18th August: first full day

The day started bright and early at 7am with a trip to a local Ugandan radio station called Boona FM for myself, Abby, Lydia, Will, Luke, Ben and James. Upon arrival we were greeted by our translator Andrew who is a local Diocesan youth worker. We were allocated a 25 minute slot where we introduced ourself and James preached on Psalm 1: 1-3.

“Blessed is the man man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers”

This was conducted with precise timing unlike the “African Time” that we have become used to. The group then returned to the House of Good Hope where we had a typical Ugandan breakfast of bananas and fruit that was kindly provided by our hosts Mark and Ruth. Following this, we had our team meeting and discussed the day ahead. There were three main activities organised for the day:

Visit to the local Girls and Boys schools

The first group began their day by travelling to the local Girls School that was located only a 5 minute drive down the road. We were greeted by the school Chaplain who took us to the chapel for the Sunday Service. We were then led into the building and we were met by what can only be described as a wall of beautiful sound as the girls were singing and dancing to welcome us. It was a real real spine tingling moment.

The service involved a large amount of singing and dancing, not something that is ordinarily found in the UK. We introduced ourselves in the usual way and talked about our reasons for the trip. We were also treated to performances from 5 different choirs from the school, one of which did a short skit before a song. James then preached on John 15:5:

“I am the vine you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him he will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing”.

Following the service, Marius gave us a tour of the facilities at the school, including some latrines and washrooms that were constructed by WATSAN

The same group then headed to the sister boys school across the road. We enjoyed some fellowship at the school and organised a football tournament.

Visit to a Local Spring

The second group (James, Karen, Ed, Trevor and Marius from the WATSAN team) visited a completed protected low yield Spring at Marumba. This was followed by a truly amazing lunch with the finest Ugandan dishes - approximately 12 dishes. (put picture of plate here). After lunch, they were treated to introductions from everyone present and a very special song composed in thanks for WATSAN and all the work they have done. This song is going to be made available on the WATSAN website and we post a link later in the week.

Visit to the Cathedral

The third group (Abby, Lydia, Claire, Liz and Ian) started the day by visiting the local cathedral in Rukingiri. There were around 300 people in attendance. There was a large amount of singing that was uplifting as well as a cathedral choir. Ian preached a sermon on 1 John 4: 7-21. The word translated as Love is a special word in the new testament as 56the Greek word "agape" which means the unconditional, universal and fruitful love of God. During the service there were a number of collections, one of which was for a local lady who had adopted a child that had been found in the bushes outside the cathedral at Easter this year. This was an incredibly emotional experience for the team