2010 Teams
Carrick Elim TeamOur team started with a day visit to Christ the King where we organised a sports days for the delighted children. We moved on to Strathearn Primary for the remainder of the week and were warmly greeted by 120 pupils running towards the bus pointing “MUZUNGO, MUZUNGO!” The children clung to us and it took our breath away to see the smiles on their faces. Each morning, we started by singing songs, dancing and playing the memory verse game. It was high energy, a great way to start the day. A dramatised bible story set our themes of Love, Faith, Trust and Joy. We had help from ‘Sarah’ and ‘Sammy’ the puppets by which the children were fascinated. They called them ‘live cartoons’! After activities such as art, craft and games, we provided a lunch for the pupils. As soon as lunch was called, they would drop everything and run! Each day ended with more singing and dancing with such a sense of freedom and thanksgiving. The second week we spent between street reach and the homes. At street reach we played games, gave medical checks and evangelical talks. With the boys at the homes we were excited to be able to repaint the homes with vibrant colours and teach a Christianity Explored course. We took the boys to Watoto church followed by an outing to the beach. They enjoyed a swim in the lake followed by a feast of fish, chips and bottles of soda. The week was rounded off with a youth service of worship, puppets and testimony. Seven of the boys became Christians! It was amazing to experience sharing God’s love in this way. The children’s joy was infectious and a lesson to us all. Julie Burgess
The Ballyrashane team were in Uganda for two weeks in July and although we did not know each other well before the start of the trip, under God’s guidance we blended well. The main aim of the visit was to build a dormitory block for Christ the King Primary and painting at New Foundations. Work on the building site began in very hot weather and was soon showing signs of progress. By chance the team contained a GP and three nurses so medical work occupied a central theme. Medicals were done with all the children at the school and on two days with street children in Kampala and boys at the New Life Homes. There were many very ill children and infected wounds to deal with. A highlight of the trip was a visit to Grace High, a secondary school in Kampala, to see some of the boys from the homes who are now boarding there. Some of the team remembered one or two of the boys from the street during an earlier visit in 2007 and were overwhelmed to see how street urchins had been transformed into “young gentlemen” now keen students with their sights set on university. A Christianity Explored course was undertaken with the boys at the New Life Homes as well as games of volley ball, rugby and football. Such was the bond we formed with these wonderful boys that on our last day two of the boys made moving speeches thanking us for our love for them. We are grateful to God for his presence with us at all times in Uganda, for leading us there in the first place and for the love we were able to give and more importantly to receive from all the Ugandan people we met. Ida Cairns
Hamilton Road Baptist Team
The “Ham Bap” team spent our first week split between Streetreach & the New Life Homes. At Streetreach we followed a World Cup theme with competitions ranging from bizarre “Elf” relay races to football tricks and quizzes. We included a teaching session on having respect for God, yourself and others. Each day the boys received a meal, a bar of soap, and a laminated bible text. At the Homes the boys rotated between activities which included a treasure hunt with directions by compass and a bag of gems each to keep. Transforming the library at the Homes was the biggest challenge. We had brought an array of dictionaries, fiction, and educational books. We also bought new cushions, bookshelves and decorated the walls with maps and posters. It was delightful to see the boys studying in the library and treating it with respect. The second week included a Kids club at Andrew McAvoy Memorial School in Gulu. Each day the children learnt a section of the Bible story through games and songs, finished off with a craft activity they could keep. The team members spent an afternoon visiting their sponsor childs homes which often required a long walk through the African bush. The remaining afternoons were spent at Micro finance programs funded by Abaana at the Awer displacement camp. The team interacted with local business people and purchased chalk boards to update and display their stock daily. We also bought six sets of goats and ten sets of pigs for local families for food and income. All of these projects touched our hearts and challenged our perception of true “life”. A Ugandan said to us “You white people survive, we Africans live.” We had always thought it was the other way round, but it only took two weeks to convince us otherwise. Tania Kelly-Baker
Bangor Mixed Teams
After many months of preparation, fund raising and anticipation for “Da’s Army”, two teams travelled to Uganda back to back over the month of August excited for what might lie ahead and in great expectation of how God would use us in Uganda. We were tasked with building the second phase at Lweeza Primary School consisting of four classrooms. We set up camp in a Matthew Cardwell Primary. We had to master life without running water, electricity and use of the long drop became a talking point! We arrived for building duties at Lweeza armed with trowels and gloves. The team rose to the very new challenge of brick laying and completed the building work in record time. Thankfully we had a builder on our team who was able to show us the ropes. During our time at Lweeza Primary School we had the opportunity to play games with the children and tell the story of Joseph. The children enjoyed using the colouring pencils which we brought and were amazed at getting to use a pencil sharpener for the first time! After the building work was finished we settled back into life at the Abaana Guest House with running water, electricity and real toilets! We began a programme of working with the street children and the children living in the new life homes. Work with the street children involved playing with the children, spending time with them to get to know them and feeding them. Two members of our team are nurses and they provided medical treatment for many of the street children. We also performed a drama for the children from the “Wordless Book.” The children really enjoyed this. The programme with the children living in the New Life Homes involved working on their “Christianity Explored” course and playing games with them. One of our team is a trainee dentist who taught the children (and some of the team!!) how to correctly brush their teeth and then provided them with a tooth brush and tooth paste. The children really enjoyed the interaction with the team. The boys performed a rap which they had made up about God and complemented it with some impressive dance moves! The general feeling from the team is that the experience has been life changing, yet indescribable. No words or pictures could explain to those back home what we all experienced! Paul Totton
Bannside Presbyterian Team
Before going some of us were unsure how God would use us, but what little we had to offer was all that was needed. We spent a week building Buyobe Primary School, learning Lugandan with the builders and playing Duck Duck Goose with the children. We spent another week involved in Street Reach, New Life Homes and some of Abaana’s schools. We also had the opportunity to visit Sanyu babies home and donate gifts that people from home had sent with us. The Bannside Team came home exhausted but with a great sense of achievement. We grew to love Uganda and in particular the people we met and worked with. Ruth Elkin
Date Added: Friday April 23rd 2010