Glorious

The Rainy Season seems to be coming to an end. As it does so, some of the sunrises viewed from our back garden have been breath-takingly wonderful.

Since they're so lovely, I thought I'd share a few with you!

 It really cheers me up to start the day with such beauty!

Lakeside view:

City-scape:

The sun sparkles through our patio lamp:

Our garden as the sun wakes it up with the first burst of light (around 6:45am):

April News!!!

Since our little jaunt to Freedom City, life has been a round of busy action in Kampala.

To bring you up to date on what family life can look like in Kampala, here are a few pictures and some news from the MAF Uganda Parkers.

Easter Weekend

We spent Easter weekend at "African Village", situated an hour and half out of Kampala. We spent 3 nights there along with 3 other MAF Uganda families.

We also visited "African Village" last March. There is a blog post about it, posted last year, on 23rd March. For more information on this amazing centre of initiative and vision, see their website:
africanvillage.visionforafrica-intl.org/html/home

Being there in a group of 11 children and 7 adults meant that there was never a dull moment and never a lonely moment!

Between us all, we aimed to make the Easter weekend meaningful, so we organised a few events around the Easter theme.

On Good Friday, we lit a bonfire after dinner. We sat around, retelling the Good Friday events as the children read out relevant Bible passages. Afterwards, we toasted marshmallows on long sticks over the still-hot fire. Maybe "toasted" is the incorrect word- the marshmallows got crispy on the outside very quickly and the heat on our faces felt hotter than the Juba sun! And that means it was VERY hot!!

On Saturday, one of our friends asked staff at the "African Village" kitchen to hard-boil a tray of eggs. Painting and decorating all of these 40 eggs kept the children entertained for a good part of the afternoon! The results were beautiful and the children were rightly proud of their craft:

Easter Day dawned bright and early! The children all woke up far TOO early, leaving their respective family "bandas" (the round huts where we slept) at unearthly hours to congregate and play together before any of the adults emerged!
 Disclaimer: the elephants n this photo are not real, so don't be concerned that I left a gaggle of unsupervised children at the mercy of huge, living mammals!

After breakfast, the mums set up an extensive Easter Egg hunt in one of the beautiful, green fields:

After happy children had filled their baskets with chocolate eggs, we gathered as a group to hear the Easter Story, as relayed through the dramatic smashing and opening of "Resurrection Eggs".

If you’ve never seen resurrection eggs, they look like a simple set of plastic Easter eggs, although we used eggs that one of the MAF mums made out of homemade plaster. Hidden inside each egg is a symbol of the Easter story — a donkey for Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, a cloth to represent the purple robe that the soldiers used to dress and then mock Jesus... etc. Each egg also includes a Bible verse to be read out. It’s an interactive way to talk about the events of Easter that thoroughly engaged the children.

We had a mini- Easter-service together, before packing up our bandas and preparing to leave.

After one last swim in the pool, it was time to depart. It had been a memorable and happy Easter weekend!

Farewell to Friends

It's a sad fact of our MAF life overseas that friends come and go. Saying "goodbye" has become a frequent part of our life!

A few weeks ago, we hosted a farewell for friends we know through our church in Kampala. It was sad to wave them off - but at the same time, we are grateful for the input and friendship they brought to our lives. I believe every friend enriches our life in unique ways. Although it is hard to wave people off, it is also a privilege to have had time with them.

The farewell meal with our friends, starting in daylight and continuing as the Kampala night suddenly fell:

Family Time

During the April Spring break, we enjoyed some special family activities...

Despite the rainy season, sunshine emerged for an impromptu barbecue in the garden:

- We found time to wash a rather smelly Harry:

-I found time for just me to ride with my favourite Kampala boda driver, Andrew Parker !! In theory all 5 of us could fit on Andrew's boda! Seeing a family of five on one boda is quite a normal sight in Kampala, but for now, I'm the only one allowed to ride across town as Andrew's passenger :-)

-We found time to spend a morning at the beautiful haven of "Speke", on the shores of Lake Victoria. The children had fun feeding the fish and riding the horses:

Fun at School

There's always plenty going on at "Heritage" School....

Esther won third prize at Secondary School recently for her fancy dress outfit for a "Wacky Wednesday" dress-up!

Meanwhile, Ben and his friends enjoyed a fun day for "World Book Day":

And Joel was thrilled with his tractor ride at the school's "International Dinner" celebration:

It was my job to serve food and cups of tea on the "British Table" at the International Dinner. I borrowed a couple of items to ensure that I was dressed in suitably British outfit!

Joel's class have hosted other events in the past few weeks, including a Fashion Show where they made the point that God can change our rags into beauty as we let Him work in our hearts. Joel did a great job hitting the "runway" with his partner in their smart outfits:

There were some really dapper outfits amongst the boys of Joel's class!

Two weeks ago, Joel's class did a fantastic job presenting an Assembly about the miracles of Jesus:

They even managed to turn some 5-litre bottles of water into "wine"!! Brilliant!!

Work for the MAF Pilot

It wouldn't be fair to update the past month without including some recent pictures from Andrew's work.

So here's a glimpse into some of Andrew's flying over beautiful Uganda:

Andrew is currently flying both the smaller C206 and also the larger Caravan 208 aircraft types.

Of course, the present rainy season brings its own challenges- like wet runways where Andrew needs to be extra vigilant:

Or soft runways after rain, where the mud snared the wheels of the plane. Thankfully, helpful locals were able to assist Andrew here to dig the mud away and allow him to escape!

Andrew was also delayed recently by a flat tyre- but one of our helpful MAF aircraft engineers was on hand to fix the problem and get the plane airborne for a day's flight!

And here he is- our very own Pilot Parker happy to be back in his flying "office", doing the work we feel God brought us to Uganda to do:

Freedom City!

Our children have just enjoyed a week of school holiday. We took the opportunity to explore more of Kampala's fun attractions - and discovered the delights of "Freedom City".

Freedom City is a play centre for children located on the Entebbe-Kampala highway. At just £1 per child for the entrance fee, it was excellent value for money!

We were greeted by loud, slightly distorted rap and dance music blasting from the centre's loudspeakers and the enticement of garishly painted fairground rides- all free of charge once the entrance fee is paid!

With over seven different (freezing cold) swimming pools, giant bouncy castles, a concert stage for dancing, soft play areas, a foam pit to launch oneself into, trampolines galore and swing, slide and roundabout sets dotted liberally over the huge indoor space, it was a marvellous place for wearing out energetic children!

With 4 MAF mums and 11 kids, it was a fun and busy day, at the end of which we were all happily exhausted!

My favourite attraction was the huge trampoline that allowed us all to bounce straight into the foam pit. The mums could not resist... soon we were all bouncing high into the air, then into the foam blocks! The wonderful thing about these centres in East Africa is the absence of pesky Health and Safety rules. It really is "Freedom City", as we are given the liberty to enjoy facilities using our own common sense, instead of being bound by over-cautious regulations. Fabulous!

Esther in particular appreciates this freedom that we have in Uganda. Through her young eyes, she is shocked on visits to the UK when she encounters tight rules and regulations and compulsory "safety awareness" videos at play centres, swimming pools and entertainment venues.

 The downside is that lack of funding means maintenance is not always as tip top as it could be. Here's a little example. One of the massive advertisement boards outside "Freedom City" promises children the joy of playing in a colourful ball pool.

• The advertisement:

The reality is a little different. Here is a photo of the actual ball pool- with every single ball popped to a pulp of its former self!!!

• The reality:

The popped balls didn't stop the children from having fun, but I'm not sure it was quite as comfortable as a ball pool with real balls, instead of these plastic shells! But when we've only paid 5,000 Ugandan shillings and had a fabulous day, no-one was complaining! Freedom City is FUN!

Responsibility

This week is a school holiday for our children in Kampala. The equivalent of American Spring Break- an entirely different academic year from the UK system! The children are back at school next week, but will also have the long Easter weekend away from school.

For this past week of school holiday, Joel volunteered to look after the class pets- a tank of tadpoles! I agreed without grasping the actual responsibility that such a task would mean...!!!

The responsibility started on the day when I collected the tadpoles, along with a car full of children, from school. We had 2 tupper-ware containers full of special pond water, with carefully placed rocks and sand. Plus the little tadpoles swimming merrily around inside each tub.

As we climbed into our hot car, I started to be concerned about how the tadpoles would survive Kampala's equatorial heat, which permeated our car. The temperature was a far cry from the cool of the stone-walled classroom the tiny tadpoles had become accustomed to!

In my mind, I imagined the drama if the tadpoles were to die- the sobs and tears of a classroom full of 6 and 7 year olds, distraught by the demise of their class tadpoles! I knew at that moment that I had just taken on a huge duty to do all I could to help these creatures to survive! I had to avoid mass sorrow! I must not be to blame for upsetting a class full of young children!

We started the drive home. And I discovered another potential problem: how could we keep the water (and therefore the tadpoles!) in the tupper-ware containers as we drove home? As I have mentioned on previous blogs, Kampala is VERY hilly. Driving uphill and then downhill with a shallow tank of water and trying to keep the water level is no mean task!

Thankfully, Esther boldly took on the challenge! She sat in the front seat, where she could better anticipate the steepness of each hill- and she tried to tip and angle the containers as we drove, to minimise any spillage of special pond water!

Next, it became apparent that the rocks and sand were shifting and that the tadpoles were being swamped by masses of rock and sand in their little tubs. HELP! We grabbed an empty plastic box we happened to have in the car and put the tadpoles' tubs in the box. We then removed all the rocks and placed them around the tupper-ware tadpole tanks to secure them and to stop the rocks from squishing the mini pond life. Pond water started to splash out over the sides of the tupper-wares, but we had thankfully contained it in the plastic box and could replenish the water levels once we stopped the car!

By the time we had reached home, I was a little frazzled! I was keen to see these tadpoles placed in a safe place with their pond water and rocks replaced- and peace restored.

The tadpoles tanks were set up in Joel's room:

Imagine Joel's excitement just two days later when one of the tadpoles emerged from the water with his new legs all intact- in fact, no longer a tadpole, but a tiny, cute frog!!

This is the best photograph I could get, considering how teeny tiny the frog was:

Joel was thrilled! He talked of telling his teacher and showing his classmates! He spent ages in his bedroom just watching the creature and the other tadpoles.

I was in the kitchen a short while later when Joel came in, concern written all over his face, to report that the frog had leapt out of the tub and disappeared behind his bookcase! What should we do?? I had more flashing images of distraught children crossing my consciousness.... We must save the frog!

Joel and I emptied out his bookcase and pulled it away from the wall- and thankfully found Mr. Tiny Frog on the wooden skirting board behind his bookcase. Hurrah!! Joel scooped him up and gently replaced him in his tub.

We then decided to cover the tub with a cake-net, normally used to keep the African flies off my cakes when we eat outside. That way, the frog could jump out of his water but not get lost. Great solution!

When Andrew came in from his flight, he was invited to view the frog, but was under strict instructions (from me!!) to replace the cake-net after viewing.

Then came the great question: what do small frogs eat? How could we keep him alive and well fed? We used Google and discovered that a diet of fresh grasshoppers and worms would be suitable. Ugh!! Happily, Joel, Ben and Ben's friend Matthew were delighted to be given the task of collecting this tasty food for the frog! Minutes later, grasshoppers and worms were being passed through the bedroom window!

There was some debate about whether dinner should be served dead or alive, but this problem was solved when we found that grasshoppers are tricky to keep as snacks, as they kept hopping away before we could feed them to the frog! Their heads were duly squashed between the fingers and thumbs of small boys- and the frog had plentiful food in his cake-net universe...

The next day, we had visitors with 3 young children. Sadly,the cake-net was moved aside- and none of us have seen Mr. Frog since. :-(

We have searched high and low... but he is nowhere to be found. It is with dread that I anticipate breaking the news to Joel's class on Monday! We tried our best with the great responsibility of Tadpole-Duty! We did not fully succed!!

Thankfully, one of the other tadpoles is growing his back legs, so we may have another frog to present to Joel's class on Monday. That is, if I can successfully drive the tubs of tadpoles and froglet safely back to school on Monday morning!

The next time my child volunteers for Tadpole-Duty, I will be thinking more seriously about the great responsibility it entails and will definitely want to declare a disclaimer of blame for any loss of pond-life!! Pet tadpoles are more work than I had imagined!

Look who is Seven!!

Joel has just celebrated his seventh birthday!

The actual birthday was a school day, but thanks to Joel's kind teacher, I was able to go into his class with his birthday cake and join his classmates in singing "Happy Birthday" to him :-)

The class also sang this little ditty to celebrate Joel's special day:

The next day was Saturday, so we had a small party down by the local swimming pool with some of Joel's friends and his big brother and sister. The sparkling birthday candles on his (second!!) cake provided lots of entertainment!

This past year has seen Joel growing in confidence and finally settling into life in a new country after the upheaval of leaving Juba so abruptly, which affected him deeply. We have seen how God has brought healing into his life and we are so thankful for this more settled period in peaceful Kampala.

Over the last 12 months, Joel has become proficient in riding his bike and swimming on his own and also reading and writing independently. As parents, it is always fun to see our children growing up and we enjoyed celebrating Joel's seventh birthday- and now look forward to seeing what his eighth year will bring!

Happy 7th Birthday to Joel!