“I arrived at Heathrow at 4.55 am and soon checked in, with two big bags weighing in at 22.9kgs and 23.4 kgs respectively. They also requested that my hand luggage also went in the hold so that meant I wasn’t carrying another 8 – 12 kgs onto the plane. This is because the plane from London to Brussels is small and huge amounts of hand luggage won’t fit in the cabin. This suited me down to the ground. We were only 45 minutes in Brussels before we were called for the next flight. Food on the plane was only fair, but the flight wasn’t full so I had a spare seat beside me and two good films: The Duke (Jim Broadbent) and a film about an autistic girl, Temple Grandin, how she learns to cope with life and how much of an impact her studies have on the cattle world.

“I arrived at around 10.30 pm, through customs quickly, no booked taxi and the wrong bag! Not a good start! But the taxi man I hired was brilliant, got me to the eco hotel, returned the wrong luggage the following morning – so all sorted.

“I went straight to Fred’s house to meet Florence, Abby (9), Yvonne (7) and Anna (3). They were so welcoming. I produced a phone for Florence, dresses, colouring books and stories for the girls, 3 blenders (one big and one small) and a kettle. All were thrilled.

“That evening I made pancakes (helped by Abby) for them to try and then the following morning we tried out the blenders, both in good working order, with passionfruit and pineapple juice and then I made omelettes.

“Fred and I went onto the bank, changed money and then arrived in Mityana around late afternoon. We booked into the Enro (hotel) as always, the same room, not en-suite but easy access and next to a smaller room where I store all the junk!

“Sunday came all too quickly but turned out to be really good. We went to St Luke’s church at Kyankowe, where I did not have to preach and the deacon was excellent, inspiring, engaging and very easy. We finished church with notices, the sale of some fruit and veg and a slice of cake. A couple from Kyankowe got married on the Saturday and as a thank you gave the morning service a cake to share and eat.

“We then visited the prince’s family (the family on whose land the church and school reside) and had lunch and a wonderful afternoon in the garden of his brother, George. We walked down to the forest he is preserving which already has many birds and monkeys. He is slowly changing the 100 acres back into forest with trees and plants that belong in the forest. It is very, very good to see: this is the first project with strong environmental ties I have ever seen.

“Monday it bucketed with rain, so heavy and so much. We went down to the college and organised my teaching programme and when we could visit the sponsored lay readers. I came back to the Enro and planned all the visits, noting where we would stay and trying not to backtrack too much. Some of them live right out in the bush, miles away from Mityana town. But in the next ten days or so I am going to be doing some work on stewardship, counselling and guidance, bible study and entrepreneurial ideas (which are in very short supply in my brain!) however I will give it my best shot.”

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The completed building

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The photos below were taken two months ago. Our plan is to provide a dam (water hole) called a valley tank which will provide enough water (as seen) for a community of 3000 people well into the dry season. It will be protected by a fence and there will be a pump from which people can safely fill their jerry cans. The site has been donated by a widow and her son, local teacher.

The photo below shows the results of a similar project.

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Midweek they stayed locally in St Mary Bourne and each evening we have had a time to think about the day, what we have done, see or heard and how it has affected us.

Last weekend they went to London and spent Sunday with a buddy

• They loved the Globe, Buckingham palace, the Eye
• They couldn’t really believe the family affection, the love and generosity
• They were amazed at the fact that we lost an hour, the cold water when dipping toes into the sea. The great affection families have for their dogs
• Favourite lessons included Maths, Music, PE and because they both teach the subject, Geography. And the ones they found difficult (especially on Tuesday) were French, Spanish and a Chemistry test!
• They were impressed by time management, loved the lunches, especially fish and chips
• They have never caught a bus to school, had a French lesson, been videoed whilst working, got lost and found herself in the school theatre, had a history lesson on the Romans, tried a ballet lesson.
• In the two primary schools they visited they loved talking to the children, answering questions about themselves and their country. They were impressed by the awareness of their links school and how it is integrated into their school curriculum. They loved playing the drums, listening to the words of a song the kids sang about a world with no hunger, no war and no suffering.
• In Whitchurch at the Methodist church they sang and danced and spent time sitting around tables with the ‘jajjas’ (the old folk) and they loved the hugs at the end and all the cakes, biscuits and scones…

And finally the special moments. When I asked them to finish a sentence it began

Today made me feel:

• Very good inside because of the love and warmth people here have for Uganda
• Very special
• That in the last week my confidence has grown
• Very loved and cared for
• Very proud to be Ugandan.

Each of the team chose a ‘special moment’ and here are some of them

• Horse riding
• Talking with the older people
• St Mary Bourne school and their Uganda day
• Interacting with staff and pupils at Testbourne.
• A dog called Dexter
• Being able to answer questions about my own country.

They and we are very proud of the partnership. Testbourne’s 2017 team go to Mityana in October.

Madame Damalie teaches Geography and is Deputy head

The team sang for the children at Ecchinswell

They played with the Ugandan footballs

Mrs Ruth Beasely and Mr Sammy Nsereko

Benjamin is Head Boy

Grace is doing her A levels and loves literature

Maurice in 16 and is very good at football

Panie is 16 and in Senior 3 (Yr 10)

Hawah

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19 February

News is that all is good here. Caroline, Allan and Rosie arrived with the rest of the team. Loved yesterday when we met all the teachers and had the conference. It was just so good meeting up with everyone. 100 staff from our twelve schools. The three gappies came and helped and they start work at the deaf school tomorrow.

We have visited the deaf school to see how the land lay and we are off to Makonzi this morning for the service and then tomorrow the school. SMB had given us all kinds of things to do.

23 February

Gap year girls Uganda Feb 2017 (Click for larger image)

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Seb writes as follows:

Dear All,

I just wanted to say a final huge thank you for your support during my Marathon for Mityana. As I’ve already said, it really made a huge difference – especially in the final two miles when I just wanted to curl up in a ball on the side of the road and suck my thumb.

Thanks to your incredible generosity, we’ve already raised over £4,500 including Gift Aid (with more to collect) which I believe is sufficient for three water tanks to provide a safe and reliable water source and make a massive difference to the lives of many villagers in the Mityana region of Uganda. Thank you!

The day itself was an incredible experience and I feel privileged to have been a part of it. The crowds were incredible and – to those disappointed at the end of the short heat wave – I have to say that the weather was pretty perfect for running. For those interested, I managed to get around in just over 4 hours and 11 minutes and achieved my main aim of running every single step of the way. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Thank you once again,

Seb

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John reports the following – “The roof at Ziira Primary School looks beautiful. Eriya tells me that parents of the school children celebrated for having received such a class room block. Eriya and I will put down the accountability soon and send it to you before you come over. We thank you and all the contributors especially the teams that not only contributed, but also were involved in building itself.”

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Bryony’s trip in 2008

We will experience a typical school day, different classes, subjects, daily routine, accommodation, sharing problems & possibilities with our peers. We’ll join them for lunch, assembly and have a lesson in Lugandan. We will also see what a lesson about agriculture involves and spend time comparing notes.

From Mityana Secondary we will walk across to the Junior school and take part in some of their lessons.

We will also visit Affinet – where they teach girls to cook, use a treadle sewing machine and boys to do carpentry. This training gives these young people the opportunity to raise an income back in their villages. We’ll also spend a day at Namutamba hospital. It’s run by two German physios and we will spend a day there learning about what they do. How children return home with injuries mended, broken limbs strong & healthy and wheel chairs abandoned. Burns are healed after painstaking care & love has been shown not only to the children but their parents too.

There’ll also be time to visit the orphanage, a rural school, the hospital and talk to people there, gaining insights into third world issues but also learning about what they have to teach us.

The school we are supporting through our youth groups here in St Mary Bourne is called Ziira. There are no school buildings as such….They are taught under a huge mango tree or in make-shift classrooms.

Bryony’s trip in Mityana 2

The St Mary Bourne 08 team have so far raised £3000. We are hoping to double that by the end of 2010. And the great news is that the walls are now up to the top of the windows. We would really appreciate your help.

This is a unique opportunity for us and we are aware that it’s a chance in a life time trip. Here’s what a few learnt after the 2008 visit: “that I am able to communicate with people I barely know”, “to keep an open mind about things”, “that giving even the smallest thing can make someone happy”, “that I have way more to give in life and how much I need to assess my life” and “at first I was completely overwhelmed” –“ I found I would often think about things at night, but it also helped to talk in our journal sessions.”

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