Let the journey begin...

So we are here, in the heart of Africa, Uganda is something very different from anything else I have experienced. After being picked up from the airport we drove through down the rugged roads to get to the hostel we are staying in. Listening on the local radio it mentioned that it was the day of prayer for the children of Uganda and discussing the issues and how to make it a better country for their children to live in. I got to admit you look around and you see so many problems and issues and you think the problem is too big but we have been able to witness organisations that are doing their bit to help the children of Uganda.

The first day after getting over our jet lag, we went to the Lilly Orphanage in which we met many children who where so welcoming. Many of them wanted to know our names and we would tell them ours, Jamie I don’t think was the easiest for them to pronounce but we got there in the end. We had a traditional meal at the Lilly orphanage; it was very cramped for the 40 kids that where staying there and got told by Aimee who helps there that the number keeps on going up. They seemed very happy though, as expected they where so grateful to have a safe place to sleep at night. They welcomed us with a welcome dance that incorporated dances that where used in different parts of Uganda, the children seemed to love performing and despite me loving a dance I did politely decline to join in with fear of being shown up.

The next day we started with the Basketball coaching  with some of the children from the orphanage, the girls especially seemed to love getting involved as some of them are already keen netball players. We ran through a few drills and some of the coaching I gave them they really did take on board, some of them bring pretty impressive at shooting the ball. You can see that these children are like sponges when wanting to learn new skills, which makes it very easy for them to work with. I couldn’t help but show off my limited Basketball show boating skills and attempt the half way court short to no avail. We then later on went to Gospel Tabernacle, Kazo to do some more coaching of Football and Basketball. The only problem that did rise up was the lack of Basketball nets which I guess is fairly important in Basketball, however, did manage to put together some passing and dribbling drills along with a piggy in the middle drill when about 10-15 where in a circle which worked very well. Running after that ball was pretty exhausting and we where certainly looking to our dinner afterwards.

So the journey continues and we hope to continue to bring God into these children’s lives through sport, please keep the prayers going and will keep you updated as well as I can, just hope the wireless connection at the hostel stays on, plus electricity does sometimes gets turned without any prior warning J