Into the Ark: Two by Two Rivers

Today was our last day in Uganda. We began with a leisurely breakfast with Patrick, Global Cares manager in Kampala. He was turned out in a bue blazer and shirt ready for church. Patrick is a friendly soul with a wide smile. He questioned us about the work we had been doing in Soroti and requested, like everyone else, that we came back soon. Next time we promised we would visit him at his office. The Kampala office is set in the ground of The Guided Star School.  Ella-Sophia handed over a huge envelope of letters and cards for the many sponsored children who attend there. Patrick told us how it was a very good school and offer great support to the children in Global Care's charge. In this part of Uganda the childen come from the poorest homes and most vunerable livelihoods, many being orphaned or ill. You can share their stories and sponsor a child here https://www.globalcare.org/project/uganda/   We finished our meals and collected our bags then seized a last opportunity...

Today was the beginning of our journey home, a journey that would take 2 and a half days. We were up early and on the road at 7 to drive back to Kampala. It was a very long day with relentless rain and hours sat in traffic jams. We had hoped to take a boat trip across Lake Victoria, visiting the source of the Nile. Unfortunately the rain was so hard it would have made for a miserable and most likey disappointing experience so we heading straight for Kampala instead. We passed Mbale and briefly stopped for a 'pit drop' and petrol refill in Tororo. Tororo sits in the mountains; Charles had agreed to take us a different route back so we could experience the rain forests and what they had to offer. The gas station sat beside a children's home ran by the Salvation Army. As Linzi, Laura and Ella-Sophia are all members of the church they were keen to go and have a look. Two men greeted us at the gate and welcomed us in. As Charles drove in we passed a substantial brightly painted ...

Fred had kindly granted us a lie in this morning and we all looked forward to an extra hour in bed. Unfortunately the hotel kitchens hadn't had the memo and began clattering and dropping pans at 5:30am, followed by the gardener at 6am who was strimming the hedges outside of our windows. Nevertheless we enjoyed a more leisurely breakast, greeted by Troy and Mark who talked to us more about their charitable work. When we got to The Ark Fred and David were waiting for us. "How did you sleep?" enquired Fred. "Like a log" replied Collette, again Fred was beside himself giggling having never heard that saying before. We loaded 3 wheelchairs on to the bus roof, Charles strapped them down and we all headed off to Abeko. Abeko is very rural, it is the larger of a group of villages where they have built a community school and residents travel miles by foot, bike or boda boda to bring their children. The road from Soroti took us about an hour... well that is if you can c...

This morning I woke early to the sound of clapping and flashes of light! It turned out to be a storm. A fabulous tropical storm that washed down the dusty paths and refreshed the flowers. The sky was a warm peach as the clouds reflected the sunrise. The only thing to spoil my mood was the discovery we had no water. The clouds had stollen our showers so it was a wet wipe wash all round which left us feeling less than ready to meet lots of people today. It did however remind me to brush my teeth with bottled water, a concept I've not quite managed to grasp yet and kept forgetting to rinse my brush under the tap, fingers crossed I don't get sick!   Today we went to visit lots of  mainstream schools  known as government schools to meet The Arks former sponsored chilldren. These children had made enough progress with The Ark to be accepted in to schools, it was a fantastic achievement and a great opportunity for us to see how education looks in Uganda. We have been amazed by s...