Craig and Emmy had a successful trip to Kampala last week. Thanks to everyones prayers, it was a successful trip. Work Permits approved and NGO application submitted! It was a pretty exhausting trip with Emmy and Craig visiting the many Ministry's to obtain signatures and stamps to submit as part of the NGO application but they managed it, in record breaking time.
After a hectic couple of days, they spent their last night at the Graduation Party for Emmy's aunty, so not all work!
More good news was that I had a phone call from a Rev Peter at Bishop Barham College, who is very interested to translate the Sunday school curriculum. This is really great news as he is very enthusiastic about the work. We are now beginning the process of costing the project and agreeing deadlines!
More news next week as the Crosslinks Smile Team arrives :-)
Prayer: Please continue to pray for the NGO application. The NGO board first have to meet and then agree whether to approve the application.
Welcome!
Monday, 23 January 2012
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Official Business
It has been a significant few days for Craig and I.
First of all on Friday I was able to make an annoucement to the Annual Brethen Conference (a four day conference bringing together Reverends and their congregations from all over the Diocese of Kigezi) that the english version of the Sunday School Curriculum was finally available. It was a great priviledge to be able to encourage the Church of the developments there have been in Sunday School Ministry, firstly in the number of Sunday school teachers that had been trained over the last few years and also to highlight the distribution of the Sunday School Curriculum. I'm yet to get the final numbers of curriculum sold over the weekend but we think it will be around 150 copies - which is fantastic! The next challenge is to continue the process of having the curriculum translated into Rukiga ready for next years conference.
On the Saturday I joined the children to do some teaching, along with Patience. This year's theme was Colossians 3:17 ' so I 'stole' the idea of WWJD and we made braclets out of paper and masking tape. You can see some of the children have them on in the photo.
Then on Sunday we had our first official meeting of the Board for the Bakiga Community Project. It was great to finally get everyone together. After sharing lunch we went through the formalities of appointing the management committee and approving the constitution. It was a successful meeting and a significant step on the road to becoming an NGO. Craig and Emmy will soon travel to Kampala with all the paperwork - watch this space for developments and please do pray, it is is not an easy process.
First of all on Friday I was able to make an annoucement to the Annual Brethen Conference (a four day conference bringing together Reverends and their congregations from all over the Diocese of Kigezi) that the english version of the Sunday School Curriculum was finally available. It was a great priviledge to be able to encourage the Church of the developments there have been in Sunday School Ministry, firstly in the number of Sunday school teachers that had been trained over the last few years and also to highlight the distribution of the Sunday School Curriculum. I'm yet to get the final numbers of curriculum sold over the weekend but we think it will be around 150 copies - which is fantastic! The next challenge is to continue the process of having the curriculum translated into Rukiga ready for next years conference.
On the Saturday I joined the children to do some teaching, along with Patience. This year's theme was Colossians 3:17 ' so I 'stole' the idea of WWJD and we made braclets out of paper and masking tape. You can see some of the children have them on in the photo.
Then on Sunday we had our first official meeting of the Board for the Bakiga Community Project. It was great to finally get everyone together. After sharing lunch we went through the formalities of appointing the management committee and approving the constitution. It was a successful meeting and a significant step on the road to becoming an NGO. Craig and Emmy will soon travel to Kampala with all the paperwork - watch this space for developments and please do pray, it is is not an easy process.
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| Craig, Saturday George; George; Oscar; Emmy, Sarah and Patience. |
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Happy New Year!
After a rather sorry state of affairs at Christmas with Craig ill in bed :-( the New Year has got off to a good start. New Year's Day we had a very relaxing morning after the all of us, including Leo and Bethany stayed up to see the New Year in (though Bethany only made it to 11pm). Then we headed off to the Lake for a late lunch and a dip in the pool. Since then the weather has continued to be lovely and hot, so the kids have been enjoying having the paddling pool out.
Craig, now fit and well again, has been dashing around with Emmy and George finalisiing all the paperwork for the Bakiga Community Projects' application to become a NGO. They plan to head up to Kampala sometime next week to put in the application and also to pick up our work permits, which we hope will have been stamped.
Claudia has been preparing to teach at the annual Diocese Conference taking place at the Cathedral. She will be teaching the children on Saturday but before that she has been given some time in the main adult meeting to share about the developments and completion of the Sunday School Curriculum. This is an exciting opportunity, as people from all over the Diocese will be attending and it is hoped many will take the curriculum back to their churches.
Preparations continue for the Crosslinks Smile team who are coming at the end of the month. The beds have been installed with mosquito net poles and Charity is busy cleaning everything, ready for their arrival. Please pray for the team as they prepare to come http://www.crosslinks.org/smile/uganda-gap-team-2012
We wish everyone a very Happy New Year from here in Kabale and look forward to sharing all that God is doing here, over the next year.
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| Leo and Bethany relaxing by the pool. |
Craig, now fit and well again, has been dashing around with Emmy and George finalisiing all the paperwork for the Bakiga Community Projects' application to become a NGO. They plan to head up to Kampala sometime next week to put in the application and also to pick up our work permits, which we hope will have been stamped.
Claudia has been preparing to teach at the annual Diocese Conference taking place at the Cathedral. She will be teaching the children on Saturday but before that she has been given some time in the main adult meeting to share about the developments and completion of the Sunday School Curriculum. This is an exciting opportunity, as people from all over the Diocese will be attending and it is hoped many will take the curriculum back to their churches.
Preparations continue for the Crosslinks Smile team who are coming at the end of the month. The beds have been installed with mosquito net poles and Charity is busy cleaning everything, ready for their arrival. Please pray for the team as they prepare to come http://www.crosslinks.org/smile/uganda-gap-team-2012
We wish everyone a very Happy New Year from here in Kabale and look forward to sharing all that God is doing here, over the next year.
Sunday, 18 December 2011
Nearly Christmas in Kabale
Having just baked my aubergine mince pies (All Nations Special) and marzipaned the cake, it's time for a quick blog update!
It has been a productive month, with lots happening:
It has been a productive month, with lots happening:
- We had a flying visit to Kampala earlier this month to make our application for extending our visas, ready for January (please pray that all goes smoothly).
- Our friend Nelson from Church got married and we were delighted to attend his celebrations at one of the most organised Weddings we have been to in Kabale.
- Craig got his exam results - passing the first module of his Masters in Development Management with distinction :-)
- The Sunday School Curriculum is finally finished and is on sale in the local Diocese bookshop, which was very exciting after 3 years of hard work. Claudia will be speaking at the annual Brethen Conference in January, attended by churches throughout the Kigezi diocese and will have the opportunity to make it available there too:-)
- Bethany got a bike, which she was very happy about.
- For you ladies our there, Bethany and Claudia both had their hair done african style - which was fun!
- We attended Leo's school for the end of term carol service, which was a lovely oppportunity to sing some Christmas carols.
- Leo won a prize for Maths in his year group (like father like son).
- Craig continues to work hard at preparing the paperwork for applying for the NGO status of the Bakiga Community Project. It is moving ahead slowly.
- Claudia's added a blog to her online counselling service www.missionfieldcounselling.wordpress.com
- We have now put a link on the blog to a page summarising the progress in the water projects
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
The Joys of Kampala
As the end of term approaches the busyness continues and was added to last week, as we took a trip to the hot and dusty capital Kampala.
It was a flying visit but eventful non the less. A couple of visits to the Ministry of Education for letters to accompany our work permit applications. Then off to Immigration to file our papers. Meanwhile this was interspersed with a trip to the dentist for Craig, managing to avoid a root canal (sounds painful - so quite a relief). Then a trip to the hospital for Leo to have his heart murmur checked out. All went well, though I think Leo was disappointed to find he did not have two hearts like dr Who :-(
We managed a tasty treat at Spur Steak - which was really great! The rest of the time Emmy's aunty hosted us and we were fortunate to have arrived just in time for one of her son's graduation parties! So a full on Ugandan feast with Leo and Bethany assisting with serving up chapatti and chicken, opening bottles of soda and generally being very helpful.
Finally we headed back on the long road to Kabale, to be greeted again by a dark house as the power was off again :-( We now just have to wait to hear when our passports are stamped and then we can pick everything up and apply for Leo and Bethany's student passes!
Roll on the holidays! Send the chocolate now :-)
It was a flying visit but eventful non the less. A couple of visits to the Ministry of Education for letters to accompany our work permit applications. Then off to Immigration to file our papers. Meanwhile this was interspersed with a trip to the dentist for Craig, managing to avoid a root canal (sounds painful - so quite a relief). Then a trip to the hospital for Leo to have his heart murmur checked out. All went well, though I think Leo was disappointed to find he did not have two hearts like dr Who :-(
We managed a tasty treat at Spur Steak - which was really great! The rest of the time Emmy's aunty hosted us and we were fortunate to have arrived just in time for one of her son's graduation parties! So a full on Ugandan feast with Leo and Bethany assisting with serving up chapatti and chicken, opening bottles of soda and generally being very helpful.
Finally we headed back on the long road to Kabale, to be greeted again by a dark house as the power was off again :-( We now just have to wait to hear when our passports are stamped and then we can pick everything up and apply for Leo and Bethany's student passes!
Roll on the holidays! Send the chocolate now :-)
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Busy Busy Month
Life has felt a bit too busy the last month, probably not helped by a bout of sickness with the children and probably Craig and I are flagging a bit and could do with an extended weekend - oh for an English bank holiday :-) However on a positive we have had two birthdays to celebrate, so although busy, some of it has definately been happy busy! Bethany turned 5 and then Leo 7, after baking several cakes and entertaining several children, we can safely say, we are well and truely birthdayed out.
Other good busyiness has been at NTC, with the counselling service appearing to suddenly (it's taken 3 years) to take off in the last month. Most mornings I am seeing students now which I've really enjoyed. It's been interesting to find that the key was my trusty mobile phone. For those interested in cultural differences, as a counsellor in the UK, you wouldn't usually phone your clients to ask where they were and tell them you were waiting for them. However here, it seems, that is the key to client attendance and that actually telephoning them is actually very much part of the counselling process. Very interesting.
Although not busy at Rugarama Hospital, it's been very encouraging to see progress there this month. The HIV committee met and developments are now underway to up date the HIV counselling and care for patients. The team has been working very hard to make come changes and update systems, so I look forward to seeing how it all comes together in the next few weeks. I've also finally finished the Counselling Resource for the hospital, which I'm about to take to the printers.
Last but not least, the Sunday School Curriculum is in its final stages of being checked and edited. I've got a few ammendments to make and then hopefully that will be taking a trip to the printers too!
So all in all, a busy but productive time - looking forward to the weekend and hopefully putting my feet up for five minutes :-)
Other good busyiness has been at NTC, with the counselling service appearing to suddenly (it's taken 3 years) to take off in the last month. Most mornings I am seeing students now which I've really enjoyed. It's been interesting to find that the key was my trusty mobile phone. For those interested in cultural differences, as a counsellor in the UK, you wouldn't usually phone your clients to ask where they were and tell them you were waiting for them. However here, it seems, that is the key to client attendance and that actually telephoning them is actually very much part of the counselling process. Very interesting.
Although not busy at Rugarama Hospital, it's been very encouraging to see progress there this month. The HIV committee met and developments are now underway to up date the HIV counselling and care for patients. The team has been working very hard to make come changes and update systems, so I look forward to seeing how it all comes together in the next few weeks. I've also finally finished the Counselling Resource for the hospital, which I'm about to take to the printers.
Last but not least, the Sunday School Curriculum is in its final stages of being checked and edited. I've got a few ammendments to make and then hopefully that will be taking a trip to the printers too!
So all in all, a busy but productive time - looking forward to the weekend and hopefully putting my feet up for five minutes :-)
Monday, 17 October 2011
Godfather to Jeremiah
Craig recently had the privilege of becoming Godfather to Jeremiah, the son of Oscar and Joy. Oscar was the Ugandan we met in the UK before coming out - he was doing a year working with a church in London. They have become good friends, so it was a great honour. A lovely function in the church, although all in Rukiga! - I think I said some of the right things I was supposed to say.
With the vicar and extended family
Oscar and Joy with Jeremiah and Joash
Jeremiah likes my tie
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