Village Life

Last week I was living in Kuffu village with Esther and Joe. In Kuffu we work in a school called Goshem, and having spent time there before it was really nice to return and see everyone again. We were there for exam week so we were able to help with the end of term exams, and then once they were over we helped the teachers with marking and organizing grades and we also got some opportunities to spend time with the children outside of lessons. Some of the kids relished the opportunity to reverse our roles and decided to become the teachers as they tried to teach me far too many luganda words to remember in one go! But I did learn a few like "ekigere" - foot, "enyindo"- nose and "emeeza" - table among a few others. So I guess I'm getting there slowly with the language!
Because we had Joe with us, Esther and I didn't have to make any trips to the bore hole this time around, so instead we took the opportunity on Thursday to go for a walk. It was absolutely beautiful to walk through the countryside, and the further we went the more and more it felt like we really were in the 'middle of nowhere'. What was really special was that as we walked along, each time we passed a house we would hear children calling "Hello Teacher Esther, hello Teacher Lorna!" It feels really good to be so known throughout the community.
Wednesday was a bit different in that after break we took the whole school down to "The Garden" (which is a huge plot of land that is probably best described as a farm), where we planted trees. The children had a talk about the importance of looking after the environment, and then they planted 1003 saplings. It was hard work in the sun and took longer than had been expected (we got back to school for lunch at 3!) but it was so good to see this kind of project happening.
Every afternoon the children divided into their house groups to put together performances for some visitors that are soon coming for a mission week. So every day after lunch we watched the children sing and dance. They've been learning their cultural dance called "kiganda dancing", and on Tuesday Teacher Mary gave them a demonstration. For us this was such a privilege to see and she was brilliant! I've never seen anyone perform kiganda dance as well as she did. For the next few days in the afternoons she stayed to train the children. We were quite surprised that the children weren't already able to dance like this, but it's really good that they're being given this opportunity to learn this part of their culture.
We all really enjoyed this week. As well as having a lovely time at school we also really enjoyed just spending time with the people who live locally. Esther and I took the opportunity one morning to read and explain some of Psalm 139 to one of the older children when she came to chat to us before school, we also impressed the people that we live close to by cooking the local food, and on Saturday we were even given a pot of cooked ants (which, yes, I did try!)

This week Esther and I are the only gappers at home, whilst Clare, Finch and Joe are in Kuffu until Sunday. 

Please pray...
- For Esther and I to have a good week in Kampala - pray for health and safety and that God will use us.
- For Clare, Finch and Joe in Kuffu - pray that God will use them and will keep them well and safe too.
- For provision for Smile Uganda.

As always, thank you so much for your support and prayers.

And congratulations to Rob and Amy Borrell!