Three day update. Building- Day Four. Saturday and Sunday Activities.

First up: Building- Day Four.

On Friday we finished building our magnificent classroom. We gave the inside a bit of a clean up, shoveling mezenue out the windows and dismantling the scaffolding, ready for our dedication on Monday. We knocked off around lunchtime, and headed back to the guest house to drop off Pete. Then the rest of us all went into town for a meeting with the CEO of Watoto to present the cash donated for the Goat Farm project. We had a bit of time before the meeting, so we went to the ladies market, where some of us benefited from our bargaining skills and others just paid full price. There were so many beautiful things being sold, and I’m sure some of you will be seeing them shortly

At Watoto Central Church, Tony and Ian met with Johnathon, the volunteer coordinator, while Julie, Julie-Ann, Jeanette and Madonna met with the CEO to present the money. Allen Henry (the CEO) was very grateful for the contribution, explaining that the money would be put to good use within the next few months, probably in Gulu where the first Goat Farm will be.

Saturday was a mixed bag, with some of us heading off to Jinja for rafting, and some of us staying behind.

Madonna, Terry and Julie-Ann visited the Babies home again, and also Garden City where they organised the drinks for lunch on Monday (the dedication day). They also stocked up for some more food parcels.

Pete stayed at home, recuperating. Tony went to a Rotary BBQ on the shores of Lake Victoria.

That left Ian, Jeanette, Julie, Ken and myself on a bus to Jinja to enjoy a day of rafting on the Nile. I spent most of the trip being bounced around by our not-so-gentle driver. We’d hitched a lift with the Australian team from Ipswich. The oldies (Ian, Jeanette and Julie) opted for the grade 3 rapids, while Ken and I went for the grade 5 ones. I nearly talked myself out of that several times! Jeanette tells me that their day on the Nile was good, they didn’t capsize once, but they did opt to jump out and float down the last rapid of the day. Ken and I weren’t so lucky. We flipped twice, once on the 50/50 (for us it was more like 100!) and once on a grade 4 rapid that I forget the mane of. I’m really glad we didn’t flip down the waterfall. It was about 8ft high and we just whooshed down it! Our guide, Alex, told us not to let go. he said, “if you let go, you’re going to die.” I was terrified! It was great fun though, apart from the lasting memento the sun gave us all. unfortunately we had to sit in the sun for about an hour while one girl was taken away, she’d hurt her wrist rather badly coming down the Silverback, and we didn’t have our sunscreen at that point. You could probably fry an egg on my knee at the moment! At the end of the rafting, we hiked up a mountain and jumped into some trucks for the ride back to the campsite for dinner. The roads were dirt paths, and it began to rain as we went, so it was kind of like a 45min rapid! Very scary! But we made it back in one piece and met up with the rest of the gang for dinner and a bumpy ride home. We didn’t get in till about 9pm, which is why I couldn’t write a blog yesterday. A huge thanks to Toni, who put up a note for me

Sunday, that’s today, was church and lunch in the Watoto village of Bbira. Church at Watoto Central is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. We were treated to half a dozen songs sung by a choir of 62 and backed up by guitar, drums, keyboard and bass. Unreal! We were fortunate enough to be there when Pastor Gary was speaking, he only does that when he’s in Uganda- a rare occurrence. He spoke to us about Love and how it is the most important thing. It was a very moving sermon.

After church, we headed out to Bbira for lunch, where we were split into four houses and treated to a traditional meal, consisting of matoke (cooked green banana), rice, potato, vegetables, meat sauce and ground nut sauce, fried banana and chapatis. Desert was fresh bananas, they were really sweet! We presented our families with gifts, including blankets and washers for each member of the house, an Australian Flag apron for the mum, and an assortment of stationary and books for the kids to share. And of course, the all important soccer ball, which will probably be worn out in a couple of months! After lunch we got to know everyone a little better, and started a game of soccer. Nobody wanted to get back on the bus at the end. Many photographs were taken, prayers and blessings exchanged and smiles shown. All in all, a fantastic day!

Now I’m updating the blog, and afterwards, off for a traditional gelati! And I might have a look for some aloe gel for my fourth degree burns!

–
Zoe MacLean and Tony Long

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