Africa Time!!!!

How Cool am I in my new Nike Top

We all have a watch now!!

We love our new watches

Could my smile get any bigger (see my Watch)

Little Puffla is still one of my favorites

Swearing in the new Mayor!!

The Police are never far away!!

Teacher Ali helped us do this big picture for our parents day!

Me on a Boda Boda!!

How cute am I!!!

Visiting Justine's Mum again ( my Ugandan Family)

Surrounded by the lovely children

Rhoda is never far from my side!

How smart are we in our new gear!

Trying out our new tops

Hello All

A MASSIVE thank you to everyone who has contributed to the DO WE HAVE THE POWER....?? campaign so far, we have now reached 75% of the target with just over a week and a half left to go before I leave, I really hope we can get to the target of 600 pounds and enable to staff and kids at Jolly Mercy and CALM Africa to experience a convenience that you and I just take for granted....  again if you would like to contribute the website address is:

http://www.charitygiving.co.uk/alisonmichie

Thank you again for your contributions, both the people here and I really do appreciate your generosity!.

OK, so what I have I been up to and what is Africa time!!!

Last week I was lucky and privileged to be asked to attend the swearing in ceremony of the Mayor and town Councillors of a district where the charity operates.  I was a little worried that I didn't have the correct clothes to wear to such an occasion but managed to pull a fairly decent outfit together, I also wore make up which I haven't done since January !!! It was an experience I can tell you. I was told (and the invitation confirmed) the programme started at 8.00am so I was up early, showered (well washed down with a bucket and jug anyway) and waiting at 7.30am to be picked up.  My ride picked me up at 8.45 and we arrived at our destination at approx 9.30 (1.5 hours after it was supposed to start... or so I thought)  No problem, no problem, we're on Africa time now I was told.... when we arrived they were still setting up and we were only the second party of people to arrive.  The whole thing eventually started around 11.15!!, THIS is 'Africa time'!!! Mary (one of my best friends) Dad was recently sworn in as Mayor of Stafford and as I watched the ceremony in Uganda I couldn't help but wonder how different the ceremonies would have been.  I wonder in the UK if there was a booming stereo system?? whether the crowds of visitors blew whistles and voovoozelas?? (can't spell) and whether her Dad danced down the red carpet with all his supporters dancing with him....(hilarious) I captured some of it on video as I just have to show Mary when I get back!!

Another example of Africa time was yesterday when there was a parents meeting at the school, again I had to find something decent to wear as it was a formal occasion (well formal for Africa anyway) and I was required to give a speech. Anyway, the start time of the meeting was 9am, so again I was at the school in plenty of time (8.30) for a 9am start.... the meeting eventually kicked off about 10.45 but still there was only about 15 parents there, and people were still arriving at 12.30 .... brilliant, so funny. My speech went down well I think as they all laughed and clapped (to be honest they only really laughed when I said Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for coming in Ugandan!!) I can speak pretty much all the basic greetings etc now, but the locals think its hilarious!!  haha

Other than that I have been spending lots of time at the school with the kids, lots of them are sick at the moment, Malaria probably the most common ailment, but also there is an outbreak of measles, a stomach bug and Flu (lets hope anti malaria tablets, a flu injection, and having had measles aged 14 that I'll come away unscathed!!)  On a brighter note, I have had a couple of fantastic days giving out clothes and shoes again which I sent over from the UK, thanks to friends who gave them to me (Sue, Tim and Matty, Sara, Geoff and Emily., Peter, Norma, William and Louis, Sam, Leigh, Thomas and Jessie and Sally, Carl and Freya) this time round we had so many fabulous things, every child (120 of them) got at least one item of new clothing, so much excitement it was fabulous. But even more exciting was that my sister in law Emma's company Peers Hardy had donated 20 childrens watches to the school.  I felt the fairest thing to do would be to give the watches to the children in P7 (their last year of primary school) To say they went nuts is an understatement, they LOVED their watches, of course, this is the first time the majority of them had anything quite a lovely as a watch! The photo's tell the story..... Enjoy

Anyway that's about all for now, more next week.

A xxxxxx