A Right Royal Afternoon

We may be far away from England, but last Saturday, on the day of the Royal Wedding in Windsor, a number of patriotic Brits-in-Uganda gathered together and watched the royal events unfold, coutesy of BBC T.V.  Far away, but determined not to miss out!

To mark the occasion, we donned fancy fascinators and dressed in patriotic colours or dresses (as appropriate!) and enjoyed the fun from far off! Being 2 hours ahead of British time, we were treated to afternoon tea-and-cake at  Kampala's Makindye Country Club. It was all good fun!

Two large screens and plenty of seating were set up so that we could feel part of events in our homeland:

And here are a few pictures of the celebratory participants:

Alive and Wise!

I have just completed a 2-week, intensive course. The course is named, "Living Wisdom". Many MAF staff before me have taken this course and highly recommended it. It kept me out of mischief for 2 weeks, with daily lessons from 8:30 every monring until it was time to fetch the children from school and then home-work every evening!

Here's the proof that I completed the course, as I pose with course facilitator Joan and my certificate:

The course can be used as a stepping stone into counselling for those interested in this field but it is also so much more. This is a comprehensive and in-depth course delving into the reasons for our attitudes and behaviours and how to improve on them: looking at ways to live in good mental health . This is the blurb from the course handbook to help explain a little more:

"This course is... a way to explore what a sound mind looks like.... learning how to understand ourselves through a Christ-centered Psychology. Teaching our minds to be our friend, regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in...."

For those interested in finding out more, there are various websites and this is one of them:

https://www.livingwisdom.co.nz/

Although we studied for 2 weeks, myself and the 26 other students from my class know that there was alot to take in, so we now have much to consider and "digest"  in order to get the most out of the course. It will be a work in progress to allow the material to be useful.

It was a fascinating course, giving me lots to think over and much to learn- and hopefully helping me to be wiser for my day to day life! :-)

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!