Rock of Joy

It feels like its been a busy day and yet we havent done that much! This morning we all (bex, ems, jayne, kate & I) got a taxi to Lungujja to visit the Rock of Joy School. What a welcome!! Smiling, shouting, orange school uniform clad children everywhere absolutely beside themselves with excitment at our arrival. The whole site has so changed - with money donated through our Kabanda Trust by churches, schools and individuals at home they have been able to extend the school buildings and build new classrooms, put a fence around the site, and have now taken over another building next door to provide sleeping accommodation for some children

Eventually we managed to peel ourselves from the children and went into the house for excited greetings from Pastor Steven, his wife Gladys and all the friends and family- my first task as doctors wife was too run the morning clinic! The first patient was my daughter Lizzie and Amy who have bad tummy upsets - they need some antibiotics and sweet drinks with salt. Next was the sadest story of a little girl Carol aged 8 who has been left with her aunt and the aunt beats her. The poor child had the most appalling swollen infected lip whihc was clearly agony for her - a quick consultation over the phone to the real doctor and she had antibiotics and ibuprofen... such a sad sad thing and it is accepted as the norm by most people.

Then a very excited Pastor Steven showed us round - and well he might be excited. God is so blessing what they are doing - from 15 children two years ago they now have 240 children for whom they provide free school. The money some of you generous people have donated is so gratefully recieved - they have desks and benches for the children to sit at, black boards, uniforms, sportswear and text books and the teachers are so encouraged to know that people are supporting them. the excitment and enthusiam of everyone was tangible and the way they are develoing the school is amazing.

Lizzie and 10 of her friends from Bristol University Cu have been there for nearly three weeks and they have been working so hard. Recently Pastor Steven has been able to rent a building behind the school and the girls have been working to turn it into a boarding house.