Week 37 (1 – 7 Apr 2007)
Due to our schedule of visitors, duties and travels the blog entries have been delayed - it's a month since I last posted one. I have written parts of other weeks so should be able to catch up soon. Apologies to our reader - or two!
Palm Sunday began with the students lined up waving real palm branches as they sang and walked around the school site. They continued to wave them during the service. We were very tired in the afternoon and it was very hot so we either slept or moaned or read. There was little to do as teacher on duty except that a few parents arrived thinking that this week was for visiting rather than next week. We are supposed to discourage them from visiting but as they hadn’t heard the Visiting Day date and had taken the trouble to come all this way to visit their charges they were allowed to stay – for a limited time.
While the early mornings are bright, cool and fresh and the view idyllic I felt I could miss one or two for a while. None the less, on Monday morning I dutifully took the morning parade and tried to say something intelligent and inspiring. I need to try harder with the inspiring bit – I’ve given up with the intelligent bit so early in the morning. The girl’s dormitory is a delight to visit before 8am with the “dressed” (i.e. made) beds beautifully decorated with delicately and ingeniously folded sheets and blankets. The boy’s dormitory is something of a contrast, although the natural aromas are probably the most striking feature. Anyway, no one was ill. They saved that until later.
We went back to town in the afternoon to collect some “Daily Power” Scripture Reading booklets for the students and at the office I met a group of workers who were planning a training conference for next weekend. Andrea was doing a knitting surgery with the Asiki family while I was chatting with the schools workers.
My inspiration for the Tuesday morning assembly came from the Bible and the “Daily Power” Scripture Reading notes. A reasonable place to look. It seemed to be appreciated. We have bought copies of these are selling them to the students at a much reduced cost. They cover the whole calendar year. Today was very hot again. The weekly staff briefing was a bit frustrating – possibly because the Principal wasn’t there making it harder to make decisions.
On Wednesday Andrea discovered that one of the boys has learnt to knit and wants to make himself a Manchester United scarf! She also discovered some of the girls knitting while waiting in the queue at the water pump.
The Garners arrived Thursday morning while I was teaching. Their driver brought them from Murchison Falls Park (Paraa Lodge) right to the school so I didn’t have to re-arrange my teaching. We chatted non-stop for the rest of the day including a brief tour around the school site. We discovered very late in the day that because lessons were cancelled tomorrow the assembly was moved to today. As we passed the pump on our way to the hall some girls, including the Head Girl, were pumping water. They were unaware of the assembly! About 10 minutes later the Head Girl was giving her report for the week – and did a very good job too! We introduced the Garners and Brian spoke briefly on behalf of the family.
Good Friday began with us just trying to work out how to get 6 people up, washed, dressed and fed. I think we managed it although I can’t guarantee that everyone washed! We decided to go to Arua and as we left discovered that the students were coming to the end of a 2 hour service! We did our usual shopping but took the Garners into the market also. It is quite intimidating the first few times as it’s easy to get lost and there are lot’s of people crowded more closely that we Brits are used to. The visitors managed very well and even witness our purchase of a traditional hoe. These are the ones that take a little practice to use otherwise you risk separating your ankles from your feet! We decided to have lunch in town but, not surprisingly, the Catholic Centre was closed. The Hotel Pacific didn’t have anything on their menu that any of us wanted to eat so after a drink we tried Heritage Gardens. Brian very kindly treated us to a good lunch. It was my turn to take the devotions in the evening. We had planned to try a devotions without any singing but it was too difficult to get any of the students together to plan it – they have very little free time. The theme from the Lord’s Prayer was on forgiveness so I was able to make it a little more reflective than usual. Andrea finished with a prayer from St Patrick’s Breastplate using actions to emphasise the meaning. It was one of those special moments.
On Saturday we took the Garners to the airport and had a pleasant drink as we waited for the plane to arrive. No crowds or rush – it must be one of the more pleasant airports to wait for a plane! Their visit seemed to go so quickly but it was great to seem them all and to have time to chat and catch up. We would also like to thank them for all the bits & pieces they brought that will make our lives easier in the coming months.
On our way back from town we visited Molly and Isobel at Kuluva hospital. They have just returned from the UK so again we caught up with news while drinking coffee and eating (Scottish) pancakes. We then visited our first (and best) home help, Mary, who gave birth to a son yesterday. It was our first visit to the hospital wards and although different from UK hospitals the conditions were better than we had expected. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the Ushindi football team beating a team from the Uganda Christian University (UCU) 3-0. It was a very exciting match.
Palm Sunday began with the students lined up waving real palm branches as they sang and walked around the school site. They continued to wave them during the service. We were very tired in the afternoon and it was very hot so we either slept or moaned or read. There was little to do as teacher on duty except that a few parents arrived thinking that this week was for visiting rather than next week. We are supposed to discourage them from visiting but as they hadn’t heard the Visiting Day date and had taken the trouble to come all this way to visit their charges they were allowed to stay – for a limited time.
While the early mornings are bright, cool and fresh and the view idyllic I felt I could miss one or two for a while. None the less, on Monday morning I dutifully took the morning parade and tried to say something intelligent and inspiring. I need to try harder with the inspiring bit – I’ve given up with the intelligent bit so early in the morning. The girl’s dormitory is a delight to visit before 8am with the “dressed” (i.e. made) beds beautifully decorated with delicately and ingeniously folded sheets and blankets. The boy’s dormitory is something of a contrast, although the natural aromas are probably the most striking feature. Anyway, no one was ill. They saved that until later.
We went back to town in the afternoon to collect some “Daily Power” Scripture Reading booklets for the students and at the office I met a group of workers who were planning a training conference for next weekend. Andrea was doing a knitting surgery with the Asiki family while I was chatting with the schools workers.
My inspiration for the Tuesday morning assembly came from the Bible and the “Daily Power” Scripture Reading notes. A reasonable place to look. It seemed to be appreciated. We have bought copies of these are selling them to the students at a much reduced cost. They cover the whole calendar year. Today was very hot again. The weekly staff briefing was a bit frustrating – possibly because the Principal wasn’t there making it harder to make decisions.
On Wednesday Andrea discovered that one of the boys has learnt to knit and wants to make himself a Manchester United scarf! She also discovered some of the girls knitting while waiting in the queue at the water pump.
The Garners arrived Thursday morning while I was teaching. Their driver brought them from Murchison Falls Park (Paraa Lodge) right to the school so I didn’t have to re-arrange my teaching. We chatted non-stop for the rest of the day including a brief tour around the school site. We discovered very late in the day that because lessons were cancelled tomorrow the assembly was moved to today. As we passed the pump on our way to the hall some girls, including the Head Girl, were pumping water. They were unaware of the assembly! About 10 minutes later the Head Girl was giving her report for the week – and did a very good job too! We introduced the Garners and Brian spoke briefly on behalf of the family.
Good Friday began with us just trying to work out how to get 6 people up, washed, dressed and fed. I think we managed it although I can’t guarantee that everyone washed! We decided to go to Arua and as we left discovered that the students were coming to the end of a 2 hour service! We did our usual shopping but took the Garners into the market also. It is quite intimidating the first few times as it’s easy to get lost and there are lot’s of people crowded more closely that we Brits are used to. The visitors managed very well and even witness our purchase of a traditional hoe. These are the ones that take a little practice to use otherwise you risk separating your ankles from your feet! We decided to have lunch in town but, not surprisingly, the Catholic Centre was closed. The Hotel Pacific didn’t have anything on their menu that any of us wanted to eat so after a drink we tried Heritage Gardens. Brian very kindly treated us to a good lunch. It was my turn to take the devotions in the evening. We had planned to try a devotions without any singing but it was too difficult to get any of the students together to plan it – they have very little free time. The theme from the Lord’s Prayer was on forgiveness so I was able to make it a little more reflective than usual. Andrea finished with a prayer from St Patrick’s Breastplate using actions to emphasise the meaning. It was one of those special moments.
On Saturday we took the Garners to the airport and had a pleasant drink as we waited for the plane to arrive. No crowds or rush – it must be one of the more pleasant airports to wait for a plane! Their visit seemed to go so quickly but it was great to seem them all and to have time to chat and catch up. We would also like to thank them for all the bits & pieces they brought that will make our lives easier in the coming months.
On our way back from town we visited Molly and Isobel at Kuluva hospital. They have just returned from the UK so again we caught up with news while drinking coffee and eating (Scottish) pancakes. We then visited our first (and best) home help, Mary, who gave birth to a son yesterday. It was our first visit to the hospital wards and although different from UK hospitals the conditions were better than we had expected. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching the Ushindi football team beating a team from the Uganda Christian University (UCU) 3-0. It was a very exciting match.
posted by J & A McAdam at 10:00 AM
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