Summer fun - Emma is here ..

Our friend Emma Sly came to spend time here and do normal life with the Browns - what a brave lady!  We all loved having her around ... she ate ugandan food, had cold showers, slept with the IY girls in the dormitory, and was generally great...

Summer fun ..Jack is here..

Jack Norridge comes to stay ... and now Joel is happy about the summer :

 friends make all the difference!

working at the New Hope fishery ...

supervising building at Aunty Judiths new house ...

..planting seedlings at the Enterprise Farm - New Hope

...and of course compulsory machete wielding practice!

Summer fun ... Silas' birthday

collecting Silas' birthday present - a bike on a bike..!

Using his new basketball and hoop - getting some basketball coaching from Emma who came to stay with us for 3+ weeks...

...and practicing some mean moves in his new Tai Kwondo suit!

A day in the life.....

A DAY IN THE LIFE

I am doing my internship at Ntinda School for the deaf in Nakawa Division. 

My first time of going there I was challenged by the sign language but as time went on I learnt some and I was able to communicate with teachers plus the students. 

I have also managed to help in teaching, marking books and any other activity that is around. I have also acquired the skill of transplanting because the Kabira pupils used to come and work in the school garden with us. Also moving to and fro has helped me to know different places which I didn’t before. It has also enabled me to know how to use a computer.  In addition, I have known how to handle a deaf child and it has helped me realise that I want to pursue teaching as a career.

Interviews

WHAT REALLY AN INTERVIEW IS TO ME

An interview is a time of great panic, fear and a time of losing one’s confidence and words. The first time I had an interview was during the beginning of my first internship in investment year at Bugolobi in Kampala with the GOOD AFRICAN COFFEE.   

This time I was tested how confident I was and I did fail the Interview.  After failing I believed I was a failure and thought that was the end of me since we had learned everything about interviews and some of the questions that can be asked and how to answer them. After two days I was surprised to hear that I was still  allowed to  do the internship from that company. 

After the end of the internship, I believe I gained confidence better than I had before. I gained it from talking  to people whom I worked with ,who sometimes teased me yet they where were teaching me how to be confident .I also gained it from uncle Steve who encouraged me on that day when I felt like I was a failure after the interview.

the forge

As Investment continues to develop we are always looking for new opportunities for the students to gain new skills. As an IY team we encourage self sufficiency in our students as well as for the programme and so we look for new business opportunities. Steve/IY is partnering with the farm at the site out there and the guy who manages it.... they have set up an outlet where produce from the farm can be sold to the community/teams/visitors.... we also sell the IY coffee, craft items that Steve sources from local places around Uganda,and chapattis that  made on site.    It is giving good opportunities for the IYs who work there on placement to manage the shop, keep accounts, order and source the right produce, market the business etc.. We are on average taking about £100 -£150 per week, the business is gradually growing and we have been really encouraged how this opportunity has brought out entrepreneurial skills in the young people who have worked there so far.  They have really taken up the challenge of setting up a new business from scratch...the building we are using was an old garage/mechanic area so they have had to re design and tidy it up a lot to make it suitable for our use.  The longer term plan is that we can have a cafe area where we can sell cups of coffee that we brew on site.

..good day good day...

...good day for Rose (one of our IYs) who has touched the keys of a computer for the first time in her life - she is now following a programme that will help her learn to type...

...good day for Anya and Silas who have now finished school and are enjoying friends being around. (The little girl is Ava, who shared a bed with Silas during their firs 6 months or so at Hope Family baby home ... ahh).

...good day, bad day...

Bad day for our young lettuce seedlings which got covered in concrete from the improvements going on on top of the wall that surrounds the house! ...we have just a little bit of hope that they will recover ...

Good day for Silas who lost another tooth and is now waiting for the tooth fairy....

A day in the life...

I am Misigalo Mathias, I am in Investment Year and I will never forget my first day at Nakasero blood bank, it was such a new experience for me.  The blood blank is the headquarters for all regional blood banks and collection centres in Uganda.  It was interesting because I began with donating blood in order to save the lives of people here in Uganda.  On that first day I went to a secondary school to collect some blood from students and turn up was not good.  However for the following days I switched and I started doing laboratory work and it is beautiful.  In laboratory mainly I get much involved in screening blood and separating blood, this process of separating

involves taking plasma from whole blood, testing some diseases especially HIV and hepatitis which affects the liver.  Really it has been blessing to me and I want thank God for such a big opportunity, because am pursuing to become a lab technician in future and I think God has placed me in the right place at the right time.

getting a bit busy ...

Sometimes - when there are lots of people here in the house, this is what our back door step looks like.  It is a great practice in Uganda that shoes are taken off when you go into someones house - keeps the dust down - but as you can see, it leaves an indication of how many people have gone in.  Most of the time we cope well but sometimes it really does become quite tiring - and we are still learning tactics and mechanisms that will help us to remain sane!  Of course one stressful thing is trying to find your own shoes among the pile on your way out!

good day, bad day...

A good day for Anya who came third in two races at sports day - the 400m and the three legged race.
A bad day for the parents who came to watch but missed the main race because she ran it 20 mins early (not a normal occurrence in Africa!)

IY training reunited.

The Investment Year students have had a fun time reuniting with their peers over the last few days..  We have had the group of 31 here in the house again for 3 days of mid-placement training .... 

...relaxing .. 

..and plenty of cooking and eating ... 

We had a good few days with some great visiting guests - two different advisors to President Museveni, who have both got very interesting stories and had a lot to say to our young people...

Trampoline fun.

Getting a trampoline as a christmas present has been a lot of fun - but it all started with a lot of hard work and sweat... 

We had to bring in extra muscle to get it all strung together .. 

Some of us lost interest and decided to play with the box instead! 

...but then the fun started ... 

...and continued ...! 

Yippeee!

Ugnadan snacks!

This is kasava - one of the  many starch filled root vegetables you can
get in Uganda.  It makes superb chips though so we are happy!

...and it goes down well with ice lollies too!

school pics

..maths, reading, parachute launching, PE, and 'special serving - a fun school week ...

Silas is enjoying his new school chums..

school days..

Well Silas' school has tripled in size over the last couple of weeks as we have been joined by two boys - Anonze and Anenda.  They are twins aged 4 and a half and certainly add a certain spice to each school day.  Silas is really pleased to have someone to actually play with when it comes to break time (!) and the IY's here have given him the role of head boy as he is the oldest and longest serving member of the school!  Steve continues to be head teacher and trips co-ordinator - he will kick in this week taking the three of them on a trip to the airport!