What an exciting life I lead...

Hmm, strange - having wasted over an hour doing very simple things on the internet, this blog site is now being unusually fast and cooperative...and it's usually this page that gives me the most trouble!
My biggest news today is that I FINALLY finished the WAR Ministry newsletter...it's only taken 3 months. Oh how exciting my life is - I sometimes wonder how many of you think of me as doing amazingly exotic and wonderful things out here, and yet I spent all morning in much the same way as most of England, staring in frustration at a computer screen and wishing the stupid machines had never been invented (although I am now extremely grateful for this one, as it means I can contact home...!)
Actually, I do have slightly more interesting experiences than the more mundane side of things. This weekend I went to Wobulenzi, my friend Peace's hometown which is an hour out of Kampala (which direction, I couldn't tell you) down a horribly potholed road- I think I felt more sick from the constant swerving to avoid the holes than I would have done if we'd just hit them all! It was definitely an experience...and one i'm glad is now behind me : )
We spent the morning in Kampala visiting our friend Vicky from Tanzania, the eldest daughter of the pastor we worked with when we did our outreach there. It was good to catch up with her again, and see her school there...students here definitely have a different experience from those at home! There were only 2 classrooms, big barn-like rooms crammed with desks, and her dorm had 3 bunkbeds in a space the size of a small double bedroom (pretty much the size of my room in Coldharbour, which was literally big enough for a double bed, desk, wardrobe and chest of drawers with a tiny walkway inbetween)...and they only get lunch provided, so they have to cook their own dinner and breakfast if they want it! Latrines and showers are in a small block that you reach by a muddy pathway inbetween the kitchen building and some other dorm buildings. There are posher schools, of course, but I think this one is probably fairly normal for the average student - all kids can cook from a young age, and many people only eat one meal a day anyway. A far cry from the luxuries we take for granted.
We then spent the afternoon walking round Wobulenzi and meeting all Peace's friends there - it was great to see how many lovely people she knows and who are all supportive of her, and to have some familiar faces smiling at me in church the next day! I had to "preach" (although i use the term loosely - it's definitely not one of my gifts) and was relieved when it was all over - that was the last of my commitments, and i can now retire as a "preacher" and hide in the safety of the rest of the church once more!

It's not long now til I move on from this place - Katy and I are planning to go up to the Soroti base, northeast of here, in June for our last 6 weeks or so. They have a respite home and a hospice for HIV kids there, and hopefully we can be of some help. It'll be a welcome change in many ways - both of us are getting really tired of here - mainly in ministry, because neither of us are particularly happy or fulfilled in what we're doing, but I think we're stagnating and need a total change of scenery and people. So that's really something to look forward to! Katy's dad is visiting her this week - he arrived on Friday but I haven't met him yet, since they stayed at Kingfisher resort all weekend. Then Katy's mum and sister are coming out later in May, and that pretty much fills her time til we move on!
The ABC school are doing some of their outreach in Mbiko, so as of May 12th we have a busy schedule with them. I need to make the most of the next couple of weeks of relative quiet before it all gets going! DTS are also leaving for outreach on May 12th, so things will change hugely - with 36 students and 8 staff, they make up more than half of the base!

I think that's all the news for now - my Gran seems to be doing well, for those of you who may be wondering...so life is pretty good today. And I even have time to relax this evening! I really can't complain : )
Hope the rest of you are well...bye for now!

Happy Birthday to me : ) ....and the rest of Hopeland!!

Wow, almost a month again since my last message...I really am bad at this! A big thankyou to everyone who's sent me birthday wishes on Facebook or email - I have read them all and just don't have time to reply, but I am very thankful to have such lovely friends who take the time to write! Today has been an interesting birthday - the morning was quite stressful as it's also Jackie's and Ryan from DTS's birthday too, so I had to finish icing their cakes and deliver their presents (I am as disorganised as ever and didn't finish baking the cakes til 11 last night...) and it was all a rush to do that in between breakfast and cooking - the only way i could ensure my favourite food on my birthday was to stay on the base, so I asked to be on the rota for chapati-making this morning. So now i'm exhausted...but I got my chapati and beans!!!

Lots has happened in the last few weeks - one of the girls moved into Mary's house, so Mary's pretty much doing ministry 24-7 now, and another volunteer has showed up to help - a guy called Godfrey who did his DTS in 2006 and knows Mary well through his mum. They've been going to the bars in the evenings and have found 3 new girls to begin working with, so it's all go.
Our Year for God co-ordinator, Caroline, has come to visit this week, and it's great to have her around - I didn't realise how great it feels to have someone here for the sole purpose of visiting me and Katy! It's all a bit hectic though with all the birthdays - we babysat for April so she could have dinner with Masiu on Sunday, then it was Msaki's yesterday and the 3 of us (Jackie, Ryan and me) today, so there have been cakes galore...i'm so glad not to have to make any cakes tonight! Katy made mine yesterday and we're also making chips tonight...if i ever get back from town! talking of which, i should go now...

more news to come, it's been such a busy time that i haven't had time to update this page, and now there's a backlog of news. such is life...

hope y'all are well : )