FEAR NOT

Sorry about the slightly spooky 'sefie' but I wasn't sure what I could use for today's blog and whilst I was at church this morning I suddenly had the idea of taking a picture with the video camera that I was filming some of the service with.  It wasn't supposed to turn out so scary.  Since Ronnie has sent me a few photos of the first two thirds of her exceptionally holy day to day, (three churches in one Sunday) I thought I would start with a Juba update.  I guess I can't do better than forward on to you the words of the holy one herself:

"Here are the 2 churches I visited today, sorry that they’re not great photos.  I haven’t got a photo inside All Saints as I didn’t have my camera with me but I don’t think it’ll be a problem taking one. It was great to meet 3 colleagues from the Embassy at these services.  A good message from Psalm 34:14, ‘Turn from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it’ at All Saints and a sermon on healing at Watoto where the welcome was extremely warm and the worship heartfelt."  Hopefully she can actually take the lead for the next blog as I am picking her up from Entebbe sometime after lunch for the start of our adventurous half term week away.  Tonight she is attending her regular 'pub church' in town somewhere.

Now I'm afraid that I only managed one service today - but that was quite some service at The Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry church.  Today was the day of the very first drama group appearance and I had promised to be there for it. I got there in time for the 8 am start I had been told about, but there was much vociferous and fervent prayer already going on and had clearly been going on for sometime before I arrived - and when I left at 11:15 the preacher was still in full flow, although she did claim to be coming to a conclusion!  

The songs and music were actually not so different from what I am used to at All Saints' Cathedral - although, having said that, my level of worship participation is much higher than a few months ago (arms, hips, hands, etc fully engaged) so I wouldn't want to suggest it was anything other than wholehearted.  It was led by a music group who are the equivalent of our Anglican Flames at All Saints.  I don't know if they have a name, but as all the women at Mountain of Fire have to have their head covered, and all the women in the music group seemed  to choose lime green berets, I christened them the 'Green Angels'.   

It was the prayers that were something outside of my previous experience.  These are loud, fulsome, and repetitious (that is not to say boringly so, but they are based on set repetitions).  Also, as I might have already suggested, the sermons are longer - at least the main one was, the first one was only about 20 minutes of concentrated teaching and was very good indeed.  Personally, I could have left it at that, but each to their own.  The rest of the service that I was there for comprised various testimonies which I gather are a regular weekly feature, and of course the new branch of ministry - drama.  

The sketch was loosely based on a 'Screwtape Letters' style scene where the devil attempts to drive disciples away from faith through the demons of sickness, death and fear.  It perfectly illustrated the main sermon theme of 2 Timothy Ch 1 v 7 "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline" and though I guess I might be biased, I thought it was brilliant!  It was delivered with enthusiasm and passion, and all the cast were word perfect. Certainly the congregation loved it and cheered and applauded when the Devil was sent packing and his demons dispatched screaming and squirming at the name of Jesus!  It was like they were actually witnessing it happening in front of them - and what more could any church drama group ask for?  The down side is, so I gather from Beatrice, that it was so well received that her pastor has told her to put on another sketch for next week's sermon on thanksgiving!  

The Pastor at Mountain of Fire

No pressure then - after all there's every evening this week to find another sketch, cast it and rehearse!  I must say, however, that it doesn't surprise me; in a church that seems quite female dominated, both the preacher and the pastor appeared to be quite formidable women!

Preacher Agnes about to get started

So there you are, a very holy blog indeed.  I'm not sure what is coming up next.  In fact there is a possibility that I may even miss out a week, or at least have a very brief entry next Sunday, as we have people over for dinner that evening and then we are out on our travels for a week.  We will have to see what happens during the week I guess.

INDEPENDENCE

It's late, I'm tired and the internet connection is running slowly so this may not be my best blog so far (and I suppose I should also mention that I am feeling grouchy for some unaccountable and irrational reason so that probably has something to do with it too).  I am going to cover two main things - the Ugandan Independence Day (UID) celebrations that we had at school on Friday (after a day off on Thursday, so I it was really only a 3-day week - so no reason for grouchiness there), and also a quick photo look at a walk I made around down town Kampala yesterday morning whilst I was waiting to get my car alarm fitted before we venture to the more lawless lands North of Kampala in a couple of weeks time.

The UID celebrations were really good fun, if a little chaotic, although that is no less than I have come to expect - none of the rigour and carefully planned routines of Smallwood Manor here!  I am not saying that with tongue in cheek either as one of the things that I am coming to realise is just how much I took for granted over the last few years!

All the children, and the staff, were encouraged to come in National Costume, or at least in Ugandan colours of red, yellow and black if they couldn't manage the costume (although not everyone in the staff room entered fully into the spirit of the occasion).  This made for a colourful gathering and the day started with a parade around the school before getting together in the dining room (I say room, it only has one wall and a roof so it is more of a open-side shelter really).  After that we had a morning of vaguely nationalistic activities - bead making, mask making, African dance and games.  The masks ended up more like Aztec masks, and the games turned out to be dodge ball (Andy our PE teacher tried to convince me this was a genuine Ugandan sport in ancient times, but when I questioned him more closely about the possibility of it involving throwing spears, or live crocodiles to test warriors courage he backed down and admitted it was just what the kids had asked him for) however, all in all, in was a great morning.

We were really lucky to have the Ugandan national African children's choir in school and they had 
everyone involved in performing and singing

Here  I am getting down with my class, whilst sporting my
traditional Kanzu (kindly obtained for me
by one of my parents).

Martin, our secondary English teacher, shows off his prowess as a
hunter of big game as well as punctuation

What was Neville, our new Principal, thinking?
Something I find myself asking more and more recently!

Our Year 9 and Year 10 students gave us a terrific performance
of 'Wavin' Flag' as a finale

This fine member of our student body is in my Film Club.
Fortunately he is not as dangerous as he appears.

After lunch we had our assembly in which each class contributed a local song or dance that they had learned.  I was very proud of Y5 who had actually written their own performance poem celebrating the things that were important to them about Uganda, and had even set it to their own rhythm in music tech lessons.  If you want to hear a short excerpt then I have uploaded a video clip of one of our rehearsals on my Facebook page.

The Year 5 performance in full swing

After school were all invited over to our Head of Primary's house for 'sundowners and supper'.  It was a fun evening which finished the day off well.  As I said, on Saturday morning I had to be up early to take Lucy across town to get an alarm system fitted.  During the hour or so I had to wait (it took a bit longer than anticipated as the garage discovered they required a specialist tool and had to send out for one which took a bit of time.  The tool in question was a drill!) I went for a wander around the Bombo Road and took some photos of the local life.  I am always careful to ask permission before I take a picture and am rarely disappointed.  However, on this occasion I was refused by two traffic police, which is a shame as they are a sight to see - especially the women. They are bedecked in spotless white boiler suits with berets and boots and are really quite impressive.  The female sergeant I spoke to was very happy to chat with me but was adamant that I couldn't take her photo whilst she was on duty, and she wasn't someone I was going to argue with.

Bananas are big in Uganda and this is about as fresh
as they come - straight off the trees into the market

Sadly, meat is not quite as fresh as the fruit.
This NOT where I buy my meat from!

I wanted to show this picture as it just seemed to illustrate how the
majority of Ugandans make their living - small, one or two
man businesses.  As was looking around Bombo Road
 I thought that it was probably pretty much how London
must have looked, say, two hundred years ago.

Now, for all that Uganda is way behind the UK in
many technologies, this is one area where they are
far ahead us.  Mobile money is cash put onto your
mobile phone, and then you can pay anyone just by
crediting their mobile account.  It is the way nearly all small
to middling bills are paid here.

I guess the owner of this magnificent property was just fed up with 
people coming up to him and making offers, so he felt the 
need to inform the public of his lack of desire to sell!

So that is the end of this week's blog.  Today has been a long day, with church at the Cathedral, followed by drama group rehearsals at the Mountain of Fire Ministries then back home for lesson planning etc.  It is now nearly 9pm and I need to get away from this computer, slump on the sofa with a small single malt and watch something meaningless on TV.  I don't know what I will cover next week, but I'm sure something will come to mind.  Oh yes, and for my kind and considerate (but occasionally pedantic) wife who feels the need every week to point out any errors of grammar and punctuation in my blog - please don't bother tonight as I'm too tired to care!

A JINJA JAUNT

Last week was extremely busy at school. As well as all of our usual lessons, we have also  been preparing for Ugandan Independence Day next week. Each class has had to make models of, or draw images of, Crested Cranes, the Ugandan national bird.  In addition we have to learn a traditional Ugandan dance or song to perform in a parents' assembly next Friday.  


As you

I know that it looks like something out of
Dr Who, but these are actally Y5's 3D geometric
Crested Cranes drying out in mid-construction in
my store cupboard

can imagine this really played to my twin strengths of craft in the classroom and dance.  I have had a number of sleepless nights this week, especially as I made the rash decision that my class would write their own piece of performance poetry celebrating all that they love about Uganda.  We have even composed the backing track for it in Music Tech lessons.  The result has been better than I had anticipated and I am trying to convince myself that with a few more rehearsals next week Y5 will blow away the rest of the school - not that it is a competition or anything, but those of you who are teachers know what such events are like.  All I will say is that do not be hoodwinked by stereotypes - not all Africans have natural rhythm, or even any sense of rhythm at all in some cases!  I will not comment on this any further, but rest assured Independence Day at GEMS Kampala is likely to feature large in next week's blog!



In order to recover from our exertions, and to fortify ourselves for the rigours ahead, some of us members of staff decided to take ourselves off to Jinja, about 90 Km North of Kampala at the source of the Nile (in fact there are several sources and much dispute, but Jinja has a good a claim as anywhere).  It is a small unsophisticated town (albeit that it is second only in population to Kampala) that is renowned for its adventurous activities.  Jinja is the place to come for white water rafting and canoeing, quad biking and bungee jumping etc.  

The NRE campsite advertising one of its most popular
beverages - Nile Special.

Needless to say, there are plenty of places there offering accommodation and refreshment facilities - and we chose the Nile River Explorers camp, about 7Km outside of town on the banks of the Nile itself.  The first hurdle was getting away from school on Friday afternoon in good enough time to beat the madness that is the Kampala rush hour - sad to say we failed that test and it was actually closer to eight o'clock than seven o'clock when we finally arrived in the dark to find our rooms (or tents depending on how well off we were feeling).  After that it was straight down to the bar which was already filled with fifty plus multinational backpacking types intent on having a good time.  The two South African guys who were playing the music were outstanding and a good time was had by all and we fell into our beds tired, but suitably unwound and with barely a word spoken about school (one of the rules of the trip).

Debra (Y4), Maria (Y2) and Sally (Y1) unwinding
(Sally is enjoying it more than she appears to be)

Some old bloke trying to look cool with the band

The only Rasta in Jinja (a good guy but
I can't remember his name - perhaps unsurprisingly 
given the circumstances of our meeting)

The next day was spent in a variety of ways depending on the degree of unwinding that each individual had participated in the night before.  Interestingly this seemed to correspond to the age of the individual concerned, with Maria (the youngest and wildest of the crew) not surfacing until nearly lunchtime, and then only to groan and disappear for the rest of the day.  A few of the oldies, myself included decided to hire kayaks and a guide and explore the Nile and it's wildlife from the surface of the water itself.  This proved to be a fantastic way to see the birds in particular as they were not fazed by the silent canoes at all and allowed us to get very close before flying off.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves:

Abraham our very knowledgeable guide.  He also knew a lot about the politics of Northern
Uganda and the LRA so I have to admit to monopolising him much of the time - apologies to the others.

A young boy (8 or 9?) we came across out fishing in his canoe.

A cormorant posing for a photograph.

A bunch of cormorants, with an African darter in the background.
These have very long necks and look like a snake when the rest of them are submerged.

An egret - amazingly graceful birds.  Little egrets have beautiful bright yellow feet.

My best picture of the day - a Malachite kingfisher with its catch in its mouth.

That evening we were all back on the water (except Maria of course who waved us off from the bar as she started to warm up for another evening of partying with her local, long-suffering boyfriend Godfrey).  We decided to take a sundown cruise around the lake formed about 3 years ago by the flooding of the once spectacular Bujagali Falls, part of a controversial hydro-electric power project.  I won't get into the politics of this, which not surprisingly split public opinion very strongly.  However, whatever your views on it, it has produced one of the most amazing water habitats in the world.  So with a cold Nile Special in hand we resolutely motored out onto the water to watch the sunset.  Once again a picture speaks a thousand words.

Debra (Y4) and Sherrie (Y6) on the boat
with our South African host at the wheel

A very impressive monitor lizard just before 
he slide off into the water (he was about 2m long!

Sunset on the Nile - what else can I say.

Finally, to bring this picture-focused blog to a close I should mention one or two unrelated, but noteworthy, high and lows.

Breakfast overlooking the Nile ...

Highs:     

... with red-tailed monkeys running up and down the
roof behind me on Saturday morning. 

The fun of driving Lucy the Landcruiser in 4WD around the wet and muddy backroads from Jinja after 
a monumental downpour during the night before (if you don't like 'Lucy' then hard luck, 
you should have come up with a better name yourself, you had your chance).

Downs:

Getting badly sunburned legs whilst kayaking (my own fault - I put on my sunscreen before
deciding to unzip the legs of my trousers).  Photo taken before discovering my schoolboy error!