I cannot believe that my return to Uganda is only two days away. It promises to be a very busy time! Here is a glimpse into my schedule…
Thursday, 9am: leave for the airport for my three flights: Vancouver – London – Entebbe
Friday, 10:30pm: arrive in Entebbe. Yes, 37.5 hours including the time change but it used to be over 50 so I am not complaining!
Saturday, 10am: meet with the new Mama Nguvu candidates. then 12:30pm, meet the candidates that have been recently sponsored or re-sponsored in the case of Francoise and Adrine who have been struggling with unforeseen challenges. Depending on time, we may get to Betty’s to collect 3000 pads and 500 bags. The evening will be spent going through 100 applications for the Mama Nguvu program and culling them (unfortunately) to the top ten candidates.
Sunday: Shopping for underwear, facecloths, and nail-files. Then some more shopping to get the items requested by others!
Monday: travel to Jinja and presentation at the maternal home called Kupendwa Ministries.Amy is an amazing women who runs this home for pregnant teens. Check it out here: http://www.kupendwaministries.org/
Tuesday: Visit Father Allan from Missionaries of the Poor to connect and see how the Sunrise Rotary garden project is coming along. Check out their work at: http://www.missionariesofthepoor.org/uganda-kampala.php
Wednesday: meet the “old” mamas at their place of business and then interview the new Mama candidates.
Thursday: Anna, the lovely lady who worked with me last year as my co-presenter and interpreter, has a day filled with meetings for new possible locations for ISEE work. I am looking forward to seeing what she has in mind as she has worked in another slum area in a different part of Kampala.
Friday: Another reproductive health presentation and then a visit to Prossy, our first Mama Nguvu candidate. You can see a quick video about her here.
Saturday and Sunday: Shopping for the new Mama Nguvu candidates, although Saturday shopping in downtown Kampala is a nightmare! I am hoping also to meet with our contact from Lamwo Rock Foundation for Children and Youth, where we set up the tailoring school last year. There are lots of posts on this website about the work we have done with the organization but you can also learn more about it here.
Monday: Another reproductive Health workshop or two.
Tuesday to Friday: More presentations, more shopping, and a day spent at Kiwuliriza for postcard writing. This will be the fourth exchange in this postcard writing line which will be exciting to see. I don’t always reconnect with the same students but as we have a strong partnership with Kiwuliriza, these postcards can travel back and forth every year. This is where we built a chicken coop last year using the Month of Love money from GME. Check out the video here.
Saturday, July 18th: Head back to the airport for my 1am flight on the 19th. Amazingly enough, with the time change, I will be home by midnight on the 19th as well. Only about 26 hours from door to door!
But of course, as this is Uganda, everything is subject to change!
I hope to be blogging every night with the day’s events so please visit this page daily to see what impact your generous donations have had in Uganda.
One last thing. Have you seen our amazing video about the reproductive health presentation and sanitary kits? It was professionally done by a local company that donated it to us. Amazing! Check it out on you tube.
Thank you for all your support! Please like us on Facebook here and if you feel inspired by our work and you want to donate, please use the PayPal button on the right for one time or recurring donations.
