15th May, 2022

Dear friends,

I arrived back in the U.K. on Tuesday morning; so much seems to have been achieved over the last eight months and although I was sorry to be leaving Uganda for a few weeks, I really think I need a break. Diana and Christine were at home when I left, Diana leaves for Canada this coming Monday as she is retiring – I shall really miss her when I return. I attended St.Martin’s in the Fields on Wednesday evening for their Bread for the World service and also on Saturday morning for the Nazareth Community service, of which I am a member. It feels good to be back.

“This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭30:15‬ ‭

The boys are all fine. Last Monday morning Peace and I went to Garuga to talk with Benon, hopefully he will return to Hope International next week to resume his hairdressing course. He was very apologetic and regretted his decision to leave the college without informing us. If the boys do anything wrong they always assume they will be beaten or put in prison and don’t seem to understand that we are there to advocate for them. It was a mistake to get involved with a girl but this happens with teenagers! We also talked with Sula and Griffin before they started at the new school. Sula’s stepmother had given them something, that looked like sand, to put in their eyes so that they could easily learn to read! We explained to them that they should always check with the staff beforehand and that nothing would help them to learn to read other than studying!

All the younger boys have now started at Little Angels Primary school – I haven’t seen photographs of their new uniforms but did see that they all had new raincoats. It is the rainy season and up until I left there seemed to be rain most days. When Peace and I left Garuga we brought Dennis and Kodet back with us as they continue their studies at Maranatha Senior School in the boarding section. Dennis in S4 and Kodet in S1. They had both had haircuts but the school insisted that their heads were completely shaved before they were allowed to enter. This didn’t please them, especially Kodet.

Late Monday afternoon just before I left for the airport Dan arrived back at the office – his older sister had escorted him to Ggaba, he came to Entebbe with Tresor and Jessie to wave me off. Benard tells me Dan loves helping with the washing up and cleaning.

We are planning for young Brian, who isn’t so young now, to also start a vocational training course in motor mechanics in the next couple of weeks (we have three Brian’s – ‘big, new and young’ to help us know who we are referring to!)

Tresor has sent a photo of himself and the older boys taking Peanut for a walk one afternoon – I’m not sure how Sula is in it but obviously he wasn’t at school that day. The boys in P4-P7 are all having extra classes at school on Saturday mornings.

On Saturday afternoon the boys opted for having DSTV connected and playing football rather than visiting the swimming pool. Tresor has put up my old dish! They now have the cartoon channels which will really please them, though they are only allowed to watch television at certain times.

The director of the medical clinic, we have signed up with, also called in to meet and talk with the boys – he has a young son who has sickle cell disease and started the clinic to help people, in the immediate area, with no transport, be able to access treatment locally. Our boys asked if he would call back again to talk further with them.

Hopefully I will be able to catch up with some of you over the next few weeks. There are so many encouraging stories about the boys and how they are progressing – obviously there are a few challenges as well, but we are thankful to God for all the blessings and challenges which we learn from. Thank you once again for your support and love, we couldn’t do this work without your generosity and commitment in supporting us.

God bless.

Love Jane x