Richard's Spotlight

Throughout my time in Uganda so far, through all the things we have done and people we have met, the one thing that is hugely apparent is the amazing work that Ugandaid have done here over the last 18 years.  It is humbling to see the relationships that have been built up over the years and the expression on people’s faces when we arrive and the gratitude that is shown.

My time here and the help I have provided is a drop in the ocean compared to the work NVI have done here over the years.  I am so grateful to have been invited along and to have been given the opportunity to experience this wonderful country and its people and to give as much as I can.

There have been so many experiences throughout my time here, from the journey to Jinja, painting classrooms and NVI, the Sunday service at NVI, games in the park with the NVI students, white water rafting and the trip to the village, it is impossible to single one out. 

The team on this trip, the majority of which are first timers in Uganda, have made this trip for me.  I couldn’t have asked for a more kind, loving and helpful group of people to experience this with. 

Angie's Spotlight

I came to Jinja with absolutely no expectations other than to be challenged and I have been!

First by the heat!  But every day has brought something new and I have loved being able to engage with the students from NVI and the staff too – hearing stories from those who’ve been through the college has moved me deeply. 

Yesterday (Sunday) was my biggest challenge; organizing games for around 150 Ugandaid students but thankfully it went well and it was so good to see them joining in and having such fun – not one of them staying on the sidelines.

Sheila's Spotlight

“Wow!  I’m not sure what I was expecting but it’s much better!  A country of contrasts – beautiful scenery – yet terrible living conditions.  And then NVI – wonderful staff who care for the students in all aspects of their lives, providing love and care that some students have never known.  It’s great to see girls learning Motor Vehicle Mechanics and Electrical Installation and being encouraged to do so. 

I find that the whole ethos of the place is uplifting.”

Gill's Spotlight

As a nurse I jumped at the opportunity to accompany Peter to Jinja muslim hospital to visit Lukia, a student whose ankle wound was not healing well after a traffic accident.  What a culture shock!  The consulting room was a dirty office piled high with orthopedic equipment.  The surgeon removed the dressing, poured various chemicals over the wound before dressing it with dry gauze and tape.  The wound was not swabbed or checked for infection.    A culture swab costs around £20 here which is unaffordable for most Ugandans, neither can they afford antibiotics.

The hospital had 4 wards, each containing 6 metal beds.  Patients are required to provide their own mattress.  The pit latrine toilets had very little hand-washing water and no soap.  Patients bathe in a trough in the courtyard.

My husband and I had wanted to sponsor a student and decided to sponsor Lukia over a 3-year textile and tailoring course.  It seemed right that having been involved in the care of her ankle wound that we should sponsor Lukia.  Amazingly, a friend at church had given me £20 as God had told her to.  We have used that money to pay for the swab  which was required.  If the wound is found to be infected we will ensure that she receives the antibiotics she needs.  She is a beautiful girl who is cared for by her grandmother, Diana.

Yvonne's Spotlight

“If I had to describe this trip in one word, it would be ‘BRILLIANT!’  What an absolute privilege to come to this beautiful country with a team of lovely caring people and spend time with the amazing Ugandan’s.  They are so grateful for everything they have (which is very little).  What a humbling experience.”

Tony's Spotlight

“There is always a great deal of satisfaction in looking back at the results of a completed Ugandaid restoration project.  The committed and resourceful 2018 team have transformed 2 classrooms at the Motor Vehicle Mechanics Centre at NVI.  The stunning results are a statement of the desire of the team to demonstrate their compassion for the students of NVI and to stand with them in building a future full of hope and potential.  It is always a great privilege to be involved in this process.”

Pauline's Spotlight

“This is my first trip to Uganda, which has been superbly organized by Ugandaid.  There have been so many wonderful and thought-provoking experiences in this first week:

- Meeting the young people and staff at NVI

- Hearing individual stories of disadvantaged young people and how learning a new skill at NVI has transformed their life

- Making ‘Letters and Sounds’ phonic resources with Ness for trainee teachers.  A whole variety have been made using plastic bottles and tops, string, scissors, metal beer tops and a marker pen!   The phonics training will be delivered later in the week.

- Transforming 2 classrooms and an office at NVI Motor Vehicle section so that young people and their teachers have a decent environment in which to work.

In the week to come I look forward to visiting Walakuba East Primary School with up to 100 children per class (!) a school for the blind and a village outside of Jinja.

The fellowship with my fellow travelling companions has been truly warm and uplifting.  Thank you so much Ugandaid for all you have done.”

Phil's Spotlight

“As I come back to Uganda year after year I feel I am among so many friends who give me so much love.  It’s hard to quantify.”

Paul G's Spotlight

“We read in Genesis that when the Lord God had finished creation he declared that it was good.  Seeing some of the wondrous sights in this beautiful African country make me want to declare along with scripture that creation is good. 

Yet, set against this is the terrible poverty of many people seen throughout the vast urban sprawl, which spreads from the airport in Entebbe through Kampala and out towards Jinja where we are staying.  The sights and sounds mesmorise the senses, and there is so much rubbish everywhere, marring the beauty of what God has given. 

The many young people are so positive, so welcoming, so eager to learn and eager also to given praise to God.  It is so different and a great privilege and pleasure to be here.”

Emily's Spotlight

“My focus throughout the trip has been with Nile Vocational Institute (NVI).  Before leaving to come to Uganda, the company I work for (RSK), showed a phenomenal amount of support and encouragement for the projects Ugandaid are doing.

This has lead to organizing a meeting with RSK’s East African projects team and NVI to discuss ways to fill any gaps in the current curriculum so NVI can meet the standards required for students to go directly into industry, as well as possible appointments for industrial placements and hopefully create lasting connections.

Alongside this, the money raised by RSK has been enough to sponsor a student through a two-year training course at NVI.  The student is Amos Ssewonkambo, who is just starting on the welding and sheet metal work course.  It was such a joy meeting him on Sunday, hearing about his life and heart warming to see how happy and gracious he is about having the opportunity to study and to achieve his dream to work and see distant countries through this.”

Day 8 - The Village

A picture tells a thousand words!  It’s difficult to write about the amazing experience we had in the village today, seeing the construction of the grain store by the NVI students well underway, so hopefully the photos in this slideshow we’ve put together will do it justice.

Great hospitality, great entertainment and amazing people.

Day 7 - Rafting and the Haven

Helen and Jan arrived in Jinja yesterday to complete the team.  We are now 24.

Today is officially a day off so 8 intrepid adventurers headed off to brave the Nile rapids: Eamon, Emily, Isaac, Laurie, Paul, Peter, Richard and Stuart.

Phil, Yvonne, Christine and Ness paid a quick introductory visit to Walakuba East Primary School while Tony, Naomi and Ritchie went into Jinja. Pauline made more phonic resources; Gill, Sheila and Angie wound skeins of wool into balls.  Jan and Helen sorted out cases full of clothes, Steve worked on the accounts, Andrew worked on his sermon for Sunday.

Most of the non-rafters spent the rest of the day at The Haven – a beautiful spot with an amazing view over the first set of the rafters’ rapids on the river Nile.  A temporary office was set up on the outdoor tables and lots of talking, discussion, planning, preparation and blogging completed.

Day 6 - Worship at NVI and Games at the Source

Today was Sunday.  On Sundays it has become a tradition for the Ugandaid team to be invited to attend the weekly worship service at NVI with the students.

This was not your ordinary service.  Although it was lead by NVI’s pastor, Rev. Luke, the students played a large part which involved a dazzling array of music, dancing, singing and skits (drama sketches). We were blown away by the colour, vibrance, noise and total freedom of expression in the students’ worship.

A visiting bishop delivered a powerful message on the importance of holding on to what we know to be right and not to compromise our Christian beliefs because of pressure from others.  He told us to ‘do what God has put in our hearts to do.  God is looking for men and women who can stand up for the truth’.

It has become another tradition for the team to organize a games afternoon at a local beauty spot over looking the source of the Nile.  Angie did a brilliant job of planning and organizing games for 150 students.  They were split into 8 teams (of roughly 16 in each) and led by 2 of the team.  We played duck, duck, goose, ladders and relay races of various types.  One game involved dressing one from each team in a hat, scarf, gloves and flip flops, undressing and then redressing them – in the form of a relay race.  Another took a little more explaining and involved collecting balloons (water-filled) and then stealing from other teams with the aim of ending up with one of each colour.  The competition was rife and some teams even resorted to cheating.   The games ended with balloon bursting and football.  The 150 ice-creams arrived still frozen  and were handed out with a cake each as well.

We all had an absolutely brilliant afternoon full of fun and laughter.  It was wonderful to have an opportunity after the games were finished to spend time chatting and getting to know (or reconnecting with) the students.  It is very moving to hear their stories and expressions of gratitude for the opportunity they have been given by Ugandaid and NVI. Many of the students have a strong Christian faith and tell us how thankful they are to God, assuring us that they will work very hard and achieve good results.  It has proved to be the case that Ugandaid students consistently perform very well in their studies.

Stuart and Isaac

Day 5 - The Grand Finish

A busy morning adding finishing touches – cleaning the floor, completing the gloss work, polishing windows, repainting the blackboards and finally preparing the floor with acid and then painting with floor paint.  We are all very pleased with the finished result.  We lunched on bananas and nuts.

There are lots of plans being made for next week – it looks like the rest of our time here is going to be very busy with team members involved in a variety of projects.

We are really excited about the NVI Sunday church service tomorrow.  We have heard the students practicing their very lively worship songs. 

Day 4 The Big Gloss on a National Holiday

Today is a National Holiday in Uganda.  The traffic was thankfully quiet, especially on the bridge across the Nile leading to Nile Vocational Institute.

It was heart warming to see the staff at NVI, on what should be a holiday for them, still providing us with the warmest hospitality, which included a hearty lunch of fish and chips (Ugandan style).

Another day of painting the mechanics classrooms was at the centre of our work.  Now the walls of the two classrooms and small offices had received a generous undercoat, the final gloss layer could be applied.

People spent the afternoon in various ways – some went into Jinja, some made resources for a teacher training session at NVI next week using 100s of plastic water bottles.   Meetings were held to arrange the student picnic/games afternoon on Sunday and church services.  The core team have many other meetings and arrangements going on in the background with the common aim of improving lives.

The weather here in Uganda these last few days has been very sunny but extremely hot, even for the locals.  Our dedicated tam leaders; Christine, Peter, Phil, Steve, Tony and Naomi, made sure everyone drank enough water and kept out of the 35°C heat as much as possible.

Over the last few days we have heard many inspiring stories from ex-students and staff and NVI, mainly the stories of Joshua, Joseph, Emanuel and Simon Peter who came to our hotel especially to share their experiences with us.   We will be sharing some of these stories on this blog over the next few days.

The Ugandaid Team

Just before the final coat of gloss in the mechanics class room at NVI.

Day 3 - More Hard Work at the NVI

A hard day’s work by all scraping and painting undercoat, punctuated by a very welcome lunch provided by the catering students.  The 2 classrooms are beginning to shape up and we hope to finish the gloss work tomorrow.

We all feel so welcome and appreciated here.   Many of the people at NVI have been expressing their gratitude for the long-term commitment, shown by the Ugandaid team, to the work at NVI.  Deep loving relationships have been built up between core members of the team and staff and students and this is very evident.

It has been fantastic to meet former students and hear their life stories about how NVI has changed their life.  NVI is a truly wonderful place with a visionary leader who aspires for NVI to be the best.  As well as providing 3-year vocational training courses, NVI also offer basic skills training for vulnerable young people. 

We have all been struck by the strong Christian faith of the teaching staff and how this is evident in the love and care shown to students.

Day 2 - Nile Vocational Institute

Our first day started with Prayers and Reflection led by Andrew, our resident pastor.  He encouraged us to think about the things we are thankful for, which was an easy task.

The teams first visit to the Nile Vocational Institute of the 2018 trip started with a warm welcome from Edison, the acting director, and his staff; Robert (Finance and Accounting Director), Prossi (Human Resources), Rogers (Student Welfare), Reverent Luke (Pastor and French and Swahili teacher), Judith (Accountant) and Joseph (Industrial training and Ugandaid coordinator).

It is evident that NVI live out their Christian beliefs and ethos in everything they do. Despite their lack of resources Edison gives thanks to God showing his deep and living faith.

The team was provided the most delicious late breakfast, prepared by the wonderful students studying Catering and Hotel Management.   This consisted of samosas, fresh fish fingers, chicken thighs, potatoes, chapatti’s and freshly made coleslaw.

We were given the grand tour by Edison where we saw the Institute’s students hard at work in the welding and sheet metal application, plumbing, carpentry, catering & hotel management, textiles, secretarial, agricultural, bricklaying & concrete practice, hairdressing, early years childcare and electrical installation departments.  The appreciation, shown by the Institutes staff, for the hard work and dedication of Ugandaid was overwhelming.

The dedicated Ugandaid team spent the afternoon cleaning the Motor Mechanic classrooms in preparation for painting – a hot and dirty job but with 22 at work son accomplished. 

Ugandaid 2018 Journey Begins!!

After a very long flight, late night and early start the Ugandaid 2018 journey finally began.

We were expertly driven by our dedicated Katenda, through the bustling streets of Kampala and onward for 4 hot, sticky and bumpy hours to our final destination of Jinja.

A well earned rest at the beauty spot, the Nile Palace, was had by all before an evening meal and the surprise appearance of Eddison, the acting director of the Nile Vocational Institute, whom we are very much looking forward to seeing tomorrow when the hard work really begins. 

2018 trip

Team 1 are busy preparing to depart on February 12th, with team 2 flying out 2 weeks later - check back soon to read all about their visit.