I think this is the first proper news letter I have sent out since I arrived back in Uganda back in June – sorry! My excuses are the usual ones of being manically busy and there being a rather intermittent internet signal here in Hassan`s house. I get easily frustrated when I have written a long email which is then lost when I try to send it and fail!

However, things are going very well here and I definitely feel at home and in the right place! Hassan and I moved into his newly built house back in July. It is right in the middle of David family which has been both good and challenging. Hassan loves being with the other children who have all been great with him – they take him for walks, come and play or read to him and include him in as much of family life as possible. However, when the kids get up to fetch water at 5am and wake me up with squeaking wheelbarrows, I am not as thankful for where we are! I have been trying to establish boundaries for when they can come into the house to socialise so that I get some time to do work and some peace and quiet. It has been particularly difficult the last few weeks as they are in school holidays so are at home all day. The family father, Uncle Mulu has been a great help in this. Highlights of family life have included the welcome party for Hassan when his father came to visit, harvesting the maize (I got some big blisters!) and having a special birthday meal with the children – we had matooke (cooked plantain bananas), ground nut sauce and the ever present beans!

I am currently attending the institute course which is 8.30am – 1pm every day. We then have lunch together so by the time I get home it is usually about 2pm. So far we have studied secular worldviews, biblical worldview, the fatherhood of God, the orphan heart and biblical counselling. It has all been very interesting and challenging; God has really been speaking to me and changing many of my beliefs and attitudes.

This last week we all went on an outreach to Kobwin in Kumi district which is where New Hope are establishing another centre for children, many of whom were abducted by the Lord`s Resistance Army and have continued to face many hardships since returning to their villages. On Monday, 63 children arrived on a truck from Amuria to stay for the week along with 27 of us from Kasana! Unfortunately there were not enough mattresses for all of us so we had to share – I shared one with 3 of the girls so was rather relieved to see my bed when we got home on Friday night! It was an amazing week and I felt privileged to be able to share God`s love with the children who came. Each day we started at 6am with worship followed by lots of teaching, games and group time. Our group was great and we had some wonderful times of sharing struggles and praying for one another. Thankfully, several of the boys in the group had very good English and were able to translate for the ones who couldn`t understand. On the last day, we got up at 3.30am and drove 4 hrs (much of it ‘off road’ to Amuria to distribute food to the families of the children. It was great to see where they lived and meet some of their family members but very sad to say goodbye. We then had lunch (spaghetti and goat!) before starting the rather long (8hr) journey home. On Saturday, I felt like I had done 10 rounds with Mike Tyson…..I will NEVER complain about the M25 or any other road in England EVER again and I will be so thankful for the lovely toilets at our service stations as they could never be as stinky and disgusting as the pit latrines we had to use on the way home.

The weekend before last, Zoe Oliver and I went on another long journey (with 2 other N.H staff members) to Mbarara (Western Uganda) to visit a friend who works with street children. He lived on the streets from the age of 10 after his parents were put in prison for being Christians. He now has 8 street children living with him and ministers to many more. We were mainly helping him to sort out a budget and other practical things but he also showed us around the town and took us to meet some of the street kids he works with on the town rubbish tip where he used to live. We bought some bread and juice to share with them which they were really thankful for. Many of them were high on drugs or very drunk but they all seemed happy to see us.

Back here at New Hope, Hassan is doing really well and seems a lot more alert and responsive since Zoe put in a nasal gastric tube so that we can ensure he gets enough fluid and calories; he had been struggling to eat and drink enough and was getting severe constipation. We are hoping to see a German doctor at Kiwoko hospital soon to see whether they can do an operation to put in a gastrostomy which will enable him to be given additional liquids directly into his stomach.

We are very thankful to have found a lady called Lydia who has started working with Hassan in the afternoons and who seems to be great with him as well as very efficient with the housework. She gets on brilliantly with the girls in the family group too and was the one who stayed with Hassan all last week when I was away. It is likely that she will move in and take over when I move out – possibly at Christmas. She has a sad story though as she lost her husband and very young baby a couple of years ago. She says that someone ‘bewitched’ them; Witchcraft is very prevalent here and a lot of illnesses/death are attributed to it.

I am currently working on my special needs class proposal and hope to submit it to management this week. I have met several other children in the local community who have significant disabilities who would really benefit from being in the class.