Sunday

We started the day with a leisurely morning.. a nice change of pace. Some of us enjoyed, as we have each day, sitting on the back balcony watching Uganda come to life with the variety of birds twittering their songs to announce the dawn of a new day,  the cows being lead to greener pastures, the haze slowly clearing to expose the beautiful views of Lake Victoria, and the adults going about their chores such as gathering what is needed for the next meal.

Breakfast was a variety of delicious leftovers.. African donuts, bread with a variety of spreads, and the usual sweet pineapple. Our usual cooks finally had a break!

At 10.00am most of the group walked up the red dusty road to the Abundant life church .

We start off looking clean and after one car goes past we are coated with a fine coating of orangie red dust. Even our hair colour changes. By the time we walk back again we have a nice tan. The dust does not wash off easily! We cannot understand how the native Ugandans always look so clean.

Today Pastor Glen our team leader gave the sermon the main message being that God is a faithful God and that his Spirit in us gives us a joy which is not dependent on our circumstances.

Before the sermon the children went off to Sunday school.  After the church service we enjoyed the fellowship of the many Ugandan worshippers and admired the beautiful crafts made by boys from surrounding villages.

We came back for lunch which consisted of hot chips and salad, then had a break during which some of us took advantage and had a nap to prepare us for later activities.

Later in the afternoon we were given a tour of Jinja  Hope Community School. This school aims to provide a Christian education  for secondary school children whose parents struggle to afford school fees. We also had a tour of Jinja Christian school , a primary school run by an Australian couple Ann and Ron Matheson. We reflected on the financial struggle it must be to run these schools and keep up with education trends and technology with no government funding.

Later the Village of Hope children made their way to Jinja Christian school for an afternoon of sport. The major interest was the soccer game …the Mazungus(Aussies) against the Ugandans (some of the builders and the Village of Hope boys).It was an exciting game with William being the referee. Despite a few injuries they all enjoyed the competition which finished in a one all draw. Some children played  in a friendly game of Netball. The smaller children were engaged in skipping and Hula hoop activities which they clearly enjoyed. We finished up with a game of Poison ball which had children scattering in all directions to avoid going out! We then bade the children good bye. We so much enjoy their openness and love they give to us each time we interact with them.

Back at Suubi we were greeted with lovely cooking aromas coming from the kitchen. Meaghan and Chelsea decided to give our cooks a rest and made beautiful Shepherds pie which we soon devoured.

Once again it was a day of enjoyable experiences which we can store in our hearts  and take back to Australia forever.

Hetty