November WEP Report: the busiest month of the year - so far!

Emily (White Eagle Project Director) reports on November...

November has been the busiest month of the year for me, so far. It has been a very difficult one, especially with Pastor Duncan being very sick. There have been a lot of challenges but God has been faithful, and has guided us day by day in each and every situation we have faced.
It has also been a very busy month for all the children, especially those in the candidate classes. Most of our kids have finished school now. James and Roderick finished P7 at the beginning of November after taking their Primary Leaving Exam, and Namatovu came home in mid-November after finishing her O-level exams. Dennis, Robinah and Fred are finishing their A-levels in early December, and we are expecting good results.

Emily also met with the Probations Office, the Family Protection Unit and the Community Development Officer.

In the meeting with the Probations Office, they informed us about the Child Community Programme Committees (CCPC’s) that have been formed. Five CCPC’s have been formed in Masaka municipality to look into children’s issues in the locality and there are about 5 people on each committee. Each of the committee members is responsible for a particular category of children e.g. children involved in grasshopper issues, children who go to the film places, girls and boys who are living on the streets, children abused in homes and children in conflict with the law etc

.

This is a major step forward in Masaka, and we're going to be working hard to ensure it helps coordinate interventions among Orphans and Vulnerable Children.

In the meantime, we've had a couple of serious incidents this month. Our night guard at the Girls Home discovered two men trying to get into the compound. He called back-up and very impressively they were dispatched to the police station with the minimum of fuss. We've had a computer keyboard stolen by someone reaching in a broken window, and we've had a small fire in the Boys home which again was impressively dealt with by two of the older boys. These things are sent to trial us - what's encouraging though is that through the Security and Fire training we're able to deal with it. God is good!

We've also welcomed an American visitor from Saudi Arabia this month - Katie - and our auditor has finished preparing the 2009 accounts and produced an interim report on the 2010 accounts.

LIke Emily said, it's been a busy month!

Sarah's Story - Grasshoppers, Jackfruit and the year to come...

Sarah keeps us updated on the latest chapter in her Ugandan story, in her own, inimitable stlye:

Helloooooooooooooo! How are you? I'm really well, and continuing to have a fab time here!!!

It's "Grasshopper Season" again here in Uganda (I think there are 2 a year), so I've been eating grasshoppers the last day or two. And it's also been the season for jackfruits, which are one of my favourite fruits ever! We have a jackfruit tree in our garden, so we've been eating plenty of them! If you don't know what a jackfruit is, see the photo. They're gorgeous!!! (The best way I can describe the taste is that it tastes a bit like Tutti Fruiti flavour Chewitts used to taste like!)

It's the wet season at the moment (there are 2 wet and 2 dry seasons a year), so everywhere is very soggy, muddy and slimy all morning, until the sun dries it all up again by mid-afternoon. The power continues to be a problem, but the water supply has improved slightly over the past 2 weeks, so that's VERY good! Kitibwa (see photo, when he decided to come and help us with the washing up!!!!) was scared of all the shadows thrown by the paraffin lamps at night a month ago, but he's getting so used to the dark every evening that he's become a lot braver now, as power cuts every day (and so paraffin lamps each evening) are just a way of life to him now!

He's getting cuter by the day!!! His vocabulary has progressed from "Alleluia!" and "Amen!" (said each time with a punch in the air!) to saying "Auntie Wala" (which I think is Auntie Sarah/Ronnah/Tinah!), "Teddy", "Kisakye", etc. (...all the girls' names). He has learnt to sing a song called "Baby Jesus", and is soooooooooooooo cute when he sings it!!! I'm trying to capture it on video, but he gets stage fright every time I stick a camera in his face!

The girls have all been doing exams over the past 2 weeks, and Robinah has now started her A-levels. Apart from Robinah (who finishes in December), they all break up from school in 2 weeks' time, so we'll be into the holiday programme again soon. It'll be really nice to have them all around again!

My Mum and Dad came to visit a few weeks ago, and I had a FABULOUS time with them! The only bad thing was that I didn't get all the hot baths and showers I was anticipating, because we had several days when the hotel had no power and no water! So my Mum and Dad had a REAL taste of Uganda (including bucket baths!).

Now that my Mum and Dad have been, and we have had a chance to have some long chats, I can officially announce that I'm coming back to Uganda next year! Yeah! I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO incredibly excited about coming home and seeing all my family and all my friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (- You would not believe quite how excited I am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) But I'm also very excited about what God has for me to do here in Uganda next year, and about spending another year with the girls and all the kids here in Uganda! Yeah!

Anyway, that's enough for now! As usual, I've written more than I intended to!!!! I hope that you are all really well, and I hope that when I come back I can see as many people as possible!!!

Loads of love to everyone!

- Sarah

Down on the Farm - October Update

Here's this month's update onthe farm, from Emily's monthly report:

"We thank God that we got some rain this month. About 110kg of beans have been planted, but we need more rain for them to grow well.  We’re praying for more rain.  The young matooke is coming out well now, and they have finished all the weeding, but we need more rain for the beans and the other things that have been planted."

To see a birds-eye view of farm, and some pictures of what's going on there, click here to view our map