We're 'Singing in the Rain' - Davies Dispatch Feb 2012

February has flown by, with plenty of work and play to keep us busy. Rob and the office team successfully prepared the accounts for the auditor to examine, we've had some good times with Mary (one of the founders of River of Life, who was back here for 5 weeks), we've said goodbye to Geoff who had been working with us for 4 months, and Elena has started potty training!

January was very hot and dry, and everything was getting browner and browner - with the dust and the heat. And then suddenly it was rainy season, and everything is green again! Here are some highlights from Masaka...

If you'd like to see more of what we get up to, check out our photo-map!

Rain = avocados. Lots of them

This month the rains have started (a few weeks early), which means it's time to start planting out the garden. Henry, our gardener, has been making fantastic progress planting out sweet potatoes - his digging really does put our attempts at our allotment in England to shame. We're also hoping to grow carrots, onions, green peppers and a few "English" plants like courgettes and lettuce. The rains have brought with them a surplus of huge and delicious avocados - Elena is well into guacamole.. no cutlery required!

We got out rainwater tank washed out - it was disgustingly dirty - and in the process discovered a leak in the mains supply. Mr Fred our plumber quickly fixed that, and now the pressure is much better. So now our rainwater tank is starting to fill up again which is great - next time the mains water stops flowing for a few days, we won't be totally without!

The downside of the rains is that our house floods when the wind blows in a certain direction - we've set Maintenance Man Mayiga the task of trying to seal up any cracks!

Moving on and Flying High

The major event for this month was the graduation of 4 of our White Eagle lads from the Project. They are now living independently - here’s Brian showing off his new pad - and working to support themselves. We had a party to celebrate their achievements since joining the Project and to set them on their way on the next step of their journey. The Project will continue to support them, through education, training, employment, mentoring, support - whatever is needed to help them fly high!

There have also been some big changes at Playgroup. Several of our "regular" kids started school at the beginning of February, so numbers at playgroup dropped. We've been telling mums at church about the playgroup, and are beginning to see some new kids, but it's been a slow transition. Elena misses her old friends, and every morning asks if we're going to see them, but she seems ok once we get the puzzles out! She's getting quite good at a little alphabet puzzle where you have to match the letter to a picture, though she made us laugh yesterday by declaring that the letter j is for "marmite"! Well they both go on toast...

“Something-Danish-Fest”
We've been trying to find time this month to prioritise getting to know other "bazungu" (expats) who are living and working in Masaka. Many of them are involved in similar projects to River of Life, so there's a wealth of experience out there for everyone to learn from. Rob’s been meeting with some of the Directors - it’s been great to get to know them, and their work.

We went to the international Church one Sunday and met several Canadian, American and Danish families. We were invited to join the birthday party of one of the little Danish girls who was turning 3 - her birthday coincided with some Danish festival which involved all the children hitting a big wooden barrel full of sweets with a very large stick for a very long time until it smashed apart. Apparently in the old days, I mean the really old days, the barrel would have a cat in it, and it was something to do with beating the devil. Elena did her bit, going up with the stick, which was about as big as her, and tapping the barrel.

Anyway, it was also an opportunity to dress up - Elena loved pretending to be her little spotty woof woof!

Food glorious food!
February has been a good month for eating! Gerald was introduced to Pancake Day traditions, and managed some decent flips! Elena wasn't as interested in the pancakes as she was in the sugar bowl we foolishly left near her...

We went to the fantastic Cafe Frikadellen barbecue with Beth and Sarah - never have you seen so much meat in one place... it's awesome! Cafe Frikadellen is run by one of the Danish families here, and Rob likes to personally thank them for setting up the establishment every time we go there - he can't quite believe he can get such a good burger (not to mention the lasagne...) here in Masaka.

Rob and I also managed to get a rare night out on our own for Valentine's Day - we went to another restaurant in town, which has a new rooftop terrace - it was very romantic under the stars, even if the advertised smooth jazz was actually the best of the Backstreet Boys! Gerald and Beth were Elena's babysitting team, and Gerald was very proud of himself as he managed to settle Elena back to sleep after she woke up for a drink. He's offered to babysit again anytime :-)

Back to the 'Pearl of Africa' - Davies Dispatch Jan 2012

Rob and Katharine Davies, (and their daughter Elena!), are serving with River of Life Church as Long-term Missionaries. Rob is Development Director at River of Life, and Katharine coordinates Missions and is establishing an Early Years programme... Here is the first of their monthly updates

Uganda! The Pearl of Africa, as the Victorian explorers and missionaries called it. It’s good to be back, and certainly after the wet and cold of Christmas in the UK, Uganda seemed to be shimmering pearl-lke as we drove south from Kampala to Masaka after our epic flight via Johannesburg. The rains have been good and long, so harvests are plentiful which has eased some of the pressures on local food prices. Our own garden is producing about a million tonnes of matooke, our favourite green banana staple, every week, which the children down in the White Eagle Project are enjoying!

We’ve got stuck straight back in with the work - although the team out here have done a marvellous job whilst we’ve been away. A new shallow well has been completed giving access to clean drinking water for more of the people of Nyendo (the trading post where we focus most of our activities), our offices, which were embarrassingly dilapidated have been spruced up, the White Eagle Holiday Programme continued apace and a new sports initiative, Synergy Sports Strategy, was launched.

Most of the River of Life news you’ll get (or can get) through the River of Life website, or by email if you are on the list (you can subscribe here) so we thought we’d give you our personal highlights for January...

Week 1: Flying...

As you know, in the first week of January, we were mostly flying and standing in queues. It took us nearly 3 days to get here, courtesy of high winds in the UK when we left. You may have assumed that would mean we had a nightmare journey - actually it was fine! We got the upgrade, Elena slept really well and we arrived in Masaka having had some rare time together as a family. Praise God! Probably the worst thing that happened was realising, on arrival, that we had forgotten to pack any cheese... can you believe it?! But then, thanks to Mary (one of the founders of River of Life) who came out a few days later, our cheese supply was re-stocked and Katharine made the most awesome lasagne ever!

Week 2: Giving blood...

This was a momentous week for me (Rob). I had always accepted the “just returned from a malarial-zone” excuse for not giving blood with relief, because I was pretty scared of the idea. But when Dr Sarah (our fellow missionary to River of Life) called to say that the local blood bank was absolutely desperate and children were dying, there was really very little choice. Now, I faint at injections, so it wasn’t going to be easy, but it turned out okay! Yes, I nearly fainted and had to lie on the floor (not at giving blood, but at the little blood-test prick they do first!) and they had to set me up my own bed outside, but with the help of Sarah holding my hand I did it! (Katharine got out of it because she’s still feeding Elena...) I will definitely be doing it again...

Week 3: A trip to the Lake!

Sand Beach at Lake Nabugabo is an awesome spot about half-an-hour’s drive from Masaka. There are no crocodiles, no nasty parasites in the water, and the water is shallow and warm. (Well that’s what the tourist industry tells us.. to be fair, I’ve never seen a crocodile there, and I’ve never got sick after swimming, so...) Elena absolutely loved it. She took delight in just wading out as far as she could go and then throwing herself further in, which made for a few desperate rescue attempts - but then she would just go and do it again! One such rescue killed Rob’s iPhone which he left in his pocket, but miraculously it resurrected 3 days later!

Week 4: Out to the village...

There is a massive difference here between town and country. Many rural areas are extremely poor, and the cultural norms that govern everyday life can be at best bizarre and at worst pretty abusive. Statistics suggest that over 70% of women experience domestic abuse in Uganda. So at River of Life we have a ministry called “Roots” that goes out to particular areas where domestic abuse is culturally acceptable, and teach and counsel people against it. It was amazing to see how the teaching began to set people free. Whilst the adults were in the Conference, we also did a 2-day programme for about 150 children, which was pretty awesome!