1st April, 2018
Dear friends,
Wishing you all a very Happy Easter.
Bob and I took the three boys back to Meeting Point last Sunday morning, it was their Open Day and we saw and purchased two of the metal stools they have been making and some leather sandals that other students had made to support the work. We (Anton was with us as well) then went and visited Denis at his boarding school, as it was also their Open Day. Denis has done extremely well in this mid-term exams. His best subjects were History, French, Luganda and Kiswahili. We were extremely pleased with his progress and positive attitude. Anton was then taken back to Agromax near Gayaza.
This week we also attended a meeting at the Ministry of Gender with regard to the International Day of the Street Child to be held in April and have another meeting there next Tuesday morning. Early one-morning Fridah and I met with the Probation Officer as we needed some advice on becoming an ‘Approved Home’, this all takes time as there are certain procedures and time structures that have to be adhered to but we are making good progress.
‘But He was pierced for our transgressions…………..and by His wounds we are healed’ Isaiah 53 v 5
Samuel has now gone back to the village to continue his small hairdressing business.
On Thursday Sam, Bob and I took Ashaf (we had been calling him Ashlaf) to his village near Mubende about three hours drive from Kampala. We then had a 15 mile drive from the town on rough roads, the rain poured down on our arrival. The mum and two of his sisters were at home, the father was working about 5 miles away, on a plot of land they rent to grow vegetables, we did manage to contact him by phone. They are a very poor family living in a rented house – the land surrounding the house belongs to someone else and they had virtually nothing in the two rooms they rent. They have 6 children. Ashaf’s twin sister arrived home from a government school – he was so pleased to see her again. There have been family issues and it was agreed that Ashaf would return with us as he would almost certainly run back to the streets if he stayed in the village. Before we left we handed out some of the ‘fish and chip’ baby/children’s jumpers you have been busy knitting to nearby neighbours we also found some larger clothes that had arrived in the seven boxes that were shipped in January and have just been collected by us in Kampala, all the items were gratefully received.
On travelling to George’s Place on Friday morning we saw a very moving Good Friday procession with ‘Jesus’ being beaten as he carried his cross, a vivid reminder of what our Lord suffered for us.
All the boys, except for Denis and Samuel are here for Easter so it’s busy, noisy, entertaining, exhausting, expensive (they eat!) but good fun. I’ve escaped to write some of my newsletter but keep being interrupted!
On Saturday we took the boys to the zoo at Entebbe, we needed both vehicles as there were 25 of us. They enjoyed seeing the animals especially the lions and chimpanzees, a couple of whom entertained us with their games and antics. Also, the snakes and otters were admired. We then had a picnic by the airport and ate Rolex, (chapatis with an omelette in), bananas, bread and drank sodas. After we returned later in the afternoon, I went and watched them play football.
It’s less than two weeks now before I’m back in the UK for a month – so much has been achieved as the work is continuing to grow – more of the older boys are interested in vocational training which needs looking into. My office looks more like a storeroom again!
Love and prayers.
Jane
