EASTER GREETINGS

We send you all our warm Easter greetings from Kampala.

I have just watched the Queen's first ever Easter Message to the nation. Her message of hope is inspiring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMMSo4PB5Qk

I'll leave the Queen to be the voice for this blog post, but here are a few photos of our isolated Easter in Kampala.

We woke up to find some of our garden roses had bloomed in time for Easter!

Our MAF neighbours had a wonderful idea for Easter day! They put up a wooden cross on the hill at the end of our road and anyone passing or any of us who received a message about it could walk up and post a flower into one of the many drilled holes in the cross. A beautiful symbol of Easter LIFE and HOPE.

We did a short home-church Bible reading, followed by a short Easter egg hunt for some mini-eggs I received in a package from friends in Norway.

The children each wrote up a verse they liked from the readings we did. I'll leave you with their verses, colourfully portraying the Easter message and the HOPE it gives us in these difficult days of isolation and covid-19 around the globe.

Hope in Troubled Times

  For the past two and a half years, I have had the immense honour of teaching English to some of the refugee community here in Kampala. Once or two days a week, I have been able to spend a few hours using my TEFL training.

   This has been through the inspiring "Centre of Refuge and Hope". With a huge mural displaying the following verse from Psalm 46, the centre seeks to provide a place where refugees can find exactly those two attributes: a refuge from pressing challenges and hope to move forward as they learn new skills. These skills can in turn assist them in finding work, helping them provide for their families and be self-sufficient.

The welcome on the wall near the Reception desk of the Education Centre speaks loud and clear:

               "God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble."

  The atmosphere at the centre is joyful. If I have been away on holiday, the first thing I notice and love about my return is seeing the broad smiles, the friendly welcome of students and staff alike. Their warmth reflects the sunshine and climate of the countries they come from. These are a community of resilient people, getting up on their feet, taking steps forward out of hardship to learn English and better their employment opportunities.

  I have had the joy of teaching children and adults alike. Their stories inspire me. Their hard work motivates me. Their diversity and cultures fascinate me.

  I have taught smaller classes of children. My reward is their smile of achievement when they succeed in conquering the next stage of English; when they learn how to write that first sentence in English or discover the confidence to try out a new concept. I love seeing their finished work:

  I have also been teaching classes of adults, working alongside the regular teacher to cover his classes once a week. Some classes boast over 50 students. These lessons have pushed me to develop new skills as a teacher, where I have learnt to be more creative in engaging larger groups of adult learners. I have learnt much from the full-time teachers and am humbled by their kindness and passion to serve others. These past two and a half years have been challenging at times, fun and rewarding!

Most of all, it has been inspiring to see the progress and determination of students. Students who have overcome unimaginable obstacles, yet now sit ready to learn, perched on their plastic chairs in front of me and their whiteboard.

At the whiteboard:

Today, the centre lies silent. No laughter in the classrooms. No buzz of learning. Like most education centres across the globe, the doors remain shut: teachers and students alike are encouraged to stay in their homes.

With the coronavirus crisis and the ensuing restrictions, many students have suddenly lost their jobs or even the ability to go to find work - and therefore to earn an income for their families. There is no safety net, no scheme to assist. If you have no income, you have no money- and no food.

These are tough times. When I hear stories of how the students are struggling- of how the mothers cannot feed their children, I am heartbroken. It is hard to know how to respond, with the restrictions on movement and food distribution.

We are all in these difficult times together. It is hard for everyone. However, not many of us reading this will go seriously hungry as we wait in our homes for the virus to be overcome.

How does it feel to be in crowded accommodation, where houses are shacks, a jumbled tangle where it is hard to say where one home ends and the next one begins? What does "self-isolating" mean in this context?

What is it like, when you share a latrine with several other families and there is no way you can afford soap to wipe down doors or handles, to protect your children from the virus?
Where you have maybe only one or two rooms, so if someone is sick, you cannot separate them from everyone else?
When going to the doctor means being asked to pay money that you don't have?
When you can't afford food, so how would you buy soap?
When washing your hands means using water that has to be fetched in jerry-cans from a shared tap at the other end of your dusty street?

These are the added challenges of this time. It is hard to think of people I have worked with and know facing these additional troubles in these already-difficult times.

None of us know what the future holds. None of us can predict how this crisis can be brought to an end, nor what our world will look like when it does.

What I do know is that I have met, through "Refuge and Hope", people who have survived great difficulties, but inspire me with their resilience. That gives me hope as we face uncertainty now.

I have met people who have gone on to find strength, encouragement and hope through this incredible centre. A centre which exists to bring healing and point its students, as well as its staff, to look to the ultimate source of our comfort. A centre that I want to see continue and thrive.

Will you join me in praying for the students and their families through these days of trouble?
That they can find refuge, strength and practical help as they look to God?
That the Centre of Refuge and Hope will be able to continue its fantastic work in the future?

And if you feel inspired to read more, or to donate to an organisation that cares and helps the most vulnerable, here is the relevant website address:

https://www.refugeandhope.org/

From Uganda, with love

Dear Family and Friends,

We just want to check in to give you a further update from Uganda during these days of lock-down and social isolation.

First of all: we send our love to you from Uganda, wherever you are!

Please know we pray for you at this time. 

Please do send us your news too- it is good to hear how you are doing so far away and how things have been for you with all the recent lock-downs.

Parkers at home

Here in Uganda, our family is fine. School at home is going smoothly, thanks to the amazing organisation of the childrens' teachers who set their work and grade it online. We are thankful for electricity and for internet.

To help keep me sane with guiding schoolwork and managing housework, I have delegated jobs to the kids and the rotas are working quite well (so far!!).

Washing-up:

Weekly chores:

To manage supplies, I drew up a basic menu to help me stay organised through this lock-down.

To keep fit, we join in with the children’s P.E. sessions online with fitness teacher Joe Wicks, or bounce on the trampoline. The boys have come up with some exciting new bouncing manoeuvers! 

There is even opportunity for water-fights:

I have taken to jogging around the garden, motivated by energetic music on my headphones and by keeping one step ahead of our dog, who can’t believe his luck at having us home all day!

Sweaty Betty (not flattering, but proves that I exercised!):

I am loving the birdsong instead of the buzz of traffic, the gorgeous flowers in our garden and, on days when I wake up in time, the beautiful gift of Ugandan sunrises unhindered by the usual smog of pollution.

Yesterday's sunrise:

From the garden:

Bringing the outside inside: flowers from our garden for Mother's Day:

We are blessed with lovely friends in Kampala and today, Esther, Ben and Andrew enjoyed a walk over the hill with good friends (with suitable social distancing). I went for a shorter early walk with Joel. 

One thoughtful friend dropped off an exciting bag full of DVDs to keep us entertained on weekend evenings and some homemade cheesecake! Another just sent us a DELICIOUS batch of homemade cinnamon rolls!

A departing friend, heading back to the UK on the very last flight before the airport shut, came by to leave me with her collection of escapism material: namely, her old Hello magazines! What a great way to lose reality! 

Yesterday, 3 small parcels from England arrived, each one containing CHOCOLATE!! :-) Need I say more??

Lock-down Restrictions

The President gave a national address on Monday night that brought in tighter restrictions. We already had all school children at home and limited movement, but not as strict as in the UK.  Overnight, this changed.

The hardest of the new rules is that we are not allowed to use our cars, so nobody is allowed to drive anywhere. This is to stop the spread of Covid-19, but it does make things difficult.

At the moment, if we need to get to hospital, we have to phone a local councillor to ask permission to move around to get to the hospital; only vehicles that have special registration are allowed to be on the roads. I am not quite sure, as I type this, how this works.

I pray that we won’t have an emergency or covid situation that would mean a trip to a doctor or hospital. I have printed out the emergency contacts and displayed them on our lounge wall, all the while praying that we won’t need to use them. If I let anxiety creep back in, this is one point that makes me feel afraid. I have to keep going back to the truth of my previous blog...it is a constant battle in this season to focus on God's love and protection rather than the "what ifs?"

For shopping, we can arrange motorbike deliveries from shops, pharmacies and small businesses. The vegetable seller came yesterday to drop off lovely fresh produce and a big bag of dried beans, which I plan to cook today.

I even ordered a large bag of dog-food, which the boda (motorbike) driver secured onto the back of his bike! Since we live in a land where no object is too large to be transported on a motorbike, I'm pretty confident I can order bulky things. Here is a photo I took in the past to prove my point: a motorbike on a motorbike!

 The other new restriction is a strict curfew: no movement between 7pm and 6:30am. We pray that this has an  advantage of helping to curb crime, especially robberies as people start to get desperate for income.

The presidential speech also gave advice and guidelines to try to curb the spread of Covid-19 and reassurance that the government will organise food distributions to help those who have no income at this time. 

With businesses closed and in a city where it is not easy to grow food, no income literally means nothing to eat.  Since children are now all home from school, there are more mouths to feed.  Many Ugandan children go to boarding school and fees are already paid, with the understanding that children would be fed at school- so to have them at home again adds extra strain. We already have friends without income but with children at home. It is becoming increasingly difficult. 

I feel particular concern for the vulnerable refugee students and children I have been teaching for the past 2 and a half years at the Centre of Refuge and Hope. 

Please PRAY for God’s mercy on Uganda and His provision in these hard times. 

Many in Uganda look to God and trust in His help, so my prayer is that we will hear testimony after testimony of God’s help as He answers people’s prayers.

Let me leave you with this beautiful verse from Psalm 46, verse 1:

"God is our refuge and strength,

    an ever-present help in trouble".

Thank you for your prayers, your love and support and this comes with much love from us all. Please look after yourselves and we pray you stay well and safe.

Liz, Andrew, Esther, Ben and Joel XXXX

His Presence

So much has changed since I last wrote a blogpost. We are all facing unprecedented times. It doesn't matter which country we are in, the world as we knew it currently looks completely different.

I grabbed a few moments to sit down to read my Bible this morning. The children were already busy and engaged in their first school-at-home lessons of the day, so I had a few minutes to myself. I chose to sit outside on the veranda of our Uganda home, with a cup of tea and my glasses (I'm too old to read without them these days!!).

In these unpredictable times, anxiety circles overhead, like the African vultures who frequent our garden, ready to snatch away any joy and any ability to concentrate properly on my children's school work. There is only one place that I know where I can take these fears and find peace- and that is to my God.

So I picked up my Bible and what I read brought me comfort. All I want to do tonight is share on my blog the words I read (brackets are my own additions) - and I pray they can comfort you too.

Deuteronomy 31 verse 6: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid.. because of them [corona virus, civil unrest where people are getting desperate], for the Lord your God goes with you...He will NEVER leave you nor forsake you."

Psalm 139: Where can I flee from God's presence? If I settle on the far side of the sea, if I am in a dark place- God is still there. His "right hand will hold me fast."

Isaiah 43 verse 3, "When you pass through the waters [problems like we face now, overwhelming danger and uncertainty] I will be with you."

I am not alone in this. Neither are you. And that gives me peace in these hard times.

My African morning

It is 6:30am. All three children have either eaten or are busy eating their breakfast. Another school day is dawning.

It is strangely quiet in the space outside our kitchen. I peer through the fly screen door and wonder where our normally excitable dog, Harry, has got to. It is unusual that he is not pushing to get into the kitchen and demanding his breakfast. I step outside in the half light and wander round the corner into the garden to search for Harry.

Bizarrely, he is standing at the base of one of our trees, nose tilted upwards, staring intently at Something on one of the higher branches. Following the direction of his pointing muzzle, I look up into the leaves- and spy a dark shape crouched, blending into the outline of a branch. It looks a bit like a cat, but its back is more arched, its profile much darker and its head smaller. I look more closely. It has a long tail. Wait! It is a long, dark, striped tail and the body of the creature is marked with patterns almost like a condensed version of those seen on a giraffe- or the jaguar I once saw at a South African zoo.

I suddenly feel much more wide awake. The cat-like creature is distracted, staring back at Harry in a kind of stand-off, pounced ready to spring but carefully measuring the risk posed by my dog. Every second that passes gives us a little more light, as the sun rises quickly in Uganda. The creature in the tree seems more tense with every passing minute, as the light starts to expose its shape and markings. I am excited now- I think I am looking at a civet, a wild cat normally only spotted in the expanse of a National Park or out in the African bush- not in the city suburbs of Kampala.

I back away quietly, calling gently to Harry, but he is transfixed and will not take his eyes off this new threat to his territory.

I walk quickly back into the kitchen and stage-whisper to the children to come as fast as they can. Ben and Joel tumble over each other in their enthusiasm to glimpse this wild animal. It is still there, locked in its silent battle with the dog, but the rustle of extra human activity breaks its concentration and it glances at the three of us.

Quick as a flash, it bounds down the tree and dashes up the trees by the wall at the side of our property. Harry gallops after it, despite us calling to him (he is not very obedient!!) and then our cat joins in, chasing the trespasser over the wall into the neighbour's garden. "There's no way that Harry could catch it, Mum!" Ben reassures me in my anxiety to protect this exotic animal.

The boys get a good look at the departing animal and we all rush inside to consult our "African Mammals" book.

What we saw this morning appears to be a large-spotted genet. What an exciting start to our Thursday! This is the image from our reference book:

(photo credit, Mammals of...East Africa, Struick)

Having seen it today helps to explain the great drama of noise which occurred two nights ago in our garden. In the dead dark of night, there were high-pitched squeals, a rustling in the undergrowth outside our bedroom window and a wild yapping from Harry. Intrigued, I ran to look out of the window and saw the profile of a large owl, soaring over the wall, silhouetted by the city lights beyond. Harry was barking wildly at something up the avocado tree, but the reflection of 2 bright eyes was all I could see high up in the tree branches.

It must have been our visiting genet causing all the excitement!

As today progressed and once the children were had been happily dispatched to school, I took off to a neighbour's house so that we could do a short fitness walk around our hilly neighbourhood. Wandering down our street, I had to smile to myself at the sights I see here. First a genet as day began and now I was walking past 2 uniformed, armed guards. I don't flinch at all as I greet the lady in uniform with an enormous gun slung over her shoulder. We smile and nod a "good morning" to one another and I continue on my way. Very civilised- but that huge gun is a sight I never saw in London on my way to a friend's house!

Within a few metres, a motorbike driver zooms towards me. His passenger seated behind him holds an enormous, yellow jerry-can on her lap and is shouting a conversation to her driver as they zip past me. A typical Kampala sight.

A truly African morning.

Amazing Opportunity

Two weeks ago I had the immense privilege of flying with Andrew-  and even joining him on his overnight stopover.

Andrew was booked, along with 2 other MAF pilots, to fly a large team of volunteer, short-term  workers. The volunteers had been working alongside vulnerable mothers and children in a community near Soroti. To read first-hand of the amazing projects of "Beauty For Ashes" and of how it all began, click on the link below:

https://www.beautyforashesuganda.org/about_us

The team had travelled from the USA. Before returning home, they had booked a short overnight break at Murchison National Park. Because time was short, they arranged to save many hours of road travel by flying with MAF from Soroti to Murchison on Friday morning.

Then, on Saturday, they would fly with MAF from Murchison direct to Entebbe Airport to join their international flights.

Very generously, the they offered to cover costs for the pilot's wives to come along to join the pilots on the flights and even their overnight stop at Murchison National Park. This act of kindness and generosity was such a huge blessing for us - and we are SO grateful!

It has been over two years since I last entered the cockpit of a MAF plane. More than two years since I last saw Andrew at work in his elevated "office"!

I was excited to join him! I felt unexpectedly emotional entering the MAF plane. It brought back  memories of our many flights from Juba to Nairobi and in particular, our evacuation flight from Juba to Lokichoggio in northwest Kenya.

It was a rainy morning as Andrew prepared for the flight from MAF's Kajansi airfield to Soroti. I sat quietly (or at least, tried to!!) as he preflighted the plane. Andrew was the last of the three pilots to take off on this 3-plane job.

And then we were off! The houses and trees became smaller and smaller as we gained height and ascended towards the clouds.

 There were ALOT of clouds that day! Andrew planned to fly lower level to avoid them, but entering into overcast weather was soon inevitable. As we entered the clouds, the ground faded from view. Hmmm... I was not so comfortable with what I could see out of the window now. Basically, there was nothing but fluffy whiteness underneath the wheel of our aeroplane! 

I glanced at Andrew, but he seemed unconcerned. I checked the instrument panel in front of my seat and although I know nothing about flying, I was comforted to see that everything was still lit up and seemed to be working, even if the view out of the windscreen was an opaque nothingness!

 Cool, calm and collected, my pilot husband expertly navigated the MAF plane through some pretty frightening weather. Rain battered the front of the plane, running in tiny rivulets over and down the windows. The clouds caused a few bumps and I wondered how on earth Andrew knew where to direct the plane when there was no point of reference from the invisible ground! Now I was definitely silent, stunned into quietness by my own fears! Andrew, however, was in constant radio contact with the other 2 pilots and it was cheering to listen in on my headset.

It was definitely reassuring to see how unphased Andrew was and how concentrated. It gave me a renewed appreciation of how tiring his job can be in this unpredictable environment.

Finally, there were glimpses of the earth below! Phew!

It was a longer-than-expected landing procedure at Soroti airfield. The rainy weather meant that the 3 MAF pilots came in to land relying on their instruments rather than what could be seen from the plane. Andrew was the third pilot to land and needed to hold for a while before he could position the plane for landing. Flying in a holding position uses up the fuel that is calculated for the actual journey and is another variable which creates extra consideration for the pilot.

 Finally, we came in to Soroti and jumped out of the plane, happy to meet the team from "Beauty for Ashes"- and happy to be out of that nasty weather!

A short while later, we were cleared for take-off, with the large team split between the 3 MAF planes. It was FABULOUS to look out and see the views, as the weather cleared in the direction we were headed!

It was even more FANTASTIC to fly over Murchison Falls and see this natural wonder from above!

How amazing also to land at an airstrip in a national park and be in the midst of Murchison!
The team kindly included us in their safari drive later that afternoon. My day went from rain in Kampala to giraffe-spotting in Murchison, in just a few hours!

 The safari vehicle which bumped us through the park:

We had a mini-adventure, as our vehicle ended up with a flat tyre just as we were driving back at dusk for our evening meal! Vehicles are not generally supposed to be driving after dark, but here we were, stranded in lion country,  waiting on the gravel track while our wheel was replaced! Darkness falls quickly in Africa, so we felt a little vulnerable to predators or maybe a marauding elephant out for an evening stroll- but happily I am still here to tell the story!

The next day, it was back to the MAF planes as the team began their first leg of their long journey home. We climbed aboard a bus to drive through the park from the lodge to Murchison's airstrip. 

The 3 MAF planes looked handsome in their line-up as their passengers prepared to embark: 

Here comes the pilot of my plane, flanked by the flags of Uganda, the East African Union and the Civil Aviation Authority! (from left to right)

It was a smooth flight back to Entebbe airport. One of the American ladies from the team kindly took this photo for us on landing at Entebbe:

 She was the lady I sat next to on the flight from Murchison. She shared with me some of her life-story; she was truly inspiring in her commitment to helping the vulnerable and in her dedication to teaching and serving children and young adults with special needs. As we discussed some of life's challenges, an overriding theme emerged: that of the kindness of God, even in difficulties and of His faithfulness. Her comment that God's presence is a gift to us each day comforted my soul- and I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to speak with and learn from this amazing lady. I think our meeting was one of those "Divine appointments" that has given me a new focus in my recent struggle with health issues around my asthma.

After the passengers headed off toward International Departures, Andrew still needed to fly the MAF plane back to Kajansi airfield. I had this pilot all to myself for the ensuing 8-minute flight!

 Over the edge of Lake Victoria...

Over the streets of Kajansi... 

And safely downwards to the airstip at Kajansi for the end of this Amazing Opportunity!

 

Riding out of 2019 and into 2020

Happy New Year to you all, from Kampala!

I rode into 2020 on a camel...

So did Joel and also Ben!

We spent the final few days of the last decade and the first day of 2020 at Kenya's Brackenhurst, at the wonderful "Renew" conference. The camel came along to celebrate the new year with us!

The "Renew" conference has featured many times on this blog in previous years, so I will not add much. Suffice to say, we had a very special week away, catching up with old friends, making new ones, eating copious amounts of good food and drinking vats of Kenyan tea.

It was extra special that the volunteers leading the children's activities this year were from our church in London! It was so good to have time with friends from London on African soil! The children enjoyed their fun sessions. Whilst the younger generation were happily occupied, the parents were able to focus on the excellent teaching times during the conference, along the theme of, "Serving God despite.... fears/ character flaws/ problems in our work/ personal suffering." Inspiring and encouraging teaching.

With our London friends/ Kid's Team Volunteers!:-)

Driving to Kenya was just under 15 hours of driving each way, including the time for paperwork at the Uganda/Kenya border. Andrew did an amazing job of driving all those hours! Part of the way home, our odometer hit 1,000km. I think we did about 1,600 km in total! The odometer returned to zero at the point where we reached 1,000km:

**********************************************************************

Before the conference, we had a quiet but happy Christmas at home in Kampala. I was unwell for a long period before Christmas, mostly due to an attempted switch in asthma medication which did not work out, followed by the nasty virus referred to in my December blog. This meant that we had a quieter Christmas season. On Christmas Day, we enjoyed a lovely meal at home shared with a Ugandan friend and a family from America who are good friends.

 After the New Year conference, we returned back to the routine of school.

Esther was not impressed that the first day of the new school term was also her birthday! However, we celebrated after school with afternoon tea and some delicious cream cakes, a gift from a kind Swedish friend who was staying with us.

The birthday girl officially celebrated her 14th birthday with six friends that Friday afternoon.

With a mock Spa set up in our home, Esther and her guests (and even her Mum!!) enjoyed creating their own smoothies, making their own face masks from face-mask recipes, decorating themselves with henna designs, having pedicures courtesy of a Ugandan beautician who came to join us and taking crazy pictures in the homemade photo-booth. LOTS of fun!!

Here are a few photos for you to join in the fun too!