Hair!

This week we will be showing you a little more about the vocational centre, which provides training in hairdressing, carpentry, tailoring and motor vehicle mechanics. The centre is up and running thanks to your donations, with six months of salaries and resources being provided. This means that the students are learning skills that they can turn into their own small businesses or practical work experience – so vital here where very few of the students who leave school will be able to go on to study at university. 

So, last week Chris had his first haircut in Uganda at the vocational centre salon – and changed from this

Chris before…

to this

Chris after!

So this week it was the girls’ turn!

I must admit that I let the UK team go first as I was a little apprehensive, but when they ended up looking as good as this, what else could I do? (All photos of the girls with permission – they wanted to show their parents 🙂 )

Before…

It’s a long process, two hours at least while the hair is braided into either plaits or twists (that’s probably not the correct terms, but descriptive at least!). 

Twists

Part of the process

But worth the effort, as when else will we all sport such fun styles?

Thanks to salon teacher Josh for making it all happen!

 

Lunch Service by the UK team!

This weekend the team from the UK (there are two from Norway, but Ill just call them the UK team to be easier!) provided the boarding students with a special treat – a lunch of meat and vegetables! Usually the students are served beans and posho (maize meal) for both lunch and dinner, so you can imagine how excited they were for this!

Two of the team, Jess and Nina, braved the abattoir first thing on Saturday morning, the best time to secure a large amount of good meat before it all gets sold. They have shared that experience with those who were not too squeamish to listen, and I’m sure it will be one they wont soon forget! On the way back they went to the market to collect the vegetables, enough to feed both the primary and senior students.

At school the whole team prepared the vegetables for the meal and helped serve the students. A fun, rewarding time for them, and a great treat for the students just before they start their end of term exams! 

 

 

The excited students coming for lunch!

Service!

Loving their lunchLunch Service

Netball Court – Complete!

The girls at the school definitely wouldn’t allow us to hold a Football competition and not have a Netball competition too!  Luckily, the new basketball/netball court has been in the process of being built for a while and this week we saw it completed! Until now, the school has been borrowing posts from another school and playing on one corner of the field the boys use for soccer.  The lines are drawn with ash.  The Revival Students are very excited to now be able to play in their own school grounds and with a basketball hoop and backboard!

Thanks to some supporters from the UK who started the concreting of the court, Rachel who finished it and the new team of 10 students from the UK who did the job of helping us paint straight lines!  It was an interesting process this week, finding some sort of dimensions to work with, using string and masking tape to get the right angles and then painting in the hot african sun!  The UK students have been a real help around the school this week! (I know a few of their parents are reading this – they say hi!)

Painting the lines!

Taking a break from Line Painting!

We asked the sewing teacher to help us put together some bibs for the teams.  They haven’t had bibs before, so now the umpires have the upper hand again!  I have to credit my mum for this idea – she suggested it was probably something we could do, even before we had left for Matugga!  Again we enlisted the help of some of the UK team to draw the positions on the new bibs.

Bibs in progress

Deborah with the new bib!

Finally, on Friday we were ready for the first games!  Naomi and Jess were the first umpires, followed by Georgie, when Jess became a sub in the second game!  We were glad for their knowledge as our own Netball skills are a little rusty (or not really existent…).

The first game – including spectators!

Hand Shakes to start the game

First Throws on the new court

Ali taking over as score keeper while Jess takes her place on the team.

This tournament will be running till the end of the term, and the winning team has been promised a crate of sodas!

 

Fifa Cup Winners – Brazil!

Ask the Revival students who won Fifa and their answer will be Brazil!

This month we organised a Fifa Cup competition for the Senior School boys. They were randomly selected into four teams – Germany, Brazil, Spain and Argentina. Each Friday after school we headed to the field for two matches of a round robin, culminating in the Grand Final on the 11th. The boys loved it, especially the chance to win a trophy and get certificates. After the first four matches resulted in all teams having one win and one loss, it was a nail biting tournament for the final round of matches! Luckily the last games had clear winners so it was on to the Grand Finals. See the photos for overview of the game. Go Brazil!

Singing the National Anthem – with Pride!

Goal!

Chris handing the trophy over to the winning team!

The Winning Team – Brazil!

Jinja – the source of the Nile

We have had two fun trips to Jinja already, once with Rachel and the other this weekend with Harriet and Anne (Anne is a previous Revival Centre visitor from Scotland who has returned for two weeks after graduating as a doctor).

Jinja is a one of the largest towns in Uganda, on the river Nile and the shores of Lake Victoria. Jinja is a fishing and industrial town, making use of the location for long-distance trade and the river for a hydro-electricity dam. Pastor Ivan grew up here, and it’s always great to hear his knowledge while we are driving around. And of course, it is claimed to have the source of the Nile River!

Our first stop once we arrive in Jinja is the Jinja Nile Resort, for lunch and a swim in the pool. We always chuckle at ourselves when we arrive as we realise how we now find it unusual to see other westerners! The monkeys here are great too, when they aren’t trying to steal your food!

One of the troop. They are quite hard to get a clear photo of!

A wedding party coming to take photos at the pool – love the shoes!

Then it’s off to the main town and the Nile! This weekend we decided to hire a boat and have a cruise to the spot that was claimed by John Speke to be the source of the Nile. Apparently the water from here would take three months to flow to the Mediterranean Sea.  A peaceful ride out around the river, with interesting birds and a few reptiles on the banks. In the middle of the river are two little huts, which used to be on land but with increased dams, now take on a Venetian appearance! Leaving shoes in the boat we explored the shops and took the photo at the source. We found we had arrived with a school group, and the kids wanted their photos taken too!

Nile trip with Rachel, Ivan and the two youngest of the family.

Craft stores on/in the Nile

Cruising on the Nile

Anne in the Craft Store – Look Mum no shoes!

At the Source of the Nile – our guide cut off that part of the sign!

In the Nile – the kids wanted to be in the photos too!

On the way home we purchased some fish – because fish is best when it’s straight from the Nile!

Buying Fish on the way home – fresh from the Nile

 

 

 

 

 

Kids club

This weekend we had the wonderful experience of seeing the school Scripture Union club conduct a kids outreach event in their community. Chris had done a similar event while in the Philippines and so we modelled that style here.

We engaged the Scripture Union club from the senior school and they were excited to hold the event, taking on the planning of the activities. We didn’t hear anymore from them after the first meeting and were slightly worried but needn’t have feared – they must have been busy practising!

On Saturday morning we set off from home to the markets, to purchase a few supplies to make up some packs for the kids to take home. We included some biscuits, mango, salt and toothbrushes that had been bought over from the UK by Harriet who is here for a few weeks.

Packing the bags

Gift Packs waiting to go

By the time we arrived at the church the SU club were ready to go, and got to work making the packs. Next step was to go and invite kids from the neighbouring houses, which was a lot of fun! The parents were happy for their children to come along, and when 11am rolled around we had 30-40 children, with a total of about 90 arriving by the end. One thing we have learnt is that Ugandans love to dress smartly, children not excluded, so some children were late due to having a shower and getting changed into the smartest outfit they had!

Prayer before heading out into the community

Students heading out to invite kids from the community, giving out these passes to each child.

Waiting to receive her pass

Talking to parents and children about the event

Waiting to come into the church

The SU club then put on a fantastic event of music, dance, games and a gospel message. The kids seemed to love it and although it was in Luganda we could see the energy of the SU club members and how much work they had put in to make it a polished event. They presented the gospel and showed Christ’s love to those in the community more needy than them, and the joy that comes from that was lighting up their faces.

Children enjoying the message

Scripture Union club singing and dancing

Balloon game – who can blow it up the most without making it pop!

Everyone went home smiling, each family with a pack to share with their parents, we can’t wait to hold another kids event soon! The SU club members truly were salt and light to their community.

With their packs

Sisters heading home