Back to Uganda! Yahoo!

I'd like to say that my bag is packed and everything is ready to go but that would be a lie... the suitcase will be unpacked and repacked after I do this blog post. I have never received so many donations after the team packing party in all my previous trips!! All the donations are hugely appreciated and they will all fit in, it's just a matter of rearranging items into other bags.

Students, friends and family have been very generous again and we have received many donations of books, school supplies, medicine for kids, science equipment, children's clothing, and hundreds of bags of sanitary supplies from a local sewing group who have followed a template created by Days for Girls. Check out the website to learn more about the wonderful gift they are providing for girls all over the world.

The journey to Uganda is about 30 hours door to door. I will leave home at 11:30 tomorrow morning, fly to Vancouver at 1, leave for London at 8pm, wait 9 hours in London before leaving for Entebbe at 9pm and arrive at 7:45am in Entebbe local time (+10 hours from Kelowna.) From the airport it can be one to two hours to reach the centre depending on traffic. A long journey but obviously one that I love doing as this will be my 5th trip there.

Our first day will be busy in order to prevent anyone from sleeping before a decent Uganda bedtime. We will have a lovely light meal after an even lovelier shower (thanks Bree for turning on the hot water!). The meal will have fresh fruit possibly including pineapple, mango and papaya and maybe even some passion-fruit juice if I am lucky and they are in season. After that we will head to the bank to buy Ugandan shillings and go to Living Hope to see my colleagues and the students there. I have posted previously about Living Hope so check that post out if you want to know more about that amazing little school.

Vincent (the PE teacher) and Mr. Hussein (the Headmaster)

I am very excited about Thursday though as I will be returning to Kawanda Secondary School which is where Muhamad teaches. I will also see my "father" Mr Hussein who is the headmaster. Last time I was there, he gave me a Ugandan name: Namakula of the Lugave clan (the pangolin). I'll add more details about that in a future post.

 Vincent is the boy smiling at the camera.

And after 2 years, I will see Vincent, my "son" as he calls himself, who is the boy that Corey and I are sponsoring for school. I first met Vincent at Living Hope 5 years ago when he was still in primary school and saw a spark in him that I was instantly drawn to. Many of the children at the school do not continue to secondary school or attend a non-registered secondary school that does not permit them to do their final exams. I knew Kawanda was an excellent school that would offer him a great education and lots of opportunities. Apparently he has joined his house's drama team and choir and is very involved in his house activities. I will also get to meet his mother for the first time (something I had hoped to do last year but never did due to a variety of reasons.) That will be great too.

Vincent, closest to the camera, in his P5 class.

So that's the first few days! I also have administrative meetings and other things to sort out for Niteo when I get there but no-one wants to hear about that boring stuff... :)

Please keep in contact. It may seem mundane to you but messages and comments from home are like little rays of sunlight especially after a difficult or emotional day. I'll try to update this every couple of days but please remember that no news is good news and internet/electricity can be sparse at times. - Namakula