Special People - Phillip

The next very special person I would like to tell you about today is Phillip.

Phillip is one of our HIV children. He has lived at GSF since he was a baby and is known as a miracle child! His medical and nursing files are as big as encyclopaedias and he has had many ‘close calls’ where those at GSF were told that his time had come.

I have got to know Phillip well. We have attended many hospital appointments together, sat together on multiple journeys to and from Kampala reading books and laughing. He comes to my house each day for lunch as the HIV children here are provided with a nutritional meal at lunchtime which supplements the porridge, posho and beans that everyone here eats daily. Phillip will come to my house at 6.55pm most days, greets me with a smile and then races me to his house where I will administer his medication. He ‘wins’ me most days! The racing is a new development and something that we are so happy to see as it was only 5 months ago that we were told he was seriously ill.


In mid-October I sat in a clinic consultation room with Phillip while the doctor explained to me that he probably had a severe type of pneumonia called PCP and would be unlikely to survive the night. I was asked to make phone calls back to GSF to prepare others and to call in his extended family to see him. We prayed for a miracle and it was at this point I was told the history of Phillips’ illness and how many times in his short life he had suffered and been close to death. Phillip survived that illness in October. He was in hospital for almost a month and was discharged at the end of November. At his discharge he was not better. The doctors didn't really know what else to do so sent him back to us 'hoping' that he would get stronger but warning us that his immune system was very low and during those first few weeks we travelled a very bumpy road. Since then has gone from strength to strength. He has put on 10 kgs in the last 3 months! During the Christmas holidays he took part in a basketball training course and now plays football daily (the missionaries that have been here a long time cannot remember him ever doing any sport). He eats Amanda and I out of house and home (he literally does eat 1kg worth of food each lunchtime – we weigh him before and after eating!).  He attends school each day for full days. He makes me laugh and he makes me scared because as soon as he gets a cough or a sniffle or we think he is becoming unwell again!! He is beautiful and I am so grateful I get to chase him round my house everyday trying to shower him with kisses! He is an inspiration and I can’t stop thinking what God has in store for this wonderful boy. To have come through so much and for God not to have taken him home yet at each severe illness there must be something good ahead for Phillip!

They say a picture tells a thousand stories….

I couldn’t choose which of my photos to share with you so thought I would share a lot! Please keep Phillip in your prayers as you look through these photos. He is still at risk of picking up infections and always has a suppressed immune system. He takes 8-10 tablets every morning and evening and hardly ever complains about this. He amazes me at his resilience and love for life. 

August 2011

August 2011

September 2011

September 2011

November 2011

December 2011

February 2012

March 2012

In the jungle, the mighty jungle....

Sunrise over Murchison Falls Game Park

Last week I enjoyed having my brother Andrew visiting me. We had a fabulous 10 days in Uganda. I really enjoyed showing him where I live, what I am doing and for him to meet all the wonderful children at GSF. We were also able to do the tourist 'thing' for a few days and it was lovely to show him a little of Africa.

The highlight of his stay was being on safari. We visited Murchison Falls which Andrew reliably informed me was the backdrop in the movie 'The African Queen' staring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. The falls were beautiful and powerful and we were able to trek near the top of the falls and get some great views of the game park. The tour of the game park and the boat ride up the Nile was also amazing and we saw elephants, giraffe's, Hippo's, Crocodile's Baboons and Warthogs to name a few. However, the Lion must have been sleeping as he was no-where to be seen!

A highlight for us was staying in the safari tent and coming out of the tent at night when we heard a lot of commotion and the words "Hippo"! As we stuck our heads out of the tent we saw a very large hippo grazing very close to our tent. We took the advice we had been given not to disturb it or to use flash photography (sadly no photos for evidence!) and snuck back inside the canvas. It was a new experience laying in bed trying to sleep as you hear a hippo munching the grass and snorting as it moves along the side of the tent!!

Mobile Medical Clinic

A mother bringing her twin boys for medical care

I had the opportunity this week to join a medical team who were running a mobile medical clinic in one of our local villages. It was an amazing, tiring, exhilarating and slightly daunting experience. 


We arrived at the church building where the clinic base would be and there were already lots of people sitting waiting for us. A triage station, medical stations, a mini pharmacy, an examination area and an evangelism area were set up and we were thrown straight into work.

I began by managing the pharmacy with another helper but soon was called to 'man' a nursing/medical assessment station as the number of villagers was large and time was short. This was so much fun and it felt so amazing to be able to reach deep into the village community helping those who really needed it. All medical care was free and we saw a wide range or complaints, illnesses and conditions. It was slightly daunting running my own station as at the back of my head I was really conscious that I did not want to miss anything or make any mistakes. I saw a handful of patients before I had to head back to GSF and felt privileged to have been invited to help and assist with such a wonderful project.

African Tea

I haven’t had a cup of PG Tips for a long time now. This is because I love African tea! We get a milk delivery from the cows on the onsite farm once a day. Once we have boiled this we are ready to go ahead and fix an African Brew!! 

How to make African Tea;

First you need to mix milk and water in a saucepan at a 1-1 ratio. Place on the stove and bring to the boil. Once boiling and watching the pot very closely as it WILL boil over (it does every time when we make it!) add a spoon of Tea Leaves and a shake of Tea Masala. Once this has simmered and brewed for a few moments take off of the heat a strain into a mug. After a couple of spoons of sugar it is ready to drink.

Take your mug of yummy African tea, find a spot to sit and enjoy whilst watching an amazing African sunset overlooking a gorgeous view!! :)

What is your Legacy going to be?

Last week we went to a meeting and we were asked what Whitney Houstan’s legacy would be – of course, it’s her voice and the incredible music she made. Then we were asked what our legacy might be. What impact will we leave behind from being here in Africa? What a tough question to ponder and think about! It got me thinking about all the tasks I perform here and if there is purpose in all the things I do? It made me wonder if I do things with all the right intentions? It got me wondering if I share God’s love with enough people here.

The man speaking to us referred to Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the well........ 
Jacob’s well. 


John 4 v 4-6; 'Now he (Jesus) had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down at the well. It was about noon’. 


It was explained to us that Jacob’s legacy had been so great that the well he had built 1700 years earlier was still being used for it’s intended purpose – to draw water. Jesus sat at Jacob’s legacy!

Since that meeting I have been trying to be more intentional about the things I do, the people I speak to and the impact I have each day. I guess it’s hard for any of us to know what our Legacy will be once we have left the place we have been called to. That place may be in the village in Africa, working in a school, being a parent, shaking hands with a visitor at church on a Sunday morning or smiling at the cashier at your local supermarket!.

Some days I wonder what the point of me being here is, some days I struggle with the task in front of me and cannot fathom how it will be ‘fixed’. The thing I forget at these times is that God is the one choosing to work through me, I just have to let Him. I often think I am imperfect and feel too weak to do what’s asked but so did those of Moses, Esther and Paul in the Bible. I am just an ordinary person with an amazing God who can do Big things. He can do things like dry up the dead sea and wipe out an entire Egyptian army if the one called to do that work is obedient and trusts in God’s call.

The Bible says we walk by faith and not by sight. I am stepping in faith each day doing what God has called me to be. I am trusting God, there is no other sane way to face each day here. I have no idea what my Legacy will be in this place, if anything at all. I probably won’t ever know either but He knows and has a purpose in my being here.

Have you thought about the Legacy you are creating today?