3rd March, 2019

Dear friends,

On Monday we were delighted for Victor as his father sent us money to go towards his school fees. It is so encouraging when parents appreciate our work and support their children even in small ways (he is not living in Uganda). On Tuesday Keseeta’s mother arrived – she had not seen her son for five years – we had only been able to locate his grandfather, great uncle, aunt and cousins, (his father had died) – the unexpected visit really excited him. She stayed the night and left promising to keep in touch.

Martin was kept busy at the beginning of the week sorting out a backup system for all the laptops. At home we had no electricity for four days following a thunderstorm – we contacted the supplier about ten times, in the end, Patrick my gardener went and found a local man who thankfully fixed the connection to the house, wonderful having hot water and hairdryer – what else do you need!

‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.’ 1 Corinthians 13 v 4/8

We travelled to Ibanda on Wednesday to see Anton. It has been so dry in that area and although the land has been dug over and holes dug for planting matoke this hasn’t taken place as rain is needed. We left Anton with money to buy gnuts for planting when the rains arrive – hopefully this will be soon. Whilst we were praying with him, in his room, before leaving, large drops of rain were splashing on the ‘tin’ roof! Since the land has been cleared and marked out it looks as if there is well over an acre for farming. He has dug the foundations for a store and cut poles from trees to use in building the walls before packing with mud and left to dry. He looks after himself well and we are really proud of him especially as he is only 16 years. Ibanda is a beautiful rural area. We took a box of the knitted baby clothes and children’s jumpers and were able to give some of these to the village children. On our way we dropped Godfrey in Masaka as he was visiting his grandparents in Matete for a few days.

Martin had not been to Jinja so on Friday we travelled there for him to visit the source of the Nile.

This week Peace attended a meeting at the Ministry of Gender regarding the International Day of the Street Child and her and Sam continued their training with Crane on Child Protection.

Patrick started his apprenticeship in the Welding business, he is staying with his father and stepmother – Bob received a few phone calls from him during the week and he came and stayed Saturday and today, letting us know how much he likes work, making new friends, earning money and saving!

I’m returning to the UK at the end of next week for a couple of weeks as the sale of my house is going through and I need to dispose of a few things!!!

Love and prayers.

Jane