It’s been a long time since we last updated our blog
(sorry!), and a lot has happened. A
presidential election was held (along with the obligatory accusations, mainly
warranted, of corruption, including a three day social media blackout for the
whole country). A little girl learned to
walk (Emily!). A small and slightly
feral boy (guess who?) joined a new nursery (which he LOVES). And a sister visited Masaka (Nicki, Sarah’s
sister).
The election period was actually very peaceful, but since we
are not clairvoyants, we were a little disconcerted during our “emergency
evacuation plan” preparation when we had a look at our passports and discovered that our work permits were due to run
out just the week before! It was a bit nerve wracking to have our passports
stuck with the immigration department in Kampala so close to the election but there was no need to worry as the passports came back in time,
and were not needed for a break for the border in any case!
It’s been an eventful past few weeks for animal encounters
as well… (come on, it wouldn’t be a Crow blog without it!). The most recent occurred today, as Sarah
returned from picking up Noah from nursery, full of deluded hope that he would
have an afternoon nap, rather than spending an hour jumping up and down on
his bed and shrieking. Well, his head
never managed to hit the pillow as we weren’t able to get into our house at
all, instead being greeted by a particularly angry large horned beast, who was
patrolling our garden, busy trying to spear his caretakers through our fence.
Excitingly, the other day we met an extremely rare animal:
the scaly anteater or Pangolin, which is the “clan animal” for the Katende family…. As you
can imagine, our friend Katende (who lives on the same compound as us) was
delighted (once he got over the initial fear, since he didn’t have a clue what
it was).
Much less pleasurable was a nasty hairy caterpillar
that stung Sarah in the crook of her elbow, currently healing as a deep pink
itchy scar.
For Tim and Synergy it has been a busy time
with the start of the second round of Big League, the beginning of the school year
and also the progress of our 10-week discipleship course. We have had a difficult
start to the second round of Big League, with only 4 points from 5 games, but
as always we embrace the difficulties on the pitch as it always tests the
character of our players and also helps us to focus on the wider goals we are
trying to achieve.
Off the pitch this has involved acquiring a
whole new raft of school bursaries for 2016. 35 new bursaries added to 74
renewals means that now 109 of our players have access to an education which they would
have struggled to afford otherwise.
Within these figures there are some amazing
stories. Take that of 17-year-old Lawrence Ssekyewa. This is a lad who came to
us recently with great passion, but not a great amount of natural talent. His
grandma took Brian aside and offered him 300,000 shillings (about £60) to find
him a bursary to school. Brian explained that he is not involved in “buying”
bursaries for players, but told her to keep her money and let him work with the
boy and see what he can do. Having worked with him and seen his ability and
attitude, he took Lawrence to one of the top secondary schools in Masaka , where we have many
players with bursaries. Brain explained to the Head master that he may not the
most talented player, but has passion and discipline and a desire to achieve.
Such is the high regard for Brian’s opinion, Lawrence was given a
full bursary that very day. The grandma, wanting to show her gratitude to
Brian, again put 200,000 shillings in his hand. Did he put this in his pocket
as he so easy could have done? No, Brian took this money straight back to school to pay for some of Lawrence’s requirements not covered by the bursary.
The grandma’s response? “I never knew that in Uganda there are still honest
people like you alive today! Young man you have surprised me!!” Take a bow
Brian – what a man!
Finally at Synergy we are reaching the end
of our 10 week “Talk Faith” discipleship series with our senior players. It has
been a great time, looking at things such as glory we seek, who Jesus is, the
Bible, self worth and eternal life. These sessions have often been followed by
some very searching and interesting questions, not least from our Muslim
contingent. We hope these sessions will bear much fruit for the future!
LOST IN TRANSLATION!
Don’t be alarmed if you look at an NGO budget in Uganda, and see
a specific budget for escorts! In fact, it just means something like a
samosa or a chapatti (something to “escort” your morning tea) – less racy, but
arguably much better for your health!
