16th July, 2017

Dear friends,

I’m sitting at Nairobi Airport waiting 4 hours for the connection flight to Heathrow!  A long night.  I don’t always find it easy to be leaving the boys.  I bought a cake for tea on Friday evening and the boys each mentioned what their prayer would be for me as I left.  It was a special time for saying goodbye followed by the boys being given a jumper each, delivered the day before by a Ugandan lady, Joanita, who lives in the UK and had shipped out a drum of her sons clothes that they had grown out of – a few upsets as four of them wanted the same jumper but this was soon resolved as we have kept it to give to one of the boys in Mbale.

Last Monday we took Patrick and Emma back to boarding school equipped with sugar, tea, bread, new black shoes and pocket money – they seemed happy to be returning.

‘And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’. Matthew 28 v20.

On Wednesday we took one boy to the town he comes from to try and speak to neighbours about his mother’s death and find members of his family.  The boy came to us through the police a couple of weeks ago when we were told he had been on the streets and taken into child labour.  Imagine his and our surprise when the mother was alive – he actually sobbed for about an hour!  I was so upset that people could lie and tell a boy his mother was dead.  This is a long and complicated story – Abdul was happy to come back with us as the authorities have placed him in our care, while we try and sort out exactly what is going on here.

We are in the process of setting Tim up in a small business making chapatis and samosas in the Ggaba market area and have provided him with a table, display cabinet, umbrella, charcoal stove etc.  He is adamant that he wants to start up his own business so we are letting him have a go.  He has been offered a couple of jobs by different people but he is determined to do his own ‘thing’.  He isn’t always well as the hospital have put him on really strong medication which makes him very tired but I love him dearly and feel he should be given a chance.  Godfrey (boda mechanics course) and Augustine (building course) are both on work placements and have asked for tools which we are supplying them with in the hope that when they finish their courses they will be able to get work.

So now I’m back in the UK for a few weeks, I’ll miss my life in Uganda, George’s Place, the boys, staff, friends, my dog and kitten, the chickens crowing first thing in the morning, the Mosque waking me up at 5am, but I’m looking forward to enjoying some time with family and friends here.  I hope you all have a good, restful and peaceful summer.

With love and prayers.

Jane