After several weeks of intense heat, a refreshing storm
brought some much needed rain to Kampala today.
At last the fans are off, and we can enjoy a cooler breeze. The first few months of the year are always
the hottest. It’s been a while since our
last update and we thank you for your patience.
We spent the Christmas holidays at home this year – this was
easy with three children and the addition of a new kitten! We welcomed “McSquizzie” to the family and she has been so much fun in our eyes – our guard dog on the other hand does not like her. I am still
not sure if it is worth taking the risk trying to get them to bond. For now McSquizzie will handle the inside night
life and Skye will keep things at bay outside.
The cat met her first cockroach recently and proceeded to eat it – I love
her more already! January meant back to school for four of us. I am organising a primary musical production
this term the students are buzzing with excitement as things are coming together. We have just started our half term break today
so looking forward to a week of rest (housework!!) The school day has been extended Tues-Thurs
with every student encouraged to participate in enrichment clubs.
Matthew is enjoying Swimming, Science club
and trying his hand at fencing! Matthew is also beginning to play his bass
guitar at church and it’s great to see him confidently using his talent. He is settling into Rainbow and one of his poems
was selected for an international school’s poetry competition (COBIS registered
schools). Homework is still his least
favourite thing in the world.
Abigail is involved in the secondary production called “Willow
Blue”. The school has hired the national
theatre in Kampala for this one and it will take place at the end of March. Abi’s after school clubs revolve around rehearsals
and art club, while finding the time to prepare for her Grade 4 piano. On a more
serious note, a lump above her knee was
investigated in December and found to be a benign tumour called an osteochondroma. It was a nerve wracking few days of waiting to
find out the results. It is an extra growth that is spiking off her femur bone
and is giving her pain, especially in PE. She is scheduled to get it removed next
Tuesday 19th and we would appreciate your prayers. We are blessed to have a good hospital in Kampala
that specialised in bone problems. It is about an hours drive and she will stay
overnight on the 18th. It is
still very Ugandan in that there is no information to prepare any of us, no details of what to take into hospital here
– it is not uncommon to have to take bed sheets and blankets. So we will find
out and I am sure the experience will shape us both.
Eilidh participates in two after school clubs – brownies and
craft club. She enjoys socialising very much
and had her first sleep over at a friend’s house in the new year. She lost a front tooth the other week so is
still getting used to that cute gap. Swimming
is still her favourite activity and she loves to tell us how much she loves home
work (all the while enjoying a little dig at her brother!) Eilidh adores the
kitten and is never far from it – not sure the kitten is always so enthusiastic
with the cuddles. She hasn’t tried to
dress it up and put in in her pram yet but I think that day will come.
Andy has had an busy few months painting one of the aeroplanes
in the hanger.
I believe the project should
be finishing in the next month.
He is
really enjoying the painting however trying to paint in such a hot dusty
environment has it’s challenges. The heat he has to endure in a paint suit all
day and helmet, not to mention the frustration when things, including insects
upset the smooth wet paint that just needs to dry.
He is taking a few days off holiday next week
so we will enjoy some family time while Abi is recovering from surgery.
The MAF International and UK HR
team were here in Uganda over the last few weeks and it was great to see some of
them. Thanks so much to those who sent Christmas
cards – we received them at the end of January but it’s never too late as every
year we put up any cards we have and read them all again year after year (they
remind us of you all and home) so we
will be putting them up next Christmas.
We have also enjoyed a meal with a few Scottish visitors this term who are
based in the Kilmarnock area.
I started this blog on Saturday and here we are on Tuesday
the 19
th and I am getting around to finishing it.
Abi has just gone in to surgery so now I will
keep myself busy and finish this blog before my laptop battery dies!
We were unsure of who the surgeon would be and
I am so thankful that the original Italian doctor who saw her in December is
the one operating today.
They will remove
the mass and send it to Cincinnati for biopsy in the USA to check that everything
is all benign.
I am so thankful that we
can receive this level of care here in Uganda.
Medical diagnosis can be very unreliable in Kampala for people
who do not have much money. Emmanuel, who works for us (He is like a member of
our family) approached us with a concern for his 4 year old son. He had a swelling and after two different
medical clinics and an ultra sound, everything was still unclear for them. Doctors were saying it was a hernia, however this did not add up with the ultra
sound report. I took them to the expat
clinic that we go to yesterday morning and we got a clear diagnosis of a hydrocele. This is not nearly as serious as a hernia and
can be operated on when he is a bit bigger. Thanking God they now have a clear diagnosis
and can move forward from there but it is sad there are so many rouge clinics just
looking to make money. Then in the
afternoon I drove Abi here to Corsu Hospital so it was a busy day!
I will keep you all posted on the outcome when we receive
it.
Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers, especially for Abi and Emmanuel's son Micheal.
Love in Christ
Heather
(p.s. Abi's surgery went well and she is home recovering. We will go back in a few weeks for biopsy results)
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| Michael and Eilidhii |
