September 2013 update:
On Friday 13th September I hired a 7 seater vehicle for three days; on the Friday Kennedy Khamis and I went to Entebbe airport to pick up Justin Hill and his wife Charlotte from my home Church in Lytham St Annes, England. On the Saturday Justin, Charlotte, Irina, Wendy, justinand me set off around 9am to visit Safari at RUCID college Mityana, about 70km from Kamapala. Safari had assemled the Scripture Union collage group to welcome us. After several welcome speaches we introduced ourselves and then we were asked to encourage them with some preaching/teaching. Justin and Charlotte went first and the I and the boys said something. Aterwards they brought one of the students who had broken the tibia and tibia in his left leg. We pryayed for accelerated healing - it became clear that he was the star of their football team! Healing was of the utmost importance , you will understand.
Then came the royal tour of the college grounds, where exch student has one or more plots to put into practiv=ce what they have learnt in the classroom. Safari was doing some practical research on one of his plots to identifiy a good way to prtevent diseaesa and pest control in banana trees. Being an organic institution no pesticides etc are used.
Afterwards we took Safari to Mityana and we had lunch at the 'Half London' hotel. Most of us had chapati or rice and beans, but Safari had a special treat - chicken and chips.
On 25th April 2013 after nearly 2-hours driving from Kampala to Mityana, we get the first sight of Safari's college, where he will spend 8-months of the next 2- years. Safari did all his own research to get on this diploma course and I could see the delight in his face and the principal's Elisha when they met for the first time, having only corresponded by email and a couple of brief telephone conversations up to this time.
Thank you so much to his sponsors who live in Australia; thank you thank you for partnering with us.
It didn't become clear until Safari arrived at college that he was starting very late in the first term, so he borrowed notes from other students and at the end of his first term he was top student. Well done Safari, love you.
Safari returned to RUCID on 20th July for his second 4-month term; but the first month he is at Makerere University in Kampala where he tells me he has much reasearch to do.
