Wow, things just seem to be getting busier as time goes on, and this week has been no exception. The weather certainly seems to be mirroring our work-load and we’re finding it getting hotter and hotter every week. I am looking forward (for once!) to the cold climate of Britain but no doubt we’ll be wearing hundreds of layers during the hoped-for Indian Summer coming up. I can almost taste the English rain as we’re getting closer to leaving and although I’m looking forward to seeing everyone and being cold, this week has made me realise how close we are to leaving and just how sad I’m going to be.
Week 14 in Uganda started off incredibly emotionally with the street clinic. Steven, Esther and I set off in search of David in order to take him to see his Grandfather and the Pastor who has supported him in the past in an attempt to reconcile their differences and discuss the possibility of supporting him once again. We were taken by another street child to a place just off Main Street where a kind lady and her family give street children meals when they come; it’s really lovely to see that they get a little support from members of the public. We found David but he seemed pretty reluctant to come with us and we couldn’t really understand why after regular meetings with him which were all so encouraging. We suggested the idea of going to see his brother, Patrick, at El-Shadei World Ministries so that we could discuss with them the idea of reuniting David with Patrick on a permanent basis. We took David on the bus and walked the distance to get to the home. He seemed quite nervous and we felt for him walking on the stoney, uneven path with bare feet. Once we got there, after having arranged with the Pastor to meet us, we waited for a while as I think we’re still working on English time and everyone else is keeping to Ugandan time! As we were sitting waiting, children clinging to us as if they’d never seen a Mzungu before (photo above), I turned around and found Patrick sitting on David’s lap with David possessively wrapping his arms around him like he’d never let go. The looks on both their faces were unforgettable; it was as if they’d both come home. No words seemed necessary and they were both happy to sit their in silence, clinging to the long-lost brother that they hadn’t seen in about 3 years. Unfortunately the waiting become impractical for everything else we’d planned that day and we were loathed to tear the brothers from each other’s arms, promising that we’d bring David back as soon as we could. David was extremely reluctant to leave and kept going back to Patrick just to hold his hand. Tears flowed down his face when we eventually left the compound and we kept telling him he’d see Patrick again. Unfortunately I think he’d heard this 3 years ago. We are committed to taking David to meet with the Pastor again and encouraging the chance for the brothers to live together as this seems like the best option all round. It was an extremely emotional experience for all involved; I can’t decide whether it was heartbreaking to see the harsh reality of families having to separate because of poverty and/or death in Uganda, or heartwarming to see them being reunited. Either way the way forward for David is looking pretty hopeful.

As for Luca, we are still unsure of his desires. We happened across him during the street clinic on Tuesday, wandering around inside a cardboard box (photo below)! It was a definite comedy moment and he enjoyed the limelight until it was time to sit down with him and discuss how he was and how he was feeling about life on the streets. He explained he wasn’t happy and so we asked him to tell us what he wanted. First he said he wanted to come back to SALVE. We asked him the same question again and he said he wanted to go and find a relative in Mbale. He’s a confused little boy and he needs love and support but it seems he has spent too long on the streets and from too young an age to be able to stay in one place and settle down. For now, he is getting small aspects of support from CRO, like food and a place to play with his friends, and we will wait until he has decided what he wants. This could take some time but with regular counseling from SALVE and the knowledge that we are there for him and love him we hope it shouldn’t take too long to decide what the best path is.

We also saw Moses on our way to David’s and were shocked by how grown-up and confident he was. We asked him what he wanted to do from here and he said he wanted to go back to school but first he must decide to go back home and reconcile matters with his Aunt. Mike is keen for him to do this and we hope that he will do what is best for himself.

We also interviewed another young boy, Juma, who lives full time on the streets and we heard another harrowing tale. He is only seven and him and his younger siblings were taken by his mother to their grandmother once she (we think) remarried. His grandmother couldn’t support them properly and so all three of them ran away to the streets. Juma told us of the time he was out getting food for his brother (six years old) and sister (only four years old and living full-time on the streets) and by the time he returned they had been taken by a Mzungu man and he didn’t know where they had gone. Juma had also just had some money stolen from him by another street child and he couldn’t smile at us once during all the time we were with him. He took us to where he slept and for some reason it was a lot more emotionally challenging for me to see him lying there on the street than some of the other children who had done the same. Don’t get me wrong I find it hard to see it every time but maybe it was his age, maybe the fact that he was so sad, or maybe because he lay there with his eyes upon and could’ve been dead, I don’t know. I just know that it made me want to work even harder for SALVE and try to find care for those who desperately need it like Juma.

I hope that the new staff members that we have been so busy sifting through also echo these sentiments. I’m not sure if you remember from previous blogs but we’re looking for one person to come and live in the home when Mike and his family move out, and one person to work with the interns on the streets during the street clinic and putting in to place the community education plans. We were pleased with the amount of applicants that were keen to work for SALVE, but this definitely increased the amount of time it took to look through them all, searching for the right people to interview. It’s strange being on the other side of the process for a change – the amount of covering letters and CVs I’ve sent off made me appreciate the time and effort all of the applicants had gone to but it also made it hard saying no to most of them just by looking at a piece of paper! Unfortunately a lot of the candidates didn’t have much relevant experience which is so necessary, especially for the home-based staff member. We have found 2 people per role to interview (one of which is Steven for the street-based position) and are looking forward to meeting them all on Monday at 2pm at the interviews. I’ve written the interview questions that should determine the best person for each job and I’m sure Esther will let you know the outcome in next week’s blog; we’re very excited about seeing SALVE’s manpower grow and the amazing new things we can do with extra support.

By the time the new staff members begin their roles with SALVE, Esther’s research during her community education sessions should have come to an end. She has been interviewing children with Steven, finding out their backgrounds and why they’ve come to the streets and also searching through CRO’s files in order to find the same information. It will be amazing once she has gathered all of the data she needs so that the community education plans can really begin.


I have spent every day this week running through the much-anticipated production of Noah’s Ark which was performed today! I must admit that at the beginning of the week I really didn’t think they’d be ready but they did me proud today. Unfortunately not everyone turned up as there was a lot of confusion (which I’m no longer surprised at in Uganda) on the day that term was finishing. There were enough students to put on a good production and lots of parents, teachers and students came to watch. As is common in Uganda there were a few speeches at the end of the show and I made it clear to everyone how much I’ve loved working at Joy school, how amazing all of the students and teachers are, and how much I’m going to miss everybody. P4 were keen to take their masks, scripts and pictures with them as momentos of the production and I hope they’ll remember their odd Mzungu teacher whenever they look at them! I gave all of my stars from P4 a mini party at the end of the play to say thank you and goodbye and I got quite sad after all this time of being with them week in, week out. I continue to be amazed at how out-going, enthusiastic and loving they all are and although stressful at times I’ve so much enjoyed teaching them. I was pleased to hear that their marks in English had significantly improved this term and as much as they’ve learnt from me I’ve definitely learnt a lot from them.

I was glad that Esther could come and watch the play seeing as the performance was moved to today and she was at school anyway having a meeting with Mary and teaching all the mothers how to make some of the products. I am yet to hear the outcome of the meeting with Mary but I’m sure she was happy with all the hard work Esther has put into the project. She was showing Mary the finished brochure with all the samples ready to be made and taken back to the UK, and also the accounting system with which to pay all those involved. Esther is also, as I write this, teaching the mothers how to make all the seed and coffee-bean products ready for when she leaves. It’s going to be so great for Helen to find lots of shops in the UK ready to sell Joy Craft’s products, thanks to Esther’s innovative brochure and pricing system, and make a fantastic profit for all those working so hard on the project.

I also had a meeting with Mary this week to discuss both funding the school’s much-needed construction work and the link-school programme that I’ve been working on. I am arranging a meeting with SoftPower Education to come and give us a quote for the building work required and once this has happened I can go ahead with the plans for finding funding. Once we are fully registered here as a CBO we can also register with JIDNET, the local CBO/NGO networking organisation and I hope to find some company that give grants to educational building. Once back in the UK I also hope to do the same and secure a good chunk of the money needed. On top of this I’m planning a buy-a-brick scheme whereby people see the breakdown of the costs required on the Joy School website (which I’m currently designing) and donate whatever they can afford. I have designed a donation form which includes the option of including Gift Aid (which SALVE have now secured!!) and an accounting system for all the donations. I really hope this all works out as it’s such a necessary project for the good of all the students learning there. I also hope the link-school programme will benefit all involved. I’ve been working on the reasons behind linking with a foreign school (both for the UK school and Joy School), and the specifics of what will be involved. I have drawn up a letter introducing the programme and a contract for what will be involved which Mary is keen to sign and I will send this to Nicola in the UK to try and secure a school keen to link with Joy! I’m really excited about the prospects of what could come from it – developing internationalism and global awareness in both school communities, exchanging a range of resources from class-to-class and teacher-to-teacher, and the possibility of fundraising for Joy through things like ‘African day’ at the UK school. As Mary says: “it’s better to build children than to repair man”, and I really hope that my work with the funding and the link-school will go towards building the futures of those at Joy School.

As the end to a busy week is drawing closer we are also anticipating a busy weekend! A Dutch friend I met in Nepal when I was living/volunteering there during my (first) Gap Year has been out in Uganda working in an HIV/Aids orphanage and has met the love of his life in a Ugandan lady whom he is marrying tomorrow! Esther and I are venturing to Kampala top attend the wedding and I’m really looking forward to it, not only because I havent’ seen Wim (my friend) for 4 years since I was in Nepal, but because it’ll be so interesting to see the dynamics of a cross-cultural wedding and relationship. We are really gratefully being accommodated by a friend of Esther’s who has worked with her Dad in the past and who has been to stay with her family in her home in England. It is going to be a very interesting and sociable weekend as we are hoping to go and visit a musical orphanage on Sunday whilst we are still in Kampala as Esther would like to get some ideas for the children’s home she is setting up in Nepal.

We have another weekend to attend next weekend - All the SALVE children are home this weekend after term has finished and are excitedly helping Robina get ready for her’s and Mike’s wedding next weekend! We heard from Mike some of the strange traditions that they have to adhere to – Mike cannot stay in the house for the whole week until the wedding! We’re looking forward to seeing our good friends reunited in wedlock and the SALVE children all dressed up in attendance!

We also had a busy weekend last weekend as we went to WATCH our friends bungee jumping! I know what you’re all thinking, that we’re massive wimps for not taking part, but I’ve always said it is the one thing I just really don’t want to experience in life, and seeing it first-hand I’m so glad I’d already made that decision! We did go up to the top of the crane and it was SO high but did look like an amazing experience, especially for those having their heads dipped in the river. They will be able to tell their Grandchildren that they bungee jumped over the River Nile, and I can see I watched bungee jumping over the River Nile – it’s pretty much the same anyway, right?!! Photos will follow as Esther took some incredible ones of our friend Brian from the top of the crane.

So there we go I think that’s all I have to tell you of our lives in Uganda. As things get busier next week, which I have no doubt they will, Esther will inform you on everything we have yet to come, especially the interviews! Thanks again for reading and I hope Alice and Esther, our next interns, are getting excited and prepared for a truly remarkable experience that they will be embarking upon in a few weeks time.

Lots of love,

Caitlin xxx


PS. Some pics from Esther -

Brian bungeeing into the Nile

One of the spectators, who had just stolen a banana from someone's bag!


More (watched) white water rafting


Another shocking one of Juma


...and a very sweet little girl at El Shadai World Ministries, where we hope David will be reunited with his brother.