WEEK 82 to 84 (10 Feb – 1 Mar 2008)
Well, it’s been a while since the blog was updated. As regular readers will know the reasons – and some of the details I won’t attempt more than a summary.
The first Sunday of the term (which seems a long time ago now) saw a change in the time of the morning service. We had agreed that an 8am start was too early for many visiting preachers to get to such a remote place – some asked to stay overnight in Saturdays. Unfortunately, the new time we thought we had agreed (9.30am) was not passed on to the visitors for today so they arrived for an 8am start! The service started at 9am - but we arrived at 9.25am. So both communication and timekeeping are issues here!!! The visitors are students at the local Uganda Christian University (UCU) study centre at Ringili where Anne Houghton, one of our AIM neighbours works. The only other notable thing that happened today was that it rained! Notable because the temperature dropped and this is the dry season!
One day we left school early to collect the Cassels family from Arua and brought them to Ushindi for coffee. We had a brief tour of the school before leaving for the White Castle. There were no other customers so we had the swimming pool to ourselves – very refreshing and relaxing. We have planned to have Tuesdays and Thursdays free from lessons so that we can explore other areas where we can be useful so won’t always use weekdays for recreation!
Our teaching continued for a while – until Andrea felt ill. We stayed at Ushindi for a time, consulting with local and more distant medical people. As she wasn’t getting any better we decided to fly to Kampala for further advice and tests. It was hard to leave both the staff and students even for a few days. We assured them that we would be back in a week and only took enough belongings for 4-5 days. Well, we got that wrong! We went straight to the surgery (called The Surgery!) and were seen by The Times journalist in the film “The Last King of Scotland” (about Idi Amin). Dr Stockley is a member of the amateur dramatic society – but also a good doctor.
While we were waiting Ronald from Ushindi phoned to say that his 4 year old son, Godwin had come off a boda (bicycle which carries passengers) and had a serious injury to his head. Godwin was later referred to Mulago Hospital in Kampala but we were unable to meet up as travelling even within Kampala is not easy, especially when unwell.
Wednesday 20 Feb was Laura’s birthday but she was in India so we were unable to contact her. We learnt later that she had TWO birthday cakes and had a good time celebrating.
We stayed in Kampala with Lyn, from our church and she made us feel very much at home – there was no electricity or water! She has moved flat since we last stayed with her and although it is older and further away from her office there are other AIM folk nearby and two supermarkets (small by UK standards) nearby.
Andrea spent most of her time sleeping while I read and caught up with some computer bits and pieces as it was so quiet. Otherwise we were visiting the Doctor for further tests and treatment. This included staying in overnight for observation. There were many ups and downs, especially as Andrea’s birthday was on the 1st March and it wasn’t a good day for her. I think she’s planning to make up for it by celebrating as often and for as long as possible when she has recovered. Lyn and Christine both bought her presents and cards which cheered her up. My present is still in Arua but I managed to get a substitute card in time. Phew!
The first Sunday of the term (which seems a long time ago now) saw a change in the time of the morning service. We had agreed that an 8am start was too early for many visiting preachers to get to such a remote place – some asked to stay overnight in Saturdays. Unfortunately, the new time we thought we had agreed (9.30am) was not passed on to the visitors for today so they arrived for an 8am start! The service started at 9am - but we arrived at 9.25am. So both communication and timekeeping are issues here!!! The visitors are students at the local Uganda Christian University (UCU) study centre at Ringili where Anne Houghton, one of our AIM neighbours works. The only other notable thing that happened today was that it rained! Notable because the temperature dropped and this is the dry season!
One day we left school early to collect the Cassels family from Arua and brought them to Ushindi for coffee. We had a brief tour of the school before leaving for the White Castle. There were no other customers so we had the swimming pool to ourselves – very refreshing and relaxing. We have planned to have Tuesdays and Thursdays free from lessons so that we can explore other areas where we can be useful so won’t always use weekdays for recreation!
Our teaching continued for a while – until Andrea felt ill. We stayed at Ushindi for a time, consulting with local and more distant medical people. As she wasn’t getting any better we decided to fly to Kampala for further advice and tests. It was hard to leave both the staff and students even for a few days. We assured them that we would be back in a week and only took enough belongings for 4-5 days. Well, we got that wrong! We went straight to the surgery (called The Surgery!) and were seen by The Times journalist in the film “The Last King of Scotland” (about Idi Amin). Dr Stockley is a member of the amateur dramatic society – but also a good doctor.
While we were waiting Ronald from Ushindi phoned to say that his 4 year old son, Godwin had come off a boda (bicycle which carries passengers) and had a serious injury to his head. Godwin was later referred to Mulago Hospital in Kampala but we were unable to meet up as travelling even within Kampala is not easy, especially when unwell.
Wednesday 20 Feb was Laura’s birthday but she was in India so we were unable to contact her. We learnt later that she had TWO birthday cakes and had a good time celebrating.
We stayed in Kampala with Lyn, from our church and she made us feel very much at home – there was no electricity or water! She has moved flat since we last stayed with her and although it is older and further away from her office there are other AIM folk nearby and two supermarkets (small by UK standards) nearby.
Andrea spent most of her time sleeping while I read and caught up with some computer bits and pieces as it was so quiet. Otherwise we were visiting the Doctor for further tests and treatment. This included staying in overnight for observation. There were many ups and downs, especially as Andrea’s birthday was on the 1st March and it wasn’t a good day for her. I think she’s planning to make up for it by celebrating as often and for as long as possible when she has recovered. Lyn and Christine both bought her presents and cards which cheered her up. My present is still in Arua but I managed to get a substitute card in time. Phew!
posted by J & A McAdam at 1:38 PM
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