Day 9
Written by Fiona Toole

Hi everyone, yes it’s my turn to write the blog, I’ll try and keep it brief but if my journal is anything to go by I wouldn’t count on it!! Hope everyone is well back in the UK, we are all fine up to know, I just hope I haven’t spoken too soon. This morning we had our breakfast at the usual time around seven thirty. There was the usual fair sausage, beans, fruit and would you believe chips, which is my daughters’ idea of heaven!!! After breakfast Dr Tom did a short devotional, he talked about how our actions influence others and the importance of living by example. He read several verses from the bible but one that springs to my mind is we shall be known by the fruits that we bear.

As many of you know I am on the medical team but today we didn’t have any visits planned, so we were able to go with the rest of the team to a school in Abeko, which is two hours north of Soroti. It was a welcome break for me as some of the visits to various HIV centres have been pretty emotional. Some of the building team stayed behind to work on another room in the training centre at the Global Care children’s centre. They have done a brilliant job and are way ahead of schedule in providing bedrooms for the young girls who are doing vocational training in tailoring and needlework at the centre.

The journey was a pretty bumpy ride as most of the road was no more than a dusty dirt track, and as I’m usually late I ended up at the back of the bus!! We took packs of stationary and tables and chairs for the children, which when we got there we realised were much needed. The reception we got when we arrived was amazing, the children were chasing the bus and cheering, they were just so happy to see us!!! There were hundreds of children and they all want to shake hands with the “mazungos” (white people) even if you just make eye contact with them and say “Yoga” which is “hello”, they love it, many laugh and giggle, others are a little shy of these strange people who have descended on them.
After a short while we gave out the stationary packs in order of year, when they are first given their pack many look a little unsure and don’t quite know what to do with it. However later I saw many of them sitting opening their packs and showing their friends with an expression of pure delight. The school itself is situated in the bush, several miles from the nearest town. The classrooms are so basic, there is a concrete floor which is uneven and has big holes. The walls are not painted but are covered in graffiti (like diagrams of flowers or biology drawings), There is no children’s work on the walls as we see back home. Some of the classrooms don’t even have tables and chairs and the children have to sit on the floor. Some of the children have lessons outside under the shade of a mango tree and I must admit the beautiful views compensate slightly for the very poor facilities inside.
These children with their huge smiles and ragged uniforms are an inspiration to us all, how they can be so happy, loving and strong in spite of all they endure is beyond my comprehension. They sang many songs beautifully for us and when we sang for them they rewarded us with thunderous applause, despite us being a wee bit off key!!

During our visit we also had a talk from several of the Global Care representatives who work with the children in Abeko. It sounds like they are doing great things, encouraging many to return to school, teaching them about good hygiene practices, giving them support and counselling and much more. We also heard how Global care has been active in supplying wells and latrines for the people of Abeko, this has dramatically reduced the incidence of dysentery.
After a lovely afternoon we said our goodbyes and headed of back to Soroti, for another long bumpy ride home (but I made sure I wasn’t at the back this time.. hee hee)

After leaving the school we did a small detour to go and see one of the wells that have been provided by Global Care. It is very accessible for the people to fill their jerry cans and has made a huge difference in terms of health to the community of Abeko.
Unfortunately on our way home the bus started to overheat, apparently it was leaking water so we all had to get of the bus while the driver topped up the water. Thank the Lord it worked and it managed to get us back to the hotel in one piece, I really hadn’t relished the thought of walking back to Soroti in the Ugandan sun!!! Well folks sorry I went on a bit but there is just so much going on here I could write all night. Thankyou everyone for your prayers we are blessed to have so many family and friends praying for us. Thankyou also for logging on to read our daily blog we’ll all be back in rainy England very soon. God Bless and goodnight Fiona xxxxxxx