When I'm not working on my school work I'm serving alongside my family and the amazing staff at the Kibaale Community Centre. On the 150 acre property where I live there is a school with 1,000 students from nursery class to high school, 200 staff, a medical clinic on the property for the staff, students and community and also a community outreach program, so there is always a lot going on!
We also host a lot of teams and visitors that I help out with a lot. Teams are involved with devotions in the classes, Awana, sports programs, building new homes, delivering bedding, goats, mosquito nets or other needs families might be lacking, medical care including jigger removal and then also just spending time with the students and staff!
I feel like I have developed a lot as a leader with the responsibilities I'm given especially when we are hosting teams. I am thankful for these opportunities where I am most often leading and teaching people who are a lot older than me!
I also have learned a lot about the culture in Uganda and development programs. There are many ways to do things but I love that my family is just a very small part of an organization that is Ugandan led; we have all learned so much from everyone here that is included us so well into Kibaale and their families.
My parents encourage me to learn about development, charities and non profit organisations while we are living and working overseas. One of the books I read this year was "When Helping Hurts" and I found it quite educating and applicable to the work that we do here in Kibaale!
I'm thankful for the past few months, that although they were particularly busy, I met some amazing people and got to share Kibaale and all the great things being done in this community with them. We have had 107 visitors these past few months, which is the most visitors we have ever had in a year and it's only June!
Sports Day with an Outreach team from Pacific Academy School.
PE class with the Special Needs class and our visiting team of nursing students from Trinity Western University. The special needs class has 14 students, 13 of them are deaf! I have loved learning sign language to better communicate with these amazing students.
My siblings and I are helping out with a primary school PE class.
The best part of a sports day is the dance party finale!
I love getting to build a new house for one of our students, a mud home costs only $3,000 Canadian dollars and can last up to 15 years!
Babies usually love me but I guess I should have stuck to building a house with this little one!
Building a home with a team from Village Church and the amazing students in the
Kibaale Vocational School.
I was able to help out a family that came to visit Kibaale to bring craft supplies to the primary school. We read them The Noon Balloon book and then all the kids made their own hot air balloons!
One of my very favourite places to spend time in Kibaale is the Special Needs classroom, so I am the first to volunteer to take teams here. I love seeing the students give our visitors a sign name! We also love to do crafts in here, from colouring to making bracelets, purses or even sewing sweaters!
Making play dough and learning a lot of new sign words!
When I finish high school I am going into nursing, so I have particularly loved the time I have been able to spend with a Nursing team from Village Church as well a team of nursing students from Trinity Western University that came for the entire month of May. The nurses that came taught me to take vitals so I was able to help with that on our outreach clinic days, as well jigger removal!
This little baby came to an outreach clinic and the nurses found him failing to thrive so we went back the next day to his home and did another check on him and brought formula to help fatten him up!
My grandparents sponsor this family, I was able to go with my Mom to check on them, give them some extra food during the dry season and pray for them!
Community outreach day!
On a community visit I was able to bathe this little baby and all her siblings, leave them some soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes, we also gave some new clothes to their whole family.
Hours old!
A perfect fit!
We went with another family to this nearby village to give them supplies, sing songs and play games!
One of the students our family sponsors, Lenon. He is the sweetest little boy. His father used to be a student at our school, he is deaf so was in our special needs class! It's great that so many years later his son can now be in our Nursery school.
Living in Uganda is not always easy and not always fun, but a lot of the time it is!
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