7th May, 2016

Dear friends,

Another week has passed by and we have three more boys in George’s Place making 7 in total. Sadly Sandy decided to leave. Another boy, Ivan, came for a couple of days but he missed the drugs he was taking (mainly sniffing jet fuel) and also left. Augustine has arrived, through our contact with AYFD, he had been diagnosed with yellow fever but when we took him to the British doctors surgery they cannot confirm this and are not sure what is wrong! Brian arrived with a bad skin rash and sores. Also Ronald who is on antibiotics for a chest infection and Paul has been diagnosed with malaria, by the British clinic, I think I’ve spent about 8 hours there this week and am beginning to wonder if we should have a nurse on site! I am hoping to come to an agreement with Dr. S to have the boys given a full medical check when they enter the home.

Most of the boys seem to have settled in well. But we are having problems with one boy who initially stayed with me for just over a week, the other boys we have known for months as we fed them in Kisengi and Balikuddembe but he had only been on the streets for a month, he is smart, intelligent, 12 yrs. big for his age, a good looking lad who wants to be in charge, always has the remote for the television, locked one boy in a bedroom, takes charge of the CD player and generally upsets everyone even Betty the cook, who suggested we fast one day a week to pray for him. Slightly worrying for me as I have lost more weight! The local vicar and some members of his church came to lunch on Thursday and talked and prayed with us.

‘God, we recognise that we all have different parts to play in the building of your kingdom, help us to work together to complement each others’ skills and gifts. May we play our own part gladly, not envying another’s role or seeking thanks and praise for our own part. Amen.’

The Probation Officer and Health Inspector this week, which is quite rightly a necessary part of the programme.

Fridah joined us on Wednesday, she will be working three days a week in the office to set up the filing system, put everything on the computer and make sure we have all the policies we need in place. She is very capable and I am sure her presence will help the smooth running of the home.

The rainy season continues with torrential downpours, we have negotiated with the LC1 and contributed towards the road outside being improved as at present I am even reluctant to drive along it, I’m not sure when the work will start but hopefully shortly.

There seems to be so much to be thinking about at present, Bob and I went to a meeting with Crane on Friday morning to discuss how to resettle children in their families and meet other agencies working with children living on the streets. It was a really helpful networking meeting with lots of opportunities to find out how and where others work. A British lady gave a very good presentation, she has been working at keeping children safe in Uganda for the last 10 years with Viva and Crane. Following this meeting we met up with Samuel’s mother and his aunt, he is anxious to see them again but there have been problems at home as she is a single parent and feels unable to cope with him.

It’s early on Saturday morning here and we will be taking the boys down to the beach at Ggaba for a boat ride today, the boats don’t look particularly safe but I’m sure we’ll all enjoy the experience especially if the weather stays dry.

Wishing you all a good weekend.

With love and prayers

Jane

Boys in George’s Place 6th May 2016
Timothy 15 yrs. has stayed with me for the last 6 months, at school
Anthony 12 yrs we found at the International Celebration for Street Children, calls me mum
Augustine 14yrs a lovely lad, ?Yellow fever, been on the streets 6 years, cursed by his family
Paul 13yrs reminds me of my Nicky, always got a smile, good at dancing,
Ronald 13 yrs quiet, has a chest infection
Brian 12yrs small, has skin rash and sores
Samuel 14yrs always wants something new T-shirt, pen, etc.