We're back to school in Uganda this week and its go, go, go! The beginning of term is always by far the busiest time for KISS. The largest percentage of our expenditure goes on school fees and requirements - children have to come to school with all sorts of bits and pieces - exercise books of various shapes and sizes, pens, pencils, toilet rolls, brooms, reams of paper, uniforms; and in the case of the many who we have in boarding school they also need casual uniforms, bed sheets, mattresses, Vaseline, belts, pocket money, basins, soap - the list goes on. All of our children go to various local schools and institutions in Kasambya, Hoima, Kampala and Sorotti - we deal with over 30 separate institutions, all of which have different requirements and all of which require school fees to be paid in person. Our team do a lot of travelling and a lot of shopping during this time and the needs always seem endless - but somehow, thanks to a lot of hard work in both England and Uganda, 150 happy children and young people always make it back to school... and its great to see it!
I'll be sorry to see the end of the holidays - I enjoy having an excess of kids around! We've had a good few weeks in Kasambya and we ended on a real high this weekend with the kids preparing the music and readings for the main Mass on Sunday. I felt ridiculously proud of them - they really lit the place up. We had a hundred strong choir which sounded AWESOME and a host of young dancers who brought the Gospel and offertory forward in a VERY joyful and prayerful way. There was one kid who was not a particularly gifted dancer, to say the least... but when she saw one of the leaders looking at her in rehearsal she declared, "I see you looking at me, but i shall not give up my place... I have come here to dance, and I shall dance!" I just thought that was the most brilliant attitude!
We got the very sad news yesterday of the death of one of our community. Rose was supported by KISS a number of years ago and we supported her to train as a hairdresser. She had been running a successful business here in Kasambya and was an incredibly popular member of the local community. She had not been sick, but died very suddenly yesterday morning while getting her children ready for school. Needless to say its really shaken the community and everyone feels particularly desperate for her three young children, who have clearly not yet grasped what has happened. We have had the burial here today, and the family home is typically very busy after a death - family and friends will spend the next few nights sleeping outside the house, mourning together, before returning to their homes. When the house quietens down, I imagine the kids will begin to get more of a sense of what all this means - please keep them in your prayers.
Otherwise, life goes on as it inevitably must. I'm feeling much more settled lately; having my own room has really helped that along. Talking of which, the door problem is worsening - it has progressed from a showering of concrete dust to a cascade of small rocks which greets anyone who dares enter. Rocks. Not cool. I told someone today and they advised me to "brush" my door. I'm not sure what that might do, but i'm willing to try anything. Can't help but feel that it might create excess mess, but i'll give it a go. I'm still waiting on the arrival of electricity to my room. I have all the wiring in place now (behind the door, obviously) and we're just waiting for a wire to arrive in Mubende (the nearest big town) and for the wire to then somehow find its way here and up the pole and into my room - could be a long wait, but i remain optimistic! On the plus side I have found some gas at last which means that I am now able to cook and heat water for bathing. MASSIVE bonus. I've been relying on the good will of people around me for food - and it has resulted in a LOT of rice, potato and spaghetti (typically all at once on the same plate) and there's only so much more that I can take. I breathed a very temporary sigh of relief the other day when my neighbour offered me some cassava in what looked like a very appetising sauce - but upon tasting it i found it to be a dried fish and peanut sauce - not wishing to sound ungrateful but....
I'm likely to be doing a fair bit of travelling over the next couple of weeks. Want to head up to Sorotti (its faaaaaaaar) to see the girls who we are supporting there and will then be heading to Hoima to spend a good few weeks there. I have recently found myself feeling actual guilt about the fact that I can't be in three places at once, which i realise is not particularly healthy - so this is my attempt to combat it!
In other news I now have my own Internet access through a USB modem wotsit and am enjoying the light relief that access to the internet brings. I spent a particularly special half hour yesterday reading about Terry Wogan. But don't tell anybody.
I've just realised that I've put a picture at the top of this and it has become completely irrelevant as i've forgotten to mention the thing that it was actually of - but enjoy it anyway! Over and out.
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