Recap - Day 8 - Ssenge Village - Kitchen Building and VBS

Friday morning's schedule allowed us to "sleep in" a bit since we were going to all go to the Legacy Leadership pastors conference for a short time.  We went at the beginning of the morning before all of the participants arrived, but this conference had between 700 and 800 attendees.  So many in fact, that on the first day, more tents and chairs had to be brought in during the day to allow space for everyone.  Three of our team members were pastors and were presenting material during the conference to equip pastors and church leaders in Uganda.

Many of those that attended were women and there were a few children also.  They were all dressed in their best, including this little boy that had his pant legs and jacket sleeves rolled several times so they would 'fit'.  Each of us introduced ourselves and told what our jobs or positions in life were.  There was one lady on the front row that was saying "glory hallelujah" as each of us females told about ourselves...and especially so for the two mother-daughters we had serving on our team! 

After we left the conference, we drove back to Ssenge to continue throwing bricks and to lead VBS later in the afternoon.  As our taxis pulled into the village, I saw a teenage boy and girl, and a small child on a bicycle.  I assumed that they were going down to the river to get water and said hello to them.  Avery, the 18 year old girl, smiled and introduced me to her brother, Julius, and her 1 year old son, Syrus.  She couldn't stop smiling as she talked to me.  Avery walked with me down to the work site and told me that they had come to help us build because we were helping their village.  It turned out that Avery was the one that worked (throwing bricks with us without gloves!) and Julius watched Syrus while we worked.  Avery wouldn't pass up a photo opportunity with any of us, sometimes even demanding more!  Such a precious girl and a sweet mother - with no husband.

The progress on the building in just 24 hours.  The footings have all been completed and you can see that there is just a little more work to complete in the foreground of the photo and then the foundation will be done and the walls can go up. 

We only threw bricks for a few hours on Friday because we were going to be doing Vacation Bible School during the last couple of hours of the school day.  Luckily, we didn't have any travel to do since we were working at the school!  So, after lunch, we started VBS by having a dance contest!  The boys in each class danced against each other and the girls in each class danced against one another.  Some of them really got into it and some of them didn't appear to even seem to have ever danced before!  They each got a prize though which they enjoyed!

Because we were doing VBS during the school day, the headmaster and the teachers were all there to help us maintain order (which is very important when dealing with 250 kids between the ages of 4 and 12!  We all stood in a big circle in the courtyard and sang several songs together ("Father Abraham", "Higher Higher" (not sure the real name, but they taught it to us!), and then I was able to get in the middle of the circle and lead my all-time favorite, "Hokey Pokey".  Something about a big, white woman in the middle of a circle dancing around makes kids laugh - go figure!  

The lady in the center of the picture with the black jacket and blue dress is one of the teachers.  She was dancing around in her heels like nobody's business.  She had all kinds of energy and led singing for over half an hour!  If I ever grow up, I want to be like her!  You could tell that the kids loved her and respected her.

After singing was done, the kids all went back to their classrooms and we mzungus divided up into pairs and went to the classrooms to do crafts with the kids - some did finger painting, others were face painting, making bracelets, and in the younger rooms, we colored and used stickers...lots of stickers! :)  The headmaster had come into our room and told the kids to do their best work for us and that we would give them sweeties...but we had no candy! Guess the system of bribing kids in school is universal! HAHAHA

 

Here is an example of some of the face painting - this butterfly is the artwork of my dear friend and roommate on the trip, April.  One thing about face paint, it shows up more brightly on white skin than black.  So when the kids saw that an adult mzungu had face paint, it was hilarious.  They would all laugh, point, and gather their friends around.  Good thing I could handle it!

 As soon as we arrived for VBS, Joshua (one of the boys from the day before) latched onto my hand and would not let go!  He didn't even want me to go to the center of the circle for the "Hokey Pokey" without him and when I got back in the circle in a different place, he came to stand by me.  I didn't see Michael or Isaac all day and I was getting sad that maybe they weren't able to come to school for some reason.  I had thought the day prior that this was THE Michael that was supposed to get the monkey beanie baby, but then I couldn't find him and began to doubt.

After craft time, we had the kids all listen to a Bible story and then gave them all a snack of Safi mango drink and dry donuts.  They devoured them!  As soon as we were done with VBS, the headmaster tried to get all of the students to go home, but it was difficult! :)  Joshua came over to find me as they were leaving and brought with him, Michael!  So exciting!  So we took a few more photos, shared a few more smiles, and then the boys went on their way.

 After we left, we returned to the guest house to shower and change clothers.  We headed to the African Hearts house in Kampala where the older boys live.  They put on a concert for us.  These 19 boys have learned how to play trumpets, trombones, and the tuba by ear.  They play for government events, weddings, and wherever else they get hired to earn money for school fees, rent and food.  They are actually very decent!  They also have 4 acrobats that also perform with them and are quite impressive.  None of them are trained, they just practice and teach themselves what they need to know.  Wonderful young men!