A new major building project has begun at Potters Village Home for Vulnerable babies. This is to build a new baby unit to accommodate more children and to release the Medical Centre for its intended function to look after sick babies and provide an isolation ward. The work has been able to start as several of the supporting churches in the UK have pledged some of the money required for the project.
What is noticeable here is how many women get involved in heavy building work. They are usually employed to help break rocks, or to move heavy items around. As there are few wheelbarrows this usually means carrying rocks or piles of bricks on their heads!
Andrew from High Wycombe has been working as a carpenter at the Potters Village for 3 weeks, and last Saturday Malcolm took him with a group up the nearby viewpoint overlooking Mutanda Lake. It was a very hot day (a sign that the dry season is approaching) so it was a rather tiring climb. We all had a welcome break at the top.
Andrew from High Wycombe has been working as a carpenter at the Potters Village for 3 weeks, and last Saturday Malcolm took him with a group up the nearby viewpoint overlooking Mutanda Lake. It was a very hot day (a sign that the dry season is approaching) so it was a rather tiring climb. We all had a welcome break at the top.
The Citizens
We have had the chance of meeting several citizens here. We have been asked to help with a 3 day Mission, starting Friday, in one of the Arch Deaconries. There are 35 Parishes involved and each one has its own team from the Parish plus 2 Assistant Missioners from outside, like us. Irene was sent to the main Arch Deaconry Centre and found that she was heavily involved on the first day, being the main speaker of a team visiting the homes of church members who had not been attending recently. This was followed in the afternoon being one of the speakers at a Mission meeting in the church. What is quite unnerving is that the custom here seems to be to tell you what you are doing, and what you are expected to speak on just before the meeting.
We have had the chance of meeting several citizens here. We have been asked to help with a 3 day Mission, starting Friday, in one of the Arch Deaconries. There are 35 Parishes involved and each one has its own team from the Parish plus 2 Assistant Missioners from outside, like us. Irene was sent to the main Arch Deaconry Centre and found that she was heavily involved on the first day, being the main speaker of a team visiting the homes of church members who had not been attending recently. This was followed in the afternoon being one of the speakers at a Mission meeting in the church. What is quite unnerving is that the custom here seems to be to tell you what you are doing, and what you are expected to speak on just before the meeting.
Malcolm had it a lot easier. The Parish he helped held an outdoor meeting in the morning in the courtyards of 4 houses set amongst fields of banana trees and beans.
Following lunch a second meeting was held on a roadside attended by a similar number of people and a host of children. As there was a main speaker Malcolm was asked simply to introduce himself, and to make some brief remarks. The morning meeting was the most sad as during the week one of the 12 year old children of the families living in the houses had died following an operation on his throat (for a goitre caused by iodine deficiency?) carried out by a witch doctor. The treatment was to force a stick down the throat until it bled. Apparently it sometimes seems to work (or maybe the goitre clears up on is own), but in this case so damaged the boys throat that he died.
The Mission continues over the weekend.
The Mission continues over the weekend.
And talking about Citizens, we have now received our Work Permits - which sort of makes us Citizens or residents of Uganda till April 2014.
Two interesting Ugandan residents that Malcolm met when walking across the local football pitch were a pair of chameleons. Fortunately no-one was plaing football at the time as they would probably have trouble chanking to the colour of the shirts!
We hope that similar creatures aren’t found at Wembley when Stoke City (The Potters) play Manchester City (The Citizens) in the Cup Final this weekend!
Two interesting Ugandan residents that Malcolm met when walking across the local football pitch were a pair of chameleons. Fortunately no-one was plaing football at the time as they would probably have trouble chanking to the colour of the shirts!
We hope that similar creatures aren’t found at Wembley when Stoke City (The Potters) play Manchester City (The Citizens) in the Cup Final this weekend!
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