Saturday at HUMBLE

This morning we were at HUMBLE School working alongside the children on various projects  including sewing and mending uniforms, repairing the swing set, getting a basketball goal ready to mount, and performing maintenance and repairs on bicycles.

Although our activities with the children on the grounds were shortened due to rain, it was another great day at HUMBLE. 

Our team will travel to Jinja tomorrow and will be back at HUMBLE on Monday.

Pen Pals and More HUMBLE Alumni

This morning at HUMBLE we distributed the Soul 2 Sole letters from pen pals to the students. The smiles on their faces as their names were called and they received their letters were extraordinary. The children were invited to write a letter that we will deliver to their American pen pals when we return. A huge thanks to everyone who writes to these children...it means so very much to them.

This afternoon members of the team visited Mt. St. Henry's High School, located next to HUMBLE.  A number of former HUMBLE students are now furthering their education there, and we had the opportunity to share time with them today.  Just as with our visit with the HUMBLE alumni at Namogongo yesterday, it was a real blessing to see how hard these young men and women at MSHHS are working to further their educations. When you listen to them speak and hear their stories it is clear that they will be leaders for positive change in their communities in the years ahead.

Catching Up With Some HUMBLE Alumni

On Thursday the team travelled to Naayla to visit three former HUMBLE students who are now enrolled in a secondary school there.

We then drove to Namugongo to the secondary vocational school where 29 former HUMBLE students are now enrolled.  The students led us on a tour of the campus and then we gathered in one of the classrooms for an awesome time of sharing with one another.  It is great to see how God is working in and through the lives of these young men and women.

That's it for now.... we'll be back at HUMBLE School tomorrow!

Wednesday at HUMBLE

Our team spent the morning on Wednesday visiting with the children and helping with the early stages of the construction process for the new boys dormitory.  Our work task today was "tossing bricks"... moving bricks from a big pile to other locations around the perimeter of the building site to stage them for use in construction. We form a line from the pile to the destination and toss the bricks from person to person to  transfer them. The local workers who are continuing to dig the footings seem entertained by our efforts!

The children completed their mid-term examinations yesterday and were given time to relax some today. That meant we had more time to share with them than we would on a normal school day. The children are so amazing. We want to learn about them, but they are equally interested to learn about us, our families and lives in America.

The weather was beautiful today, and we were blessed to be able to share another day with our friends at HUMBLE!

Day 2 at HUMBLE School

The team just concluded our second full day in Uganda.  We started the day by working on the site of the new boys dormitory for HUMBLE School.  The construction of this new building is just beginning and we helped dig the footings this morning.  Our time at HUMBLE in the afternoon was invested with the children--learning about one another, sharing stories, playing football and volleyball, and having a great time just being together. Just before leaving to return to the hotel, we were privileged to be present for the evening prayers, which are led by the children themselves… an amazing experience.

Safely Here!

Our team arrived safely in Mukono earlier this evening! We will grab some sleep tonight and then head over to HUMBLE School tomorrow morning.  Updates and pics to follow over the next few days...

On Our Way...

Our team is checked in at Dulles and preparing to board our flight to Uganda.  Keep an eye on this blog for updates throughout the trip.  We're scheduled to return to Virginia on Sunday, July 8.

Team Departs in One Week

Our Summer 2012 trip to Uganda is just one week away! A team of 13 will depart on June 23 and return on July 8. We look forward to sharing time with all our friends in Uganda, especially the children at HUMBLE School.

We will post regular updates to this blog during the trip, so stay tuned!