ROBS BIRTHDAY

Rob's birthday was in May but I just realised I had all these great photos and never shared them - Ziah had been really sick and was improving - then a few days after this he went downhill again so it all went to the back of my mind. 

I surprised rob with a trip to the Botanical gardens at Entebbe - about 2 hrs from where we lived which is right on Lake Victoria. 

For a small entrance fee ( like $1 ) you can explore the huge botanical gardens by food or by car and enjoy the beautiful trees and water and all the monkeys. 

There is a not a lot of places here to go for picnics surprisingly but we do love picnics - so this was the best thing I could find without it costing too much. 

I saved up some money in the weeks leading up to it and went and bought some special treats for Rob that he likes. 

We enjoyed driving around ( at the time in rob's uncles old car ..... which decided not to start for us when we tried to leave!! ;) 

And then we enjoyed sitting alongside the lake and having our picnic.... and for the most part we were alone.... and had privacy.... something that doesn't happen much here when we are out..... 

That was until a busload of women from a church turned up and a picnic! :) 

Ziah was a hit of course..... while we tried to bang and poke the engine to start the car to leave! 

We enjoyed putting our fit in the water and pretending we were sitting by the beach back at home in Newcastle. 

It was a great family day - and was exactly what we needed at the time ! 

We sat for ages watching mummy monkeys and their babies playing.... 

There's a REALLY tiny baby monkey on the mums back - I'd say it had not long been born... was so cute

Found a piece of home - gum tree 

ZIah's first time seeing a monkey 

Special lunch - apricot yogurt ( a real treat) ..... some chips ( kind of like pringles ;) and grape juice since I couldn't get grapes... we enjoyed this along with avocados and tomatoes and bread. 

I realise how dangerous this is now - using my hand as a plate while rob cuts one handed :) 

HELLO WORLD - 

Touching lake victoria 

Our new place & update

Well this month has been so much better already than last month - God has been so good to us and we now have a new little place to rent for next few months... or however long we decide. 

We are now living in a place called seeta.... on a good day like before 6 am ( or say the middle of the night when there's zero traffic) its about 20 minutes from Kampala....

On a normal day outside of peak hours its about 50 minutes.... during peak time... its around 1 1/2 - 3 hours in a car/ taxi! 

So its usually an hour most of the time.... we do our best not to travel at peak time. 

We are renting a little two bedroom semi detached unit in a very secure compound at the end of a dirt track. 

We are surrounded by lots of other families in other compounds. 

At the moment we are the only tenants in the compounds as they are brand new but our landlady and her family live on site too. 

And she is an amazing landlady!! 

Making up for the hard experiences we have had the last few months... she's even paying for a night security guard for the compound so that's amazing. 

The other incredible thing about our landlady is she is a policewoman.... and guess what her role is.... she is in charge of child welfare... in particular street children!!! 

She was very excited and keen to help us connect with the right people in relation to working with police to help the children on the street.... this is an answer to prayer!! 

Our place is BY FAR the nicest place we've ever lived in here and has an inside kitchen... and it isn't just a sink... it even has a kitchen bench and wait for it.... KITCHEN CUPBOARDS! 

We also have TWO bathrooms!!! With two flushing toilets..... we went from a squat toilet last month to having two new bathrooms!! 

We have a wonderful shower.... but still no hot water But that's ok.... I'm actually getting use to the cold showers...and enjoying them.. after 3 years living here its about time! 

Once a week or so i boil water to wash my hair... its amazing how good hot water in a jug can feel and how you can pretend its a hot shower :) 

The other amazing thing about our new place is ... it has mirrors in the bathroom and hooks!! 

And we even have a wardrobe here! 

All these little things make for an amazing place. 

We also have a back door with little area ziah can play while i'm in kitchen or he can play in the compound safely and all the workers who are still here working on the landlords house think he is pretty wonderful ... and they have all been so good to us. 

The landlords sister lives with them and she is deaf but her and I are learning how to communicate and the electricians are deaf too... makes me so happy to see people employing them here!! Huge thing! 

This place is certainly healing my hurt from the way we were treated last month and from the money we had stolen.... 

Another amazing thing is that we live in walking distance to the fresh food market and to a grocery store.. that has AMAZING BREAD!!! 

Not cardboard like at all!!! 

This is amazing! 

We are still settling in and making ourselves at home but we feel very blessed to have found this place and it is new, safe and secure and within the price we wanted to pay!! 

Rob is currently working on building some furniture for our place and we will probably buy a lounge and a fridge this time.... 

We have decided even if we are only here a few months we are going to unpack and make it home .... too hard living out of a suitcase with a baby in the mix :) 

Rob is still waiting for a job... so please be at prayer about that. 

He has had a lot of interest from private hospitals, but Rob really wants to work in the public sector as this is where the greatest need it.

 So we continue to apply for jobs and pray one opens near to home, in the right area. 

In the meantime we continue to look for land for babies/children's home, educate ourselves on the way government and legalities work here in relation to children,  spend time at the various children's homes and ministries we've been involved in over the years, work on our farming and business adventures ( just beginning in the hopes of helping us to support the ministry) .... and enjoy watching hezekiah get better and grow while we wait for the registration to be approved. 

We have been told its at the final stages.... so that's exciting! 

I've also started writing a book.... we will see... people have been hounding ( and yes its literally been hounding me for the past year or so to write one.... ) so we will see how that goes ! 

I've attached a few photos of our house .... not unpacked or anything like that yet but you'll get the idea... once we make it more of a home we will be sure to upload some photos.... 

And for those wondering.... 

WE have only lost power a few times since being here..... and only for a few hours at a time!! 

So having a fridge should be ok :) .... and our landlady has put in a rainwater tank ( hallelujah) so we should always have water available !! 

IN ALL SERIOUSNESS WE FEEL VERY BLESSED TO HAVE FOUND THIS PLACE AND OUR LANDLORD.... We do not forget for a second why God has us here in Uganda, or how challenging life is for many people here. 

Although there are challenges for us, and money is always very tight and I miss home, and we have obstacles... they are nothing compared to the majority of the population who live on less than $2 a day..... 

I pray we never take what we have for granted.... and I pray you don't either! 

The compound - the far end if you look over the low fence to the left thats the landlords area and if you go up to the right at the end takes you outside our huge gate.

Our place - we are at the end of two others and at end of compound.. they will pave the verandah in time 

Main bedroom ( with ziah having a sleep on our bed - second bedroom is bit smaller than this 

Wardrobes and leading in to the bathroom

KITCHEN BENCH AND CUPBOARDS!!

I told you we had mirror and hooks! and shelf!

Behind the units - our area runs to just before the next built in area - we will put a little fence across so ziah can play safely in this area and not have to worry about cars out in the other section. 

We even have a little store outside ( most families would store big bags of food, ( beans, posho, rice etc) bananas and charcoal... we are using ours mostly for Rob's wood and tools

Our little man....

Here is a few videos and photos of our little character from the last month... I really hope the videos work... we may have a future preacher on our hands like his grandparents :) 

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Hezekiah LOVES mechanical items and tools and cars.... he stood watching rob use his drill for ages.. literally with his mouth hanging open :) 

Ice cream fun for the kids at Home of Joy

Well just because we are in the process of starting our own NGO and eventual children's home, does not mean our hearts or connection to The Salvation Army children's home's will change. 

After all - they have been Rob's home's since little and I have seen many of these kids growing up since my first visit there almost 8 years ago! 

Thanks to a special friend in Australia who sent some money for some treats for the kids, we went to have Sunday afternoon visiting and catching up with the kids at Home of Joy, ( the home for children with disabilities) 

It was so awesome to visit with the kids, hear how they've been doing since we've seen them last and for them to play with Hezekiah. Was great spending some time with them before they go back for another school term. We told the kids we would have a movie and games night during next holidays if they all work hard at school - this bought excitement as they remember the last movie night we had - was great fun!

But today they were excited about the ice-cream and banana's they all got to enjoy. 

These kids all have physical or mental limitations ( some have limbs missing or deformities) 

 but their joy for life radiates and they have the BEST personalities and laughs.... and are always so grateful! 

Enjoy these precious photos of the kids at home of joy and THANK YOU to that special guy who donated some treats for these special kids. 

SMILES ALL AROUND

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I've had the blessing of knowing the kids in this photo since my first trip to Uganda 7 and half years ago... they have all grown so much ...... but still just as cheeky :) 

John is pictured here wearing the outfit we gave them for christmas not last year but the year before... He takes good care of it he said.... I'll never forget that day where they all got a brand new outfit 

This is Rob's youngest brother Isaac with Hezekiah. During the school holidays Isaac stays at home of joy.... the salvos really have taken great care of Rob and his brothers 

This right here melted my heart.... Fiona has a severe mental disability, and here she is being fed so sweetly by another young boy at the home. 

Multiple tubs of icecream was enjoyed :) 

This is JAJA ( grandmother in Luganda ) ( she is the housemum for the girls ) in the pink head scarf
and Lois ( holding ziah)  lives at home of joy and works as the cook. 

Its a shame this photo is so blury - ziah was dancing with the kids and holding everyone's attention :) 

Typical me.... talking... 

Me and Vanis - my mum and dad's sponsor daughter for the last 12 years - she grew up at home of joy - she is now at boarding school but stays there during holidays - was great catching up with her before she headed back to school for new term.