Lake Mburo

We took the weekend to rest and relax at Lake Mburo National Park, about an hour and a half from our place at the Timothy Centre.

It is a small, peaceful  game park  that we have often visited and know well…but each time there seems to be a new surprise of some sort.  This time, we were barely inside the park when we came across a large gathering of vultures and Maribou storks finishing off the remains of an animal kill. 

These are sure efficient ‘rubbish removers’ but still not the most pleasant of animals to view.  Thankfully, we saw many other beautiful animals, including the shy and quite rare bushbuck…

…large herds of impala…

 

…and many zebra.

The warthogs are everywhere, including the area around the lakeside restaurant, and they can get pretty ornery if they think you are encroaching on their grazing patch.

Somehow they seemed not to mind Karl too much, though.

All in all, a great getaway to recharge our batteries, enjoy creation, and celebrate Father’s Day!

Come Let us Dance!

 

Yesterday and today Karl and I, together with our co-worker Mark, enjoyed time down in Kibaale helping to host a team of staff members from another NGO working here in Uganda.  Their organisation, called “Come Let us Dance”, is based in a small town in Colorado, USA.  Here in Uganda, their project includes a new Christian school, Wakiso Christian International Academy, that opened its doors this February.  Their vision is very similar to ours:

“We believe that by empowering at-risk African youth and their communities, we enable a generation of leaders who will rise-up and take the hand of their Africa and dance into a stable, hopeful future.”

The seven teachers and the school nurse  from this school in Wakiso District (south west of Kampala city and about 3 hours from Kibaale) were very eager to learn from our experiences over the last 18 years as Kibaale Community Schools have developed—everything from classroom management and preparing low-cost, effective learning aids with local materials… to biblical integration and  teacher development programs.  Our KCC director, Peter, along with other administrators and teachers shared a lot of valuable ideas with them and encouraged them in their vision.

They were able to share in the primary school morning assembly and visit  classrooms to observe our teachers and students in action.

 

 

Accompanying these Ugandan teachers were two American teachers with the Association of Christian Schools International and Come Let us Dance.  They are on a short trip to Uganda to help with teacher training workshops as well.

One of the original goals of Kibaale Community Schools was to serve as a model school for others in Uganda, in terms of meeting the needs of underprivileged children through quality Christian education.  We are very happy to share what we have learned through the successes and challenges of the last several years, and to open our doors to teachers and administrators from other schools.  Through networking we are all much stronger, and God blesses unity and cooperation. 

Timothy Centre Mascot?

The national bird of Uganda is the beautiful crested crane.  We have had a pair of them frequenting the Timothy Centre for several months and often we see them flying over the fields and wetland or foraging for food.  This one is becoming quite accustomed to all the activity here and is not easily spooked.  I am wondering if we should adopt him as our mascot?

  

Kingdom Education

 

Within a week of arriving back in Uganda, I received a call from Annie Crowe who has worked here in the field of Christian education for the past 25 years.  She came to Uganda from the U.K. and worked as a teacher and Christian teacher trainer all over the country. 

We had met a couple of years ago and she had told me that she felt a few years ago that the Lord had impressed on her that it was time to compile all she had learned through these years of experience in a teacher training manual so others could “carry the torch”.  After a long struggle with the printing and publishing process, her manual entitled “Kingdom Education” was finally ready for distribution this month.  I have been eagerly anticipating this very helpful resource book, as we are busy gathering materials and developing the curriculum for the Diploma in Christian Education we hope to offer at the Timothy Centre next year. 

God’s timing in making this book available for us to use is impeccable! 

Contrasts

We’re back home in Uganda now… reconnecting with friends and workers, unpacking, planning for workshops, trying to get rid of unwanted rodents who have been making themselves at home in our stove during our absence,

and enjoying the sunshine and all the lush vegetation that has grown with the abundant rains in the few months we have been away.

When we were in Canada, spring weather was very slow in coming at the coast, and we looked forward to warmer temperatures and bright sunshine.  As you can see from these photos of our camping trip in late April, we had very different weather from what we are experiencing now!

Canadian Beauty

Coming back to Canada and traveling the route between Vancouver and Edmonton (Arleen’s family home) has given us a chance to drink in the beauty of our home country.  On a recent trip to Edmonton to say good-bye to family, we were able to see many wild animals through the mountains, including four black bears that had come out of a long winter’s hibernation and were sniffing the air hungrily. 

 

 

We also came across a large female elk and lots of mountain sheep, so it really was like a Canadian safari in the beautiful Rocky Mountains.

 

A great end to our break here…and in just a few days we’ll be at the airport on our way back to Uganda.

Teamwork

Since we have been home in Canada on our break, we have a fresh appreciation for all the hard work and dedication of the PAOS staff and the Pacific Academy community as a whole.  So many people give of themselves in supporting the work of Kibaale Community Centre and Timothy Centre. 
Jenny Nel (left) and Anne Chow (right) take care of so many administrative duties in the PAOS office, and work hard to get the word out about the students in Kibaale Community Schools that need sponsorship.  (For more information on sponsoring a child see www.kibaale.net)

They also ensure that sponsors receive regular communication from their sponsored children.  This is a huge task, and one that we were able to help with in the last couple of months.  It was very interesting to be on this end…proof-reading and mailing out letters from our students in Kibaale!