Greetings everyone from the land of Safari Ants, Pythons and Leopards. Thankfully the latter two I have not seen for myself but the horrible Safari / Fire Ants seem to surround our house and / or the Special Needs Classroom frequently these days and all we can do is fight their army back with paraffin and hot ashes.
After promising to improve my communication with you all last time, I went silent (well almost!) for nearly 4 months. I guess I owe apologies and an explanation that can be summed up in one word, or name, MARY!
Actually, I can’t blame it all on her as although I was on 3 months maternity leave from May - July, I am afraid I also ended up working a little here and there, and of course attending to our little lodger Stella.
Despite having to do some work occasionally, we managed to have a lovely first 3 months together and I am happy to report that Mary is very settled in her new home and seems very content. Of course we have our moments and there are some occasions when I would much rather watch an episode of Downton or 24 rather than Peppa Pig for the 1,000,000th time. But over all, we are doing very well and I am more than enjoying being a Mummy to my lovely daughter. It has especially been fun listening to her British accent develop :)
During my maternity leave, we were able to get away several times to be alone together and/or to visit friends. This included a trip to the lovely Judith Goddard’s house on the shores of Lake Victoria. Whilst Judith and her bird watching buddies were busy watching birds, Mary and I were off out to the pool and Entebbe Zoo.
We also had a fun weekend away with our friends Kimberley (a nurse here at Kasana) and Natasha who was a Dr at Kiwoko for 2 years. I say was because sadly our trip was a farewell one. Saying goodbye to dear friends is sadly a big part of the life here. Sometimes I selfishly wonder if I should bother. But what a lot I would miss out on if I did. We are looking forward to seeing Natasha back in England when we finally get to fly there.
So, another thing that has been keeping us busy has been working on Mary’s adoption paperwork Before I can adopt her, I first have to foster her for 3 years. So, the first thing we had to get was a foster care order. At the same time as working on Mary’s care order, we were also trying to get them for some of our special needs children. Things here always take time and people never seem to be in their office when you need them…….other delays include power cuts (a daily occurrence), receipt books running out, burials etc. etc. Needless to say it took several trips to the district head quarters and several trips to the local court, and almost 2 months before we finally got the stamped pieces of paper that name me as the foster mother of Nakidde Mary! There is lots more I could add here but I will ‘zip it’ as who knows who could be reading this blog. I will just say that it took a lot of prayers and trusting that GOD was in control and not people who think they can use their power to manipulate……
Since getting the foster care order, we have moved on to pursuing legal guardianship. Hopefully when I have been awarded this, Mary and I will be able to travel to the UK for a visit. As well as trips to the lawyers office (thankfully one who has been a friend of New Hope for years,) we have also been on many adventurous journeys out in the bush to visit Mary’s relatives and Local Council Chair people to get stamps, death certificates, ID, birth certificates, information, photos, etc. etc. We have particularly enjoyed getting to know Mary’s maternal Uncle who has been so helpful. We really want Mary to maintain her relationship with him and I think he is keen to as well.
Stella and her Senga (paternal Aunt) have also been a huge part of the last 4 months or so as they have been living with us. Stella has made so much progress and it is such a joy to see her enjoying life; smiling and trying to talk (or shout at times.) Her issues with sleep have continued to be a problem but thankfully in the last couple of weeks she has learnt to sleep through the night apart from once or twice. Although Stella’s parents have abandoned her, it is so wonderful to witness how much her Auntie loves her. Whilst she is working for us full time she is also studying one subject which she needs to retake before she can hopefully apply to nursing school. Getting to know Stella’s auntie and her parents has been humbling. She has come from such a poor background; when we went to visit their home for Stella’s birthday we saw the mud huts that they live in and were overwhelmed by the expense and trouble they had gone to to prepare an amazing meal for us and by the gifts of money that they gave to Stella. Myself and Emily Casebow were ashamed of ourselves when we failed to finish the plates of 5 carbs (Matooke, Potatoes, Spaghetti, Cassava and Chapatis), with big bowls of meat along with 2 bottles of soda they presented each of us with! They however, did not struggle to demolish the chocolate birthday cake we took with us.
Before we went home, I was presented with a big, very alive cockerel which thankfully they tied up for the journey home. He is now residing in Uncle Mulu’s chicken pen awaiting his fate!
Having Stella’s Auntie living with us has also been challenging especially in regard to my personal spending habits. It is hard to bring home huge bags of shopping from Kampala supermarkets when I know she and her family struggle so hard to pay school and medical fees for one another. But then, me giving them money isn’t going to help matters long term, and I wouldn’t call my purchases luxurious! I continue to ponder and pray on this point!
At the end of July, after a very lovely visit from the Harvest Church Alton team, I started back to work as the Special Needs Coordinator. It has been challenging trying to balance my work with spending time with Mary, especially seeing as I am on site 24/7. However, the most difficult thing for me has been realising that in many respects I have now ‘done myself out of’ the favourite parts of my job. Thankfully God has blessed us with great staff who have really taken over my roles as carer and teacher to our children. Unfortunately I have been left with the fundraising, accounts, managing staff side of things and I find myself in an office rather than in the classroom or home. However, as the one who began this ministry, I guess this is where God wants me to be until someone else comes along to take over and release me to return to where I feel I am more gifted. ‘Lord, please send the right person soon or all my marbles might get lost! My Dad will tell you how useless I was at my Maths homework, and I really don’t enjoy confronting people!’ His answer for now, ‘My Grace IS sufficient!’
Dear little (but very tall ) Mary turned 4 in July and is starting school with Mrs Dendy next week. She will be being home schooled along with Sarah’s own children; Sammy, Thomas and Isaac. She is very excited and very ready to start. Next year she may also attend some classes in New Hope Primary School along with her great friends (our neighbours) Jonnie, Mirab and Izzy. She is desperate to go to the ‘big school’ and ‘drink porridge’ (at least she’s honest!)
We are so lucky to live in such a great community and right next door to David family. The older girls fight over who is going to braid her hair or who is going to teach her to ride her pink bike! And she loves digging and slashing with them all in the gardens/ compound (I’m not sure what social services would say about the safety of these activities but never mind!)
Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this blog and taking an interest in our life here at Kasana. If you are a praying person, please keep us in your prayers; particularly that we would get a court date soon and that the passport and VISA applications would be approved so we can come visit our family and friends in England soon; we miss you all so much and especially can’t wait to see the new family members Edward and Jessica…….and see the soon to be married couple, Jonathan and Rosie Tolhurst.
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