Team 16!! Great Work Well Done

What an amazing Team 16 was...For the 2+weeks we are so blessed at Village of Hope.
From leaving House11 at Wall plate for another new addition of 16 children and a widow, visiting the slums in Kikaramoja,playing and chatting with children and  a whole lots of activities carried out.',, Big up Team.
I cant resist remembering Sue's and Stan's welding skills, the girls and boys busy raising the wall with the African Hope Builders.
After a hard 2weeks work, the Team had to say goodbye to Uganda but at least not forever.
A farewell party at the Village was the way to go on Monday evening. It hosted a number of Hope Builders ranging from Children, Mothers, and all V.O.H Staff plus our Dear Visitors who had made it all.
Party involved speeches, dancing competition between whites and Africans and at the end of it all', Drinks and Eats (Sodas and Biscuits) which gave every body a reason to be happy, smile and dance.
We indeed had a great time and a Great Team...I wish you could be here when our chicken are ready for consumption........Sue,how about it?
Thanks Hope Builders in the fight of Breaking the Cycle of Poverty.
Let the Pics down talk.................

Cant say goodbye  guys

Enjoy this and that

We prefer Fanta to Coco guys

goodbye

safe journey God's People

 waiting for a new lot soon

W' 'll be ready in 2wks time

So, day 16……….  And 17!!!

Today was the Sunday sleep in….  So, breakfast was a leisurely affair as we prepared to go to church…

We just made it to church in time for the Bible study, which came after and hour of prayer, and is followed by at least an hour and a half of worship, ministry items, and mini sermons. BUT, we had this amazing preacher!!  Andrew..  (I had to say it since no one else would do the blog tonight!)

After church we ‘sloped’ (as they say here when you go ‘down’ to anywhere) back down to Suubi house to have a bit of lunch. Fresh rolls baked yesterday by our amazing cooks!!

From there we went up to the Village to hang out with the kids.  Some of us hung out and did hair (girls, not Daniel!), and some of the guys played a football (soccer to the uneducated!) match with the older boys of the village…    and got beaten!

We then headed home to get ready to go out and have a well earned dinner at All Friends, our favorite restaurant! 

Back home, it was all to bed to get ready for our last half day of building tomorrow….

So, no post last night, ran out of tome and got tired J

We had our last rolex and chapatti breaky this morning.. before heading off to the village to meet the builders.  We are above window height now and the house in in its final stages…. 

We finished at 12 to get ready for our regular Australians vs Ugandan soccer match. We had the illusion that we may win, BUT despite our huge effort, with Mick, Anna, and Nat our players of the match (Chetty pulled a groin muscle… least that’s what he said!), we were unsuccessful.  It was made all the more difficult for us as Ron Matheson and his 2 Australian visitors joined the Ugandan team, so we would get confused and kick to white skinned people. Unfair, we cried, but it didn’t wash!  We’re also sure that they had just a ‘few’ more on the field than us, but we fought valiantly!!

This afternoon, we begin to pack and clean, then it’s up to the village to have a farewell time with the kids, mothers and builders..

An early night tonight as we will get up at 4am, ready to head to the airport and go to Kenya… Safari, here we come..

Not sure if you’ll hear from us in the next few days, but we sure appreciate you reading about all of our different experiences….

Please keep praying for us..  We have all been well, and suffered no sickness and we’d love it to stay that way…. We would love you to pray for safe travels as we fly and drive in Kenya too.

Pray to for a great time of closing our trip together..

Check out the pics below to get an impression of the last 2 days…

The Village older girls singing

Amazing Preacher :)

Chetty's new office!!

At All Friends..

Last bit of building...

I'm hot!!!

This is how far we got!!!

Trying hard..  

We got this...... um, no we haven't!!

Go Jen!!!

So day 15 started with an early rise at 5am to walk up Monkey Mountain! We had 6 keen walkers who powered up that hill with great power!! Who knows where their strength came from? (Considering how tired we are) but yet we climbed it in great time!! Then we sat and just admire Gods incredible creation while lifting up his name in a great time of worship! (with some incredible voice might I add!! Anna and Grant of course J) Then we walked down and met up with the rest of the team of a great breakfast of rollexs and chappattis.  We had a great devo run by Jen reminding us how important encouragement is within our team.  We then proceeded to write warm fuzzies to one another.  This was great fun and an even better way to start the day!

We then with 5 minutes to spare head off to ‘Welcome Home Children’s Orphanage.’   When arriving we were welcomed by the beautiful hearted Mandy who runs the orphanage with her husband.  She told us about how it started and the awesome work that has continued to happen for all the children.  Some of the children are in serious need, some have been abandoned, some suffer from aids where as other are not in stable family situations.  We then got a tour of the place looking at the babies’ room, the toddlers and the older children areas.  After having a look around we were able to just have some time to play with the kids and enjoy each others company.  The kids really tested our energy levels, as they climbed and jumped all over us.  We ran around, jumped on trampolines, swung on play equipment, sang songs, carried babies, struggled to let go of babies, some enjoy some urine on their cloths, while others were fortunate to miss out on that.  After a few hours of playing we were able to witness probably the cutest toddler feed ever seen to mankind!! With a heavy heart we said our good byes, while Andrew checked our pockets to make sure we didn’t take any kids with us, when we headed out to town for lunch.

Some of us enjoyed a nice lunch at The Keep, before endeavoring the main streets of Jinja for the last time.  We did some shopping for family and friends back at home of course, as well as a few things for ourselves.  Some of us went to the market place and enjoyed seeing a different side of Jinja from the touristy side.  From stalls and stalls of fruit to cow hooves, stomachs and everything else you can eat! Was quite a sight.  Some of us had the privilege to watch a dance competition, where they were also able to participate with their sweet moves and break dancing!

We then headed back to Suubi house for some chill time before having an amazing dinner of lasagna!! Was definitely a highlight meal! Then after dinner our cooks Juliet and Elizabeth surprised us with a delicious cake, as it was a last dinner with them!! As Juliet gave her speech there wasn’t a dry eye in the house, as we showed our appreciation for the amazing food we have been able to have while we have been here.

Then after dinner we practiced some songs that we are leading in church tomorrow.  Being very creative using bottles, and caps, spoons, forks, and anything we could get our hands on making quite a racket! But we are pretty excited to be able to lead some songs tomorrow in church, so stay tuned!

Keep it real Tiff! J

Look at me....

Food for all :)

Kids love bubbles

....and swings..

Sometimes you just need to be held!

Cute!

Two on one..? we can do that.

Please sir...... can I have....more..

Our amazing cooks..

Juliet makes a speech..  cool..

No guesses as to how we started today…that’s right; Rollexes (with the obligatory chilli sauce of course!), chapattis and pineapple.  Michael led devotion this morning prompting us to think about how we will continue to break the cycle of poverty after we come home – whether this is in the form of putting money aside every time we waste food or forfeiting our “must have” bought coffee (which I have to say I am guilty of…) and using that money to help others. Hmm it’s going to be tough but definitely worth it!

No building today but another new skill for some to add to their repertoire – painting! We headed back to the Home of Hope (home for children with multiple disabilities) to paint the ceiling of the main hallway. Goodbye dark hallway!!! We were greeted at the home by a bit of projectile vomiting – someone was too excited by our appearance – which saw Andrew run the other way… but never fear, the team rallied together as we carried and constructed scaffolding into the home. All hands were on deck as some used rollers on long sticks (watch out splinters), whilst others climbed the scaffolding to cut in and finish off the areas with brushes that the rollers couldn’t reach. Grant was kept busy with varnishing the cornices. By lunchtime we had finished the bottom coat, but it seemed we had also “painted” the floors too… oops.  Armed with brooms and a bucket of water Nat and I took to removing the stray paint on the concrete floor.

The lovely ladies at the Home of Hope cooked us lunch of rice, pasta, beans and chapattis. Thanks ladies! Fuelled up and ready to tackle the first top coat, the team hit the brushes and rollers again. With prior experience under our belts, a team of “floor scrubbers” followed the painters to clean up the paint splatters. Phew, I am getting tired just reliving this all... By 3:30pm we had finished the first top coat and cleaned the floors back to their original state. Edith and the team are very happy with their brighter hallway with big smiles all round.

Unfortunately it was time to say farewell to the kids and staff that we had bonded with last visit and today – sad face. I have to say that the Home of Hope is an inspirational place and I am excited and humbled to have been introduced to the work that they are doing.  There are no words to express.

After a quick stop off at the supermarket to get much appreciated ice-cream we headed home. Chillaxing (and much needed showers) are on the agenda for the rest of the day before our adventure continues tomorrow.

Cheers, Jen 

Cooking lunch!!

The boys hard at it..

It's getting there..

The master varnisher!!

Two spatter - one cleans...

All in...

Someone's gotta clean

One very happy Home director..