House Pictures

Here are a few photos of my house from the end of last week.....
I went over there with Annet, Judah and John from David family for a photo shoot!

The big window in my bedroom.

My neighbour to be....Bubbly the black lab!

THANK YOU so much to everyone who has given so generously to this house project!

Living an Abundant Life with David Family.

This last week, I went to Musana Camp on the shores of Lake Victoria with the family group I am part of (David.) The journey there was interesting as the roads are more like riverbeds than roads....

However, we made it there safely by Monday lunch time and then began having much fun together!

Playing with the Giant Ball.

Playing Minefields

We played lots of games and also went on treks into the jungle to find a waterfall and also out onto the peninsula......

We also spent time together studying God`s word and discussing things such as whether Jesus meant that we could experience an abundant life in the here and now or whether that is just for the future, when we go to heaven?
In answer to that, I can definately say that God has given me an abundant life. Even when life is not as easy or good as it has been this last week, I always have that peace and joy deep in my heart knowing that He will never leave or forsake me and that because of what Jesus has done for me, I am FREE from all guilt and shame!

Uncle Syd leading devotions on the rocks.

Apart from just the treat of not having to collect water twice a day and cook food for themselves, probably the thing the children enjoyed the most was swimming (or splashing around in the lake!)

Although we had to leave Hassan and Carol back at Kasana due to their ongoing medical problems (bless her, poor Carol was back in the hospital AGAIN!) we were able to go with Kakande who had a WHALE of a time. He almost did become a whale when he went swimming.......but perhaps his favourite part of the whole week was riding around on Uncle Syd`s Quad bike! Since we got back he has been asking us every five minutes when we are going back....

 

Overall, despite the frequent trips I`ve had to pay to the toilet after swallowing lake water,  it was just a wonderful break away for all of us and we really enjoyed just chilling out together and enjoying the beautiful surroundings.

And in case you are worried about my exploding bottom, Hannah seems to have solved it by giving me charcoal to eat (in tablet form!)
She might be needing some after eating chicken on a stick on our way back!

Busy School Holidays

Just before the end of term, a group of us went to the rehab centre in KLA to collect our equipment which was ready apart from needing a few adjustments. Uncle Dan had to tie all the standing frames onto the roof of our van.

Now we are two weeks into our ‘break’ but there is not much resting going on as certain little people have been keeping us on our toes.....

Carol is back in hospital with pneumonia and we have been very grateful for the help she has received from a Paedeatrician from the UK who is at Kiwoko for 6 mths. Please keep Carol in your prayers.....we will be taking her to see an ENT specialist at Mulago hospital in Kampala once she has been discharged.

Allen has been exploding at both ends and sadly she has lost nearly a Kg in the last month. She was treated from Malaria and is now on an antibiotic......we pray that this will kill off whatever is disturbing her tummy!

Allen receives counselling from her parrot about how
mean A.Kate is making her stand up!

Brian is due to go for mini surgery on Tuesday as he once again has a bad wound on his bottom. Right now we don`t think he will have the op as he has come down with Malaria and is not well at all!

Brian with his friends at home.

The special needs team have been doing lots of home visits to check up on the children and encourage the parents/carers....

Uncle Eric at Najib`s home.

Kakande with his Auntie and Uncle Eric.

Ivan with his family at home.

And the house is going up quickly quickly which is very exciting although I keep reminding myself that this is the quick bit....it is the internal work that takes time!

Me in my house :)

On Monday, I am off to Musana camp on the shores of Lake Victoria with David family. We are very excited to get to spend lots of time relaxing and having fun together. Unfortunately Hassan won`t be coming but Kakande will.....he has been coming around early every morning to ask me if it is today we are going for the last 10 days! Next time I will keep my mouth shut!

Better go cook dinner as am having some Doctor`s from Kiwoko hospital over for dinner......I`m not trying to bribe them, honest!

Helpers, Hot Cross Buns and House Progress

The Cooley Team 2012.

When teams come to help out at Kasana it is always an encouragement to those of us who live and work there, especially when they are friends or even if they are just people from England bearing gifts of Tetley tea bags, Marmite and Dairy Milk! These last two weeks we have enjoyed having the 'Cooley Team' with us from Tees Valley (hope I got that right.....up North somewhere anyway!) The Cooleys (Chris and Anne) are the people I originally came out to New Hope with in 2008 along with Stu and Sarah Dendy and Steve Spencer. They are lovely, lovely people and have been a real blessing to New Hope these last 4 years; bringing teams out and organising various fund raising events in the UK.
This time the team was helping mainly with finishing off the new home for the babies in Hope Family and did an amazing job. However, once my class had recovered from the measles epidemic, several of the ladies were able to come and help out in my class.
On Thursday we made some hot cross buns at my house with Auntie Anna.

Baking lessons on Auntie Kate`s Verandah.

 Godfrey kneading the dough.

 Allen & Ivan glazing their buns whilst reclining on the sofa!
 

This week has also been very exciting in terms of the progress being made on my house......as you will see from my photos, the foundations are coming along well. I am trying not to get too excited though as building the external structure (bricks, roof etc.) is always the quick part and it is the internal part of the job that goes on and on and on.....................

And because I have hitched a ride to Entebbe with some friends so I CAN upload photos....I will post a couple more that I`ve taken this week:

 Jonnie and Judah in the David Family maize crib.

Thomas and Kate having a cuddle in Kampala.

Doing Much Better Today (Friday)

Just a quick update with some good news. All the children in hospital are doing much better today and we are hoping that the Doctor will allow some or all of them to be discharged tomorrow so we can have Easter at home......

Here are a couple of pics of Brian and Allen from today. They look soooooo much better than they did yesterday and I am breathing HUGE sighs of relief (especially over Allen who had me very worried!)

Please pray that I don`t fall victim to the measles as my Mum has just informed me that I didn`t have it as a child and didn`t have the vaccination either.

Time for bed now as it`s back to the hospital for me in the morning....

Hope you all have a lovely Easter weekend!

Measles and My House.

Sleeping Beauty needs your prayers!

Well, rest and relaxation had to come to an end sometime........

I returned from my weekend away in Entebbe to find some rather poorly children back home. It seems we have a measles epidemic going on in our area and 3 of the children from my class are admitted in the hospital with it along with dear Carol who had some symptoms of measles but no rash?! Please pray especially for Allen and Ivan who are both severely underweight for their age and are both very poorly. I have been with Allen all day today and she has had to have an NG tube put down as she was not taking any food or drink and having severe diarrhea. Bless her, she couldn`t open her eyes today because they were so swollen and stuck together L  It was hard to leave her this evening but she and Brian are being well looked after in their isolation room by Uncle Dennis who is currently working with us so that he can hopefully then afford to go and train to be a clinical officer.

Thankfully, Carol has come off the Oxygen machine today and is smiling and trying to talk to us so hopefully it won`t be long until she comes home but you can pray that she stays home this time!

We have been told to bring the rest of the special needs children in to have booster vaccinations in the next few days but that is only 5 of them as the other 5 have all got or had measles!

On a happier note, I am very excited to tell you that this week they have started digging the foundations to my house. Thank you so much to those of you who have donated money towards this project. I will keep you updated on the progress with news and pics. I think I will try and make a page on my blog for my house project so watch this space......

And finally, I thought I`d add a photo of Wilbur, one of the children who we have been able to support in the community. Here he is with his Grandmother (and younger sister or cousin) wearing his splints that we got from Katalemwa Rehab Centre and using the parallel bars which the physio built for him at home to practise his walking.

Sunbathing, Sleeping and Showering in Entebbe.

Could you resist this smile?

Life at Kasana is wonderful, but every so often it is necessary for one`s sanity to escape and get some rest in a place where you know there won`t be 100s of knocks on the doors! I am writing this from a lovely guest house in Entebbe where I have come with some other ladies from New Hope to do just that......and on Sunday, to collect a team from Tees Valley who are coming to Kasana for 2 weeks (yippeeeee!)

So, I am making the most of the hot showers to get clean and spent the day yesterday lying in the sun by the pool (and now have a rather pink chest!) And this morning, as it is drizzly and cool(er) I am making the most of the speedy internet and getting very excited about skyping with family and friends later. I am posting random photos throughout the blog just because I CAN!

In the garden behind Hassan`s House

Since my last blog, Carol has been discharged from hospital and is doing relatively well at home being fed through an NG tube. Please continue to pray that we get a gastrostomy tube for her soon and find a surgeon who is willing to operate (these ops are not common practise in Uganda!)

A class craft session

All of the other children are doing relatively well and Hassan has stopped his vomiting tricks for the time being (except for a little one which he produced in response to my goodbye kiss yesterday morning!)

In our class we have been so excited by Allen learning to feed herself almost independently from a two handled beaker (I know it sounds insignificant but for her it is a miracle!) She is also now 8.5kg which is the heaviest she has been in the 9 years of her life!

Precious Allen

I have been spending lots of time working on our special needs programme budget ......and those of you who know me well will know that figures are not my favourite thing and whenever I have to deal with them, I begin to feel quite sick! Thankfully I had quite a bit of help from Nancy and it is almost finished.....we only need to cut back on 1 million (shillings not pounds!) before it balances J Remember, if you know of anyone who would be willing to sponsor one of our children or our programme as a whole, we would be delighted to hear from them either on specialneeds@newhopeuganda.org or sponsors@newhopeuganda.org . We would also love to hear from anyone who feels called to come and serve in our department  either short or long term in the future.

Dorcas and Benon