Saturday 31 March 2012

The Hostel Opening - We Were There!

On Saturday March 24th, Mary and I were at the great event in Kasese - the official opening of the SKILL Hostel for street kids, for which we have been raising funds for four years.








It was a great and moving experience - despite the relaxed African-style time-keeping which we Mzungus (whites) sometimes find hard to acclimatize to!

As well as all the invited guests, there was a large bunch of the street kids themselves. After the ceremonies and all the speeches and choirs, the food was served (the best bit, as far as the boys were concerned!) and Mary and I were able to chat with the boys - at least, those who could speak English. Here she is with one bunch of them!

The building is in fact not completely finished - there is still a good deal of plastering to be done, which I guess will take another month or two. But the boys are still using it! Here are four of them in the doorway:


During the lengthy proceedings, the boys - being boys - got bored, and all disappeared inside the Hostel. That was fine with me (even if they missed my brilliant speech as a result!), as it meant they "owned" the Hostel, and regard it as their place. And that is what it's about.

Here is one of the three choirs who entertained us that day:As always, the singing and dancing was great.


The Guest of Honour was a very important politician, the Assistant RDC, Kasese, Mr. Muhindo Aminadabu. He even arrived with an armed guard. ("RDC" is Resident District Commissioner, a representative from the president's office to the district.)
After his speech, he went to cut the tape across the doorway.


Mary and I joined him for this - the scissors were useless!


But a high point for me was meeting Ashiraf (see earlier post) who four years ago touched our hearts with his words about the life of a street child. He had forgotten about it! But when I gave him the photocopy of his address, he remembered. "You were part of God's plan!" I told him. "This building is here because of what you said that day!"More soon!



mailto:soon!chriscjenkin@aol.com

Monday 19 March 2012

We're ready to go!

We checked in online this morning - and - praise the Lord! - I was able to book extra-legroom seats by the emergency exit. As I am 6 foot 3 inches tall, that is a real bonus for an 8 1/2 hour flight. I hope I can do the same on the return trip in 11 days time. (You can book these seats before checking in - but only if you pay £50 for the seat!)
Clothes and other kit chosen.
Gifts wrapped.
Luggage packed.
Dog delivered to good friends who will care for him.
First Malarone (anti-malaria) tablets taken.
This evening we drive to a hotel in Manchester; tomorrow morning, up at 5.30 a.m., and drive to airport car park. Get the shuttle flight to Heathrow; then off on the long flight to Entebbe.
Inevitable anxieties: if the shuttle flight is delayed, we could miss the Entebbe flight! Will our hold luggage be transferred to the Entebbe flight or will it turn up in Mumbai?
Good friends are coming round this evening to pray with us; what a kind thought!
We are sure, really, that God has it all in hand, and it is all going to be a marvellous experience. But.... NO BUTS!
Thank you, Lord, that your loving hand is upon us. AMEN!

Friday 16 March 2012

The Street Boy whose words touched our hearts

This is Ashiraf.
In March 2008 when Mary and I first visited Uganda and met the street children of Kasese, it was Ashiraf who stepped forward, welcomed us, and read a statement. He explained why these children were on the streets - orphans, or abused children who had run away, or children of sex workers who could not look after them.
Ashiraf described their wretched lifestyle - sleeping in the trees, scrabbling in the rubbish tips for food.
"If someone give a small job he or she becomes our Mother or Father that day," he said.
I still have his statement in front of me as I write.
His words touched our hearts; it was that statement which moved us, when we got home, to start the fund-raising, which has resulted - four years later - in over £40,000 being sent out to Kasese, so that the Hostel is now almost finished.
So it was that boy - perhaps 15 years old at the time - whose words triggered this whole project!
I recently asked Enos his name, and he emailed me not only the name, Ashiraf, but this recent picture of him.
He now earns his living as a Boda-Boda man - a bicycle taxi (hence the cushion on the carrier).
We hope to meet him on the 24th at the Hostel Opening, and shake his hand.
chriscjenkin@aol.com



Wednesday 14 March 2012

The Hostel Opening Programme

Enos Kyibibi, the Hostel Director, has sent us the Programme for Saturday March 24th.

It is a six-hour programme, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m, with an hour's break for lunch.


Guess which bit of the day will appeal most to the 50 or so street children who will be there!

But important though the food is, there are other parts of the programme which are significant:

* The role of local authorities in support of children: a talk by the vice-chairman of the local authority - Kasese Municipality, central division.

*Child Foster Care placements: by a UNICEF field officer.

* The role of families in putting up children: by KADD-Net (I don't know what that stands for!)

* Care and Protection of children: a Kasese Probation Officer.

* Suitable Care Centres for children: Save The Children, Kasese.

* The role of CSO in supporting children: ANPPCAN - the African Network for Prevention and Protection of Child Abuse and Neglect.

* Children charged with offences: The Police Child Protection Unit.

This full programme of seminars has been put together by the Committee, to help people to think seriously about the complex issues surrounding the care of street children. Opening a Hostel is just the beginning!

In addition to all these talks and seminars, there will be addresses by:-

@ The organizing committee chairperson

@ A leading local councillor (LC1), Murongote Kirembe ward.

@ The Executive Director - a brief report from Enos.

@ Me! And perhaps a few words from Mary, Alan Parrett, and Sue Fallon of Emmanuel International.

@ The Guest of Honour

@ Retired Bishop Masereka - "The Way Forward".

Quite a programme, eh?

And in addition there will be entertainment from choirs, singers and dancers. We will need that as lighter relief from the heavy bits!





Friday 9 March 2012

A busy schedule taking shape

We are only going to be in Uganda for ten days - arrive on the evening of the 20th, leave on the morning of the 30th.
Then our time in the country includes almost two full days travelling between Entebbe and Kasese (8 hours' drive each way).
So we will have a total of three days in or around Kampala, and four days in and around Kasese!
Here is a list of engagements taking shape:
* Visiting the TWAM Warehouse in Nabulagale Road, Kampala: TWAM is Tools With A Mission (www.twam.co.uk/) They do wonderful work collecting unwanted tools in UK, refurbishing them, and sending them out to countries like Uganda. We hope that they will be able to supply tools of various kinds for our Street Kids to learn to use - woodwork, mechanics, etc.
* SKILL Hostel Opening, 24th March - 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: We are really excited about this - seeing the progress on the building, and meeting the street kids again, and seeing them move in. 100 local community leaders are invited to the event, and they expect up to 50 street kids to be there. There will be singing and dancing, food, and lots of speeches - one of them by me! I am particularly wanting to say that we are now "passing on the torch" for the work to the Kasese local community (and I am taking an inflateable Olympic torch as a visual aid!).
* Preaching at All Saints' Church, Kasese: this is at the 7 a.m. English language service on Sunday 25th.
* Preaching at Rev. Nelson's church among the nomadic tribespeople near Nyakatonzi, about 50 km from Kasese. This is at 10.30 a.m. Mary will also speak to the women there - she is very nervous about that!
* Staying night with Rev. Nelson. (The other nights in Kasese we will stay with Mr Emmanuel Maate and family.)
* Visiting Busunga Primary School to form Link with Orton C of E Primary School, Cumbria, on Monday 26th, 9 a.m. (We are busy taking photographs, still and movie, of life in Orton School, so that we can show the staff and children at Busunga. We will do the same the other way round!)
* Meeting with Enos and the Executive Committee of SKILL: to discuss the future plans for the Hostel project.
* Visiting the Town Mayor of Kasese Municipality, in order to encourage the local authority to support SKILL in the future.
* Meeting the Bishop of South Rwenzori Diocese, the Rt. Revd. Jackson Nzerebende.
* Possibly visiting Women's Learning Centre where Mary gave instruction in needlework and various crafts in 2008 and 2010; and there are other people we would like to meet including two Facebook friends we have never met!
After returning to Kampala by bus on Wednesday 28th, we hope on Thursday 29th to visit the Chimpanzee Sanctuary on Ngamba Island in Lake Victoria - the one "holiday" activity we will have.
So it looks like being a busy and exhausting time for a pair of pensioners!
chriscjenkin@aol.com