And lastly to my favourite age group, 3-5 year olds. All the children were squashed into one classroom and immediately stood up and came forward towards me smiling, all but one who almost burst into tears at the site of my white face! They had been waiting, and chanted their greeting as soon as I entered. 😊 ‘How are you? I am fine. Thank you teacher.’ Actually this is the greeting from many Ugandans of all ages who have little English.
I’d promised to do a couple of singing games with them and started with the easy to follow Head shoulders knees and toes. They watched and copied my every move and word, wonderful! The teacher was great!

Then I braved a few minutes outside in the baking hot midday sun doing the Hokey Cokey! There were only a couple of the more ‘enthusiastic’ boys I had to remove from their positions and bring them to hold my hands, and the game completed with no one being pulled over! 🤣

Tuesday, was a fun day in school!
I was glad to get back amongst the happy enthusiastic children. I’d promised to go into the classes I hadn’t already been in and wondered if I could do it during the one morning as my time was running fast! Well I did! Working solid from 9-1, phew, and it was another hot 🥵 day too!

P5 were working on ‘The greatest common factors’ of numbers but I wanted them to have a fun time making frisbees out of the paper plates left over from Poynton Golden Memories 7th birthday party shortly before I came to Uganda. They worked a treat. Only trouble was that P7 on the other side of the thin partition couldn’t concentrate on their science work, ‘refrigeration’, so they made them too!🤣 There were just enough plates if Ibra the head teacher gave his up! We let Grace the class teacher keep his. It’s always amused me that whatever activity I do in schools the class teacher and even the head teachers have to have a go! All the children even the strapping lads of 14/15 really enjoyed ‘shading’, putting all their concentration into this strange activity! The way they teach and the children learn in primary is in most schools by rote, repetitive, and purely to get the children promoted to the next class. Even those in the nursery just sit at their desk and listen, look at the blackboard and copy if able. No toys, paints, even paper to draw on!
The children gain little understanding of a subject and it’s so boring!🥱 Mind you, compare this with their agile abilities around home and the land and they are way ahead of our young people. Just watching young Norman and Gerry are proof of this. Anything mum and dad can do they’re practicing quite happily and efficiently. Still can’t believe Gerry is only just 2 years old!
When break-time came round nobody moved, they didn’t want to leave the classroom! I needed my water & banana break in a cooler spot so I more or less forced them out, including Teacher Grace! Morning break was called breakfast and those few with ‘a coin’ from home could buy snacks brought in by ladies from the village. Everyone would get a ‘free’ cooked meal at 1 o’clock.

After the activity was completed we went out to see if the colourful frisbees could fly! I did a pathetic demonstration then, WOW! It was brilliant! Frisbees flying here there and everywhere, including into trees, on to roof tops and through classroom windows! The rest of the school turned out to watch, with children from the younger classes jumping and squealing with joy, wonderful! Ibra did get to fly some too when he got to them first! 😊
I hope you scroll down and watch the videos of this activity especially the very last ones as it is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face, other than my pathetic demonstration that is!!

When Paul looked through the photo memory book I made for him, he picked out one photo that particularly meant a great deal to him and said he wanted to reconstruct it! It was one where I had picked him up from school to spend the day with me. Innocent and the brothers laughed at the motorbike the ‘boda taxi man’ was riding, as apparently they don’t exist anymore! We had our reconstruction with Innocent acting boda man!! One of us has certainly got bigger as not much room!! I remembered to cross my feet though! 🤣

Over night we had the biggest loudest bed-shaking thunder! And rain that was so heavy I was worried the young trees Innocent and Peter had searched out were going to be washed away! But no, all intact today, the sun is HOT again and little Gerry is stood by my knee nursing one of her babies. Today it’s an old soda bottle! She’s so cute 🥰! I think there might just be enough room in my case to squeeze her in when I come home! 🤗

I mentioned trees. In the past when we’ve been involved in building work where trees have had to be removed, I’ve always tried to replace 2 for 1. Since my last visit several trees have had to be removed so I vowed this visit to make sure others were planted to replace them. Paul planted several in Kasozi and the ones Innocent bought yesterday are to be planted at Good Luck Junior School tomorrow, which will also be my last visit to GLJS. The trees were selected for various reasons. Some for maximum shade cover, some for fruit, (mango and jackfruit) and others for investment, the soft and hardwood trees. Must remember my spade!!
Yesterday I got my friends to stand in front or under the larger versions of the trees that are in Innocent’s and the garden nextdoor.
Norman with the Acacia
Peter under the Conyoca (?)
Innocent with his mango tree The kids under the jackfruit tree who were actually eating jackfruit! The other photos were taken at the start of my visit showing the jackfruit in more detail.

Before we left Kamuli, I wanted to see Maria’s Care just one last time and only from the outside. The old track down to it from Godfrey’s cafe was now a proper tarmac road! The patch of grass where they used to slaughter cows had gone, so there would be no scavenger birds pooing on heads anymore!
I got out of the vehicle and crossed the road to get a better shot. I was stood there reminiscing when the big metal doors opened ‘Madam Gerree! How are you? Welcome back. Come, come.’ Indicating for me to enter, and of course I did! He was Patrick, one of the boys from the children’s home and was now a member of staff, and had remembered me! It was so heartwarming to feel his joy and warmth for me. He mentioned my Kilimanjaro display in the big hall, and even recalled Jambo the song I sang so many times there! I had so enjoyed those first few years at MC before the charity had run into problems, it had prepared me for life working independently in Uganda. The place hadn’t changed much other than looking very smart painted blue and white. The school motto still With God All Things Are Possible. I briefly said hi to the headteacher, not accepting the chair offered as I knew that would lead to a long explanation about the school and the grand tour! The heavens opened as I was about to leave, really heavy soaking, difficult to walk in rain. So I had to stay put until it eased a little and Peter had driven the vehicle in to pick me up!