John Shenouda Writes....

Kate Writes: I'm back in Uganda and I've got the JHN 6th formers with me - i've handed control of my blog over to them for the next 2 weeks - enjoy!

Thursday 17/12/09 - Airport and journey

Up at 4.30AM to shave (not my legs, clearly) and got to JHN on a very frosty morning. Others arrived for a last minute squeeze of KISS tshirts into our bags. We hugged parents and off we went- the 8 of us- in the minibus driven by St John Gannon.

We checked in at terminal 5 after switching items from one bag to another cos people were overweight! (not them, their luggage, silly :p) Pictures in Christmas hats proved fun... mine had plaits! Jasmine and Sorsha got searched rather thoroughly; thank god I didnt get searched- they wouldnt have been able to keep their hands off me! First time in new Heathrow terminal 5 and it was beautiful ! They even have Harrods there! Full (vegetarian) English Breakfast and beat Ross 1-0 on Fifa 10 (first time ever on PS3!)

Sat next to Sorsha on the plane and watched the amazing view out of the window throughout.
Mine and Sorsha's plan of monopoly on the plane went straight out the window, when we saw a wide variety of films and tv shows. Got through 2 C4 solomon papers (very badly) and marked whilst listening to... BACKSTREET BOYS! Tried watching Harry Potter but fell asleep after 10 minutes before being ambushed but Jasmine's loud laughing/screaming.

Landed in one piece. Got out of the airport to see Kate embraced by Father Godfrey - he was so happy to see her. He embraced us all one by one and was over the moon when he saw our kiss hoodies. Still couldn't believe it, after 7 short years at JHN, my childhood dream became a reality.

From Entebbe to Kampala spirits were high and we sung songs and played games. When we finally parked after 3 tries, we cheerfully noticed a very tall man with a very large shotgun in his right hand who told us to get out of the vehicle.... Ross had other plans! Then we met Ronald – a highly skilled master of Scottish accents; something I have yet to master!

While waiting at a roundabout, a young girl approached begging. Then seconds later, we were silenced by the the site of two thin young boys sleeping on the road. We had forgotten the reality of the whole situation – we were in a third world county and this was the norm. No one stopped for them; not even us.

We arrived at Red Chilli, ate our pizza and pulled the curtains on our first day. Having noticed two huge holes in the mosquito net over my bed, I had a scary night ahead of me...I sweated like MAD – long sleeves & sleeping bag = SWEAT...LOTS! People were walking in and out as they wish all night: it was a restless night but it added to the experience! Just another day in Uganda. And that was meant to be good accommodation... :-p


Friday 18/12/09 – Hoima here we come!

The showers were the first surprise of the morning - there was even hot water (although I had to kill a few bugs on my way in). Then... wait for it... BEANS ON TOAST FOR BREAKFAST!

Next we were off with Father G to exchange money - we became Ugandan millionaires! Once again, kids were laying by the road with nothing; not even dignity left yet once more, we all drive past. Pictures do not do justice to what I saw.

The competition to see who gets waved at the most heated up when I got a “RESPECT” from one of the van drives on the road. Allan had the time of his life waving at everyone as if he was the Queen.

I learnt my first words in Luganda: Weebale nnyo, means thank you very much and Muzungo, means white person (not that anyone said that to me... I am African... I fit right in :p!)

We take so much for granted. Went to do a wizz and when I was done I saw a man emptying out all the sewage... some of which probably will end up on the streets someday as we saw.

This could explain how I met my new arch-nemesis: The Dragon Fly - they're enormous!
Seems like no ones got bitten yet. The news of a snow day at JHN made us slightly jealous but all that changed when the sun came out in all its glory.

Looking out of the front windscreen in the van I noticed a huge crack across it; I wonder how we would have so ungratefully solved that back at home. “Autoglass Repair, Autogass Replace.” We then went to pick up 3 KISS kids, whose story is indescribable – here it is:

Two mothers, one died giving birth to the youngest child of this family and the second is a stepmother who lives in another house. The youngest child died in a car crash. KISS took the other three kids on board but dad often makes them stay at home to look after the cow instead of going to school. Jameo, Medi and Kisito; I couldn't wait to meet them...

I love them! The fact that they couldn't speak English was beautiful – I could only show them love by actions, not words. They have so little yet they bombarded us with passion fruits and a mango as presents. They were amazing! In return we fed them all the junk we had stocked up on in Kampala... and Kisito puked three times in the van. We cleaned him, gave him new clothes and continued on our journey.

Kisito then sat next to me (riding shotgun in the minibus) on Fr G's lap, where I realised that Father Godfrey is not called “Father” for no reason. This is where I want to be; this is what I want to do. Living Christianity as we're supposed to.

Jameo was then also sick. AJ things she was jealous of her brother's new clothes and wanted in! We gave sweets to some of the kids watching outside and they thought Christmas had come early. Onward we went on our eternal journey to Hoima.

Jesus went onto Jerusalem riding on a donkey. We entered Hoima in a Toyota minibus – and got the same reception. We got to our new home for the next few days. I'm pretty sure we walked straight into paradise. After settling down and busting out a game of ULTIMATE frisby, the shower was an experience! I soaped up and poured a bucket of cold water over my head. WHAT A FEELING! Fish and chips for dinner – best fish i've ever had! Then an evening reflection and looking at all our pictures brought an end to a beautiful day.