Easter Weekend and Countdown

Last Thursday Kate and Robyn arrived to the delight of all the children – this is their 3^rd or 4^th time back in Kamengo and each time they manage to organize running training and heaps of physical activities with the children.

Over Easter weekend we brought the students from Boarding School back for weekend so we got to see them all (as did their parents) for a couple of days. The school headmaster was reluctant to allow them to come home for more than 2 days as they are in middle of exams – but all of us enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with them even if just a couple of days. Easter saw most students and the visitors go along to Sunday Mass - the church heavily decorated and all the locals in their very very best clothes. 

After mass Erin and other teachers had arranged an easter egg hunt - which was an adventure to witness. They met some challenges in explaining to children that they could all join in the hunt, but afterwards the spoils (little plastic eggs with candy inside) were to be shared.

They also had made a Penata full of candy - this was made on a balloon with layers of paper mache. We lined up all the children, smallest first and each got a crack at beating the Penata with a stick in an effort to burst it.  Alicia was on the string moving the Penata up and down as the children struck out - they were blind-folded for the event which was hilariously as they struck widly and with great force only to meet thin air.

Some of the boarding school students played in the basketball tournament and others cheered them on. 

Since we were visitors we got to present the trophies and you see Me in photo presenting the junior trophy to St. Bruno's Junior team coached by Lawrence and the team photo to the right complete with Linda, Robyn and Kate.

The winning senior team included Kate as a player and they were super excited with their day as you can see

Deo, who played in the tournament but was NOT on the winning team – still enjoyed having his photo taken with the trophy! We all think he deserves a trophy just for being DEO.









After a busy Easter weekend with basketball tournaments and mid-day HUGE meal cooked by Jimmy, Ethel, Diana and others it seems we are a bit slow to get back on track this week.

Monday the teachers headed off with Ethel and Diana for a day relaxing in Kampala beside a hotel swimming pool.  They braved public transport which they said was an experience but well worth it to spend a relaxing few hours swimming and having a nice lunch.

Kate and Robyn have begun the track training club (without a track) in the afternoons. Some of the children are amazingly fast runners and that is without proper nutrition, hydration or shoes. We have provided as many as we can with running shoes but even so – they run along a dusty, uneven road and still do remarkable times. We are trying to get advice on how we could get a couple of them into running programs as their speed and stamina in these conditions is remarkable.

Yesterday, today and tomorrow the teachers are back at St. Anne’s for their final lessons. The afternoons are taken up with their activity stations and children super engaged. Erin and Hunter had brought letters from children in schools in Ottawa and Erin has matched them with similar aged children here and they are sending letters back to Canada about Kamengo. The children are super-excited having just received their very first ever letter and they are taking the communication project very seriously.