Second week working on the projects



Kate, Lois and I at church

 

I can’t believe the second week of working on the Smile projects has gone so fast! I'm loving getting to know the children and families we are working with and as a team, we are excited about what God is doing through Smile's work. Time really does fly quickly here but I think that’s because we are so busy. In my previous blogs, I have been introducing the different projects that we are working on. This week, I thought I’d write a day by day account to give you an idea of the routine we have settled into.

Monday 19th- We returned to Family Believer’s Church in Nabulagala to run the catch up class for preschool children and children who are unable to go to school. Whilst last week was mainly just an introductory session to start the season again, this week we started a programme of teaching. Gabit (one of the volunteers) and I taught the alphabet from the front whilst Lois and Kate helped supervise the children. We used alphabet flashcards that I created at home and made up words actions to go with each letter e.g. emulating the action of an elephant’s trunk for the letter ‘e.’ The children seemed to enjoy the actions so I hope that will help them to remember the letters better.

Tuesday 20th- We returned to Ruth Mother Care for our third day there. In the morning I taught P2 class comprehension by reading a Ugandan fairy tale type story for the first lesson and then moved onto teaching units of measurements. Last week I was given a textbook to plan a lesson from, so I bought in a tape measure (I knew it would come in useful somehow when I was packing!) and cooking weighing scales with me to demonstrate units of measurement visually. I measured the height of each of the children in the class and then weighed some of their exercise books. In the afternoon, I taught both P2 and P3 the months of the year and how many days there are in each month. The lesson was 2 hours so after a while I ran out of different ways to present and test it so we ended up playing hangman of the different months!

Teaching measurements to P2

 

Measuring height

Telling the children their height

Teaching definitions of length and height

 

Wednesday 21st- Today I spent most of my day at Ruth Mother Care teaching maths to P2 class. I think I have learnt the names of the children in P2 now as that is the class I’ve been spending the most time in. Firstly, we revised the basics of fractions and then practised adding and subtracting fractions.  I was impressed with their understanding as I hadn’t even been taught what a fraction is at that age. In the afternoon I taught sounds in nursery section, focusing on words with the sound ‘a’ in them e.g. man, can and van. I really love the school and teaching there.
 

 In the evening Kate and I went to the youth fellowship at Kampala Baptist Church, where we watched a thought provoking film called ‘The Good Lie’ about refugees from Sudan who are given the chance to seek asylum in America. I'd recommend it if you haven't watched it.

 

Thursday 22nd- We went on community outreach in Nabulagala again but this time Kate and I went with Gabit. I am just so in awe of the faith the families we visit display despite their circumstances. It was good to meet some of the families of the children who have been attending the catch up class and children’s club and pray with them.

Kate and I enjoyed our second choir practice for the Christmas production at KBC and are feeling all Christmassy now! The songs are about 70% English and 30% Lugandan.

Kate and Gabit walking back up the hill to the Smile house

 

 Friday 23rd- Instead of returning to Nabulagala today, we ran a children’s club closer to home in a church called Blessed Word of Life. After some songs and games, Innocent taught the story of ‘Daniel and the Lion’s Den’ in Luganda with the aid of my story book. We finished off by giving out colouring sheets of Daniel and lollipops. It was also an exciting day because Innocent took me to the post office to collect two parcels from home. I now have English chocolate and more importantly, a replacement bank card (see my earlier posts for more about that) Thank you mum!

In the evening Kate and I went to the youth choir rehearsal, which was good fun as we learnt some new songs and some familiar ones from home.

 

Saturday 24th- We had intended to have a lie in today as working during the day and then going out to KBC every evening from Wednesday to Friday is exhausting (although very worth it!) However, I had another problem with my card as it had been swallowed by the ATM on Friday so I ended up making a trip back there early in the morning, with poor Kate having to come with me. Thank you Kate for giving up your lie in- I am lucky to have such kind team members! I have yet to test the card again so please pray that I won't have any more problems with it.

In the afternoon, we went to the youth service at KBC.

Sunday- Sunday was our lazy day! We went to a youth social called Meltdown at KBC in the evening, where there was a games night behind held. It was good to continue to get to know more of the youth.

Me attempting to play table tennis at Meltdown

Waiting for a taxi after Meltdown

 

Please pray for:

• Kate as she has had a sore throat this week and had to miss going to the children's clubs on Friday.
• Our energy levels as we continue to work on the projects.
• My laptop to be fixed as soon as possible as it is hard to keep in contact with home and write blogs etc. without it.

Thank you so much for  your prayers and encouragement! I will post another update soon as I am a week behind.

 

 

Ruth Mother Care School

I was really excited to go to Ruth Mother Care School on Tuesday and Wednesday because I enjoy teaching and want to use the time I spend with the children in the school to try to inspire the same love of learning that I have in them. I believe in Nelson Mandela’s quote ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to save the world’ and this is a philosophy which Ruth, the founder and head teacher of the school shares.

Her vision for the school is really remarkable because it is a partly charitable school set up for families who are unable to afford the full school fees for their children. The families pay what they are able to afford and then the rest is covered by the school, empowering the children to be able to have aspirations and opportunities they would never have been able to access because of their family’s financial situation. 
  

Lois and Kate were more worried about teaching at the school, but for me getting there sounded like it was going to be more of an ordeal. We were going by boda boda- the Ugandan version of a motorbike! This would be my first ride in the daytime on the bumpy back roads. I went on with Kate with me in the middle so I wasn’t scared that I was going to fall off. I was celebrating the fact that I survived when we arrived at the school when I was almost knocked over by the children rushing out of the classroom to hug Kate and I (so sweet!) I actually forgot to pay the boda driver until he asked because I was so overwhelmed.

 

I thought that was a good welcoming but they had prepared personalised welcome songs for us, which was even more special. We sat down in front of the staffroom whilst watching them perform in different classes, dance and even model, by which time we were in fits of laughter. They really are such talented young performers and the songs allowed their personalities to shine through.

Us watching the performances

 

We had been expecting to spend our first day observing the teacher’s lessons to give us an idea of the typical style of delivering lessons and learning at the school, but this wasn’t the case! After break time, I was ushered into one classroom with Kate and Lois in the other and told to teach reading. Luckily for me, I just had to read a story to them and write out some comprehension questions out but Kate and Lois had to teach on nouns and verbs without remembering the difference between them!!

In the afternoon I taught about transport and the different types for example air, water, railway, road, which I really enjoyed. I tried to be as creative as possible and consequently spent a few hours looking rather silly doing the actions and noises for the different types of transport to the amusement of the children.

On Tuesday my favourite lesson I taught was on the environment, so using the textbook I taught classifying animals as wild or domestic, their spelling, teaching ‘If I Were a Butterfly’, reading 'Giraffes Can’t Dance' and matching up animals and their young ones.

Teaching animals and their young ones

 

A funny situation on Tuesday was when I was given a textbook at lunch and asked to teach a lesson on the life cycle of a mosquito and how it caused malaria when I didn’t know about it myself. I didn’t have time to look at the textbook before we had to go to eat lunch, so I had to attempt to teach at the same time as learning it myself. This resulted in me making up amusing actions for the different life cycles e.g. wriggling for wriggler lavae.

One of the most challenging things we have encountered at the school is teaching ‘nursery class' in the afternoons. ‘Nursery class’ is made up of children of preschool age and is divided into groups of ‘top’ ‘middle’ and ‘baby,’ within the same classroom because of the shortage of land and classrooms that the school currently has. The classroom is small and there are about twenty five children so it is difficult to keep all concentrating and engaged at the same time. When there is only one or two of you in the classroom, you can imagine it’s quite a feat to differentiate between the different learning stages they are at, keep them listening and check their work at the same time.  Despite this, they really are such a joy to teach!

I have had a fantastic first few days at the school and  have felt so welcomed. The teachers are all lovely and have been very friendly to us. During break time, one of the classrooms is used as a staffroom where tea and samosas are served and this week we have had delicious japattis for lunch.

I am looking forward to going back next week and getting to know the children better.

The structure of the school

 

Playtime

 

Reading to the nursery section

 

 

Nabulagala children's clubs and outreach

On Monday we went to Family Believer’s Church in the Nabulagula slums to run an educational catch up class for the preschool children. The church is a wooden structure and it is obvious as you reach it that a lot of time and care has been put into constructing it.

As we walked up to the church, we were greeted by a flurry of children ecstatic to see the volunteers Innocent and Gabit who they know well as they run the children’s ministry there every week. These children live in homes where there is real suffering both physically and emotionally due to poverty but you wouldn’t know it from the smiles of the children and the hugs that they gave us despite just meeting us on the spot.

There were about fifteen children who joined in because this was the first programme since they stopped over the summer. We sang songs with them for example ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’ and ‘Our God is a Great Big God’ and then recapped the alphabet through the ABCD... song.

 

On Thursday we returned to these slums for community outreach and had the opportunity to visit the homes of the children who came to the catch up class to meet their families. Before we came, we prayed in the morning about sharing God’s loves with the people we would meet through this, but I found that not only was I able to share with them about I learnt a lot about God through them too. Smile and the gap year teams over the years have built up good relationships with many of the families there and it was a real privilege to be invited into their homes. We split into two separate teams for this and I was with Kate and Innocent, who was able to translate for us. This was the biggest challenge I’ve encountered whilst working on the projects so far.

We visited the house of one lady and She was so willing and open to share her problems with us even though she had just met us because she believed in the power of prayer. Her husband has back problems so to provide for her family. She sells corn and the market f it isn’t going so well at the moment so she is finding it hard to provide for her children. I can only imagine how hard this must be for her to feel so helpless to do more for her family but thankfully several of her children are sponsored through the Smile sponsorship programme so they are able to go school.

For all of us, seeing the poverty in Nabulagala is going to be tough but we have been inspired by Mother Theresa's quote: ‘We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty.’ I hope that by spending time talking to these families and building up genuine relationships and friendships, the Smile team can show that God has not abandoned them and that people really care about them.  

We visited the slums again on Friday to run the children’s club in the church. I taught the children the song ‘Who’s the King of the Jungle?’ which reminded me a lot of Sunday school. At first when it rained we wondered how we were going to be able to run the club and do the Bible teaching because when the rain hits the tin roof, it’s almost impossible to hear anything. In the end,  I think it was a blessing in disguise because we were able to spend some time playing with and hugging the children to get to know them more. I spent a lot of times trying to ask names but failed to hear or remember them correctly!! I will have to work on it over the next few weeks. It also resulted in much commotion when the children descended on Kate to play with her hair because she had left it down.

The children plaiting Kate's hair

Don't wear your hair down...

 

Washing hands and giving out biscuits

 

 

 Prayer requests:

- Please pray for wisdom as to what words of encouragement would be appropriate to give on community outreach

-For our energy levels as although we love the projects, they can be tiring too.

-For us to continue to settle in as we get used to the transport system here as we start to travel to some places as a team of us three gappers etc.

Musana Camps

Sorry for the late blog post- we have been really busy over the last few days and have the added complication that my laptop has broken so I am having to borrow one from my team member Kate.

We arrived in Nansana on Tuesday afternoon and after spending Wednesday settling in at the Smile house, we set off for Musana camps. It is a Christian retreat centre situated on the shores of Lake Victoria, and we went there in order to spend some time getting to know the local Smile volunteers. After the busy city of Kampala, it was wonderful to get away to somewhere quieter, as those of you who know me, I love the countryside and the tranquillity of it.

To get there, we took a Ugandan taxi which is like a UK minibus licenced to carry 14 passengers, but a lot ricketier. The journey was three hours and whilst my team members weren’t so enthusiastic about this ride, I really enjoyed the chance to see more of the area surrounding Kampala from the window. We drove through different terrains from concreted terrain closer to Kampala to a highway type dust road, which resulted in being spattered with red dust from the window. I closed the window to try to stop myself looking like I’d come out of a desert storm but the taxi conductor promptly opened it again, grinning back at me. It seems like you don’t mess with taxi conductors!

 

Musana was even more beautiful than I imagined. The lake stretches as far as the eye can see with several islands dotted around and the sky reflects in the water like a mirror to make it an azure colour. We were camping in a field above the lake and I would wake up in the morning, come out of our tent and be met with this sight and it was a great time to remind us all of God’s creation and help us to remain connected to Him at a time when we are getting used to the Ugandan culture. I loved stargazing at night and the millions of stars took my breath away as it was so clear and I woke up early to watch the sun rise over the lake.

It reminded me of Isiah 40:26-"Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars. The One who leads forth their host by number. He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing."

I am so thankful that we had the chance to go there because it gave us a chance to bond with the team before we start working on the projects, which I think is really important because we are going to be working in difficult environments and will encounter challenges that are better faced when you know the strengths and weaknesses of your fellow team members.

As part of this, we participated in team challenges led by the Musana leaders, for example getting everyone over a 9 foot wooden wall with no supporting aids apart from each other. At first I looked at it and said, ‘No way am I doing that,’ because I was still in the English mind set of ‘health and safety first.’ I was reminded of our day at the activity centre Carroty Wood during our training week in Kent when our instructor for the climbing wall told us that we couldn’t go more than four feet above the ground without a helmet and we weren’t allowed in the fenced in area where the climbing wall was located without a hard hat. Needless to say, there were no hard hats or harnesses at Musana! Fortunately, we have some tall people in the Smile team who hauled me over the top and it turned out to be a fun experience.

 

 

 

 

 

We also had a lot of free time to relax and have fun together, for example we played beach games on the lake shore. However, my favourite part of the few days we spent there was the trek in the equatorial forest the camp is surrounded by to a waterfall named Mutunyu Falls. To me, it looked a bit like I imagine a rainforest and it was rather surreal in some ways because I have seen this type of environment a lot on wildlife TV programmes so it felt odd to be somewhere like it in real life. I had great fun standing under the torrent of the waterfall cooling down from the heat of the day and posing for some cheesy photos at the top of it (don’t worry mum, it was freshwater and I didn’t go too close to the edge!!) It also included much hilarity and pain at the same time as although I slipped over several times in the mud, fell into a stream because I broke one of the logs bridging the water, ripped my trousers and got attacked by ants, I really enjoyed the walk. It reminded me of when I hike in the Lake District with my family because of the setting of the lake nearby.

 

On Sunday, we had the privilege of attending the church that the Americans who set up Musana Camps have started. We were joined by children and their families from the surrounding villages, but mostly from the fishing village a short walk away by the lake shore.  The Smile team were leading worship, which was interesting because we had to learn songs in Lugandan ten minutes before we had to stand up the front. Jenny Dobson, all your teaching of songs in African languages over the years definitely came in useful! It was such an amazing experience to be worshipping God in the outside right above the lake.

I found it hard to leave Musana because I love the beautiful natural setting there but I am really excited to start working on the Smile projects. Tomorrow we are going to the slum community of Nabulagala to run a catch up education class for pre-school aged children so I will update you on that soon.

 

Thank you so much to everyone who has said they are praying for me and the team. We appreciate it a lot! Prayer requests:

- For the Smile team as us gappers join the projects in the slums next week

- For us gappers as we start teaching at Ruth Mother Care

-That we will continue to settle in.

Arrival in Uganda

My team and I have arrived in Uganda :) .

We had a safe journey despite a few escapades along the way, including my debit card being swallowed up by a vending machine when I was trying to buy water just before we were about to board the plane (!) 

 

I was really pleased that we were able to get most of our extra luggage full of resources for the children on the plane. Some of you may know that Smile initially had problems persuading Emirates airline to give us extra charity baggage for free or at a reduced rate as had been agreed with British Airways before they closed the route down. Thankfully, we had an answer to prayer and they changed their minds at the last minute to give us a reduced rate. I also tried to circumvent the system by wearing several layers of clothes and a special waistcoat with lots of pockets that converts into a bag so I could fit more resources in my case. In the end I was wearing about 5kg kilograms so I must have looked rather interesting. I don't know how I managed to pass through with it on!!

Thank you so much to everyone who donated resources. They will be so helpful when running the children's clubs and I'm sure the children will love them.

It was really hard to say goodbye to my family but I am so glad that we have WiFi in Uganda so I can still talk to them. The Internet definitely makes the world a smaller place. Please feel free to send me your Skype name if you want to chat :) . 

My team at the airport- Lois, Alex (the Smile Uganda project manager) , Kate,
Barry (the trip co-ordinator ) and I

Plane selfies!!

We arrived at Entebbe airport at about 15:00 and managed to get our visas without any problems. After we had collected our bags, we were greeted by several of the local Smile volunteers who were really friendly and kindly carried our bags for us.

On the journey to Nansana I was able to talk to Anna, one of the previous gappers who is back visiting, about her experiences in Uganda, which was lovely and very encouraging.


After the long flight, the 2 hour journey felt like sensory overload. I was tired from the 24 hour journey but the immediate thing that stuck out was that the air tasted different.  I just remember thinking how busy every part of the road from Entebbe to Kampala in a different kind of way to anywhere else I have experienced- there was a real buzz.

We are now settling into the Smile accomodation, where I share a room with Lois and Kate. The house is very nice and we are all pleased that there is hot water, a new water filter so we don't have to boil water to make it safe and a Western toilet (!) .

Although we will be cooking for ourselves for most of our meals whilst we are here, one of the volunteers Olivia kindly made us a delicious dinner so we had time to adjust. I am looking forward to learning how to cook Ugandan meals.

The Smile house

Thank you for all your messages of support and prayers! It is such an encouragement to hear from home as I am settling in. I will be posting again soon.

Please pray for:

- My replacement debit card to arrive quickly
- That we will settle in fast and not suffer from too much culture shock.
-Our safety as we use public transport like taxi buses and boda boda motorcyles.

My time in Uganda with Smile International

Tomorrow I am travelling to Nansana, just outside of Kampala in Uganda, which will be my home for the next months. I am really excited about the work I will be doing to serve the community out there and to experience the Ugandan culture but I am also nervous about what lies ahead.

It's a very weird feeling to think that soon I will be in the place that I have spoken about for months to my friends and family as well as schools and churches. I have seen many photos from previous 'gappers' but I find that whilst the phrase 'a picture can tell a thousand words' is often true, that a place is often so different to how you picture it in your mind. After all the numerous vaccinations I have had, the culturally appropriate clothes I've hunted down and children's resources I have created and bought, I can't believe tomorrow I will finally be there.

I am volunteering with the Christian charity Smile International, who are passionate about helping to relieve suffering and poverty around the world through their feeding, educating, empowering and developing programmes, One of the reasons I chose to  volunteer with them is because I identify with their aim to  "make a difference by sharing the love of Jesus Christ through practical Christianity. We want to give hope to those in need, provide people with an opportunity to develop emotionally, physically, socially and spiritually."

You may be asking why I chose to use my gap year to do missional volunteering work. Volunteering like this is something I have thought about for a long time because I have always felt called into mission as I listened to talks from missionaries at church and at Christian summer conferences and camps about their work and finding God's purpose for your life. I have been inspired by reading about and listening to their faith and courage and hope to be able to follow their example to make an impact on people's lives in Uganda in my own small way.

God placed Uganda on my heart as I have been writing to a sponsored girl through the charity Compassion for many years. Her name is Linda and she is around my age so we have built up a friendship through exchanging letters. Uganda cropped up in my life growing up again when two Ugandan pastors visited my church as part of a partnership with their home church and my family and I have kept in touch with them since then. In fact, we hope to be able to meet up whilst I am in Uganda as their village is fairly close to Kampala, which would be amazing!

I have a passion for justice and I am aware that I am so blessed to be born in a place where all my basic needs and more have been provided for. I have had a fantastic education and don't have to worry about where my next meal is coming from and that isn't the reality for so many people around the world. For example in Kampala, only 65% of people have access to safe water and the overall poverty level for Uganda is 24.5%.

Smile's projects aim to make the 'world of difference' to many individuals in poverty in Kamapala and the surrounding area. I will be involved in:

-Teaching at local schools, in particular Ruth Mother Care, which is run as a charity for children whose families can't afford to pay the school fees. I love learning and am really looking forward to trying to foster a similar love in the children there. I am not a trained teacher but I hope my team's enthusiasm and the guidance of the permanent teachers there will make up for it.

- Visiting families in the Nabulagala slums on community outreach to share God's love with them by helping in practical and emotional ways by building up relationships through talking to them and giving out aid where appropriate.

- Running children's clubs weekly and in the holidays in churches in the slums and in rural villages.

-Visiting people in hospital to pray for them.

- Practical and construction work. Those of you who know me will know that I am not the most practical person in the world but I am willing to give it a go!!

- Getting involved with church ministries e.g. Sunday school and the youth groups.

- Helping with the Smile project sponsoring and supporting widows to help them set up a sustainable form of income e.g. bead making,


Please pray for:
- A safe journey to Uganda and that all our luggage will go through.
- For the UK team to continue to get to know each other and for our first meeting with the team of local Smile volunteers,
-That we will settle in well and get to grips with the new culture in environment.