Last week I got to go
on a road trip with some lovely girls. Julie, one of our friends who comes to
GSF every month to work with the special needs kids offered to take us out on a
trip with her, she travels around Uganda educating Church groups about kids with special needs. We left Thursday afternoon and drove East heading towards Mount Elgon
and then beyond to Sipi falls.
We enjoyed dinner and a quick shower before
heading to bed. The shower made us all smile as it looked out to the valley
below. It was quite a daunting feeling showering in front of a clear window
looking out! The other thing that made us smile was when we arrived the guy at
the hotel reception explained that there was no power as there was load
shedding going on. No problem we thought, we are used to this! When we got to
our Banda (hut) and then the dining room we noticed that there wasn’t any electrics or light
bulbs anyway! Was he just having us on?!!!
The following morning
we enjoyed breakfast and went off in the car to the church where Julie was
teaching. We left around an hour late and then waited in the church office for
about another hour waiting for it all to start and while we signed another
visitors book! Julie taught local church members and sunday school teachers. It was so interesting to watch as
Julie explained that these children need love and care and are not just
children that are bad because they have been cursed or are possessed by spirits. As the practicality
of dealing with these children and the explanation was given as to why
they
have seizures, or can’t ‘think’ well, or have problems hearing etc, it was wonderful
to see the adults attending begin to start to understand. We broke for lunch
around 3.30pm and then got to
mingle with the adults and many children at the end. We met some wonderful people
during the weekend and so many with interesting stories, humbling lives and
those who had experience in our fields of work and were able to help us. I met a
wonderful public health nurse who had been working in this area for many years
and I grilled her with many questions that I had not found answers to yet.
When the day was finished we then drove onto Tororo (further East of Uganda and about 20mins from the Kenyan border) and stayed with 3 girls who work with a ministry there. They are also here with AIM so it was great to see them and catch up a little. Sunday morning saw us driving back to Jinja and the end of our big road trip!
Sipi Falls is a collection of 3 waterfalls in Eastern Uganda. They lay on the border of Mount Elgon National Park and close to the border of Kenya. We arrived at our accommodation at nightfall after watching a
beautiful sunset over the valley as we climbed through the mountainside. It was
wonderful to drive across Uganda and watch the scenery and views out of the
window change.
On Friday we went for
a hike to see 2 of the 3 waterfalls. They were amazing and so beautiful. It was
lovely walking through the local area and feeling the cool spray of the water
on out hot faces as we approached each waterfall!
After a little rest in the afternoon we set off to the village. We were to attend one of Julie’s teaching sessions the next day that she gives to locals about working with children with special needs. So for tonight we were staying with the locals. It turns out that we were treated like royalty and we had such a wonderful time. We were to stay with the Bishop of this area of The Church of Uganda. We were welcomed by him and his family, by the church secretary, local reverends and church folk. We had to greet everyone individually and sign the vistors book for the church and the home. We were then taken off for afternoon tea at the Cannons house which was about a 30 minute walk away. Here we were welcomed by the family, signed another visitors book and were spolit with omelets, nuts, bread, fruit and African tea. Returing to the bishops house at around 8pm we chatted and got to know this wonderful man and his household. Then at 9pm we then discovered that we still had to eat dinner! We were full but culturally we are informed that you should not decline food so we sat through another meal and tried to squeeze as much in as we could! The bishop and his family chatted for a while longer and then we retired to our rooms. I was so privileged to find that they had put all us girls in our own room and had hung mosquito nets for us all. The Bishop and his children had given up their beds so that we could sleep in them. So humbling.
 |
| Can you see our Banda just to the right of the waterfall?!! |
After a little rest in the afternoon we set off to the village. We were to attend one of Julie’s teaching sessions the next day that she gives to locals about working with children with special needs. So for tonight we were staying with the locals. It turns out that we were treated like royalty and we had such a wonderful time. We were to stay with the Bishop of this area of The Church of Uganda. We were welcomed by him and his family, by the church secretary, local reverends and church folk. We had to greet everyone individually and sign the vistors book for the church and the home. We were then taken off for afternoon tea at the Cannons house which was about a 30 minute walk away. Here we were welcomed by the family, signed another visitors book and were spolit with omelets, nuts, bread, fruit and African tea. Returing to the bishops house at around 8pm we chatted and got to know this wonderful man and his household. Then at 9pm we then discovered that we still had to eat dinner! We were full but culturally we are informed that you should not decline food so we sat through another meal and tried to squeeze as much in as we could! The bishop and his family chatted for a while longer and then we retired to our rooms. I was so privileged to find that they had put all us girls in our own room and had hung mosquito nets for us all. The Bishop and his children had given up their beds so that we could sleep in them. So humbling.
 |
| The Bishop and his family (plus 2 Reverend's!) |
The following morning
we enjoyed breakfast and went off in the car to the church where Julie was
teaching. We left around an hour late and then waited in the church office for
about another hour waiting for it all to start and while we signed another
visitors book! Julie taught local church members and sunday school teachers. It was so interesting to watch as
Julie explained that these children need love and care and are not just
children that are bad because they have been cursed or are possessed by spirits. As the practicality
of dealing with these children and the explanation was given as to why 
When the day was finished we then drove onto Tororo (further East of Uganda and about 20mins from the Kenyan border) and stayed with 3 girls who work with a ministry there. They are also here with AIM so it was great to see them and catch up a little. Sunday morning saw us driving back to Jinja and the end of our big road trip!
A massive thank you to
Julie who organised everything and let us listen in and see first hand the
amazing ministry she does. It was great to get to another part of Uganda, meet
some wonderful people and see some of God's beautiful creation :)
What a brilliantly written article....you make everything you do seem easy but I'm sure all is not roses...
ReplyDeleteStephen Rogers...
Dear Katie, I so look forward to reading your Blogs and hearing about your day. How wonderful to be a part of the work educating people about children with special needs. We have so many amazing schools in the UK like Lakeside School WGC, where children with special needs are educated, loved and cared for. It must be very difficult for the families and children where there is little understanding of their problems. Praise God for Julie and her teaching sessions. Tell her she is in our prayers, as you are too everyday. Love and hugs Mum x x
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