We also had a great time away at beautiful location to celebrate two of our friends getting married .. fun time had by all.

full house again...

We have just enjoyed a couple of days with a house full with 31 IYs. Another gathering for training, where we all cram into the house, IYs sharing mattresses and sleeping areas, we eat plenty of posho and Steve gives input ...this time there was practice at public speaking. There are other opportunities through the year but this weekend the teenagers were given a topic, a few minutes to plan, and then told to deliver a 1 minute videoed talk to the rest of the group - they are then 'marked' by their piers with helpful comments on how they performed.

Cooking is done - very simply - on 3 sigiris, which are kept hot pretty much the whole day: cooking beans and boiling water for tea takes time when there are 41 to cook for. We dont do it all ourselves - I (Kathryn) am helper to Florence who comes in extra hours when we have a full house like this....

Of course there is always time to relax as well ....

...on the trampoline ...with one of Silas' friends from New Hope

It's Chapati time...the weekend here is a time for some communal cooking, and so our 'willing' volunteers took on the challenge of cooking chapati's for all of us...very nice they were too. Thanks one and all!

Fun in the sun..

These photos are from back in January when our good friends were over from the UK. Happy days! Joel and Anthony got a record score on bat and ball ... We had human pyramid competitions ... Julie took time to snooze ... And Rachel gave out free beauty tips. We had a fun time.

IY's ...

There is always time for some fun and games when Steve is around ...so when it all gets a bit tiring on the CV front then out come the games...and trust games are always a winner here.

Yup - that was a juicy mango!

IY students ....

In the final week of their initial training the IY students have to write a CV, and learn about what to put in a covering letter etc .... then they get to use what they have done in the interviews that will lead into their first placements. It is a bit of a nerve wracking experience for some of them and there are always lots of questions about how to get it right...and plenty of discussion about what to put in ... here a couple of the boys are picking Kasules brain about what he thinks..

we love the rain!!

The rains have come here in Kampala, and we are loving it - especially those in the family who are under 13 years old! We had a downpour on Saturday and watched as our kids stripped off shirts and sprinted round the house. It was such good rain we decided to do hairwashing at the same time! Lots of hilarity - followed by hot chocolate and then a warm bath! Mmmmm lovely.

....Ongoing IY training...

We spent a lot of time in group work with the Investment Year students ... we are reading through the bible together and we also had discussions on the various topics that were being presented...a good way to get to hear their opinions and clarify ideas

Investment Year 2012

We have just started the new Investment Year programme. The year always starts with some concentrated training, and this year it will all be taking place here in Kampala, over the next 4 weeks - so - at the moment there are 31 IY students living here with us. They stay from Monday to Friday and go back to New Hope at the weekends, giving the rest of us here a little breather!

Steve heads up the training with Jennie and Jessica (the other two IY staff). We have now made it through the first part of the first week, and here are some pictures all taken on tuesday afternoon .... lots of activity and play on the go...rice sorting, catching up on prescribed reading, playing cards .... Anya is doing her homework, Joel is burning our rubbish and Silas as you can see is getting 'bounced'.

We are sure that the next 4 weeks are going to be a lot of fun, even if a bit tiring. The good thing is that Ugandan teenagers are very good at sharing mattresses on the floor, squashing into small spaces to sleep, and eating very simply ... so the whole thing will not be as stressful or tricky as some of you may be thinking! Having said that your thoughts and prayers are appreciated, that we will have patience for different situations, and time for our own children.

The 4 weeks will cover all sorts of areas like how to journal, writing a CV, seeing God in your own story, world view, how to read/understand the bible, watching reading and listening with a critical mind ...and etc.

These young people have al just finished GCSE's, and most of them are aged 17 - 18. If you read this blog you will be seeing a bit more of most of them as we go through the year.

Silas in a skirt!

One of Silas’ friends here in Kampala is Christine - she lives next door, and since completing her O-levels 2 weeks ago, has been around a lot more. She is a lot of fun, and has taken the time to play with Silas which is great for us. Although Silas is doing well and doesn’t seem to get too bored with just his dad and mum around(!), he really does miss the friends he made at New Hope. Afternoons can sometimes seem long as he waits for Joel and Anya to get back from school...so - we are very thankful for Christine ...and any grass skirts that Silas chooses to wear!

Sunday lunchtime is a good time to get together....and people come when there is food on offer - especially students!! For those of us further on in life - do you remember the days craving a home made dinner, which, when it came (as a change from the student staple of beans on toast) was like a taste of heaven? We are hoping to invite young people who have been through New Hope and are now in Kampala studying at university, doing A-levels, or taking vocational courses, to come for a meal every now and again.

A chance to reconnect with their ‘brothers and sisters’ from New Hope, for us to catch up with them, and of course to eat!

One thing that can be lacking for an orphan is the ongoing interest that key adults take in you as you progress through life. Some of the children we live and work with become very self dependent because they are so used to having to make decisions alone, and are not used to having people take a long term interest in how they are doing. This is something that we feel we can offer as ‘parents’ in their lives. It is low key but helps them feel valued and known.

another saturday morning

Our numbers have hugely reduced now that the Investment Year students have finished their final placements and gone back to New Hope.. this saturday even Steve was away - he was also at New Hope to run the 'hand-over'. When one IY finishes those students hand over to the next group - it's a chance to tell stories from the year, eat a meal together, and pass on information to the parents / guardians of the incoming students.

The house here was very quiet anyway...and Joel, Anya and Silas were on cooking the saturday morning pancakes. They are cooking with charcoal on a sigiri as it has become something of a challenge to find gas in Uganda lately. It is one of the items that has doubled in price in the last 8months. Anyway - cooking outside is a lot more exciting!