Friday 11th September 2015
September update
It seems a while since I was able to update everyone. Internet has been so unreliable here on the island that the last update I wrote was only sent to immediate family & friends.
Animals - our big pig Pretty lost all her piglets again which has been a real blow for us. Not really sure why this has happened. It is making us seriously consider the future of the pig project. We will probably sell Pretty before we return to UK. Cyclops appears to be totally blind and is really quite a dullard!! He will probably get eaten before we return!! We have acquired a new piglet called Spot - a gift from our neighbour who received a piglet from us about 2 years ago. We will probably give her away to a deserving family. Our kitten Panther is growing fast and is very lively. Twice she has been shut in at night as she has dodged the closing door when we have not noticed!! We also appear to have acquired a young dog we have named Pincher - as she used to pinch the cats food. She actually belongs to our security guard Katongole - but he doesn't feed her properly so she has adopted us and we now feed her as well as the cat!!
New building - all rooms have been finished and the beds are waiting to be put together. We have purchased all the mattresses, blankets, sheets, pillows and mosquito nets ready to equip them. The solar lighting is in place and just waiting to position the solar panel on the roof. Guttering is up and a large water tank installed to receive the rain from heaven! The walkways to all the rooms have been paved with stone.
Our house - has undergone a facelift. What was Mike's room has been painted and floor polished and is now a sitting & dining room with an archway knocked through into the kitchen. The middle room has also been redecorated and is our office (administration centre!!). Our bedroom is having a new proper ceiling and polished floor and an archway knocked through into the bathroom (to make a sort of en suite!) this week, so we are sleeping in the new block and testing one of the rooms!!
Courses - we are having our first course starting on the 14th September for 2 weeks. We are holding a Carpentry course Module 2 and have invited all previous students to return and learn new skills. We should have a full complement of 8. We are hoping to run another craft course for ladies and possibly a brick laying course before we return in December.
Ministry - we have been much busier than before visiting the Mityana area for 1 week, Tororo area for 1 week and Kenya (Kisumu and Homa Bay) for 1 week. We are expecting Tony Howson (our apostle) with Jo Tait (in charge of Child sponsorship for Equipe) to visit in October, so we are making plans for schools visits and a Pastor's conference. We are hoping to have time (and resources) to visit Tanzania in November - and we have also been invited back to Homa Bay in November. We shall see. Uganda has doubled its Visa fee to $100 which has a serious affect on our return when travelling out of the country.
Paperwork - the papers for our Title deed are in the Land board office in Masaka. We are assured we have all the right papers and have paid all the required fees. We are waiting!! The NGO papers are complete except for one from the Uganda High Commission in London. We are expecting to have this in a couple of weeks time. Then we should be able to proceed.
We are so grateful to all of you who have helped us reach this far. We continue to be blessed and see the goodness and provision of God.