Thursday

Happy Thursday from Uganda! We’ve had a busy few days this week – each team member continuing with the work we started at the beginning of the week. Greg has been up early each morning to tackle his long list of welding projects at the Village of Hope. It seems every time he ticks something off the list, something else gets added! He’s taking every spare moment he has to do what he can up there, and it’s much appreciated. Dale, Glenn and Nathan headed back to YSU today, continuing their brick laying and building. They’ve been helping out with a different project recently, refurbishing a small family home and brining a lot of joy to the children there, we were also able to gift the family a pile of new baby clothes for their three-week-old. We love being able to give a helping hand to those who need it and we can really see how much of an impact our work is having.

Yesterday we were invited to the current YSU site (not the building project!) to see what the young people at YSU are working on, hear some singing and watch some amazing dancing! The YSU girls tried to teach us how to sew – they can make beautiful bags and clothes, while most of us struggled to stitch a straight line! The dance crew then showed off their skills – breakdancing, hip hop and even backflips! They’re a very talented group of people who despite having faced a lot of hardship in their lives, have been able to get back on the right path and learn the life skills they and their children need.

Today was much of the same for the team, Greg was out welding, the other boys building and the girls went back to YSU for the morning. We were able to give the girls at YSU ‘Days for Girls’ packs – an Australian charity group who sew reusable sanitary items for women who may not have access to quality products. We brought over a whole heap of these packages to hand out and were able to show the girls how to use, wash and reuse the items, as well as explain a lot of what is happening to their bodies at the time. We realised period talk here is often avoided and many of the girls didn’t actually know that what happens to them is completely normal. It was another moment for us to think about how lucky we are at home, where basic hygiene and education is taken for granted.

The girls had a bit of a restful afternoon, most of us were able to catch up on sleep, do some artwork for Juliet and read. All while Meaghan slaved away in the kitchen to cook us a beautiful dinner and dessert for tonight!

We’ll sign off now, as Meaghan’s Shepard’s Pie smells amazing and we’re all starving! Tomorrow will be another big day!