I’ve been here for 8 months which means I only have 4 months left.  I’m sure I always say this but the time is going by so quickly.  I’ve decided that time definitely moves differently here!  Sometimes a day can seem like a week and a week can pass like a day.  It’s all just so different.

I am so settled in my work at the moment. Praise God for the new teacher we have been able to employ.  He is Ugandan and is teaching Science and Social Studies in the Home School.  I am responsible for English Grammar, comprehension and composition. I no longer teach the new children in the Interim school. I have been training their teacher Jesca in Jolly Phonics and the basics and she is doing really well, as are the children.

My mornings are filled with teaching and my afternoons are taken up with lesson planning; scheme writing; chart and resource making; exam and assessment creating and many other education department tasks.
I have been given a lot of responsibilities e.g. attending parents meetings, visiting children at various boarding schools in and around Kampala; completing registration forms for exams etc.  In one way I am thrilled to be doing these activities as it makes me feel that I am more than a volunteer but actually a real part of Dwelling Places.  However at other times it is very tiring as I have so much to do.

Overall I am just so privileged to be given this opportunity to be here in Uganda and be a part of so many children’s lives.  It’s my prayer that I will do all things to the best of my ability.

I was asking one of our 4th year girls how she felt about me attending her parents meeting at her school.  It is one of the best schools in Kampala and I was very conscious of being the only white face in the assembly hall with 400 students and another 400 parents.  She said, “Aunty Donna, you’re my aunty, you love me and I love you and I forget that we don’t look the same!” I hugged her there and then!

The children are all doing well at the moment and I am just cherishing all the time I have with them. After 5pm is my favourite time as I come out my office and just sit down with the kids.  The babies climb all over me and hug me as the older children come back from school in their dribs and drabs. All come over and greet me and usually sit down around about me and tell me about their day etc. It’s such a special time. 
We had a great night when all the children and babies were issued with a new towel each and a new fleecy blanket bought with money my mum brought from Scotland. The babies were so cute all wrapped up in their new blankets and it was so wonderful seeing the girls getting into new nighties and pyjamas and climbing into bed with teddies, new blankets and mosquito nets. God has certainly been providing for our children.

Another wonderful sight is to see the children sitting eating their meals at tables in the dining hall and having jerry cans with safe drinking water available all day.  It’s so important to give these children back the dignity they had lost while surviving on the streets.

A real point for prayer is the amount of children on the streets of Kampala at the moment. The majority of them are from an area known as Karamoja in the North East of the country. This is a forgotten area and a forgotten people group.  It’s hard to describe the amount of children and what it is like but I am not exaggerating when I say that every 10 steps in certain roads in Kampala there will be a very small child (between 1 to 3 years) sitting with their arms outstretched and their hands cupped. Around these streets you will also find groups of children and mamas with tiny babies strapped to their backs.  It is so overwhelming and I feel so helpless.

One afternoon I was surrounded by 17 kids, yesterday I met 9 mamas with their babies. The babies are so small and sick looking (which is sometimes deliberate in order to get more money from passers by). I carry biscuits with me all the time now and yesterday I got milk for the babies and bread for the mamas. I worry that this is, in a way encouraging them to stay on the streets as they are getting food, yet how can I just simply walk past these children and babies? There is nothing else I can do for these children except ask God to protect them and keep them safe and provide for them. It really is hard. Please pray for the Karamajong as a people group most especially these children on the streets.  Also pray for me as I find it so difficult to see all these children suffering so much and yet really not being able to do anything for them.

Our children will be doing end of term exams in the next few weeks please pray for our children in their various schools that their minds will be focussed on studying for these exams and that they will be able to complete them without much difficulty. Our children are expected to pass with 60% or more.

Pray that we will be able to get our new vehicle before the end of term. It’s been very difficult and expensive for us having to rely on public transport to do the school runs. We thank all the children in the Free Church who raised the humungous amount of money to enable us to buy a new vehicle – you will be blessed I am sure.

Continue to pray for safety and protection as I move around. My aunt and uncle arrive 9th to 17th April.  Pray for a safe and beneficial time for us all.

Pray that electricity will be fixed in the dining hall. After paying a substantial amount of money for power to be connected in the dining hall it does not seem to be working. This greatly affects ‘preps’ and means the children have to either do homework outside in the dark or squeeze into a very small class room.

Thanks for great working relationships between myself and Ruth the Education Coordinator who is not just a colleague but a very good friend.

Thanks also for good relationships with Jen and Joelle the other volunteers. We all get on so well despite different backgrounds and personalities. The only difficulty is communication. They just don’t get my Glaswegian banter!

Thanks for being able to attend a great church and for getting to know some great people.

Thanks for being strengthened in a time of need and for being uplifted with news that a friend is coming to see me in July before I return home.

Thanks again for all your support and prayers. I really appreciate it. Thanks also to all who Email, write or Bebo me. It’s great to hear from home.

Till next month – God Bless. Donna xxx

P.S Rita (director and founder of Dwelling Places) is coming to the UK at the start of next month to raise awareness about poverty and the work we do here. You can contact my mum for details about where she will be speaking etc.

“…till every child has a chest to rest their head on and a place to call home…”

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