Miracle Kitten?

Three weeks ago we drove across the city and visited the Ugandan SPCA (Society for the Protection and Care of Animals). It was a rather impulsive outing... but once we got there, we found ourselves unable to resist the charms of this friendly little creature in the cattery, as she ran forward and perched on Andrew's shoe:

She came home with us about an hour after we walked into the SPCA centre! Esther named her "Sylvie" for her silver coat.

Unfortunately, we soon discovered that Sylvie was not very healthy. Everything we gave her to eat or drink simply came out, one end or another, in a pretty disgusting format! She was losing weight and looking very unhappy.

Esther's eyes filled with tears as she looked at our tiny new kitten and saw Sylvie wasting away before our very eyes. The kitten's bones were poking through her skin and she seemed to lose her appetite completely. It was time to call in the vet before my daughter's heart was broken!

It is a real novelty to us to now be living in an African city where we can call a vet out! A luxury we did not have in Juba or Dodoma. Olivia The Vet came with her bag full of pills and potions:

After two visits on consecutive days, Sylvie had undergone some rigorous treatment... including a drip to rehydrate her! Ben cuddled Sylvie close as she faced needles almost bigger than her own body, de-worming treatment and intravenous rehydration!

Olivia left us with bags of pills to force down the kitten's throat twice a day for 17 days. We tried to keep up with the regime- but instead of getting better, the tiny cat seemed to be getting thinner and more and more miserable. I feared the worst and tried to prepare the children for the sad possibility of losing this little bundle of fluff.
With Andrew away in South Sudan and no contact with him, I turned for support to the MAF ladies of Kampala- and they rallied round and prayed for this cat! This cat must be the most prayed-for feline ever! I gave up the medicine completely after the third day- and we waited to see what would happen.
We then went away for a few days and left her in the capable hands of a MAF neighbour. Amazingly, on our return, we discovered a happy, healthy, tubby little kitten, full of energy and with an appetite to rival a tiger! Our own little Miracle Cat!

Party Fever!

Just over a week ago, an excited little boy turned six:

Joel had to go to school on his actual birthday, but took a birthday cake with him to share with his class and since it was swimming day, he got to swim with his class-mates too.

Joel requested dinner out at a Kampala cafe as a birthday treat. So after school, we drove across town in the heavy afternoon traffic and enjoyed dinner out at a lovely cafe with its own garden, play area and resident rabbits! The children loved the freedom and the meal was delicious.

The next morning, Joel woke up early for school but he felt hot and could barely speak! I checked his temperature and he was running a fever... which meant he had to miss his own birthday party in the afternoon!
Some of his friends came up to our house to play anyway after school was over- we all sang for Joel and cut his cake with him, but he was too feverish to eat any cake and too unwell to play with his friends!

Thankfully, he was well again within a couple of days and has since been able to enjoy his lovely gifts and being six years old!

African Village

One of the new aspects of life now that our children attend an American school is that their holiday dates are different from the British academic calendar. We are currently on Spring Break. Next week school will resume for the new semester, without any holiday over Easter apart from Easter weekend itself.

We started the holiday with a few days away at a resort called "African Village". This is an amazing initiative, set up as a centre for Ugandan young people to receive education and vocational training. It has a primary school on site, a hotel and catering school, pottery workshop, fashion and sewing training, brick-making and technical workshops. Guests can come and stay at the accommodation, with meals prepared and served by the students who are in training at the hotel management school.

africanvillage.visionforafrica-intl.org/html/home

We went with another MAF Uganda family with children a similar age to ours... and lots of fun was had by all,.. except for a nasty bout of 'flu and sickness which hit half of us towards the end of the holiday!

Our banda accommodation:

The beautiful pools, where we all spent many happy hours either swimming or enjoying the shade under the trees on the grassy verge:

The children also got the opportunity to try their hand at pottery- and made some beautiful creations on Day 1, which they then returned to paint on Day 2. They worked alongside the students at the pottery, with the help of one of the teachers: