Tuesday 22 October 2013

Uganda Team: First day teaching and the fun really begins!


Team Monkey- Lucy Hurst, Megan Sanders, Ali Clarke, Hannah Willcox and Emily Edwards

Before we start this blog we just want to say that this is our second draft because we forgot to save it.

Early Morning for us as we needed to finish all of the last minute preparations for our first day at Tudabejja. Tudabejja is the halfway home between starting the children’s life off of the streets at the clubhouse and being rehomed.

Breakfast was at 7am. We knew that because Laila walked in really grumpy. We got into the mini buses and sang for the whole hour and a half and annoyed Jimmy. At first we were nervous because although we had loads of resources we didn’t know how we would be welcomed into the class room and by the children. We started the day with a welcome, showing the children where we came from and introducing ourselves. Throughout the rest of the day we made name badges, built big ben and the spinnaker tower using blocks, played football (Lucy, Hannah and Ali managed to kick a ball for the first time still with no direction), decorated a monkey collage as we are team monkey, Emily took a dance class (Megan had the best moves by far) and we played jigsaws due to the rain. Yes rain in Uganda! :O.

We really enjoyed our first day and meeting the children. We are now about have a team meeting to discuss tomorrow’s itinery.

Megan: Today was a really good first day in Tudabejja! My favorite part of the day was interacting and getting to know the children who we will be working with. One of the younger boys in the group told us we were all his friends and wrote that he loved me on his name sticker. This was a good moment on the trip because it reminded us how much we were influencing the lives of the children who started off on the streets and how much the retrak program helps to change their lives. The hardest part for me was trying to interact with the children who had recently moved from the clubhouse because they would not talk to us. Our aim is to try and get him to take part in the activities we have planned. (Hellooo Mum, Jim, Jack, Cody and George. Just to let you know I have a whole new bracelet collection! Missing you all and will see you soon! Tell Jim to stay strong haha! Dont drink too many coffees!xx;))

Lucy and Hannah: Today, for us, was amazing and so much fun! The children and teachers at Retrak Tudabejja were so welcoming. You could really see the children’s social and academic improvements from Retrak Clubhouse to the half way home where they are now. When we went on the outreach walk, we saw the most shocking sites and it really shows that Retrak is such a worthwhile organization. When we left the children all ran up to the mini bus, asking if we were coming back tomorrow. The best part for me was seeing the childrens smiles, however the worst part was finding out how the children there ended up on the streets in the first place!

22nd October 2013
Clubhouse
Jess West
Cobi Collyer
Hanna Masanjika

Another early start and our second day at Clubhouse, although it was our first day of lessons. When we arrived at Clubhouse, we set up our activities and introduced ourselves to the children. The children were placed into one of the three teams (Chameleon, Zebra and Universe) based on their abilities. Within our teams we did our activities for 30 minutes before heading off on the outreach walk through the streets of the slums, which the Tudabejja group did yesterday. Because the other group did it before us, we knew what to expect but were still very nervous of what we were going to see. The most shocking things we saw were drug use, violence and injuries. On the way back to Clubhouse we were followed by many children, some of which stayed with us for the rest the day. Hopefully they will have a positive experience at Retrak. After this we started the lessons, however they were shortened due to our outreach walk. The lessons were based on topics relating to the theme 'habitats', such as the desert, oceans and animals. Some of the activities we did were mask making, football games, shaving foam fun, hopscotch and playdough. The children especially loved playing with glitter, shaving foam and painting. At the end of day all of the Clubhouse teams gathered together for a game of volleyball. Overall, it has been a very exciting day.

Cobi: Mum i ate a sandwhich in normal bread today! It wasnt too bad, and just to let you know my stuff takes up most of the room, its so messy, like my bedroom. Miss you mum, dad, lana, frank, ned, gerbals, cookie, muffin, arther, fish, (tell nan im fine, dont worry to much). Love you,  see you monday xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jess: Amazing time so far. I am feeling very tired most of the time but the buzz with working with the children is keeping me awake. Not missing home only my ipad. Mum, I have heard the comments you left on the blog and well done on working out how to use it. Say hello to Nanna from me. See you Monday. :)  

Hanna: We've reached the half way point of our trip and I've already gained so much out of this experience. The children are fantastic and the people are generally very welcoming. Mum (if you've managed to figure out how the internet works) I have soooo much to tell you when I arrive home and I hope the house hasn't been too boring without me. I'm missing everybody a lot but not enough to come home just yet xxx









































24 comments:

Unknown said...

hi re.looks like it has been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster out there. so proud of you hunny, you are all making such a difference to those lovely children. make the most of the experience as nanny said you wont be doing anything like it again but im with you, do as much as you can and make a difference. ruby is missing you loads as are all of us. stay strong sweetie and I love you.(im probably crying more than you)

Unknown said...

to cobi
so you now like sandwiches then haha more chicken niggets for me then!! glad that you are having fun and frank misses you but not to much!! love you see you on mondayxxxxx lana

Unknown said...

Hello Cobi,
We were hoping you would write something. Well sandwiches it is from now on,how does that sound? Bet it was hard seeing the things you saw today. Looks like you were having fun with the lessons though.
So you've taken your mess to Uganda,your bedroom looks lovely here at the moment!!
Nan has stopped worrying as she is reading the blogs too
Keep up the good work, love you loads Mum, Dad, Lana and all the animals xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

jane west said...

Hello Jess
Love the picture of you in action.
We have just got back from the Halloween party at beavers - they are missing you and asked where you are.
lots of love Mum and Adam
PS I have sold your Ipad!!

Unknown said...

Hi Em looks like you are all enjoying yourselves even though it must be hard to witness the poverty and deprevation.It's good to know that you are able to help and make a difference.The updates and photos are brilliant.Take care love mum and dad xxxld

Unknown said...

hi re. message from ruby. rianne I know I have to share you but I am missing you so much. I am counting the days until you come home, five days tomorrow! I would like to see more photos of you and have fun.message from mum. missing your random text messages babe, my phone has never been so quietx love youx

Unknown said...

hey alex! Hope your getting these messages! Ur loved & missed by us all! 7 days till we get to see ur face & hear all bout ur adventure! GET IN SOME PICTURES-we want to see u in action! Mum enjoys me reading out the blog updates of wat ur've been upto! keep smashing it out there, ur doing good! love lily, mum & family xxx

Peter Timblick said...

Hi Sarah -Finally found the comments box. We are really proud of you and missing you lots. Really enjoyed reading your blog and the photos. It will be an experience you won't forget. looking forward to having you back home,Love Mum, Dad and Dan.

Unknown said...

Lorraine, everyone says hello good pictures of you hope u ok love u loads and very proud of you xxxxxxx

Unknown said...

Hi Chelsea and fellow campers. Looks like you are all having a good time along with the sad moments. Keep up the good work. So proud of you. See you soon love Mum and Dad xx

Unknown said...

Hi Sue,

Great to be able to keep up with all the action. The photos are really good to bring it all to life. Look forward to tomorrows news. All our love David, Josh & Hannah

clive said...

hi ri stop looking so sad in your photos i know it must be hard but u r making a difference one act of kindness no matter how small makes a world of difference we r all missing you keep smiling love u loads miss u loads dad xx

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Hanna... Mum (the whole family) is sooo proud of you!! You're post made me smile, a lot. Martyn kept asking me what I was smiling at haha. It is really nice to hear from you, we absolutely cannot wait to find out all about your experiences on your adventure. When you're back we are all going to come round for a practice run of your presentation so I hope you've got loads of photos to show us ;-) We are all so glad that you are enjoying the experience and are not quite ready to come home because we aren't ready to have you back yet, its nice to have a bit of peace and quiet but mostly it's great that there is nobody around to eat all of the chocolate biscuits at Mums! Haha!! Only joking :-) we all miss you loads. Keep enjoying yourself and making new friends, look forward to reading the next blog. Love you so much, Mum and all the rest of us back home x

Unknown said...

Sup Ri ;) missing you so much! But I'm so happy for you that your doing such an incredible thing! Your so lucky to get an opportunity like this to make such a difference out there! I'm sure everyone out there is loving you and appreciating what you and everybody else is doing! Will see you in a week, couldn't manage to get the evening off work but I'm sure I'll be able to leave early so I'll be able to see you! Stay strong gorgeous! I love you <3

George said...

Hi Meg,
So lovely to hear from you, glad to see you are enjoying the experience even though some of it must be so hard to see. George asked where your glasses are :) We have cleared a big space I your room for bracelets !! Jim is just about coping :) the coffees are getting us through :)

Unknown said...

Hello Rachel and friends! Looks like you're having an amazing time and judging the all the smiles, the children are loving you being there. Time is flying, enjoy every moment. Love you to the moon and back. Mum xxx

Unknown said...

Hi Em,

Really good to see the pics of what you guys are doing out there, very proud of you. Looking forward to seeing/hearing more about your adventure. Everything is fine back home, missing you loads, take care, love Simon xxx

Deborah Hurst said...

Hi Lucy, Hannah & Leila, wow looks like your all having a very emotional but hopefully wonderful time, cherish all the memories!! Leila how is the bedroom looking!! is Lucy's cheerfulness in the mornings wearing you down!! Hannah I hope the cold has gone!! We are so very proud of you all. Lucy your dad left a message last night, but looks like it didnt work!! you know how special and cute he is!! LOVE YOUUUUUUUUU!!! Big hugs to you all. xxxxxxxxxxxx

Unknown said...

Hi Jess,looks like your having a fab time,your dad would like to hear from you, x

Unknown said...

Hi Abigail, you and everyone from Bournemouth look happy and like your having an amazin experience. We all miss you and are very proud of you...... Nan, Cath and daisy all said hi... Love you babygirl xxx

Bill said...

Susannah, you look so happy. Enjoy the remaining days and we look forward to seeing you soon. Can't wait to hear your stories.
Love Mum, Dad and Sara.

Anonymous said...

Hi Abi, Looks like you're really enjoying yourself, can't wait to see you next to hear all your stories. Hope you're enjoying every moment, we are all sooo proud of you, your making a difference. Love you loads Auntie Charlotte & Jon :) xxxx

Unknown said...

Hi Sarah, what an amazing journey you are on! The blogs really help to let us here in cold blighty know what you are up to. I look forward to hearing some of your tales soon. Love Aunty Linda x