We have a resident rooster who proudly announces the morning to all who will hear and care to listen. We have heard its triumphant call very early, and often well before dawn (try 4:30 am or earlier!). While we enjoy breakfast in the guest house, this rooster, along with some hens and a number of chicks, will often come right up to the back door, and will welcome a handout or two from us as well. Sheila has developed an amusing friendship with a brown and white cow who appreciates handouts of the banana peels left over after breakfast, and now responds to Sheila's voice when called.
The compound where we are staying during our time in Buikwe sprawls over a few acres and contains the secondary and primary schools, two guest houses, Pastor Herbert's church, and living quarters for some children and teaching staff. From the porch of the guest house where we eat our meals, deliciously prepared by Barbara in the kitchen, we look over the valley which includes a community well that is used all throughout the daylight hours by the neighbouring residents of Buikwe. This well is truly a meeting place, and we will frequently see people gather and enjoy conversation together while water is hand pumped into large yellow "jerry cans" to be taken back to homes in the village. On laundry days, we see large amounts of clothing spread out over the ground to dry in the area around the well. Some of the water is carried up to the area of the schools. We marvel at the beauty of God's creation here - the beauty all around us is evident in a wide variety of tropical plants, pine trees, flowering plants and shrubs, and a number of colourful species of birds. It would be nice to have a book of native African birds as we observe many new ones that we are unable to identify. We have taken some pictures though that we will share with you if you like when we return!
Friday proved to be another full and fast-paced day, but satisfying and memorable in so many ways! As it is filled with so many experiences, it is not surprising that the team is quite ready for a good rest by 10 pm. With much to do, our team once again divided into two for the day's events. A highlight of the day for Sheila, Glenna and Julie was remaining back at the compound and meeting with the primary school staff. Not only did they have an opportunity to visit a classroom and observe a wonderful lesson, but they were also able to present the staff with teaching materials, sports equipment, computer and projector and Kobo readers. What a special time to enjoy with Joseph, the school's headmaster, Augustine, the deputy, and the many teachers! Everyone was most appreciative of what we had brought to them, and the staff were able to survey the various items spread across several tables in a vacant room, including the newly inflated soccer balls ready for action. A highlight in classroom observation time was watching one younger primary class participating in a word-building activity with the students organized into small groups. It was exciting to see the effort to incorporate the group work idea that we had expanded upon in our workshops, and to see the high level of student involvement in the learning task. Along with the visit to the primary school, an opportunity to visit the homes of Charity and Alice, the Roddy's newly sponsored children, was another special event!
Gord, Sharon and I travelled a considerable distance to visit a variety of schools in neighbouring communities, including Lugaze and Mokono. Along the way, we picked up Irene and Crystal, and Sarah, who is director of all of the sponsored children programming, and it was so exciting to have them accompany us to the school at Mokono. This school combines a regular primary school with a section that offers training for special needs students to develop workplace skills. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the room where students with hearing and developmental needs could demonstrate their skills in sewing and paper crafts. Many wares and items hung along the walls of the classroom and were available for visitors to purchase, including wall hangings, children's clothing, assorted baskets and colourful handbags, and even welcome mats constructed from pop bottle lids. One student proudly demonstrated her amazing skill in using a Singer treadle sewing machine with which she has produced school uniforms! Another child enrolled in that program was busily cutting out the netted framework of pocketed envelopes that would be later glued together to be used in the distribution of medication. While we visited the school, a district soccer (oops... football :)) tournament was underway on the school grounds, and we enjoyed seeing school children sporting their school colours and spread far and wide on the fields and along the sidelines
We travelled along a variety of paved and dirt roads to reach a number of other schools to meet foster children and deliver packages that had been lovingly prepared for them. The schools are linked by a network of roads that are in various states of repair (or disrepair), and the drive can be bumpy and dusty as we are whisked from place to place. We are grateful for Daniel and Simon, who are able to guide us as we venture through sugar plantations and more remote villages to get to our various destinations.
Other highlights of the day included Glenna's first ride on the back of a boda-boda driven by Henry - her wide grin from ear to ear says it all! Sheila enjoyed some time to discuss matters of school administration with Paul, the headmaster of the high school. Sharon and I enjoyed a meeting with Samuel who has a heart for helping teenagers at the high school to grow in their faith. We spent time brainstorming ideas around mentorships and we were quite moved by hearing some of Samuel's personal testimony. Please pray for Samuel and Edward who have a passion for discipleship of the high school students who are very young in their faith, and pray for the students themselves that they will be strengthened and supported in their faith journeys. The collection of bibles that we have donated to the school will eventually find their place in the school library, and will be vital in the work there. Later in the afternoon, Sheila and I enjoyed a tour of the secondary school with Paul and Samuel. A new, partially constructed wing of the school includes a beautiful science lab that is now in use, another room that will house a library when completed, and a third room slated to be a computer lab which was receiving a fresh coat of paint when we visited. A few teachers are busily marking exams that students have just finished this week. I had a chance to look at the front page of a geography exam, and was amazed to see a map of our Great Lakes with questions asking the students to identify locations that included Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Duluth, and the Sault and Erie Canals!
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