rothwellsmission

Friday, 14 March 2014

ROTHWELL'S MISSION - BLOG NO. 3

“He has shown you , O man, what is good. And what does The Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Micah 6 : 8

Hello everyone

Thank you for your prayers and messages. It is such a comfort knowing we are in your thoughts and in your prayers.

From our last prayer requests we are seeing the results. The students are still coming, even those who had been awaiting results, and the school is almost full. After sending the last blog, when the mood here was very heavy, a few of us did a prayer walk around the perimeter and prayed for protection on the school and everyone in it. The following day the mood had lifted and we thank The Lord for that immediate answer to prayer.

It has been a while since the last blog, but we've now got to grips with the variable and very slow internet signal – we are doing this in the school library (up the hill and thus a better signal) instead of in the guest house (down the hill)! And it reminds us how blessed Wobulenzi Town Academy is to have a library, so few schools in the area do.

Jerry did a great talk at the recent Parent's Day (see below) explaining the role of ServeDirect here, using a bag of tools, and it was a perfect illustration. ServeDirect supply the tools, such as the library building and the books, but it is up to the workers, the teachers and the pupils, to use them.

To us it ably demonstrates why the partnership between ServeDirect and Wobulenzi Town Academy (and The Rock and The Bridge) works. If ServeDirect walked away tomorrow all three of the projects could continue, and that is the joy of the relationship.

Will now try and do a brief-ish update of the last almost three weeks and add some photos.

A team of young people from Wototo church in Kampala have been out a few times to speak at church on Sunday, run some small group discussion with the very active school CU and do some training in sport – netball, basketball and football.

New birthing bed for The Rock arrived, Stan, Jerry and Phil erected it - eventually – and Stan even tried it out. Lots of giggles from the medical team! (The photo seems to have mysteriously disappeared - will keep searching).

Helen and Steve Richardson arrived. What a joy to have them here, felt like a little bit of home had arrived (and it had,in the shape of chocolate!). And bless them for bringing champagne all the way from England to toast the house!

Dentaid team arrived – Team of UK and Ugandan dentists who set up surgery in The Rock and started work within the hour. They examined and treated the whole school, the teachers and 73 members of the community. Stan was very brave (being scared of dentists) and went into the surgery to take pictures and generally comfort some scared students while Sue helped as dental assistant – holding hands and washing some bloody instruments. We provided lunch for the team of 13 at the guest house – our first official visitors.

Parents Day – lasted most of Sunday 2^nd. Was due to start at 10am, Africa time, so got under way at around 12. The students put on some incredible entertainment – the choir performed and then there were traditional dances from all four corners of Uganda including the circumcision dance which according to Stan was “very interesting”! The WTA cook, Maria, catered for 800 (guests, parents and students) with a meat and rice meal in a delicious sauce. It was humbling to see the students fetching bowls of water for the parents to wash themselves before eating – some of them had travelled hours to get here. It was great to see exhibitions of art in the Art Room and experiments taking place in the laboratories – both recent additions to the school.

We are at last having some Senior 5 students arriving – the 'O'Level results had been delayed and they are unable to start school until they are published. The results for WTA had again improved, which is a credit to Charles and his teaching staff. Some of the students have done so well they have been offered free bursaries at other schools, and that is a compliment to the standards here, that WTA have given these students such a good grounding.

We were able to listen to Will on Forge Radio last week, the Tom and Will show every Monday at 4pm (for us, pm) on www.forgetoday.com. As the signal is so variable it faded in and out but we were able to hear Will give us a name check which was such a treat – again another link with home – so good to hear his voice.

On Saturday Elspeth and Sue celebrated Womens Day (very big here – a public holiday) by showing a girly film and having a discussion group for the girls (plus an awful lot of boys who wanted to see the film).

Our Activate sessions have been a delight – so far the subjects have chosen themselves following things said by the students or concerns that have arisen. In the last two weeks we have covered 'water' (from the bore hole and the spiritual kind) and the 'End of Days/being ready'. This week there are mid-term exams, so no lessons, but Stan has cricket tonight and Sue has tennis tomorrow – the sport never stops!

We experienced our first matatu ride from Kampala to Wobulenzi this week. We likened it to a Famous Five adventure – we had to change vehicle (or as we called it, sardine can) three times, walk through two deep ditches (fortunately no water in them), cross two three-lane fast roads and had two near-misses. All part of the fun of living here!

After two false starts Stan was able to open up a guest house bank account at Wobulenzi bank. And then he spent four hours there trying to draw out some money. However, so that he didn't waste any more time he was encouraged by the staff to join the 'fast' queue – the sign said 'For the Elderly'!

We have had some other successes this week - Said the soda man now knows Stan by name and has a supply of ginger beer ready for him when he calls, and Dhama in the water shop had the large 20 litre bottle of water we had ordered from him three weeks ago (which he said would be there on Tuesday). Even better news – he had ordered 50 of the bottles from his supplier – his shop was full of them. Fortunately he didn't want us to take them all at once! And the 'smiley pineapple lady' now gives us the 'locals' price and not the 'mzungu' one.

We walked through the school early this week and were amazed again at how early they are at work - prep and then getting water, washing and clearing up. And the sunrise was spectacular.

PRAYER REQUESTS

For the Senior 5's arriving half way through the term – pray that they will settle in and feel at home very quickly.

For malaria nets – they are prepared and ready the challenge is getting them on the beds.

For the student diagnosed with Hepatitis B and another with TB – they have returned to their villages until they are better – please pray for healing.

For wisdom for Charles as he deals with theft of items from the school. We pray that justice and mercy will prevail in this situation. The quote from Micah is the school motto and it has been quoted many times during our time here, and is a good reminder of what He asks us to do.

Sunrise over Wobulenzi Town Academy

getting water for a wash

Boniface with his porridge

cricket coaching!

and more cricket....

chemistry lab experiments for Parents Day

Dentaid team having lunch at the volunteers house

extraction time

surgery set up in The Rock in less than an hour

queue for the dentists

Jerry explaining the role of ServeDirect at Parents Day

Stan at 'Activate' - with help from Steve

being shown an experiment at Parents Day

washing up after breakfast

school choir perform at Parents Day

traditional dancing - Parents Day

Friday, 21 February 2014

ROTHWELL'S MISSION - BLOG NO. 2

Along unfamiliar paths I will guide them

Isaiah 42:16

What a diverse, sometimes surreal and always interesting few days...

First first - Church weekend away with Kampala International Church

We had attended this church once, so unlike our weekends away with St Andrew's we knew hardly anyone, although made to feel very welcome.

The speaker was David Stroud from Christchurch London, who have partnered with KIC in the past and are great friends of the pastor and his wife. They brought a whole group of people from their church, including their worship band.

Great weekend of fellowship, many of the people we met are long term missionaries, working for NGO's or running businesses here, so lots of useful information soaked up by us and many friendships made.

We hope to get the opportunity to attend the church when we get in to Kampala every few weeks, but happy in the meantime to attend WTA church here, run by the students, which is also amazing – will try and get the small video on the blog this week.

Second first - Village Health Team

Our Health Centre (The Rock) had invited those working in the villages surrounding Wobulenzi and Luwero (we are between the two) to come and see the facility and what we could offer. There are 25 villages, and 18 of the VHT's attended, which we are delighted about.

The meeting was chaired by Hafswa, our clinical officer (we would call her a doctor, the only difference between her and a doctor is that she can't do surgery).

All of the health visitors agreed that it is a wonderful facility, the rates are very low, (we had explained that we are here to serve, not to make a profit, and just need to cover the expenses), and they will be recommending their clients to use it.

We are having a 'Grand Official Opening' for The Rock on 5^th March when there will be a team from 'Dentaid' here doing free dental work. The Rock will also be offering free HIV testing and family planning service, so expecting a busy day.

Third first - Sport surprises

The surprise is that this section features Sue as well as Stan. Stan has started to coach some cricket (with appropriate 'Boycottisms' about line and length), to some of the first years, a sport not often played in Uganda. Elspeth said her Dad would have been so delighted to know that at last Uganda was playing a 'civilised' sport, (the Uganda favourite is most definitely football).

Whilst having a conversation with the PE teacher, Madam Juliet, (we are all Madam or Master here), she asked Sue if she knew of tennis, she told her she did, as a spectator. Before she knew it she had agreed to give tennis lessons, another sport Uganda does not play. The tennis started yesterday, very simply, as she is working her way up to trying to explain the rules, once she has looked them up! (Thank goodness for Google, fortunately got a week to find a window when the internet will work!).

Fourth first – Official photographer for the immunisation clinic

Sue spent the morning at the first immunisation clinic, to be held every Tuesday, taking photographs of children and babies (and a bigger boy) most of whom where crying (understandably!). Next photographer duty is to be the ante-natal clinic and the next birth – these will probably not be posted on the blog!

Fifth first – our first 'team visit' request

David Stroud was brought here yesterday for a visit by the pastor of KIC and his wife on their return from Murchison Falls Game Reserve, which fortunately means they have to pass Wobulenzi Town Academy. We provided tea and cake, and more importantly a flush toilet. They are keen to bring a team out to stay here in the volunteers house and work in the school, the primary care centre and the health centre, so they could be our first official guests!

Sixth first – Management Team meeting

Joy – they try to keep to one hour!

Seventh first – 'Activate' on our own

First sessions this week on our own – we were certainly more nervous than the students. The Activate sessions, which cover the whole school over a three day period are the only ones not rigid in their requirements, so pretty much anything goes. We can use them to cover a particular topic that comes up during the week (next week it will be water as there has been an issue this week with the bore hole), with a spiritual input.

This week we used sun cream on everyone's hands to illustrate protection from the sun, (leading on to covering yourself in the protection of the Lord).

What amazes us is the class sizes which are regularly in the 80's and 90's, and students from far afield are still turning up to register. (The maximum is 100 in each year group, 600 in the school).

Eighth first – the shock of the school day

We had not quite appreciated the importance of education and thus the length of the school day – check this out particularly those of you still at school......

Get up at 4am to do prep until 7am - at their own request
Breakfast (porridge) at 7am
Lessons (with one break) until 1.10pm
Lunch (posho and beans)
Lessons until 5pm
Free time between 5 and 6 (which is when we do cricket, tennis and football)
Dinner (posho and beans)
Chores - sweeping the yard, getting water from the bore hole, washing clothing, cleaning the latrines
Prep until 9pm, bed at 10pm

Things to learn and remember....

They are trouser, not trousers
They are knicker, not knickers
SMS not text
biscuits are pronounced biscwits
There is no Ugandan word for please, so don't be offended when you are asked 'give me a pen'
Every meeting of every person you see must start with a 'three-way' Ugandan handshake – clasped in the usual way, clasped up and clasped down – hence the reason for walking the route around school very slowly
You WILL get covered in red dust a few times a day – get over it
It is not quiet in the jungle – the evening gets louder and louder with bird and animal noises (some of which we are learning to identify), and as for the morning – the dawn chorus at 6.30am is ear-splitting.

Prayer points

We have been told by some parents that a nearby school has been suggesting to people WTA are full and are no longer accepting students. This is clearly not true and Director Charles has retaliated by announcing on local radio (which is listened to by a lot of people) that we are indeed still accepting students. He also said that he considers this a compliment as the other school is not very good and is scared that what WTA are offering is better and our fees are lower. We would appreciate prayer that the students continue to come.
For the Senior 4 year who had been told by the government not to return to school until the 24^th as their results had been 'delayed'. They have now been told they are still delayed, and to come on the 3^rd. Pray that they get their results and are able to return soon.
For the students who are struggling still to find their fees – many of the girls are being told to stay at home and be married off and are fighting against that to continue their education.
For next week's Activate sessions – we are starting to plan them today.

And finally.... some of you asked for an address – we now have one – we would love to hear from you.

Dugdale/Rothwell

PO Box 20159

Nakawa

Kampala

Uganda

Photos below, have given up on video, connection not strong enough.

Love and blessings

Sue and Stan

Children from a local primary school at The Bridge

baby Grace having her first immunisation

brother Martin trying to escape - he's had one before!

tetanus booster

Stan and Jerry trying to photograph the sunset

football shirts drying after training

Stan's first snake encounter

we have a very talented basketball player with size 15 feet - we can't track down any trainers - any ideas?

Sunday, 9 February 2014

NEW ADVENTURE, NEW DIRECTION

Leave...go to the land I will show you. Genesis 12 : 1
I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. Isaiah 48 : 17

Hello everyone

First chance to update you all due to power/internet down and just lots going on!

We realise that to tell you everything would mean that this blog would go on and on for pages so will try and give you a brief (as possible) flavour of our first 9 days and a few photos. Also don't miss the short video from today's church service at the school which is arranged by and carried out by the students – amazing, joyous and very humbling.

We spent our first week in Kampala being shown around by Elspeth and Jerry Dugdale and Michele and Phil Ball from ServeDirect. We had guided tours of the shops, markets, hospitals and (important from Stan's point of view) where to get the best cappuccino!

Sitting in the garden at the Dugdale's, high above the hills of Kampala, we saw Maribou storks, black kites and plantain birds, whose call is exactly that of a monkey. Growing in the garden are banana palms and a tree laden with pomegranates, we needed no reminder that we were no longer in Churchdown!

Saturday was our first visit to Wobulenzi Town Academy, cross country on some very bumpy roads heading north through tiny townships where people were milking goats, tending their crops and walking up and down with water containers from a standpipe often a long way away with babies tied on their backs.

The school was very quiet, term was due to start on Monday. Although we had seen photos and video we were still not prepared for this amazing build in the middle of the bush. Even though the conditions are what we in the UK would regard as basic we understand that the resources and conditions far surpass many of the other schools in the area and what has been achieved here in such a short time can only be the hand of God – dormitories, classrooms, examination hall, teachers houses, toilets and shower blocks, chemistry lab, library plus 'The Bridge' primary resource centre and 'The Rock' health centre – and now of course our new home, the volunteers house.

On returning on Monday we found a very different atmosphere. The students had started to return, the day pupils first and then gradually during the day the boarders. Many had to travel long distances from the north and had to wait at the side of the road until a bus with space stopped, often some hours later or in some cases overnight. Over the week more and more have come and it is humbling to see what they bring – a small box of personal possessions, their school fee (a minimal amount but often the reason for further delay until it can be found), and their 'requirements', two brooms to help with the cleaning, a mattress, a set of uniform, a contribution of two rolls of 'TP', bowl for washing clothes and self and a medical form which they then take to 'The Rock' for checking over and registration (some turn up already suffering with malaria and TB).

By the end of this week pupils were still arriving and the classrooms and dormitories are slowly filling with smiling faces. We are starting to get to know some of the teachers and Charles the Director, an amazing man who is guided by God in all he does, and have been able to talk to some of the students and are trying desperately to remember

names. We have also had the opportunity of dropping in to 'The Bridge' where we met a delightful group of local children.

This morning we were formally introduced at the church service they hold every week, planned and carried out by the students. The joy in their worship was awesome to see, and the sermon, also by a student, was riveting. It is clear, even though we have only been here for a few days, that this is a very special place and we are blessed to be able to be a part of it.

Thank you to those of you who have sent us encouraging messages and are praying for

us, we feel so at peace here knowing that.

Can we ask for your prayers this week for the students still to return. We understand some are in the care of relatives who are trying (with the girls) to marry them off and get a cash dowry rather than let them return to school, and the boys can be of more use in the fields and looking after the cattle, so often these students have to take on small jobs to put together their 'requirements' and will not return until they have it. There is a 'hardship' fund for those who find it impossible, but most of the students are so determined to come back they find a way. Please pray for their safety on the journey back, often a difficult and perilous journey, and that the students God wants here will be able to return.

Also – the first immunisation clinic is to be held at 'The Rock' on Tuesday. It has been well advertised locally via the children who attend 'The Bridge' so we are praying that mothers will come, so please pray for that also.

And now – a few photos.

PS - video wouldn't download - will try again next time!

With love

Sue and Stan xx

First meal and night in the volunteers house

Meeting Precious - daughter of one of the teachers

our room

volunteers house

The road to Wobulenzi

students arriving

Kampala from the hills

unwelcome guest with the rice

posho and beans

church

football talk

teachers preparing work

preparing the school programme

Tuesday, 28 January 2014

24 HOURS AND COUNTING......

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding
Proverbs 3 : 5

In 24 hours we will be at Heathrow - we fly to Uganda at 11am on Thursday - and by 10.30pm local time we will be landing at Entebbe. And then the next adventure begins and we will be trusting in the Lord that led us to it.
Neither of us would have even considered going through with this had we not been absolutely sure it was where the Lord wanted us to be.

We want to thank those of you who have helped us financially to fund this trip - you know who you are - we knew it would be challenging when we agreed to fund it ourselves but you have been generous and the Lord has provided for us as He always does.
Also thank you to those who have pledged prayer support - it will keep us strong in difficult times - bless you.

We hope to be able to update you on the blog every couple of weeks but be aware that the electricity supply and internet availability may not support us in this, so be patient!

We will be back in Churchdown in July for a short break so hope to catch up with some of you then.

Attached is a picture of our home for the next 12 months, together with a picture of us just in case you forget what we look like :)

With love and every blessing

Sue and Stan

Sunday, 1 December 2013

IMMEASURABLY MORE - PART 2

ROTHWELL'S MISSION ....... AND BEYOND

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.

Ephesians 3 : 20

And now to explain the 'AND BEYOND'

Before we went to FAST we had thought that maybe God had finished with us,we prayed for direction from Him but heard nothing. Then the call to Romania came. And since then God has offered us, as it says in Ephesians, immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

We are delighted to say that He has given us the opportunity to work with the charity ServeDirect for 12 months as volunteers.

We will be based in Lukomera, about 35 miles north of Kampala, Uganda and will be working with three projects:

Wobulenzi Town Academy

WTA is a secondary school with 600 students, set up to provide education in a safe environment for disadvantaged children, many of whom have lost family in the civil war in the north.

The Rock Health Centre

Recently opened with ServeDirect support to provide high quality basic healthcare to the local community.

The Bridge Primary Resource Centre

Working with local primary schools, providing resources and teaching support to help boost academic standards.

What will we be doing?

Providing day to day administration and managerial support, organizing extracurricular activities such as computer skills, drama, sport (Stan is keen to establish a branch of Leeds United Supporters Club!), and developing the pastoral and Christian values of the children.

We will also be hosting volunteers and will be living in the newly built 'volunteers house' next to the school.

We truly believe God has been guiding our mission journey and has led us to this place and we are confident in his blessings, but inevitably there is a financial aspect involved. We need to raise sufficient funds to cover initial essentials such as air fares, healthcare insurance,visas, vaccinations, anti-malarial medication and accommodation.

Whilst we are able to cover some of the cost ourselves there will be a shortfall, so we are asking for your support.

To kick start our fund raising we will be holding 'Africa Night' on Saturday January 11th at St Andrew's church centre which will consist of a three course African meal, a quiz, a licensed bar and the opportunity for us to tell you more about the project. Tickets can be obtained from us or from the church office.

If you are unable to come on the evening but would still like to help us with financial support, then bless you. Donations can be made on line at
http://www.justgiving.com/StanandSueRothwellAdventure or we are happy to receive cheques, payable to ServeDirect.

Lastly, but most important of all, we ask for your prayer support. Whilst we are excited to have this opportunity, and confident of God's protection, our work will not be without challenges.

Knowing that our friends and family are praying for us will be such a comfort, and we know from past experiences that having prayer support is what will help us through challenging times.

We will probably be leaving for Uganda at the end of January so your prayers during the planning and preparation time will very welcome.

We’ll be updating our blog www.rothwellsmission.blogspot.com as often as we are able to let you all know what we are doing, and if you would like to know more about the work of ServeDirect do visit their website at www.servedirect.org

Here's to the next big adventure

Sue and Stan