Week 22 (17 - 23 December 2006)

We decided to go to St Phillips church in town today, mainly because the service starts at 11am rather than the usual 8am. John and Brenda came with us. It was our first visit since our home stay in September. They use the same service book as the school so it was very familiar. We met a few people we hadn’t seen for a while including Kezzi, our home stay hostess and her husband John. In the late afternoon another neighbour, Lillian who is Andrea’s language teacher was called for some training at Ombachi, near where our furniture was made. Lillian had been for a job interview but was notified by a text that she was unsuccessful. However, on Saturday evening there was an announcement on the local radio that she (and others) should attend a 5 day training course reporting at 5pm on Sunday! Not only would transport be more difficult on a Sunday but she had to take her son who she was still breastfeeding and one of ‘her girls’ to look after Godwin during the training. So we gave them a lift – a two hour round trip.

The wildlife is coming to life. By this I mean the insect population is booming. Most are OK but we are very glad of the window screens and mosquito nets as well as the sprays. We’ve already had to clean off the hairy caterpillars and be vigilant for them. Tonight there were just three praying mantis in our house – but not for long. They were small ones but we have seen a few big ones. A few nights ago we were sitting quietly reading and heard a ‘plop’ pause ‘plop’ pause ‘plop’ on our lino floor. We’re not sure what it was but something was jumping around – until it got sprayed and splatted. I put the remains on the dustpan and brush ready to be thrown out in the morning as the doors were locked and it’s a hassle to unlock them. But, the next morning the dustpan was clean. Mildly confused was I, but it was earlyish morning. It’s only now that I’ve realised what happened. As I started to type this blog entry an insect was crossing the table. Splat. But I left it to clear up when I’d finished. However, within a few minutes I noticed an army of tiny ants surrounding the remains. As far as I can see they’re having a good feast and it will be interesting to see what remains and how long they take. But – where did they come from and how did they know where to look? More importantly, what (or who) else are they eating?
And on the subject of food, as Lillian is away for a week and her husband Ronald is on his own (apart from the three girls that also live with them), and Brenda is away and Vita is always on his own, Andrea took pity on them and invited them for a meal at 6.30pm. They eventually came around 7.30pm and were most apologetic – and hungry!

It was Tracy’s fourth birthday on Tuesday. She lives with our neighbours, Ronald (her Uncle) and Lillian. But Lillian is away so the birthday celebrations are being postponed until after Christmas. She spent her time playing with the other children and later in the afternoon three of them ‘helped’ me to remove the broken indicator bulb from the car. They were chattering away happily but I’ve no idea what they were saying. Andrea has crotched a doll and made some clothes from scraps of material. Tracy was delighted with it. She often comes to play with us now and is patiently trying to teach us some Lugbara! My lack of success doesn’t stop her coming to play though! Her mum is in Kampala somewhere and her dad has visited her once since we’ve been here. In between the games we were doing some preparation for the staff meeting tomorrow by analysing the exam results from previous terms - but just for one year group for now.

Well, the end of term review meeting scheduled for 10am on Wednesday morning happened more or less as planned. Except that it didn’t start until 1.40pm! The main reason for the meeting was to review the exams and the results, particularly the students who had not done very well. However, the report cards had not been completed hence the totals, averages and ranks had not been calculated. In order to try to speed things up, we entered the data on a previously prepared spreadsheet which automatically calculated the totals and averages and allowed us to get the rank in seconds. It took about 90 minutes to enter the data for two classes and we will use this information for further analysis later. The meeting itself was fairly interesting but the seats became very hard by 4.45pm. The best part of the day was when my friend Tracy came round to play. All her other friends had disappeared somewhere. We played happily for half an hour or so with her old bicycle tyre then had something to eat. John came round later for something to eat and to play on the computer (check his e-mails). But the tyre worked better as the internet was very very slow. It must be African broadband – ‘slowly by slowly’.

I have had several phone conversations with Christine Oliver (AIM Member Care) including one at 11.30pm at night when she phoned our number in error! But on Thursday we met her at last as she is staying with Anne Houghton for Christmas. We spend the day together at Ushindi and only stopped talking to eat. It was very helpful to reflect informally to someone we didn’t know – but understood – all that has happened during the last six months. She also brought our flight tickets to Heathrow. This time next week we’ll be in Entebbe! Unfortunately, there was a further staff meeting at 2pm but we didn’t go as we only heard about it yesterday and had planned Christine’s visit some time ago. We also heard that the agenda was different from that published so the rest of the staff were also unprepared! I think we have some work to do here!

Friday was never going to be straightforward – especially just before Christmas. The town was busier than usual, but no decorations that we’re used to in UK. We managed to get everything except sodas (fizzy drinks such as Coke Cola and Fanta in bottles). In fact there were none to be found anywhere in town – it is truly the dry season! We heard that there would be a delivery ‘tomorrow’ but which tomorrow was not specified. Apparently, lorries are on their way and should be here by Sunday. We’ll do without rather than face shopping on Christmas eve in a country were advance planning are unknown words! We called with Cathy Asiki for a drink (of water – she had some sodas she is saving for Christmas) and admired here actual Christmas tree (from her garden) and flashing lights. We then went to collect Lillian, her son and babysitter from the course which was due to finish at 1pm. The final speaker arrived while we were there so we took Godwin and his baby sitter and left Lillian behind. We returned them to school before changing and setting out with a different car load of passengers to the Opening and Dedication of St Luke’s chapel at the local hospital, Kuluva. The Bishop was officiating and we only missed the first of the four hours of the proceedings! We were very tired by the end of the day.

Saturday was more restful, but not quiet. Mary came to help with the cooking and did some washing to tide us over for the long weekend. Other than the usual chores, reading, chatting and playing chess – it was restful. But I think the e-mail thinks it’s on holiday. There seem to be two problems – the slow connection and problems with Outlook connecting to the AIM server in the US. SO just in case we don’t get any more connections for a while – we wish all our readers a very happy, peaceful and blessed time this Christmas.

Week 21 (10 - 16 December 2006)

We forgot to bring our newspaper to church this morning! Most other people had theirs – or something similar. No it wasn’t to read during the sermon so don’t get any ideas about African traditions which can be transferred to the UK! As school is not in session the staff go to Kuluva Hospital Chapel or elsewhere. We walked with John and Brenda (neighbours) leaving at 7.30am for the 30 min walk. It was a beautiful sunny morning with dew on the leaves – next time I will take the camera. The chapel doesn’t have any pews as we know them – there made from mud, hence the need for the newspaper to sit on! Other had cloths etc but Andrea just sat on my hat! I managed without. Either the hat or a cloth etc and just wiped the affected area as unobtrusively as I could. It was odd hearing a German Canon preaching in an African service. The offering was going towards the new chapel which is due to be dedicated by the Bishop in Dec 22nd with the first service on the 25th Dec. But there’s no roof on it yet! What fun! We had a pleasant, though warmer walk back along the road that hardly resembles a road. It was interesting to see the potholes and ravines close up rather than from the car and try to work out the best way through them. But the views – which I hadn’t really noticed before – are stunning. The rest of the afternoon was restful and very very quiet without the students.

One would think that the first Monday of the long break would be uneventful. Not so! We had two firsts. In preparation for Christmas, Andrea had asked Mary to get us a chicken. Mary arrived with a big bunch of bananas and mangos but there was no sign of the chicken. Just as Andrea was about to ask there was a cluck from the bag. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve never met a clucking bag. Books with animal noises, yes. But not bags. There was indeed a live chicken which was underneath the fruit. I suppose there was no point in bruising the fruit. Fortunately, Mary had agreed to ‘prepare’ the chicken up to the point where we would recognise it – in pieces, without the bones and wrapped in plastic. Andrea took over from this point and we had a delicious lunch with probably the freshest chicken we have (knowingly) eaten. Our second first happened just after lunch and also involved animals, beef this time. Or live cows. So alive that they were eating our clothes which were hanging on the washing line! I was sitting near the door and heard a crack (a hangar breaking) and moved swiftly outside to chase the three cows which had articles of clothing in their mouths. Others around saw what had happened and chased the cows away by throwing stones at them. No lasting damage was done but several of the items had to be washed again. We found out later that the ‘farmers’ give cows salt and/or soap to make them drink more so our visitors were probably attracted by the smell of the soap. It is also likely that the local counsellor (LC1) who is elected from and lives in the locality would be informed and be required to take action so that it doesn’t happen again. The cows could eat or damage the only set of clothes someone has and they should be watched more carefully. The rest of the day was a bit quieter. I tried to help John to start up one of the school computers (Pentium II circa 1995) but there wasn’t enough power to run the monitor! Then we were asked to assist with some overdue homework. By the teachers! Two of them are doing their degree course locally, at the Christian University in Ringili. Every course there has two compulsory modules – basic computing and an overview of the Bible. We discussed answers to their questions for a couple of hours, interrupted only by a very noisy cockerel that kept crowing and annoying the hens.

Tuesday was uneventful. Apart from the hairy caterpillars we found outside the back door and along the wall of the house and on the toilet block. They are in the pupae stage. I don’t like hairy caterpillars. There’re not dangerous, just extremely irritating. I was suffering from the itchy hairs for about a week at the end of August so we’ve been a bit itchy today, but think it’s probably psychological rather than from the caterpillars. After this excitement we worked and read quietly all morning and rested, chatted with the neighbours and drank tea in the afternoon and evening.

Following our theological discussions yesterday i.e. today is Wednesday, we’ve lent some of our books to our neighbours so I can’t do my usual morning reading – yet. But I managed to find some other useful things to do until they were returned. We spent some time this afternoon entering exam data on a spreadsheet with a view to doing some analysis and projections in due course. It will be a long project but hopefully will be of use in the future. Targets will be set for primary schools soon which means it’s likely to follow for secondary schools. We spend the rest of the afternoon chatting to some of the neighbours we don’t usually see. Some of the children joined us so things got a bit noisy. We sat indoors as it was ‘colder’ today. I was still wearing shorts and t-shirt but our neighbour had his overcoat on this morning! Andrea is planning a women’s Bible Study group next term which may meet in the evenings and go around different homes each week.

After the usual working quietly on Thursday morning we set off for the Kuluva Nursing School carol service. We had been assured several times that it would start at 2pm. When we arrived at 2.10pm only three others were present – and they were setting up the sound equipment. We did try to be late. Honestly. But we couldn’t manage more than 10 minutes. When we were given a copy of the programme we then saw that the opening prayer was scheduled for 2.45pm and actually happened at 2.55pm. The first hour was for arrivals! We didn’t ask the right question. It’s not “When does the programme start?” or even “When do you expect the programme to start?” but “What time is the Opening Prayer scheduled to happen?” We live and learn, if slowly. The seats were just as hard as usual – they’re made of hard wood rather than soft wood. And I forgot my cushion. As usual there was some singing, followed by some more singing but the Master of Ceremonies did try to keep things to time and cut it short. He also gave the two preachers 5 minute warnings! Yes, two sermons. Or one sermon and one Christmas message. But they weren’t too long and the second was one of the better preachers we’ve heard. He even suggested that as it was a carol service it might be a good idea to sing some carols! As he had the loudest guitar and considerable influence we have at last sung several of the traditional carols. But I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so hot while singing them! The programme ended with a meal at about 6.15pm so we’re a bit tired after the 4h marathon. We celebrated our release with some bananas and custard!

We took Anne Houghton to town on Friday for our shopping spree on condition that she gave us a drink of cold juice when we took her back to Ringili! She did better than that and gave us lunch as well. Anne is from England and has been with AIM at the theological college in Arua for many years. It was good to catch up with news and make arrangements for Christmas. We received some cards from friends in the UK and they are on display in our lounge. It’s always good to have messages from folk at home and reminders of what they are doing. People here don’t exchange cards.

We had our Friday on Saturday instead. That means our normal weekday quiet morning routine was today and there were no early morning preparations for the trip to town. We relaxed in the afternoon – it’s hot and quiet here so difficult to do anything more strenuous than get another drink during the hotter hours. The mornings are comfortable and the evenings warm so it is bearable. The shade makes an incredible difference to the comfort levels. There is a minor clitch with the internet / e-mail access. The radio phone became disconnected from the power supply so its battery is flat. It takes a while to re-charge again so assuming that is the problem we’ll be without a connection for a day or two.

Week 20 (3 - 9 December 2006)

The last Sunday service of the term was a little disappointing as so many students were late. But I suppose it is in the middle of their exams too. The school Chaplain was the preacher. During the services the students often do ‘presentations’ which are mainly songs from different groups. During last week we suggested that the staff should do a presentation of a Christmas carol and there seemed to be some enthusiasm. In the end only John (our neighbour), Andrea and I could manage the rehearsals for the songs we thought the rest of the staff knew but were new to us. This morning it was just the three of us who ‘sang’. There were other staff there, but when invited to join in even the very musical ones said it would be too difficult for them!!!! Now they know how we feel! But it was OK and the students just enjoyed us making the effort. I would have preferred a ‘proper’ carol though. So far the only traditional carol we’ve sung is “Silent Night” – but at full volume! Apart from the last Bible study, the rest of the day was quiet and spent chatting with Lyn. It was James’ Dad’s 87th birthday today. Yesterday some of the family were able to celebrate with him and it was great to receive some photos today via the internet. Thanks John.

James took Lyn to the airport on Monday morning. We had aimed to arrive by 8.30am but were slightly delayed and became a little concerned that we would be late. Lyn didn’t seem to be too worried – and rightly so. We arrived 15 minutes after the designated check in time to find that the check in desk (or more literally ‘table’) hadn’t opened. It didn’t open for another 10 minutes or so and the queue never got above two people. One of the guards even had time to chat and try to convince us that there was a need for more AIM people in his home town of Jinja! I wonder if Heathrow could learn some lessons from Arua International Airport. I managed to get another gas cylinder on the way back. We were a bit concerned when we first arrived that we might run out of gas during the first 3 weeks before we had a car. In the end it lasted for 3 months which isn’t bad considering we cook (I mean Andrea cooks) on it and all our water is heated on it. Not all our water, just the hot water. But we don’t need to heat the hot water. I’m trying to say that if we need any hot water we must put cold water on the cooker, in a saucepan or kettle, to heat it up. This is for washing and drinking. Andrea has also been experimenting with cakes in preparation for the birthday on Wednesday. It’s possible that further experiments are required. Enough said. Anyway, while I was visiting the airport and getting the gas, Andrea took the S1 for their Chemistry exam which I then spent the rest of the day marking. It seems that a few have learnt something new. Most haven’t. Yet.

We had nothing planned on Tuesday except to prepare for the birthday. My job is to put up the one Christmas decoration we have so far. And think about where to put up some balloons. The blowing up of the balloons will have to wait until tomorrow as the rubber has considerably higher permeability than at home i.e. they deflate quickly. John arrived to tell us that there was a staff meeting at 2pm but in true African style, it took him about two hours to tell us! Well, we gave him a drink and we chatted about other school things, particularly what happens at the end of term. The staff meeting, our second so far, was interesting. We asked a few questions for clarification because we’re new but the answers were not as clear as we might have imagined. The end of year exam results will not be ready until 20th Dec when the staff meet to review them. They go to the students and parents on the 22nd Dec. The dates for next year are still not known – apart from the start of term (5th Feb). We also wondered what was going to happen about the presentation of the goat. But that will have to wait until next term – and so will you to find out what it’s all about! Following our earlier conversation with John, I found some of the PLE (Primary Leaving Exam) results for the students in preparation for a database to analyse results and performance. It is over a year since I’ve done a proper spreadsheet and the data for 160 students in total should be a bit simpler than for 1600 students. But I’m sure that I can make it more complicated if I try hard enough! It would seem to be good use of my time during the Christmas break and might help to highlight strengths and areas for development in learning, teaching and assessment. Later in the afternoon, John asked if we could type and print a letter to go home with parents so that there would be time to get it photocopied by Thursday. After some editing, we were able to oblige.

The big highlight of Wednesday was the party. Most of the day was spent preparing for or at least thinking about it! I did manage to escape for a while as two women (Andrea and Mary) in or around the kitchen was a bit tense for me. Not that they didn’t work well, it’s just that the anticipation of what I’d be asked to do next was toooo stressful! I hid in the Principals’ office and immersed myself in an Excel spreadsheet. And nearly drowned as I realised how much I’d forgotten in 18 months. I’ve set myself a project of creating a database of students results but it’s really a way of indicating that their filing system isn’t, well, as system as nothing is filed or kept up to date.
Anyway, the party. Or should I say THE PARTY. The invitations indicated a starting prayer at 3.30pm. No one arrived until 4.10pm, but this gave us time to finish the last bits of icing on the cake. Or rather, to stem the flow of icing off the cake as it was too warm for it to set properly! Shortly after they arrive – all twenty plus children – the pastor who baptised Godwin stood up and gave a 45 minute sermon!!!!! We’re not sure who he was preaching to (or about!) and we discovered later that he was asked to do a short prayer only. This is Africa! We did a short speech, as requested, followed by Godwin’s Dad before lighting the candles, singing ‘Happy Birthday’ and nearly frightening Godwin out of his wits by trying to get him to blow them out. We showed a DVD on African Animals that someone from church had sent us via Lyn but after 20 minutes the whole party moved outside. A pity, as the children were enjoying it so much. We cleared up then joined them only to find that a meal had been cooked – unknown to the Chairperson of the Organising Committee and the Secretary! John, our sensible neighbour who arrived after the ‘sermon’ got all the children together and asked if we could show the rest of the DVD to them. We spent the next 40 minutes watching the children watching the DVD chattering away so excitedly that we couldn’t hear the commentary! Apparently, they were giving the animals their own names based on how they looked and moved. This was the best part of the day and what we had originally intended for the birthday. I think it must be one of the most memorable and enjoyable times we have had so far. So many thanks to whoever sent the DVD.

Thursday was the last day of the exams. At midday we joined the rest of the staff to do a dormitory check for books and belongings in the wrong places so that no school materials were taken home ‘by accident’. Some of the students’ lockers / boxes were fine, others were a mess. I found only one with partly eaten bread and a dirty place and another with a few insects (cockroaches?) inside the box. It was a bit unpleasant but part of the school life. The final final assembly scheduled for 2pm started at 2.20pm and at 2.18pm we were asked to give the students some advice about what to do during the long break. As others were speaking first we had a little time to think of something but not discuss it. The whole assembly lasted an hour. Later in the evening we attended the ‘devotions’ to be a ‘presence’ on the last day only to find that as the generator wasn’t working the video they had planned to show wouldn’t be shown, John was going to speak at an extended devotions. He got us to sing the songs we did on Sunday – and the students seem to enjoy our attempts! The session lasted for nearly 3 hours. Andrea finished by telling them the St Patrick’s Breastplate prayer – which we’ll do again next term with the actions.

The other main news today is that we have managed to book tickets for a visit to the UK from Friday 29th Dec to Tuesday 16th Jan. This is mainly to see family but will try to visit as many friends as we are able. The exact details of our visit are still being sorted out.

The little hiccup of Friday was that just as I’d switched on the laptop to check e-mails in the afternoon, knowing that there wasn’t much battery life left, we had a visitor. This means a drink. Fortunately, I had water. Unfortunately, the laptop decided to have a sip too. Fortunately, I’d just switched it off before the water leapt out of the cup. The mouse pad was greedier and almost drowned. Needless to say, but I’ll say it anyway, I wasn’t happy. After some rapid drying, I was actually very glad we were in a hot, dry climate where water evaporates very quickly. The machine worked later that evening except that it wanted to type m’s and %’s in preference to anything else. It was OK by Saturday – when I actually typed this after a recharge. Never a dull moment here! Don’t you wish you could experience it too! Sorry, I didn’t hear your reply!

We had three little visitors as we were getting ready for our Saturday expedition to town. They seem to be less frightened of us and enjoy exploring the muzungu house. So Saturday saw us buying our Arua – Entebbe – Arua tickets. (Sunday and Monday had gone home from school – yes, students do have these names!). We had a more leisurely time in town as we had given Brenda (Mrs Neighbour) a lift and promised a return lift. This worked out better as we stopped for a drink early on and felt less rushed. Andrea found a part of the market she lost since arriving at Ushindi and bought a cabbage. The excitement is endless! She said that it was even more amazing that she found her way out again as its like one of those mazes used to test rats and mice. I’m saying nothing here. But I shouldn’t scoff either as I was equally delighted at finding a drill and bits, which is much better than finding a drill in bits. We had tea outside again – hence adapting to the African ways - but also had a little visitor again. Tracy invited herself in, chatted away in Lugbara and helped Andrea wash dishes & vegetables. The problem with typing on a laptop in late afternoon is that it’s light when you start and pitch black 30 minutes later. Outside I mean, and hence in the house so that I can’t find a torch to switch on the light. If I don’t use a torch to sort out the battery / inverter / extension lead and light then I could have a shocking experience. So the moral is: a torch is necessary when you use a laptop.

Week 19 (26 Nov - 2 December 2006)

The Principal preached at the service this morning with other staff taking part, including Andrea who read. This was followed, as usual by breakfast together and when we returned to our house we were invited next door for our third breakfast. It’s a hard life! The car had two week’s mud washed off but I stopped the students from washing the inside of the wheel arches! They are very keen to do a good job. Our Bible study on prayer was attended by around 20 students even though they are preparing for their very important end of year exams this week. This was followed by tea sitting outside with our neighbour, John, while watching the children and animals playing until dark.

We were a bit weary on Monday so worked quietly at home. Well, I worked quietly. Andrea spent some time visiting neighbours. John asked us in the eveining to set up an e-mail account for him using our laptop. It only took 2 hours due to the slow connection! He sent an e-mail so some other AIM people who used to work at Kuluva Hospital and who we have heard of but not met yet.

Our exams started on Tuesday morning. The timetable said that they began at 9.00am and there has been an effort to improve punctuality in the school. So we were a little surprised to find only 3 students (out of about 60) had arrived by 9.05am. Were they so frightened of us and the Maths and Chemistry exams? No. At least not that we’re aware. Breakfast runs from 8.50am to 9.20am!!! We did start at 9.30am but the planned 2hr exam ran into the next break. The S3 class missed the break completely as their exam was 30 min longer. In the afternoon we met with Isaac (Principal) and John (Deputy Principal) to discuss some of our observations and comments on what we have seen this term. They were very encouraging and open to our views, even when some were a bit hard for them to hear – such as the timing for the exams and the hidden messages that gives to the students. We hope that the discussion has opened the way for further meetings but only time will tell what they are able and willing to take on board.

We visited town on Wednesday to collect the last of our first furniture order (made on 23 Sept) – the remaining desk. It was a busy time going around several stops in town in the heat and making arrangements with the other staff we met to take things back for them. On our way back we stopped at Kuluva Hospital to see Molly & Isobel – and give them some cards and letters to post when they arrive at Heathrow at the weekend. Molly gave us a guided tour of the School of Nursing and the facilities for the students as well as some background to the issues they face. It was interesting to be able to compare our situation with theirs and see where they work. We’ll miss them while they are back in the UK for a while. John, our neighbour, dropped in during the evening for a lesson on using e-mail. We’re getting a number of visitors now which shows that were are more a part of the community – even if it can be a little inconvenient at times!

We spent most of Thursday morning visiting Muni National Teacher Training College, thanks to Cathy Asiki who is a full time Mathematics lecturer. It is about 2km off the main road into Arua, about 20 minutes drive from Ushindi. We had visited before in 2004 but there has been some re-development since then. We met the only full time Chemistry lecturer who did some of his training at Kings College, London where I (James) did my PGCE. We started teaching within two years of each other and had a good discussion about teacher training and chemical education in Uganda. We have been invited back again and are likely to be able to take some sessions with the students. During normal term time the secondary teachers have lectures and within a few days of them leaving for the holidays the primary teachers arrive – straight after teaching in their own schools! So the lecturers do not have any official holidays and the primary teachers working for their diplomas get no break at all for three years. Crazy. The rest of the day was hot and all we managed to do was cut Andrea’s hair. There are one or two bits left. It’s amazing what you can do with super-glue. Andrea has been appointed the Chairperson of the Organising Committee for Godwin’s birthday. The committee also has a secretary. Godwin will be 2 years old on Wednesday 6th. She is preparing the invitations on her laptop – they also contain the programme and timing for the event which will take place in our home. And yes, there will be some speeches but as hosts ours will probably be very very short!

It was very quiet on Friday morning. Andrea went to invigilate an exam leaving me with the usual chores of getting up, ‘showered’ and dressed. When I say ‘showered’ we have a very high tech system. The red bucket is filled with cold water from a jerry can (any colour) then hot water is added from either a saucepan or a vacuum flask (usually the blue one). The temperature of the water can vary considerably, as can the colour – usually brown. A green plastic cup is then filled with the warm mixture and poured over the head. Preferably your own and after removing clothing, again, preferably your own. The water runs away through a hole in the floor but sometimes needs a little encouragement. We do have a plastic mat which brightens up the bathing cubical a little as it’s painted dark grey with a concrete floor. But if you close your eyes then you can imagine one of those nice power showers in a large tiled bathroom. Finding the off switch is a bit tricky with your eyes closed but when you open them you realise that there is no switch. You also have to be careful not to use the Dettol instead of shampoo. But that’s another story. I realise that how we shower isn’t really very interesting but compared with marking a chemistry exam it’s riveting. And that’s just about all I did today. Apart from the last school assembly of the year which was different from all the others this term only because we were asked to give a greeting and message after the assembly had started. Still we had a whole 5 minutes warning. Tomorrow promises to be more interesting. And, yes, I got all the papers marked and there was a slight improvement from the mid-term exam results. Perhaps the paper was easier.

On Saturday we collected Lyn Cooke from the airport. For those who don’t know, Lyn is from Brentwood and our church and works in the AIM office in Kampala. After our usual shopping, and lunch in town, we spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with news from home and Kampala. Lyn brought generous gifts sent by the church in Brentwood. We haven’t seen so many luxuries for a long time and look forward to tasting the coffee, chocolate and soups as well as watching the DVDs. Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the items and the postage. It’s hard to express how grateful we are, not just for the gifts, for the time and effort taken to collect them and arrangements for their delivery, but also that we have been remembered! We were joined for tea outside with some of our neighbours. Later in the evening w watched part of a DVD together.