Day 3 - 10/2/2024

Today was another wonderful day of decorating at NVI. We worked really well as a team and managed to accomplish so much, although working with the paint rollers on the end of very long sticks (see pictures) meant we were all accidentally splodged and prodded!! It was so lovely getting to know everyone on the team better while we decorated. Due to it being a Saturday the students had the day off. The site was a little bit quieter than usual however we were lucky enough to enlist the help of James and Brian, two students studying to become electricians. Getting to work alongside them and chat with them was so wonderful. James is sponsored by Ugandaid and getting to hear his story and how grateful he was for our support was so inspiring. The head of the textiles department, Deo, also helped us and spent time with us over the snack breaks. The team had lunch at Java and I think it’s safe to say that between us all we ate enough ice cream to last us a very long time (or maybe until tomorrow). After lunch we continued with the decorating. One of the best things about NVI is no matter where you go and what you are doing you share so many magical moments with others. Lucy and Isabelle bumped into Edith, the nurse at the medical centre we decorated last year. Edith remembered them both and told them how grateful she was for all our hard work. Edith said two things that particularly stuck with the team; ‘you don’t know us but you are still so willing to help, its amazing’ and ‘I wish I could tell you in English how grateful I am but I don’t know how’ she then showed the girls how she thanks someone in her culture by shouting and dancing in the most joyful way. After cleaning the equipment at the water harvester’s (Isabelle funded these last year, you can read all about this in last years blog), we enjoyed one final snack break. James and Brian enjoyed the snacks with us. This was so wonderful as it’s not something they’d usually get the opportunity to do. Seeing their faces when they were invited to join us was something we will never forget.

Some of the team then decided to walk home from NVI. There were so many beautiful views and it was wonderful to see the monkeys running across the bridge over the Nile. After a quick shower to wash off all the paint the team then went for their evening meal at a local restaurant, enjoying great conversation and food.