‘SPARK in the Park’ Book Design

It was so cool to design and illustrate the free book for ‘SPARK in the Park’ for the third year in a row!

July 26th 2023

Mission in Uganda – Week 9 and 1/2 – 22nd May to 2nd June

After a great’s night sleep, I got up at 6.15 for a shower, and the reason that I included that detail is because it was the best shower I’ve ever had in Uganda! I can not recommend “Bushpig Backpackers” enough!

At 7:30 am, Peter picked us up in the van to go collect his car that was being fixed, and in the process had its wing mirror broken, so we were doing the long journey back to Rukungiri with no driver’s wing mirror! We couldn’t take the van because it guzzles fuel and we couldn’t afford the cost, and Peter kindly only charges us fuel cost ( so doesn’t charge us at all because the money goes on fuel).

We made a stop at the hot springs about half an hour away from Rukungiri so that we could see monkeys… and of course, the hot springs! (I was more excited about the monkeys). It was strange watching the water bubbling. The tour guide said that the water was healing, but the list of ailments it healed just wasn’t realistic to me – it was everything but Aids.

It took us 8/9 hours from Kampala to Rukungiri, and it was so good to be home. Chicken and chips with friends, and then I took myself to my room to recover.

On Tuesday, we had fun with Ustine. We went shopping for a pair of sandals I really wanted and to buy decent Ugandan fabric. We then went for lunch with Ustine for local food (so I was very happy). They also suggested I head to the restaurant whilst they got the last few bits sorted as they know shopping is not my thing, which I really appreciated.

After lunch, we put our fabric into the tailor to have our items made (mine was a pair of shorts and culottes so that I didn’t have to wear a skirt, lol). Then we went to Ustine’s shop as we’d already taken a lot of her work time, and there she showed us how to make the paper beads that they make into lots of jewellery. I’d always wanted to learn, so I was happy.

In the evening, we went for dinner at Emily and Alfred’s and just chilled and laughed and caught up with them on our adventures in Kampala and Jinja.

Caleb, rather than Silas, picked us up the next morning for my last visit to Bucence Children’s Centre for this trip. We watched a couple of movies on Mo’s projector, which the kids loved. It was like their own cinema, and they panicked and cheered with the characters – it filled my heart with joy. We set up Bible verse painting and some bead bracelet making on a couple of tables.

Thursday was my last family visit with Martin (OFHM). There’s one family in particular that Mo intends on visiting regularly. We took some sensory toys for the older brother, who’s in his early twenties, but due to autism and brain damage, he seems a lot younger and can’t communicate in the usual way. He seemed to like the sensory toys (FYI, so did I!) It was wonderful to see his grandmother with him and how he responds to her presence. The parents aren’t on the scene, so the grandparents are bringing up the family.

We went with Martin and his team to the pork joint for lunch, which was fabulous! And once home, we packed, and Silas picked us up to drive us to Lake Bunyonyi again. The journey was much quicker as the weather was dry. I’m pretty sure I was starting to come down with something, but if you know me, then you know that I don’t stop until I have to.

At Lake Bunyonyi, I was up early taking photos of the pied kingfisher catching fish on our dock (Yes, our dock, lol). It was a chilled day of photography and fun.

Mo and Bethan went swimming in the lake, so I enjoyed getting photos of them for them. Later in the day, they joined in a friendly football match with some of the employees and locals. I wasn’t really feeling myself, and there was more chance of me being too competitive, so I gave it amiss and watched birds and took photos of Mo and Bethan playing football. I did kick the ball a few times and fell over a rock doing so! How embarrassing!

Saturday was another early morning for me. This time, I wandered to other docks to get photos of the otters. I tried some different settings to account for the dawn light, and I’ve got some much better photos, including the otters eating fish.

So, we also went to a different island across the lake, for what turned out to be a walk in the scorching sun. Ordinarily, I’d have loved it, but I probably shouldn’t have gone because of how I was feeling, but FOMO (fear of missing out) got the better of me.

I started to feel faint as we got higher and hotter and I was struggling to breathe before we started with whatever infection I had, So I was made to sit down for a bit when I couldn’t make a simple choice.

some of the like needed more concentration, but I zoned out for a bit and fell over, grazing and bruising my leg (but somehow protecting my camera, lol).

We travelled back to Rukungiri with Silas, and I slept most of the journey and went straight to bed once home. I stayed in bed all of Sunday except to go for dinner with Emily and Alfred (there was no way I would miss that!) It was a lovely evening despite me feeling so rubbish.

I had a bad night burning up and having chills. I got so hot at one point that I ignored the risk of mosquito bites and just laid on my cold tiled floor and tried to keep hydrated.

Monday morning, Justus from Whitecrest Tours picked me up at 9 am for the long journey to Kampala, where I would stay for a few days before flying to the UK.

We dropped a few friends from Rwanda en route to help with their journey home. They were genocide survivors and are now pastors.

Justus did so well. It was a ten-hour journey because of the diversion, and we got a flat tyre.

Apart from meals, I spent my time in bed resting, trying to get rid of whatever I had (and still have). I didn’t need a repeat of a previous year when I passed out at the airport, lol.

When it came time to leave for the airport, Simon said I looked better, which was good – I just needed to get through the airport. I was burning… and praying!

I’d managed to get an aisle seat on a flight to Doha, watched a couple of movies and rested. My second flight was full up, and so I was in business class, I felt like an imposter and asked if I was in the correct seat. I was, so I settled in. I had restless legs for a while and so couldn’t sleep at first, but eventually, I’d managed to hydrate enough that it stopped, and I slept for most of the flight!

My dad picked me up from Gatwick, which was lovely. Trying to find him was a task with poor signage, the work going on at the airport… and me being ill.

I got home and my mum opened my front door, making me so happy. We chatted for a bit, but I needed to shower and rest.

So, this is the end of my two-month mission in Uganda, but actually the beginning of the rest of my life. I’m looking forward to preparing for long-term mission work in Uganda. To be continued…

Mission in Uganda – Week 8 – 15th to 21st May

We started week 8 by heading to Bucence Primary School for me to teach my final lesson in the holidays (next week the children are at home to rest and do things their families need them to do).

The headteacher sat in at the start of my lesson, which was lovely. I played a bit of a game with them with coloured pictures I’d drawn to get them to understand how to use and so’ for similarities, which they really loved.

Those who miss lessons miss key vocabulary, which makes the following lessons more difficult for them, especially for this topic since they’ll not have seen or used most things in the vocabulary list.

I was aware that a couple of children were copying others (it’s very common), but all I said was that I wouldn’t embarrass them, but I knew because the little mistakes were the same as the person next to them, and that if they wanted to learn they needed to do the work themselves, and that it’s Ok to get things wrong.

I’ve really enjoyed encouraging them, and just seeing them flourish and grow more confident over the few days I’ve taught them, especially a couple of lads, who by their books weren’t used to doing things well, but were and rushed to have their books marked and were all smiles when they realised they were doing well.

I think that doing SPaG booster lessons would be good when I return, as it was general verb tenses, etc. when mistakes were made. I got them to say their sentences out loud when I was working on their work, and they heard their errors and corrected them – a simple solution.

Mo was in the lessons taking photos and videos to produce a promotional video to help me get sponsors for my mission work in Uganda. I’ll be able to use it to show potential sponsors what I will be doing in Uganda.

After teaching, we head to ‘The Hope Collective’ to help prepare bags of items for the sponsored students, such as health and hygiene products as well as school items like exercise books, pens, and pencils. The Hope Collective supports students from different schools, and the lists of items needed are different for each school, so it’s a big job.

In the evening, we went to drop Emily and Alfred’s niece back to secondary school, and it was really lovely to see her greeted by staff when she was reasonably new to the school. It’s going to be strange not seeing her at their house, and for me, it was the last time that I’d see her on this trip.

On Tuesday morning, Martin picked us up to take us to a village where he was meeting with children and families from the charity (OFHM). We met inside a church and talked to the children, parents/grandparents (whoever was caring for the children).

Mo and I went with the over-14s and played various card games like Uno, Taco, and Dobble, which they loved and got increasingly competitive. Justus took the kids for games, and Martin stayed with the adults. Each group was spoken to and encouraged. Mo spoke to our group. She is a natural and gifted speaker, and being an actress, she has bags of confidence. It was such a hot day that I got sluggish very quickly and was more useful taking photographs and videos, lol.

When it was time to leave we discovered our vehicle’s battery was flat. There’s no AA, and cars wouldn’t have jump leads if we flagged down the few that came through the village. We called our friend Silas, who came to get us going and came with food. Locals also provided us with small bananas, which I love.

The delay meant that we were late to meet Alice and John to go with them to the police station to make Statements about their stolen items and to see if our thief had them. We had spotted items they’d mentioned, so it was possible… they just might not be there anymore.

In the evening we went for dinner at John and Alice’s house. It was delicious local food and a wonderful catch-up. We were also celebrating their son having Come to Christ and doing so much better than I’ve ever seen him. It was awesome!

Wednesday, I was up at 3.30 am (Mo at 4). I washed up, made hot drinks, and rolls, ready to get a public taxi to Kampala. We were picked up at 5 am. One of the roads is out of action due to flooding, so there’s a massive detour, so a 5-hour journey took us 8/9 hours, and the vehicle was cramped. Poor Mo couldn’t feel her legs by the time we arrived. We were saved spaces in the front, and the driver was excellent, safe, and kept checking on us. The reactions of other taxi drivers seeing two mzungus in the taxi were really funny.

We met our friend Peter, who took us to our apartment in Kampala. It was a lovely apartment, and they’d really take into consideration what Mzungus liked. The only thing I wasn’t amused by was the toilet seat breaking in half when I sat on it. It hurt both my bum and soul, lol.

Most people don’t do well on lack of food and sleep, but I really don’t. Kampala was so hot and busy, too. Lots of changes also take their toll on me and I did have moments where I really struggled over my time in Kampala and Jinja, but I was honest with people back home and with Mo and friends, which made things easier, they always understood, and encouraged me to cut myself some slack, as of course I would struggle with my autism but I was doing it none-the-less and was still having a great time. I’m definitely a village girl rather than a city girl.

The next morning, I finally got to meet Jimmy, Mo’s friend, who was helping her with the police case. He brought us a few treats and invited us to his home another day. He was a lovely man. We have met many lovely men and feel very blessed to know so many good men who look out for us.

In the afternoon, Peter picked us up to take us to Entebbe Airport to pick up Mo’s friend, Bethan, which was the reason we were in Kampala.

After getting her phone set up and money exchanged, we went to CJs for food with two other friends of Mo’s. Valentino (a celebrity in Uganda for his dancing) and Xena, who actually knows Simon Peter from salsa dancing, so we had fun sending him a photo of us together, lol.

They (including another guy called Mackstar, who is a singer, all went to various clubs that night to dance, and I stayed home with my Kindle because clubs are not my scene, lol. I really loved meeting everyone, though.

Friday was another travelling day, but not too long. Peter took us to Jinja and was staying with us. The hotel didn’t look too bad from the outside, and even as you entered, it looked ok, just a bit worn, but our rooms were a different story.

We had single rooms on the top floor and it was roasting! The moment I stood on the top floor, I was sweating buckets (none of this, “a lady perspires” business! lol)

I arrived tired, hot and hungry, and I looked at our rooms, which were supposed to overlook the pool, but in reality looked out over (I’m not really sure, but it wasn’t a good view), and the view of the pool was from the corridor, which we found funny.

My room was not. Everything was worn and threadbare, including the dark brown carpet. I was not feeling comfortable. I had to change rooms as my window didn’t open, but that didn’t happen until we got back after dinner and playing pool because someone had to come to the hotel to try to open it…

Dinner was delicious. We are at a place called ‘The Office’. We had to ask for the music to be turned down whilst we ate, and literally, as soon as our plates were cleared, the volume went up dramatically, ready for Friday night bar vibes.

When I got back to the hotel, I moved into the next room, which was just as bad, but the window opened, and there was a fan on the side, which was sweet of them.

At this point, I was feeling more optimistic and just told myself that I just had two nights sleeping in the room. But it turned out to be only one. I was bitten by what looked like bedbugs by the bites (could have been something else, but not mosquitos – I know their bites because I have lots of them, lol). To make matters worse, my luggage was full of tiny ants! I wanted to cry but instead spent the next hour cleaning my luggage as best I could and using very ‘colourful’ language. My friends found me in the dining area with all my luggage refusing to go back to the room. If I had expected the situation, I would have packed accordingly and been prepared, but I was expecting a hotel room, however basic, for a fun weekend away and a break from the court chaos, etc. and knowing I spend quite a bit of time in my room, I just couldn’t cope… Still, no full-blown meltdown, so, praise God!

During my time in Kampala and Jinja, I was asking a couple of friends from back home (including my lovely mentor, who knows Uganda well, and knows how to deal with a troubled Linzi, lol) to pray and I was venting to them because I was struggling in the mornings and evenings. I think because that’s when I should be resting and recuperating in my room. Once we were out and about, I was absolutely fine and was enjoying myself.

Another change of room, and this time on the ground floor, near reception. With tiles on the floor, a proper bed and mosquito net, a balcony, a mini fridge, and air-con for £30 I was much happier! I left my luggage and we went out.

We went on a bout tour. We saw lots of birds and some Monitor lizards. It was the first time I saw one swim. The tour guide gave us lots of information about wildlife and history. We stopped at a floating hut, which was “the source of the Nile”, it’s not, but, hey, ho! Until recently, the area had been dryland (there was an electric pylon sticking out of the water!)

Peter then took us to another hotel so that we could see monkeys. Unfortunately, they don’t allow cameras, and we only saw a couple of black and white monkeys in the distance. But we had a lovely lunch overlooking where Lake Victoria meets the Nile.

Back at our hotel, the others went swimming and actually got to take part in four baptisms, as Watoto Jinja, randomly turned up. I didn’t know, so I missed it, but that’s OK because I was enjoying taking photos from my balcony and having a rest.

I can’t remember where we went for dinner, but it was popular, and some of the baptism people were there too. The food was lovely, but the portions were so big, that none of us finished. I was dropped back to the hotel so I could sort my photos, and the others headed out to ‘The Office’ to play pool and dance.

After a full 8 hours of sleep, I woke at 6:30 am and enjoyed my time, before breakfast at 9 am, on my balcony taking photographs. I was really pleased to capture bats flying, fishermen throwing out their net and catching fish, and a cormorant catching and eating a crab. I sat there for 2 and a half hours happily.

After breakfast, we were on the road back to Kampala to visit Jimmy and his family to celebrate his son’s birthday and Bethan’s completion of her degree. There was lots of food and fun, and I loved the community feeling in Uganda.

Jimmy took us to the new house he’s building (I got lots of ideas for my own build, particularly the metalwork colour). He then took us to his piggery, which at one point had hundreds of pigs and now has 30ish. We saw and stroked day-old baby goats and saw nine piglets, which were 2 hours old! They still had their umbilical cords. Absolutely adorable! On the way back to his home, we also saw little chicks crossing the road. It was a fantastic afternoon and evening with wonderful people.

In the evening, we travelled to our “booked” accommodation, and here’s where it gets interesting. So, despite the confirmed booking, when Mo called them because we couldn’t find it, they’d rented the whole place out. They found us accommodation at a hostel called “Bushpig Backpackers,” which was brilliant. I felt so chilled there that I relaxed enough to have a beer. We had bunkbeds, and everything was so clean and neat.

I came back from the bar alone and earlier than the others, and I found our door unlocked. After what had happened 2 months earlier, I couldn’t believe it. But, it was another lady to be a fourth in the dormitory. She immediately told me not to panic and that she was nice, lol. She was from Israel and was on her way to Jinja. We just got ready for bed after a short conversation.

The hostel was amazing, and I definitely recommend it. There are normal rooms too, not just dormitories.

Mission in Uganda – Week 7 – 8th to 14th May

As I’ve not felt well, I actually slept until gone 8 am and feel much better for it. I got cracking on my first lesson plan for P.7 English to be taught on Tuesday (the next day). I’ve decided that I’m going to drop looking at the maths curriculum and focus on the English-related subjects as I think that’s where I’ll be of most use.

Tuesday, I woke up still not feeling great, but it actually meant that I couldn’t feel nervous about teaching my first English lesson as part of the official curriculum at Bucence Primary School.

Mo and I were doing separate things today, as she went to do field work with Martin from Our Father’s House Ministries, and I was heading to school.

When Silas picked me up at 10 am to take me to school, he told me that he’d had a dream from God about me (FYI, so do I). In this dream, everything that I’m doing now, and am planning on doing in the near future, is going to lead to me starting my own school and becoming a school director.

OK, back to the first lesson I was teaching. It was a small class of only 6 (usually only 12 as the school has lost a lot by underperforming). It’s holiday classes too.

I enjoyed myself immensely. It was great to be back in the classroom, even if it was completely different from what I was used to.

Trying to do a lesson on television and radio with children who don’t see them much and having no props or even pictures was difficult. They had to understand concepts by imagination (and my chalkboard drawing, lol). I made them laugh when explaining what a ‘knob’ was by using a ‘volume knob’ as an example speaking loudly as I pretended to turn it up and whispering as I turned it down. They did really well on the independent activities. I found it hard not to be sitting with and helping them, so I wandered and helped where I could, but they got it anyway.

I recorded my lesson on my phone, it’s not the best as I just had to prop it up on the desk, but I really wanted something from my first lesson. It may surprise people that I lack a lot of confidence in my ability to do anything, so this was a step in building my confidence. It was an awesome day! I was excited to teach again on Thursday.

In the evening, we went for dinner at our friends’ house; Pastor Paul and Ustine, and their three kids, which was lovely. Have I mentioned how much I like Ugandan food? lol.

They are great company, and it made me smile watching and listening to the kids’ reactions to watching ‘Matilda’ and ‘Mr Bean’ on Mo’s projector.

Wednesday was court day when I would have to give my witness statement about the thief. There was no official time; we just had to go early and wait so that we didn’t miss our case being called. The courts were very busy, and witnesses were sent home whilst Mo waited with a friend for a new date.

At home, I’d not long sent a message to the Ladies’ WhatsApp requesting prayer for the messy situation, when Mo rang me to say the thief finally (accidentally) admitted guilt. Therefore, I no longer had to be a witness – phew! Mo could finally put this case to rest, and the thief was finally showing that he was on the path to redemption and would receive a lesser sentence for not wasting the court’s time.

Sadly, Mo’s church (except a few) has turned against her over this. It’s mainly the youth (youth can be single adults, not just teens and it’s the adults here), and the youth pastors. They equated forgiveness with dropping the case, and not to go into details publicly, but there was a whole heap of bad things happening throughout the case that led Mo to actually resign from her position at RCC, as she could no longer effectively do her job. It’s not my place to tell those things here, all I can say is that Mo’s at peace with her decision and has already started mission work with friends and is happy and passionate about what she’s doing now. Also, the thief got 3 months in prison, including time served. It was one month for each missionary he’d stolen from over the years. We had an excellent and fair magistrate.

On Thursday, four of us headed to Bucence: me, Mo, Silas, and Martin. I went to teach my second lesson. Mo came to take a few photos and videos for me and then to train Silas and Martin in media for the respective charities.

I had the Pr English teacher sit in on my lesson, and the Headteacher popped in a few times, too. They were both very impressed with me and how the children responded to me and excelled in my lesson. I’m feeling really encouraged, and my confidence is continuing to grow.

We then went to meet with Reverend Andrew, who is the head of youth for the diocese and a very lovely man (also theologically sound in my opinion, which made a nice change after the court case mess lol). He asked me to pray for us at the end, which completely threw me as normally it’s Mo (and I’d grown a little too comfortable with that, lol).

After lunch, I had the longest afternoon of my life (jokes), I went shopping with Mo and Ustine for a dress and shoes for dancing in Kampala. If you know me, then you know shopping is not my. alone dress and shoe shopping, lol. Although I have spotted a pair of sandals, I will get another day when I can be bothered, lol. It was worth the exhaustion, though, as Mo got a fab dress and shoes, (although I’m pretty certain she could make a bin liner look good).

On Friday, we went to Lorycon to go swimming with Emily, Maureen (her niece), and the kids. Mo was teaching Maureen and the kids to swim, and I was taking photos. I got some really lovely photos of them all plus some of a heron that landed nearby, and a lizard, and I even went on a longer and hotter than expected walk to get some bird photos, but sadly I lost most of my parks for the week in a transfer malfunction. I was devastated at the time but I managed to get some more photos over the next two days, including the ones I’d done a long, hot walk to get because our friend Silas drove me to the location the next day before taking us to Bucence Children’s Centre.

As if losing my photos on Friday wasn’t bad enough, when Mo was napping I discovered we had a plague of tiny ants in various places in the house, and started to deal with them until Mo awoke and could help. Bet that wasn’t fun to wake up to, bless her.

I then had to deal with another load that came out of the shower fixings before I went to bed, so I had a headache from all the bug spray.

Saturday at Bucence Children’s Centre was wonderful. The kids watched a movie on Mo’s laptop, and I went for a wander with my camera before joining in the movie-watching. I’m really bad at sitting still to watch movies. We had been hoping to use her projector, but the centre needed their electricity supply fixed as lightning struck the solar panels during the night and fried the circuits.

Picking up some hot food in the supermarket, we then headed to watch our first Ugandan live football match.

A function was still going on at the first location, and there was only one goal for a full-size pitch, lol. So, the district coach made other arrangements. But the girls played 10 minutes on a small pitch, which those who were leaving the function drove through as they played!

The men’s game moved to a local school. It was district workers vs. prison staff. There were so many headers and bicycle kicks in the game! With a friend on the District team, we were pleased that they won 3-0.

I was so tired by the end of the day that I crashed out despite loud music playing (no earplugs either, lol). Mo was busy sewing and making new clothes out of random items in her room, lol.

Sunday, feeling well and awake, we went to the local Anglican church at 8 am for the English service. But I still struggled to follow it. I had to sit still for nearly two hours (except when we sang). If you know me, then you know that sitting still is not easy for me, lol. My body may not have wandered, but my mind definitely did!

After church, we went to Emily and Alfred’s for breakfast, which is always lovely. I really love spending my Sundays with them. It’s a lovely start and finish to the end of the week since Sunday can be both. I’m very grateful for their friendship and hospitality.

Mo and I went with Alfred to visit Emily and Alfred’s Charity ‘The Hope Collective’. The building work is ongoing, but the charity is already running. Do check out the website to see the work being done (search for the name).

In the evening we met with several friends and their children at the football Stadium, which was hosting the Trade Show, which is like a fair with lots of stalls and a couple of rides and bouncy castles. They normally have animals, but I’m glad they didn’t as I’d been warned about the conditions in which they were kept.

We ended our week at Riverside Hotel playing pool and laughing with friends.

Mission in Uganda – Week 6 – 1st to 7th May

We started this week still at Lake Bunyonyi. We met our new friend, Alina, for breakfast and then decided to go on a little walk around the island with our cameras, including to see where each other was staying as the lodges/nests are all different.

Silas came early to pick us up to spend time with us on the island. But he had to wait for the rain to pass to get the boat from the mainland.

On his way, he helped dig three people out of a rock avalanche, but sadly, only one person survived. A father and son, who had just been having lunch, lost their lives. It was a tough morning for him.

Silas, Alina, and Mo hung out playing pool after we had lunch together, but I went on another wander with my camera.

Alina took us upon our offer to come back to Rukungiri and stay with us for a few days, which was lovely. Before we left, the island owner Silas wanted to show us some new lodges he’d built and asked me to take photographs for him, which, of course, I did. He said that by the time he returned later in May, they’d be in use, and a new swimming dock would be there too.

We said our goodbyes to the staff and took the little boat back to the mainland (obviously taking photos on the way). Three hours later, we settled at home in Rukungiri.

The following morning, we went for breakfast in town, and it was a bit of a disaster. Not only did we wait forever but were waiting for orders that weren’t coming and then they finally got our orders but brought out extra that they expected us to pay for but we refused, and they were OK with the refusal and apologised for the mistakes (although one guy wasn’t going to back down lol).

Silas picked us up, We grabbed swimwear and took Silas swimming for the first time. We had so much fun, and I laughed so much that I had a coughing fit, and Mo thought I was going to drown.

On Wednesday, Mo headed to court. It was such a long day for her, but our thief didn’t get bail as he gave some answers that made the judge think he would run if he got bail. Yay! No bail!

I, on the other hand, had a great morning! Alina, I, and Silas, headed over to Bucence Primary School and Bucence Children’s Centre (these are the places I feel called to long-term). On the way, I received a text from a UK teacher friend to say she’d like her school to send letters to the children and will send out reading books too, and cover the cost. ( I hope I can return to Uganda when the team from church comes in October to sort out the children at Bucence Primary School writing responses, and I can bring them back with me).

At the school, I met the lovely and enthusiastic Headteacher, who, just like the teachers I’d met, was so welcoming. I observed the English teacher and made copious notes to help me understand the lesson structure. And I asked so many questions, all of which my friend was able to answer. They have no resources to even show pictures, let alone real objects, so you can imagine how difficult a topic on electronic media, like radios, televisions, and computers is. The children haven’t seen most things. Only four children had access to a television, and it may not have even been in their home.

I also borrowed textbooks and Schemes of Work for all years to copy them. I was up til midnight doing this and converting them to PDFs. Originally, I was copying English, Reading, and Mathematics, but I have since decided to focus on English and Reading, where I think I will be of most use. I actually found out that they can’t even teach all the curriculum as they don’t have all the books required!

It was the best day so far!

We had a slower day on Thursday, and I made video calls back house including to our wonderful youth group! I loved seeing and speaking with them!

I’ve been talking a lot to my Uganda friends about my long-term living situation, and they think the best idea all around is for me to get a plot of land and build a house. This is exciting! I look forward to conversations with ‘Friends of North Kigezi Diocese’ when I get home to discuss my mission work.

Friday was my gorgeous nephew’s third birthday. I made him a video and one for his sister. My sister-in-law said they giggled and waved bye to the video, which was wonderful to know. It filled me with the warm fuzzies, lol.

We headed to Bucence Primary School to swap books for me to copy more, and then onto the children’s centre where we played games and did watercolour painting and drawing with the children. It was a lovely morning, and I absolutely love both the school and the children’s centre.

In the evening we met with a friend of Mo’s and we laughed so much! Apparently, I’m very funny! lol. Mo’s friend is also an excellent architect so I’m going to chat with him about ideas and costs. But I know from friends that this is very doable.

Saturday, as we all know, was the Coronation of King Charles the Third, and I woke up to the Mo hacking at branches with a machete to make flag poles out of twigs. I’m not going to lie, I’ve had better, “Good mornings, lol.

I’m not very well with sinusitis and tonsillitis again, but worse than before, but I’ve got antibiotics, so it will be fine.

We made Union Jack flags and a tray of cucumber; tuna and onion; and egg mayonnaise sandwiches. We went to celebrate the coronation with our friends Emily and Alfred (and, of course, their little boy). Emily made a delicious quiche, scones, and jelly and ice cream. Mo made lemon drizzle cakes, and Alfred’s niece made her first coffee cake, which was amazing! We were trying to be British for the day. It was fun seeing the Ugandans try British food as it’s usually the other way round. They seemed to like them.

Sunday Mo went to church, and I stayed in bed as I’d not slept well due to coughing and loud music playing nearby. I’ve never known this area to be so noisy so often!

Emily, Alfred, and Mo picked me up after much to spend the day at family and Alfred’s house and I loved it there. We had lunch with some friends of theirs who were just a beautiful family inside and out. They also gave me my Ugandan name based on my surname. So I’m called ‘Kyomuhendo’, pronounced Cho-mu-hen-do and means ‘Precious one’.

We toasted marshmallows over the fire, which was a wonderful end to the week.

Mission in Uganda – Week Five – 24th to 30th April

I was supposed to start the week at Missio Dei Primary School to see the exam process, but I had to cancel and go back to bed, I wasn’t feeling well enough to go on a boda.

We found out that we have a different magistrate for our case, and so we should have a fair trial now. The thief’s bail is delayed for at least a week (if it happens at all) because of faults in the system and legal representation not being present.

Mo and Martin (OFHM) picked me up to go for lunch at Martin’s house. Lunch was potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, chapatti, and a g nut and bean mix (delicious) and pineapple for dessert.

Martin is lovely. I admitted that I worried about being a good missionary because I’m not very sociable (I can do it, it’s just exhausting). He explained that I’d be appreciated and make a difference just being there. Ugandans understand the sacrifices we as missionaries make, leaving our lives and families and using our finances to help and be part of a different community. Mo also reminded me that God won’t call me to a very sociable role if it’s not my calling and also said I’ll be great at whatever I’m called to do.

Tuesday was excellent! Silas collected us and took us to Bucence so that I could visit the local primary school. I’m heading there again next Wednesday to learn to teach their way. They gave me copies of the English syllabus for the year groups I’ll be teaching so I could get a better understanding, which was lovely. The English teacher also talked me through the books and we’ll plan together.

We met the Deputy Headteacher (the Headteacher was absent) and the other staff who gave us posho porridge and showed me where I’d sit at the table to eat with them.

I was explaining that rather than being a class teacher, I’d like to do ‘booster’ classes to help the children who are falling behind due to learning difficulties. Ugandan teachers don’t have any intervention/ booster classes, not even a teaching assistant… Strugglers simply fall behind and end up repeating the year until they make the grades. However, I’m not sure how it works as I assume some classes will be passed and others not, so I want to know how they determine who has to repeat a year. The teachers are really keen. They are great teachers and lovely people and find it hard to move the class on when they know some are falling behind. The textbooks don’t differentiate for ability. But then maybe there’s not such a wide range of children who repeat years until they understand. So many questions…

After the school visit, Silas took us offroad into the bush to visit a few families and deliver some posho and a little bit of furniture to one family who had nothing.

We went to one school that didn’t see Mzungus and were so excited and stroking my arm as it hung out of the car window. I yelled, ‘Boo!’ and made them all jump, but they soon returned to stroking my arm until they were told to get back to class.

On Thursday, Mo’s friend Clinton drove us to Ishaka for a women’s conference that Mo’s church was involved in. It was a wonderful conference with an American lady also involved, and she included us in leading the Q and A session with the youth, which was brilliant. FYI, music is always loud but much more bearable with earplugs!

The evening was eventful! Mo’s pastor friend drove us to Mbarara to the hotel we wanted to stay at but had to leave straight away. Once inside, we found that there were no rooms available. We order dinner while we plan our next move. Mo’s app was confused by our location, but the security guard realised we needed help, recommended a hotel within our budget and organised Bodas to take us. There’s nothing like being in an unknown place with unknown motorbike drivers, in the dark, on a bumpy road, going fast, to help you talk to God!! But the hotel was lovely at £10 a night with breakfast of matooke and vegetables with African tea. Yum!

On Friday, Pastor Paul and Victor collected us from the hotel, and we headed to a school for young adults with disabilities. They learn trade skills so that they can go back to their villages and contribute to society rather than be ostracised.

The main reason we went was to see a project called DOT, which is to create an app of the entire Bible in sign language for all languages. A team of deaf students work meticulously through the text and videos to check the accuracy, including whether they’ve slipped into the local language and are the signers expressive. It was such a privilege to meet them all, and I look forward to the finished product and the difference it will make.

We were put on a bus for the 2-hour trip back to Rukungiri. At first, it went past us, and our friends had to call the driver (yes, they knew the driver!) and then put us on bodas to catch up. The bus was so full but the ticket man moved people so that Mo and I could sit together. There was a loud preacher for most of the journey talking in the local language. He got lots of claps, but I understood diddly squat. Our bus then stopped for a while due to mechanical issues, and the 2-hour journey became a 4-hour journey! It’s just a typical Ugandan journey!

Also, there’s a driver, a separate man who sorts tickets and then a third man who stands by the door to help people on and off with baggage and if there are any deliveries. The ticket man bangs on the door when it’s time to move on, and the third man runs along the side of the bus and swings inside – it’s not a job I’d want!

Saturday Silas picked us up from home for a mini break to Lake Bunyonyi, which was about a 3-hour drive. Lake Bunyonyi is made up of a series of islands. There’s some really interesting history behind it. There’s some hard history too, like Punishment Island, which is tiny and just has a little tree but they used to put unmarried pregnant women on the island to either die or for men who don’t want to pay a dowry for a wife. There is still a survivor alive who was rescued by a fisherman. Women have had it incredibly tough in Uganda. Things are better but far from fair.

We stayed on an island owned by Mo’s friend Silas (a different Silas), called Paradise Eco-Hub. No plastic is used on the island like bottles or straws. silas is trying to make it self-sustaining. It’s brilliant! There are some normal toilets, but the one for our ‘nest’ was a compost one. Our shower and toilet were separate from the bedroom and the second night I had to wait for the rain to slow so I could go use it at 1.30 in the morning!

The bedroom is wonderful! It’s all open as in there’s no door! You are one with nature and can see out at all times. I can’t wait to return next month and try another ‘nest’.

I also swam in the lake for about 2 minutes whilst Mo had to force me to smile for the photo evidence I wanted because at that time my overactive imagination (and movie histories like Lake Placid and Anaconda) were getting the better of me and as I go out I started having a panic attack! They say there’s nothing in the lake except fish, crayfish, and otters, but my brain was having none of it! Sigh! lol. At least I went in.

In the evening we made friends with a German woman travelling by herself. We had lots in common and kept the bar open til midnight, laughing and chatting.

To be continued…

Mission in Uganda – Week Four – 17th to 23rd April

This week started early. I was up at 6.45 to go to Missio Dei Primary School by Boda. It was a great morning. It has my mind whirring, thinking of ways to blend my UK teaching skills with the Ugandan way of teaching. I’ve learned a lot, but I still have many questions.

From my understanding, their English lesson is like UK SPaG, and their Reading lesson seems to be like UK Phonics.

One of the key things I noticed was how they pronounce some sounds. They group sounds different to the UK.

Eg. ‘a’ as in cake is taught that it makes an ‘e’ sound because ‘e’ is pronounced ‘ay’. I noticed lots of other things too, so when I return to the UK, I’m going to have fun with the curriculums. I’m happy at the prospect of returning to teaching.

In Uganda Primary Schools, a teacher teaches one subject like in UK Secondary Schools, so maybe I will do booster classes. Let’s see what God says…

I also want to understand the books they use to support the curriculum. And whether all schools use the same. An exciting start to week four!

Tuesday was supposed to be a chill day as Mo had an interview the following day, but as per all of our plans – they changed!

Mo suddenly had to go to court and only just made it in time since no one told her about it. Even the thief’s mother refrained from telling her at a meeting that morning with Mo and the church pastors. She’s a crafty woman, telling Mo and the pastors complete lies. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree it would seem.

At court, Mo found out that the thief was pleading “not guilty” and requested bail because he’s a student and “needs” to take exams! We’ve therefore cancelled our safari trip this Thursday, as Mo has to return to court on Thursday. If the thief gets bail, we wouldn’t feel completely safe (more our property and harassment).

I would be scared if the only option was to remain in the house if he made bail, but we have friends here who would help us and remove us from scary situations.

Mo collected another witness for the case.

I made myself scarce before Mo got home because she had two interviews – spoiler alert – she got the jobs! Yay!

I went with Silver to see my sponsor daughter at St Raphael’s Secondary School. It was wonderful seeing her after only six months. She’s always an absolute pleasure. She says she’s struggling at school, and I told her that I’m proud of her no matter her grades because she always tries her best, works so hard and is always well-behaved. I brought her a gift of a photo of us in a frame from the last time we were together in October. I gave her a little pocket money, too. Without me asking, she showed me the school shoes she’d bought with the money I’d given her last time. She’s so honest and lovely, and I love her to bits. Being able to see her more when I eventually move to Uganda would be amazing!

Her favourite subject is agriculture. I think having life skill subjects rather than just academic subjects that still provide work would be great in the UK since not everyone is academically minded but still deserves to do well in school and feel good about their learning. I’d like to learn agriculture and one thinking of getting some coursework books.

Thursday started very disappointing. There were a whole bunch of issues with the court case and the justice system. But with help from a friend, we appealed the thief’s bail.

The afternoon and evening were brilliant! We had a lovely time laughing and chilling with our friends, Alfred and Emily, and their adorable baby (seriously cute and funny!). I also met Alfred’s sister-in-law too.

So, if you’re a vegan or something similar, you may want to skip this paragraph. Chicken Linzi is dead! I watched Jonas kill her, pluck her, and cut her up for our dinner. She was a tough bird, but she laid no eggs, fought with the other chickens, and kept escaping like Houdini! I’m just pleased that human Linzi (AKA me) isn’t treated the same!

Emily and Alfred surprised Mo with a congratulatory cake for getting her new job. I was given one job: to bring Mo outside at the right time and take photos… I failed! lol. Mo likes being around people, so she joined everyone outside. So I had two options, to either rare ahead of her or casually stroll behind her with my phone out, ready to take photos – I chose the latter! (I’m not racing anywhere!) lol.

I started watching ‘Chicken Run’ when I got home, lol. Mo caught me finishing it in the morning and thought it was hilarious! ( I’m not traumatised people … honest!) I knew it would make people laugh, and I like the film – win-win! lol.

We wanted to go swimming, but it was chucking it down, so we played pool instead, and I tell you, some ‘Freaky Friday’ nonsense was going on – I won three out of four games! I’d lost every game until today!

We’ve also found out that our case has gone to a different Magistrate, so hopefully, we stand a chance now.

On Saturday we went to a traditional ‘Give Away’ ceremony, which is like an engagement party, and the man gave her the ring. It’s all similar to a wedding, too. It was so much fun! The bride and bridesmaids must have changed outfits about three times. Lunch was served beforehand, which was delicious local food. The ceremony was basically the bride’s family giving her to the groom’s family. Because they’re Christians, there will also be a church wedding soon, so the bride doesn’t leave her family after this ceremony.

The brother of the bride actually lives in the UK and is a pastor of a church in Woolwich of all places! Flipping hilarious as I was brought up in Eltham and still don’t live far from there!

Mission in Uganda – Week Three – 10th to 16th April

Well, this week was eventful starting on Easter Monday. We intended on going out of Rukungiri for the day with friends but they had to change their plans so Mo and I got bodas to Lorycon Hotel to go swimming. We bumped into Pastor Paul and Ustine too. We booked bodas to go home but a friend who worked at Lorycon took us by car instead. We were invited to go see the hot springs but declined. All these changes and declines meant that we were heading home much earlier than I planned, and this fact is important for what happened next, so you can see God was all over our day.

We walked down our garden path saying we’d had a lovely Easter Monday. I put the key in the front door to find it unlocked and then noticed the padlock on the inner doors was missing too. We obviously knew we’d been broken into but the curtain that covered the doorway was slightly over so Mo pecked inside and saw everything was still there. she realised whoever was robbing us was still there and then saw a shadow through the hinge gap of my open door, which was closed when I left. She bravely told whoever was hiding to come out to find that it was a guy she knew who had been stealing from her for a while now. (Long story). She told him to leave. He left with nothing.

We were taken to the police station for Mo to open a case and for me to make a witness statement. We were there for 3 hours! And without putting all the details here, let’s just say the police experience was very different to the UK.

We didn’t want to stay at home that night Until we got new locks so we stayed with the lovely Emily and Alfred. It may sound strange but I slept fire that night knowing God has too many plans for me to be worried.

We spent the following day gathering witnesses and going back and forth to the police station (Yes, you gather your own witnesses!) one of Mo’s friends was high up in the judicial system so explained the process and helped us. She also has another friend high up in the police elsewhere who looked out for us and fixed issues arising in the process.

With a new lock, we were home and I felt quite safe. A little jumpy but it went fairly swiftly.

Wednesday we went to Missio Dei Primary School Much is connected to Mo’s church. We were determined to not let one person get to us but were also still anxious for his arrest.

In 2 years the school has grown from 35 pupils to 112 and is doing well. I love how the Headmaster has employed all female teachers because he feels how the children respond to them. They’d love to have me as a teacher there but I’m making no commitments. It’s a lovely little school and different to Modern and has much less.

There are rubbish dumping points around but they change, and rubbish is mass burned anyway, so we had a friend do ours, but I had to go out as the fumes came in the house and I’m very aware of what they can do. So I went for fish fingers and chips in town. Now, again, this was supposed to happen because just as a boda friend dropped me off and was returning to Mo, he saw and confirmed that our thief had been arrested.

Next strange part of policing here, we went in the police truck with the thief in the back to his house to identify Mo’s stolen things.

The following day was wonderful, especially after the last few days. We spent the day with Martin, who heads up ‘Our Father’s House’ charity. He really loves people and cares for those who are marginalised. He took us to two Secondary Schools to meet a few sponsored children. It was lovely speaking and praying with them.

One of the extra wonderful things about Martin is his understanding of learning difficulties, which isn’t really a recognised thing in Uganda. I love talking about Autism, so chatting with Martin was excellent.

Martin also took us to an Eco-farm, where a friend of his has ponds of fish but no water source. He wanted to show not having a water source is not an excuse for not doing things, so he built a rain collector that fills the ponds. He also has these cool bee hives he makes.

For lunch, Martin took us to a Pork Joint in “Boston City” which isn’t in town so unless you are a local you wouldn’t know about it. The food was incredible and we watched the owner cooking outside, under a coffee tree and we ate outside from one huge plate.

Martin then took us to visit the home of a small boy with a health issue that gets the family alienated and having Mzungus choose to visit the family will go a long way in getting society to think about how they treat people as we are held in high esteem. The boy doesn’t have anything contagious or noticeable a majority of the time. The family was lovely and the 3-year-old boy was so confident and friendly. Apparently, we were all called ‘Anthony’. And he remembered Martin taking him to the hospital so thought he was a doctor. The other children were shy until we gave them a ball. We then went to a hotel bar to play pool.

Coincidentally, Martin and I both remember meeting and talking about his charity on a previous visit (before COVID) outside the Kacho bar. He’s hard to forget because he gets Mzungus and is really chatty.

On Friday we finally got to visit Modern Primary School and I could catch up with friends, hug the kids and pass on letters and pocket money. I loved being able to hug my sponsor child Linnet, and hug Alice’s grandchildren. Ethan gave me a massive hug, which just melted me. I also kept my promise of bringing a copy of the book ‘Elmer’ to the nursery as I painted a picture of Elmer on a wall.

Saturday was supposed to be a chill day but was interrupted by more strange police practices. But we had a lovely Zoom prayer meeting with some people Mo’s mum had gathered to pray for us in the UK.

Sunday we went to All Saints, which is an Anglican church, and I’d been looking forward to it, but my antimalarial tablet didn’t like an empty stomach or the vibrations from the speakers, so I sat outside to keep cool and not be sick anymore. I liked listening to the service though. And a couple of amusing things happened outside like some goats and sheep escaped the boys herding them and made a run for the church, and then a young boy just came outside and peed into the wind!

We spent the rest of the day eating, chilling, napping and laughing at Emily and Alfred’s house. In the early evening, we went with them to buy more chickens to lay eggs. It was like a petting zoo. It was great watching them chase and catch a hen. We all get to name one and I wanted to name the blonde one ‘Linzi’ because it’s blonde, a little slow and stubborn! But I’ll keep thinking lol.

Mission in Uganda – Week Two – 3rd to 9th April

A very busy week. Monday was a day where plans fell through but was still a fab day. Firstly, my plans to go to Rukungiri Modern Primary School to see friends and the children fell through because weirdly both Mo and I woke up with a trapped nerve in the same shoulder, but thankfully during the morning, it got better, praise God!

Then we planned to take two friends to Sky Light for local food which would have given me a chance to try lots of local food, but heavy rain prevented this. So we used the Irish potatoes that were going to be for dinner to make us all chips. Mo also made chapattis and coleslaw (I was just a potato peeler loI).

When the rain paused we put up Easter posters at the church that Mo had created for the background. This was followed by a youth prayer meeting where Everest chose to accept Jesus as his personal saviour.

We then got caught in a heavy downpour in the church office but thankfully we had African tea and little bananas. I chose a lighter patch of rain to head home and slipped and grazed my knee. The garden was also flooding, but they have sunken flower beds so it pools the water. It’s all very clever.

Amazingly, in the morning the sun was shining and it was hard to believe the garden had been flooding.

I went on the roof of the Rondavel Hotel to take photos of the incredible views. There’s also a particular pylon that can only be seen from the roof that the Long-crested eagle likes to land on, which I was fortunate to see there again. And I got pictures of the Maribou stork flying over us.

For lunch, we went to Sky Light Hotel for me to try local food. I had loads to eat. Some things I’d tried before and some were new. I ate: Matooke (mashed plantain), spiced brown rice, white rice with chopped green beans and carrots in it, with a side of more green beans and carrots, dodo (like spinach), posho (flour-based solid), goat in soup, g nut sauce (peanut), sweet potato (not like ours), pumpkin ( much sweeter than ours and more like sweet potato), Irish ( white potatoes) and passion fruit juice. Everything was delicious and I was very happy, as I kept stating lol.

In the afternoon we went to Rukungiri Inn to meet with leaders of Mo’s church (Rukungiri Community Church) to have teaching from a guest speaker from America and eat together. We were told the meeting was 3-6 pm, but in true Ugandan Style, the meeting started when it was supposed to finish! It was worth the wait though. I tried and disliked millet bread, but was told this wasn’t the same as other millet bread so I will keep trying it. (PS It’s not bread it’s more of a semi-solid lump, but Ugandans love it).

A conference took place at Rondavel Hotel’s hall the next day that was so loud it vibrated our house. Once again the volume overwhelmed my senses and sent me to sleep. Fortunately, we went to Emily’s house in the afternoon. We met another missionary in the evening who has a charity called Bucence Children’s Centre in the bush so we organised to see that work on Friday.

On a side note, the bugs here seem to like me and I have over 20 bites on my legs. I’ve never had so many! I wonder if it’s the rainy season or if I wasn’t wearing sunscreen on my legs. (Spoiler alert: the bugs don’t seem to like my oil-based Sunscreen!)

Thursday was a long but great day. We went to Kihihi over by the Congo border for a church plant in the bush. The building was a wooden hut and ran on generators. The view was incredible.

The service was loud and long. There was a mix of cultures planting the church with Ugandans pouring olive oil on the ground and the American pastor putting a large rock down and reminding them that Jesus is the rock that they build the church on. I also loved hearing all the miracles God had done for the people in the area. So many healings!

Good Friday we headed to Bucence Children’s Centre to see the amazing work they do in the bush. It was an incredibly emotional day as we learned the awful backstory of every child there, but the children have formed a family/ tribe and know they are loved and safe to the point they bring other ab abandoned babies there too, like the one whom they found wrapped in plastic in a swamp, who they gave an adorable name (I won’t write it here) but he’s now a much older boy who’s fantastic at dancing.

Staff are so loving and kind, even leaving their families for 3 months during COVID lockdowns to look after the children.

There’s a local primary school (not part of the charity) but they’ve lost a lot of pupils due to poor education. I’m going to observe and hopefully do some teaching, although I’m not sure what to expect, as this school has much less than Modern, which is the School I’m used to. I’ve been told that some children may not have held a pencil. I felt a huge connection with this area and the possibilities.

Saturday evening we had a mzungu dinner with friends. Lots of talking and laughter. Mo shared the video of the Bucence Children’s Centre she’d created from our videos and photos with the friends we’d made from the charity, which they loved. (see below).

A late night and loud music starting at 6 am for Easter meant that I stayed home with a headache Easter Sunday, but it was time I could still spend with God, thankful for resurrection power and unconditional love.

Mission in Uganda – Week One – 27th March to 2nd April

Having had a mad Sunday halving my luggage when my check-in said I could only have one suitcase despite what the airline’s website said, and then making sure Nan was settled at my parents, followed by preaching at The Life Service, and then finally doing back to back youth groups, I spent Monday morning simply checking my luggage before heading to Heathrow Airport with my Dad at about 5 pm to travel to Uganda by myself for the first time. In fact, it was the first time I was flying anywhere by myself, so needless to say I was slightly nervous, but only about the airport and making my flights.

Wearing my Hidden Disabilities lanyard was very helpful. Also, due to my limited luggage, I got to jump part of the queue to use the Self–service luggage check-in praying I wasn’t over the weight restriction because the machines have no wiggle room. Thankfully, I wasn’t – woo hoo!

Panic set in during the carry-on bay check one of my trays went to be checked again, but it turns out it was at random. So I settled into my 5-and-a-half-hour flight, enjoying the food (except the peas!)

The last time we landed in Doha we had to get a shuttle bus to the Airport and we had to wait and miss our flights, so I fully expected to have to do the same but to my relief, we landed right by the Airport at 6:30 am.

The story gets interesting here because the person I’m staying with in Uganda was supposed to fly out the day before but her flight was cancelled and my second flight was brought forward so we ended on the same flight from Doha to Uganda – God is good!

We were also put together on the plane with more leg room so we were much more comfortable! Praise God! I got an hour’s sleep!

Much swifter process at Entebbe Airport than usual and then Mo’s friend Peter picked us up and took us to Victoria Mall in Entebbe to sort changing money, getting Ugandan sim cards as that’s the only way to have the internet as WiFi in the home isn’t really a thing yet in Uganda. We also grabbed some lovely English food at Cafe Java.

On the way back to the car we bumped into a friend and missionary Emily. She mentors Mo, who I’m staying with, about mission work in Uganda, Mo is mentoring me, and hopefully, I’ll mentor someone in the future.

Peter drove me to Whitecrest in Kampala, which is Simon Peter’s place (Alice and John’s son). I stayed for one night before Peter picked me up then Mo and we took the all-day drive to Rukungiri. But I managed to take some photos of the Vervet monkeys and some birds including a grey parrot. We stopped at the equator for lunch but also to meet Mo’s pastor friends and their children and I look forward to getting to know them better.

We arrived at Mo’s at 7.30 pm where a friend had already delivered some shopping and dinner that Mo had organised.

The main light in my room doesn’t work but Mo has lit my room with fairy lights and she remembered I like more than a sheet to sleep and covered my bed in a blanket. It would have been a very good night’s sleep but I have to get used to the dogs in the area all barking again.

Thursday was a chill day and considering it’s rainy season we still had lots of sunshine giving me plenty of opportunities to take photographs.

It was lovely bumping into friends at Rondavels.

In true Ugandan fashion, we had to call the plumber out for my bathroom and he did a great job.

Mo showed me how to make chapattis (I’m not very good – mine were more triangular than circular and kept sticking to the mat no matter how much flour I used).

On this trip I’m starting to brush my teeth with tap water rather than bottled water as if I want to be here full-time using bottled water just isn’t feasible and if I’m not drinking the water I’m sure I’ll be fine… the other mzungus (white people) are.

I had a lovely catchup with Nissi and Hils, who came over to the house. It was a good opportunity for me to learn about the culture of having guests in the home such as putting bananas on the table, offering black tea or spiced tea and putting the sugar/honey on the table for them to add themselves.

This week I’ve also had my first boda ride, which is on the back of a motorbike and is how people get around town easily if not walking. In previous visits, I’d not gone on one because, quite frankly, they’re not that safe, especially without a crash helmet but Jonas is a friend of Mo’s and he takes it really carefully when he takes us anywhere so we went to a quiet road for me to get comfortable on one. It’s quite fun. You can hold onto the driver’s shoulders or the handle behind the seat, I tried both but the handle is better except the strain it puts on your fingers when your weight is on them going uphill (and I’m not light!)

We had lunch out and waited 2 hours for our food, which is very common, but wasn’t a problem as it gave us a chance to chat with some of Mo’s pastor friends who also came to the hotel for lunch.

Also took a photograph out of the window when I saw a Maribou Stork which isn’t often in Rukungiri, so I was well pleased.

Friday night there were 2 very loud church services going on in the local area so sleep wasn’t really a thing but I still felt rested the following day. I’ve no idea why services are so loud. Even Sunday’s service was so loud I had to leave. In the future, I will take earplugs and attend the early service which is only in English since high volume plus not being able to understand is very overwhelming.

I went to check out the kid’s tent. At one point all the kids were huddled around a tablet for the Bible story, which amazes me as they don’t make a fuss about not being able to see well when back home we’d use a TV or projector. This country amazes me!

After church, we went with the same Pastor family we met at the equator to Lorycon Inn, a hotel in Rukungiri with a pool, where we had lots of fun playing with the kids and teaching them how to swim. My job was just keeping them alive – I nailed it!

The more we talked personally this week, the more Mo and I realised why God brought us together for these two months. I look forward to seeing what God wants me to do in Uganda, both now and in the future.

Heart for Uganda

I’ve been to Uganda regularly since 2013 when I fell in love with the country and especially its people. I knew before that trip that God was calling me there long term and I’ve been waiting (not so patiently) to go there but God’s been getting me ready. I recently found this book: Kisses from Katie, and all I can say is that if you want to understand my heart for Uganda, the sorts of things I want to do, and what God is preparing me (an autistic woman who can achieve none of these things on her own, but has learned to expect the unexpected with God), then read this book!

Digital Art Experiment

Experimenting with digital art. Trying out a new brush preset for ballpoint pen drawing with a quick 5-minute sketch of a heron from one of my own photos – what do you think?

Book Review!

Fan Art!

A fantastic copy of the cover of my first book The Artist’s Warrior!

by Zachary – Aged 12

Book Signing – 6th July was a Blast!

It was so fun doing my first book signing! I look forward to many more!

BOOK SIGNING at Trinity School

Linzi will have a stall at the Charity Summer Festival in aid of Evergreen Care Bexley (Supporting older people in the community) FREE ENTRY 10-4 pm

Market stalls, Food, BBQ, Live Music, Raffles, Dance Entertainment, Competitions and Inflatables.

Bring along your own copy of Linzi Golding’s novel ‘The Artist’s Warrior’ to have it signed by the author! You can purchase it on Amazon!

Linzi will have some other items ready to sign too, but it is a surprise…shhhh!