 of the send off was a party for the boarding children and staff yesterday afternoon and evening which myself and the other volunteers paid for, we had it at the school and had a wonderful banquet of Uganda food, with more speeches and again more tears, this time I was so touched by a lady we have come to know, she is a grandmother who looks after her 2 gorgeous grandchildren as the parents abandoned them, one aged 3 and one aged 9 months. Deborah makes a living by making beads from recyled paper, I have helped them out just a little by buying her some blankets, giving the children some clothes and shoes and visiting her once a week and helping her out with some bead making. She came to the party on Saturday afternoon and presented me with a necklace, braclet and bag she had made especially for me, when she got the 2 boys Joel and Joanthan to present me with them I just couldn't help but burst into tears, unfortunately, this seemed to set off a crying fest with many of the children in floods of tears, luckily we put on some loud music and some dancing brightened up the mood.
Part 3 of my farewell was during the church service this morning where I had a special little ceremony where the preacher and pastor 'laid their hands on me' and wished me a safe journey and lots of special blessings, thankfully I held it together during this farewell!!
Anyway, I have planned already to return to Jolly Mercy and CALM Africa at the end of May so I cant wait to see the children again and hopefully help them with some more volunteer for for a month then! If anyone has any childrens clothes, particularly from aged 5 - 16 years, please do let me know before 30th March as I would like to send another box before I leave for the next leg of my trip!
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| Shadia (on the right) sang beautifully at my leaving party! |
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| The girls are a bit overwhelmed at our Saturday afternoon party! |
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| Everyone wants to be in the photo! |
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| Justine and I have a tearful cuddle! |
Part 2 of the send off was a party for the boarding children and staff yesterday afternoon and evening which myself and the other volunteers paid for, we had it at the school and had a wonderful banquet of Uganda food, with more speeches and again more tears, this time I was so touched by a lady we have come to know, she is a grandmother who looks after her 2 gorgeous grandchildren as the parents abandoned them, one aged 3 and one aged 9 months. Deborah makes a living by making beads from recyled paper, I have helped them out just a little by buying her some blankets, giving the children some clothes and shoes and visiting her once a week and helping her out with some bead making. She came to the party on Saturday afternoon and presented me with a necklace, braclet and bag she had made especially for me, when she got the 2 boys Joel and Joanthan to present me with them I just couldn't help but burst into tears, unfortunately, this seemed to set off a crying fest with many of the children in floods of tears, luckily we put on some loud music and some dancing brightened up the mood.
Part 3 of my farewell was during the church service this morning where I had a special little ceremony where the preacher and pastor 'laid their hands on me' and wished me a safe journey and lots of special blessings, thankfully I held it together during this farewell!!
Anyway, I have planned already to return to Jolly Mercy and CALM Africa at the end of May so I cant wait to see the children again and hopefully help them with some more volunteer for for a month then! If anyone has any childrens clothes, particularly from aged 5 - 16 years, please do let me know before 30th March as I would like to send another box before I leave for the next leg of my trip!
Monday, 14 March 2011
Sunday, 13 March 2011
Painted toe nails a cough and a cold
Hello!
Well this week has seen me pay for all the kisses and cuddles I have give to the children, I have ended up with a stinking cold and hacking cough!! lovely for me fellow housemates!!
On Tuesday it was a bank holiday here in Uganda so we didn't have to go to school, but I went anyway as it gives me a great opportunity to play with the kids when they are not at school. So I took some nail polish with me and painted all the girls who stay at the boarding schools toe nails, which they thought was great fun - I even had to paint the matrons too! Then we sand the Hokey Cokey which again went down very well with lots of laughter.
Today is Sunday and apparently according to our local shop keeper I should be going to church, however the draw of the pool and the country club and a good meal and shower are just too much so I opted out of the 4 hour church service at the school in favour of food and swimming!! I expect I will pay my penence later!! Getting the taxi bus into Kampala is an experience at any time, the sites and sounds along the way are just fanatastic, african life seems to take place on the streets so I spend the whole journey staring out the wondow and waving! I would love to take some more pictures of the daily life of Ugandans but it somehow feels a bit rude!
I only have a week left now before I come home for a few days so am already thinking about how much I will miss the kids, but I have to say I am looking forward to some good food!! The kids tell me they are going to cry when I leave - I wonder if thats beacuse I buy them soda and biscuits!!
Enjoy the few photos I've pasted below!
Well this week has seen me pay for all the kisses and cuddles I have give to the children, I have ended up with a stinking cold and hacking cough!! lovely for me fellow housemates!!
On Tuesday it was a bank holiday here in Uganda so we didn't have to go to school, but I went anyway as it gives me a great opportunity to play with the kids when they are not at school. So I took some nail polish with me and painted all the girls who stay at the boarding schools toe nails, which they thought was great fun - I even had to paint the matrons too! Then we sand the Hokey Cokey which again went down very well with lots of laughter.
Today is Sunday and apparently according to our local shop keeper I should be going to church, however the draw of the pool and the country club and a good meal and shower are just too much so I opted out of the 4 hour church service at the school in favour of food and swimming!! I expect I will pay my penence later!! Getting the taxi bus into Kampala is an experience at any time, the sites and sounds along the way are just fanatastic, african life seems to take place on the streets so I spend the whole journey staring out the wondow and waving! I would love to take some more pictures of the daily life of Ugandans but it somehow feels a bit rude!
I only have a week left now before I come home for a few days so am already thinking about how much I will miss the kids, but I have to say I am looking forward to some good food!! The kids tell me they are going to cry when I leave - I wonder if thats beacuse I buy them soda and biscuits!!
Enjoy the few photos I've pasted below!
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| This little chap is called Jonathan and is 4 years old! |
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| The girls fetch water for school! |
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| Painted toe nails are something of a luxury! |
Sunday, 6 March 2011
New Clothes and Amusement Parks
So exciting news that one of the boxes of clothes arrived from work meant that I have had a wonderful week being like Father Christmas giving lots of the children new clothes and shoes and their delight in an absolute pleasure to see in fact as always it reduces me to tears, the people here are so grateful for everything and anything you do for them. Below you will find a few pictures of some of the children who have benefited from new things. One of my favourites who I have pictured here is a little girl called Lorda who I believe I have mentioned before, she received a pair of little Reebock trainers which flash on the bottom when you walk, her little face was an absolute picutre, the following day, as she does everyday now, she belted towards me when she saw me with her new school uniform, courtesy of me!!, and shouted teacher teacher look, shoes... For a little girl who hardly uttered a word a month ago it just made me so proud of her - bless her little cotton socks - not that she has any!!! You will also see a picture of one of the thank you notes the children wrote for me after being given some new things for her and her sister!!
This week I also decided it would be nice to take a few of the children who board at the school on a day out!! I chose 4 girls and asked permission from the headmaster to take them to an amusement park called Wonderworld! This would be pretty common place for most children in the UK, but most of these kids have hardly left the school or village they grew up in so this created massive excitement. The girls told me they were too excited to sleep and kept asking each other what the time was. Throughout the day they went on rides, had soda, ice cream and a slap up lunch of sausage and chips - which the mainly packed up in a box to take back to share with their friends at school. The excitement and delight in their eyes was enough to nake me want to do it for all the kids. At the end of the day when they'd slept the whole way back in the car one of then said, Teacher Ali, I will never forget this day, thank you and god bless you. How big was the lump in my throat!! 50 pounds well spent.
We also went on a community outreach day where I visited Justine - the little girl I sponsor - family again, I bought them 2 mattresses and 3 blankets - again the gratitude is overwhelming. We also visited 3 other families to assess their situations and the only word I can think of is shocking!! A family of 7 living in a rough shack with no toilet facilities and a bedroom which looked like something out of Charles Dickens times -but worse. The children quite literally are clothes in rags, I am hoping the second box of clothes from work arrives soon so that I can give a few more out before I leave. The month I have been here has flown by and I am already planning to come back in June so that I can see the children again and plus I have promised a few of them I will take them to wonderworld when I come back and they remind me of this fact every day!!Anyway off now to take the boda boda - motorcycle and local taxi home from Kampala but not before I've been to the supermarket to stock up on salt and vinegar crisps and biscuits - rice and beans is beginning to wear a bit thin now!! Take care everyone!! A xx
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| Look at my new shoes... Puffla aged 2! |
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| A whole new outfit for Jonathan aged 4! |
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| How smart are we in our new dresses!! Nakato, 5 and Lighton 6! |
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| A thank you note from one of the kids, it reads, Dear Teacher Alison, How a you to today! I love you so much, thank you to give me shoes and clothes!! |
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| I wonder if I can fit this little chap in my wash bag!! - gorgeous! |
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| New clothes for children living in severe poverty - rural Uganda! |
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| Sodas all round on our visit to Wonder World!! |
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| Agnes, Eva, Justine and Joyce, a girls day out at the amusement park!! |
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Thieves, police stations, RE lessons and The Boxes Arrive!!
Sorry, no photos today, seem to be having problems uploading photos so thought I'd just do a quick update anyway.
So on Friday we had our house broken into and quite a few of our things stolen so I am now Ipod and kindle less, plus a few other things, but with the kids here having so little it feels quite insignificant not having these few luxuries!! We've spent quite alot of time at the local police shack - yep it is little more than a tumble down shack with a funny little cell type thing where they put the cons - very amusing. Whats even more amusing is that I typed up out police report as no one at the station seemed capable of using a lap top, it was a classic scene me sitting in the interview room typing up a report at the same time as they were interviewing a suspect - brilliant I was in fits of laughter - getting the damn report printing was a different matter - took us about 2.5 hours to print 6 sheets of paper, it was defiantely on Africa time.
On Friday - before the robbery I had to teach and RE lesson - what can I say except I didn't have a clue about any of the answers to the questions I had to ask the class, they all (about 20 9 - 11 year olds thought it was very funny that Teacher Ali didn't know the names of all Jesus's disciples!!!! They (the kids) wanted me to teach again this week - funnily enough I find myself very busy typing up police reports and we are currently in the middle of painting the new walkway in the school - we have to paint from 7.30am - 11.00 as its too damn hot after that.
And big news on Monday the boxes (well one of them) arrived from work on Monday - its like being father christmas giving out the shoes and clothes, the kids are so delighted with their new things and wont taken them off, especially a little chap called Puffla who had a new pair of shoes, he's just 2.5 and the cutest little thing, he ran up to me this morning pointing at his feet - so very cute.
Anyway, better go, will try to post more pics over the weekend.
Bye for now
So on Friday we had our house broken into and quite a few of our things stolen so I am now Ipod and kindle less, plus a few other things, but with the kids here having so little it feels quite insignificant not having these few luxuries!! We've spent quite alot of time at the local police shack - yep it is little more than a tumble down shack with a funny little cell type thing where they put the cons - very amusing. Whats even more amusing is that I typed up out police report as no one at the station seemed capable of using a lap top, it was a classic scene me sitting in the interview room typing up a report at the same time as they were interviewing a suspect - brilliant I was in fits of laughter - getting the damn report printing was a different matter - took us about 2.5 hours to print 6 sheets of paper, it was defiantely on Africa time.
On Friday - before the robbery I had to teach and RE lesson - what can I say except I didn't have a clue about any of the answers to the questions I had to ask the class, they all (about 20 9 - 11 year olds thought it was very funny that Teacher Ali didn't know the names of all Jesus's disciples!!!! They (the kids) wanted me to teach again this week - funnily enough I find myself very busy typing up police reports and we are currently in the middle of painting the new walkway in the school - we have to paint from 7.30am - 11.00 as its too damn hot after that.
And big news on Monday the boxes (well one of them) arrived from work on Monday - its like being father christmas giving out the shoes and clothes, the kids are so delighted with their new things and wont taken them off, especially a little chap called Puffla who had a new pair of shoes, he's just 2.5 and the cutest little thing, he ran up to me this morning pointing at his feet - so very cute.
Anyway, better go, will try to post more pics over the weekend.
Bye for now
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