Last posting from Uganda!

Since we fly home tomorrow I suspect this will definitely be our last posting from Uganda. It's hard to believe we've been here two weeks. We've had a superb couple of days, visiting the source of the Nile on Saturday and the Equator on Sunday. The weekend was rounded off perfectly last night with an evening of traditional African dancing at the main culture centre in Kampala. The dancing was performed in an open air theatre and we sat at tables and ate our meal as we watched the different groups perform- towards the end of the evening we did have to move inside as the heavens opened. Yes, that happens quite a lot in Africa too. One of the groups of children we saw had come straight from performing for all the African leaders who are currently meeting in Kampala. They did a very powerful dance about the 'African Woman' and the dangers of pregnancy.

Today we're visiting another Primary School (where Simon's wife teaches) and then a state secondary, which I suspect will differ quite dramatically from Ssaku. Tonight we're out for a meal to celebrate the end of our trip.

Anyway, I think I can hear the bus. See you in England!

Let the holiday begin!

Yet again I seem to be the one who has struck lucky with the internet connection...though I only have a few minutes to kill whilst waiting for the bus this morning. Today we're off to Jinja to visit the source of the Nile, which should be great. We're actually all really looking forward to a day out of the city as the pollution is really bad and it will be nice to breathe some clean air for the day.

Our phase in the schools is now over. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Najjera but it really was exhausting. We all taught lessons on Wednesday and had the experience of the class singing a song of thanks at the end. Of course that happens all the time at home! As with Ssaku, Najjera put on an assembly in our honour at the end of the third day. Amazingly, children in the nursery classes managed to sit through this with very little fuss and it lasted over two hours!

Ssaku School have posted some pictures of our visit on their website so if you want to see us all (in our painting gear!) go to:

http://ssaku.net/

They did get a little confused by Mrs Jary's position despite us trying to explain!

Anyway, I think I can hear the others starting to gather which probably means the bus is here. Hopefully one of the others will be able to post before we leave on Tuesday.

Gill

Finally the internet is working!!!

The internet here is VERY slow and VERY unreliable so we quickly realised our intention to update the blog daily was not going to be realistic. But hey, this is Africa.

We are having a truly amazing time and so much has happened it will be impossible to try and fill you in in one session. Probably best that I leave out some of the details as Rosie and Kat (in particular) will be very jealous that I have managed to get on the blog again! The girls are all currently upstair washing off the dust from our first day at Najjera Progressive Primary. The day ended with a (very competitive!) netball match; us against a team of 11 year olds who played with bare feet! We won but I am sure the return match tomorrow will yield a different result as the referee was very easy on us.

When we arrived this morning we had a tour of the entire school. The ages range from 2 and 3 in the nursery class, up to 13 in the Upper Classes. The classes were a delight and all had been trained to greet us with 'Good Morning our dear visitors'. There were as many as 80 children in some classrooms but all seemed very attentive. We will find out for ourselves tomorrow when we are teaching some lessons! The girls are all assigned to teaching PE so no doubt tonight will be spent planning some fun activities.

After the tour we planted the trees we had bought for the school and each had one named after us. Two of the Primary classes witnessed this and were able to tell us the many benefits of trees to humans as they have been studying the environment.

Before lunch we had a little free time so decided to head out into the playground where many of the younger children were. We taught them the 'Hokey Kokey' which was good fun. Many of them simply just wanted to touch us so we all ended up with huge numbers of small children at the end of each arm. We watched the children lining up for lunch with their bowls; they seem so much more capable at a younger age than children in England. Even the youngest children were lining up to carry a large bowl of hot food back to their classrooms, with virtually no supervision. They are just used to doing it.

Next we had our lunch and as with Ssaku School, they had put on a fabulous spread of African food for us. I think we had all worried a little in advance about the food but it really is tasty and there is lots of variety. It is very carbohydrate heavy but we are becoming accustomed to it and everyone is eating well.

After lunch we painted the main hall which was good fun. It was a different experience to our painting at Ssaku as the children did not join us, but they are much younger at Najjera. We still have more to finish tomorrow but we have made a good start.

So, given that we finished with netball it has been a pretty full on day. As I said earlier, tomorrow is going to include some teaching and lots more interaction with the children. They really are so excited to have us there so I think we will be worn out by the end of Thursday!

There are so many other things that I could write about but I think one of the girls will want to post about our time at Ssaku School. Given the tears we had when we left I think they thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

I would love to upload some photos but I really think it would be asking too much of the facilities here (and my patience!), so we'll have to do that upon return to the UK.

Bye for now!

Miss Gill (as in 'G' for goldfish)

We're here!

Just a quick update to let you know we've arrived safely. We tried to update last night but the internet wasn't playing ball. The journey was very long and tiring but we are so glad to be here. We were met at Entebbe airport yesterday by Simon and Jane. Simon is headteacher of the Primary school we will be working with and Jane a teacher at the Secondary. They accompanied us to our guesthouse, which is absolutely lovely and looks out right across Kampala. The drive through Kampala to get here was amazing - so much to see, we really can't wait to get out there today. After a long rest and a decent meal last night, we're off to do some sightseeing today. Hopefully we'll be able to upload some pics later when there's more time.

Uganda Team

ONLY ONE MORE SLEEP TO GO!!!

Things are very disorganised in the Barker household today. We haven't even started packing yet! However, we have been making very good use of our time this weekend by eating at every available opportunity. Don't get me wrong, I like bananas. But I am not mega enthused by the thought of bananas (sweet or savoury) for every single meal for the next two and a half weeks. So, last night was a chniese takeaway, this morning a full English and I am now wondering how much cake I can fit in over the course of the afternoon. Hopefully they won't want to weigh me at the airport!
This afternoon I am off to Staples for some last minute stationary supplies before heading home to finish my packing. I suspect I'll then have to assist my husband with his...This evening we're meeting Mrs Jary for a drink in the hope that a large glass of wine or two will settle any last minute nerves!
Mrs B x

Two

Two! :)
Today at work I have been really busy, I said goodbye to everyone at until I see them again when i'm home from Uganda! Yesterday i was ill with a migraine! :( I think down to too much excitement! :) After work i packed my hand luggage bag. Which includes a good book, and some sweeties, perfect combination for passing time at an airport!
not long now... :)

Kat :)

Three

Three Days!

My day has been so hectic, I spent nearly 3 hours in school today trying to get some last minute bits and pieces wrapped up. We decided to order some stationary through school to get discount but the second order hasn't arrived in time. This meant I spent most of my morning begging, borrowing and stealing. Mr Dickson and Mr Quiqley were able to replace the missing order which was a huge weight off my shoulders. My mum and I also bought some books to add to the schools librarys, and I've gotta admit my suitcase is now looking pretty savvy :)

- Rosie

Four

Four Days left to go...!!

Yesterday we had our final meeting before the trip for the Uganda team. In the meeting we all asked plenty of questions about the trip and clarified lots of things too. Such as which books are we taking over there, information on malaria medication and Lesson plans. Me and Rosie will be doing a lesson in Uganda about life for us in England, our daily routine our families, our hobbies interests and ambitions. We are going to be taking over pictures to aid us in explaining this. We have also been given a list of our itinerary for each day. In each school we will be spending 3 days painting, teaching and planting trees. I'm looking forward to them teaching us about their daily life too as I'm sure it's very different to ours! Today I did a tester "does everything fit in the case" check and too my relief it does! :) I really can't wait to be there and meet everyone in Uganda :)

Kat :)

Five

Fuh-fuh-five days!! Wo0o0o!! We had our final meeting today to discuss any last minute things and to confirm meeting arrangements for monday. Mrs Barker suggested that on monday morning we should set up a ring around, effectively a phone call conga. Yup, I've sat here for the last 10 minutes and thats the best description I can come up with. I said regardless to whether anyone needs waking up I think we should do it anyway :)

- Rosie "I am so excited" Mills

Six more sleeps to go!!!

Or maybe five, depending on how long the packing takes on Sunday night - though I'm sure nobody will be leaving it that late! Recently I have been on a different countdown. Every summer I mark GCSE exam papers and when 393 of them arrived three weeks ago, I did wonder how on earth I was going to get them done before the weekend. Well, I'm down to my last 20 and can finally start getting excited about next Monday!
I tested out my poetry lesson on some visiting Year 6 children today, although it's really hard to know how it will go down in the schools out there. The poem we're looking at is called 'A Case of Murder' and I am going to get them acting it out, so we might all need our drama skills! I think thet are just going to love whatever we do.
Anyway, marking break over...must get to the bottom of that pile!
Mrs B x

Seven

SEVEN DAYS TO GO!!
This time next week and our adventure begins :) Today we had another group meeting and with seven days to go our main focus has been to finish of all the little bits and pieces. Kat's mum gave a generous donation and with that we've bought some stationary and academic posters for classrooms. We're also presenting the schools with some sports trophies and a scrapbook on Carlisle and Trinity School. As well as all this we have been preparing lessons for both the primary and secondary schools.
The meeting we had today was really successful and it's clear that we're all super excited!!

- Rosie

Eight

8 days left!
Today like Rosie, I finished getting together all the medicines and precautions we have to take when in Uganda. I also bought with money my mum has sponsored to the Uganda trip; lots of exciting school posters, pencils, rubbers, sharpeners, colouring books and rulers. We will take the Stationary and posters over to Uganda so we can decorate the class rooms and give the children stationary in both schools! The paint for the classrooms we will be purchasing in Uganda as it is too heavy for a flight and also can contribute to Uganda's economy even if it's just a little bit. We will also be buying seeds to plant trees there. Tomorrow we will be planning how and what we will be teaching the children in the classrooms. We are planning lessons in English french and science. However there will be plenty of fun singing and dancing!!

Kat :)

Nine

9 DAYS TO GO!

Just like Kat, I really can't believe the time's rolled around this fast. It feels like yesterday we had the first cake sale fundraiser.

I've been buying the last bits and pieces this week, like my first aid kit.

Now if it wasn't for the fact I was buying a travel pillow, jungle bug spray and collecting my Malarone perscription the woman at the till who was scanning through my 3 packs of Bisacodyl and 3 packs Loperamide hydrochloride would probably have gone wide eyed and raised her eyebrows. 6 packets of tummy troubles capsules is rather excessive but better safe than sorry. Hopefully I won't need to use them.

- Rosie

Ten

10 days, 10 days, 10 days!! I can't believe it after all this time it's been about a year since we began our project and now we're nearly at our adventure date! I'm so excited and really proud of all the hard work we have put in to make this trip a big success! Tomorrow we will begin a daily countdown :) And we will finally be in single figures! It feel so real now not just like a dream but a dream that will be true in just 10 days! I am looking forward to seeing the Ugandan Culture i have been reading so much about. I think one of the best parts will be meeting the people there and learning about them listening to their stories and sharing our with them.

Kat :)