Saturday 15th July

Departure day

The prospect of spending 2 weeks in Uganda delivering tag rugby to students we had never met before, in a strange but exhilarating country left me somewhat apprehensive as we departed Gatwick North on the 1st of July. After a slightly tearful goodbye to parents the Welling School tag rugby tour of 2017 began the long journey, with hope and excitement in our hearts, but also a little intrepidation  as to what adventures lay ahead. This would be the first time this new team would have to work together in a cohesive manner in order  deliver a high quality community sporting project in schools and villages that were struggling to deliver even the most basic education in challenging and unpredictable circumstances. Only time would tell how well the team would be able to work together and whether it would be possible to make a difference to those schools we visited and leave a legacy when the group eventually returned to home shores.

After a lengthy journey via Dubai and a somewhat enlightening coach trip on what can only be described as inconsistent road surfaces we arrived at Jinja Back Packers and discussed our strategic plan for the week ahead, culminating in our first tournament on the Friday. After visiting all our schools the main task of delivering tag rugby began in earnest on Tuesday. Despite English type weather, at times, the group rose admirably to the many challenges that they encountered. The group visibly grew in confidence as the week progressed and an underlying sense of purpose and commitment could be felt by all. Despite the worst downpour to hit Jinja in several months the Welling School team ignored the conditions and produced a tournament that brought tears of joy to all those who were fortunate enough to be present. I could only marvel at their enthusiasm, drive and determination as they battled through the torrential torrent of rain. The sunshine eventually broke through for the final and the party celebrations that followed, leaving everyone with a true sense of purpose and achievement as our team bus bounced merrily back to base.

After saying our farewells to friends we had made during the week it was time for some relaxation, Mr Loizou style, with a 12 km paddle down the Nile tackling a few white water rapids on the way. Thanks.

Another rickety bus journey finished with our arrival at Kids of Africa, ready for another week of coaching and a new tournament to organise. The orphanage gave the students a chance to spend a week with a family and establish new bonds and friendships with children of various ages. This proved to be enlightening as the week progressed, culminating in a highly charged, tearful and emotional farewell on departure day. The week disappeared rapidly and before we had time to gather our thoughts it was tournament day. The weather was favourable and an action packed competition culminated in a fantastic, entertaining series of final games.

This was the culmination of 2 weeks intense coaching, some soul searching and a clear determination to make the trip a success. On departing the orphanage I remembered the slight doubts I had on leaving England, what seemed many weeks ago, as to whether this new band of intrepid adventurers would be able to deal with the many challenges that they would encounter on their journey. My doubts were totally unfounded as I felt a great sense of pride in watching all the students perform in a manner that was a credit to themselves, their parents, the staff that were honoured to watch them in action and Welling School.

In conclusion I cannot emphasise enough what a privelage this was and I am confident that it made everybody who attended a better person.

Alex McWhinnie & Sara Morrison

We have finally come to the end of what was the most amazing 2 weeks. After nearly 2 years of fundraising, training, meetings and preparation we have experienced something very special in the wonderful country of Uganda.

Watching our Welling students coach children in some of the most deprived areas i have ever witnessed reinforced to myself and my colleagues just how adaptable and amazing our students are.

We have laughed, cried, screamed whilst rafting the great Nile rapids, opened endless packets of diaralytte, frowned at another portion of mashed potato and rice, yet we had constantly felt extremely blessed that we were influencing the lives of so many young people in Jinja and Entebbe.

The most poignant moment for me was watching the construction of a new roof at Bwerenga Junior school. A school we had adopted in 2015 by building a new classroom and making a number of improvements. The building was what we would describe as a 'shack' yet it was a pathway to a better future for the young people in the local community. The headteacher led the ceremony of celebrations for what the Welling students had contributed towards the young people under her supervision. It was hard not to feel the emotions as the Bwerenga students danced and sang in front of the hastily built scaffolding that allowed workmen to replace a roof that had been allowing rain to pour into classrooms for years.

It has been an absolute privilege to have been part of this group for the tour of Uganda 2017. For those of you who have supported us during this journey, I cannot even begin to thank you for the difference you have made to the lives of our Welling students and the hundreds of Ugandan children who have been blessed with this experience.

The team are extremely emotional and tired, but so proud of what they have achieved. We all miss our family and friends and are looking forward to coming home to our beautiful country .

We're on our way ! 

X

Theo Loizou

Friday 14th July

Entebbe Tournament Day

We woke up to a cloudy morning, expecting the worst after the torrential downpour during the tournament in Jinja. But the clouds soon gave way to brilliant sunshine and we were ready to go.

All the team had been allocated roles from Team Coaches to Referees and Pitch Managers. From an early hour, the children who would be participating, began entering the Kids of Africa compound filled with excitement at the prospect of being part of this amazing event. They had been trained by the Welling School team during the week and teams of 10 had been chosen to represent each school. Two of the schools had never played Tag Rugby prior to Welling arriving so it would be interesting to see how they would perform.

The music system was set up and playing and everybody was ready. The opening ceremony involved the singing of the Ugandan national anthem, a tune that the Welling students were becoming increasingly familiar with. Then, the volunteers from the Whales Academy sand their clubs anthem. The Chosen Generation Dance Group then performed in front of the crowd before the games began.

The teams were divided into 3 Pools based on their ability and experience of Tag Rugby. This ensured fair competition which is one of the main principles of the Tag Rugby Trust. The standard of Tag Rugby was exceptional and all the Welling Students were extremely proud to witness the results of their weeks coaching. The group games were exciting and well competed with the Welling students either refereeing or managing their teams. 

After the group stages, three finals were contested. The Ball winners in group C were Elite A managed by Abbi, Amy and Fiona. This team had not played any Tag Rugby prior to the tournament. The Plate winners in group B were King of Peace, managed by Ria and Megan. The Main Cup final was contested by MST, the hot favourites, and St. Kizito, who were managed by Christian. The first half was extremely tense with both teams playing an exceptional level of Tag Rugby and drawing 2-2. After an inspirational half time team talk by Christian, St. Kizito raised their game and played one of the best performances ever seen during a Tag Rugby Trust final, eventually winning 4-2. Each Try was met with an amazing roar from the watching crowd and the final whistle saw Welling students and Ugandan children hugging each other, celebrating a historic win.

The presentation of each cup was led by Government officials who explained to all who were present that they had witnessed a memorable occasion and we're thankful for the efforts of the Welling team. Celebrations followed with dancing and cheering as each child involved in the tournament was given a hearty meal, funded by the Welling team.

As a reward for 2 weeks of intense coaching in sometimes quite demanding conditions, the Welling team spent the afternoon swimming in the pool of the Lake Victoria Hotel, where some of the students were brave enough to jump off the 10 metre high top diving board.

The evening was spent at a restaurant on the banks of Lake Victoria where the group tucked into delicious food and danced the night away with the traditional Ugandan dancers who were providing the entertainment.

What an amazing day! What an amazing Welling team!

Thursday 13th July

    Today was the last day of training and our community work at Bwrenga Jounior School. This morning all the kids were out and ready, fighting for their chance to be part of their school team in the tournament tomorrow. Unfortunately, it was a cold and cloudy morning but it soon warmed up! The coaches started off with a light warm up of bulldog to get them back in the swing of things and then the schools were ready to start playing games of tag rugby where the coaches could fix any last minute problems and scout who they wanted for their final teams. The players played throughout the morning even though the temperature was increasing but obviously we struggled more than the players but eventually the teams were selected. Next we headed back to Kids of Africa for some lunch and today on the menue was sausages in a tomato sauce with rice and later came out some spaghetti. After we had fresh pinapple, which I think we are definitely going to miss!

After lunch the whole group made the five minute walk to Bwerenga Jounior School, to receive our farewell presentation from the children and so that we could give them our parting gifts. There were a few tears shed during the presentation as we reflected on our work and those on the work they did two years ago. As we have spent a few days with these children it was hard to say good bye to some of them especially little Howa but it had to be done and they will always have a little piece of our hearts❤️. - Cesca Davey 

As the other half of the media team I would just like to express how much of a honour it is to meet and capture all the students here from Welling School. I have known the students for less than a fortnight but I have made some incredible friends and it's been a pleasure to share all these magical moments with them. The amount of bravery and persistence shown cannot be expressed through this vlog but these couple of weeks have truely been life changing and unforgettable. I recommend to all the parents reading this to feel the pride you already have for them, and double it because they have all been unbelievable, especially for people so young... Also, don't cook mash potato and/or rice for a very, very long time.

I have taken hundreds and hundreds of pictures that capture some of the moments here in Uganda and I cannot wait to share them with you all! Thanks for having me TRT and Welling School!

Tom Parkin.

Media team.

Wednesday 12th July

After a rather stormy night, we woke up half an hour later than everyone else (6:30am), yet we're still the most tired. We adventured, stumbling, up the long path to the dining area where we had a mountain of corn flakes with a cheeky bit of sugar to get us through a long, warm day. 

We waited patiently for our buses to pick us up and take us to our schools for another hard day of training. I can say that fitting 20 kids back into the miniature bus was yet another, but hilarious challenge which will never fail to amuse me. Today we picked our tournament teams which was rather hard and difficult as they were all so talented.

We arrived back to KOA and we were allowed to have half an hour to ourselves. Thompson and Michelle decided to use the time wisely and take a nap. This meant that the rest of the group was waiting for them and they woke up rather disturbed by Robert banging on the door - " we're leaving!" 

When they finally woke up, we took a short walk to the school where we completed community work on and managed to get all the paint work done whilst some of the group played with the children of the school, creating a special bond you will not find any where else. #Love 

As a little group bonding, we decided to play a game of volleyball. However, we were allowed 20 minutes time to ourselves before the game and again, Michelle and Thompson showed up an hour later this time due to another important nap. The rest of the team shared a giggle over the photos from today and water rafting - plently of embarrassing photos. Loizou went on a hunt to find a volleyball, but never completed his mission. No volleyball today. We all decided to relax and chill out at the new house of Loizou, McWhinnie and Morrison. 

We returned 'home' to our little families and enjoyed some quality time with our brothers and sisters. We love them even when they are trying to start a war with us ( flickering of lights and lots of tickling). 

We shared lots of hugs with our Ugandan mother, Agnes, who adores her white children. We have a cute little baby in our house, who is scared of our rare skin but we still try our best to give her cuddles, even when she is batteling to get away. 

We are looking forward to the tournament on Friday as we were all so amazed by last Friday's performance from the children in Jinja. After the tournament, we will be looking forward to a luxurious pizza and a well deserved dip in the pool. We cannot wait to see what moves Robert pulls off on the diving board. 

We're having a great time in Uganda! However, we miss our families dearly. 

- Michelle and Thompson 

Monday 10th July

Today was the second morning waking up in the Kids of Africa houses but our first training in our new schools. A few of the groups were complete novices which caused a little bit of a rocky start, and the high temperatures didn't help that much either but towards the end the kids and the coaches got really stuck in.

We returned to KOA for our lunch as part of our daily routine, where we spent time talking about how our training sessions went and what our plans would be for the next day; all were excited for our community project plans.

In the afternoon, we visited our local community project where we split off into teams to help with different jobs, one group helped with the tearing down of an old roof and another group helped with painting doorways and door frames and the last group assisted in the classrooms with nursery rhymes and helping the children with their handwriting of their ABCs.

The students were enthrilled to see us and even performed a presentation of prayers and songs dedicated to the work of Welling School on both tours over the last 2 years, which described how Welling have improved their fitness and social skills and included personal stories of the positive effects of our time in Uganda. Tears of pride and joy were shed by almost all and the agenda came to a close with a summary speech by Robbie.C.

The evening started with a cold soft drink outside a local supermarket where some of us choose to give them with some local kids that were watching close by.

A certain individual had an unexpected hair cut.

New hair, New me, Newman.

After a dinner of Uganda's favourite, mash and rice, we returned to our houses to spend time with our brothers and sisters playing card games and chatting about the families we had become a part of.

All the teams are looking forward to progressing our teams over this coming week.

Signed, Fiona 

(Help from Elise and Megan)

Tuesday 11th July

Another early 6am start at Kids of Africa. We all thought we would have the same thing for breakfast but today we were surprised with pancakes, sugar and extra milk! 3 groups had to help at the local playing fields to support a very popular session and then we went to our schools. 

At the Kids Of Africa pioneer school the teams were very eager to get on with the game and a very successful session took place.  Fortunate (the TRT coordinator) helped me and my group with our referee skills which was really helpful and everyone had a lot of fun and gained confidence as coaches. After we packed up we waited to be collected by the bus, a group of school girls and I started singing 'How far I'll go' from moana to pass the time. They found it really funny that I knew all the words because "that film is for babies" but little did they know a few of us are really big Disney fans. 

(Sophie Cooper)

Our main school MST was a beautiful complex compare to others we have previously visited and worked with. The children there exceeded our expectations and can play the game very well - so much so that they don't even seem like they need our help. We spent the day assessing our group and getting to know them that little bit more, to ensure that the impact of TRT continues after we are gone. They seem like a very good team for the tournament, just like all the other schools this week so the tournament should have a great atmosphere. It was funny to hear the kids shouting and telling each other what they were doing wrong, and how to do things as they got so endulged in the game.

(Elise Godsall)

We eventually arrived back at our meeting point where we shared a rather large lunch together, by that we mean practically eating the same food which we had for dinner the night before. Carbs, carbs and more carbs. By this point we was all very tired, but we pushed through knowing that we were going to be helping 'Welling Bwenga School'. Everyone got hands on, we all left covered in paint, sweat and dirt as a result of painting classroom doors and windows in a nice bright blue colour. The long days prove worth it when you see the appreciation and joy from the children even just from turning up and playing games with them. 

After this long, tiresome day and the ongoing thoughts about greasy food, conversation arose about us going out for some nice chicken and chips. CHICKENNNNNN. Not one person turned their nose up, and everyone was super excited to go out. The silence at the dinner table showed how much we all miss our good old English takeaways, even though we are having the time of our lives. Not only was we concerned about food, but entertainment was taken to another level tonight. Robert had the delightful treat of being twerked on, as did Amelia. This was one of Theo's "golden moments" of the trip. This outing brought us even closer together, and created many more memories for the 2017 TRT Tour. On the bus back from the restaurant we sang Wonderwall by Oasis, screamed the word Chicken and may well have been on a trampoline by the amount of times we bounced going over the uneven road.

We are all now in a food coma, and off to bed.

Sophie C and Elise.

Sunday 9th July

Today was the first morning waking up in our houses in the Kids of Africa compound - Olivia and I were designated house 3 in which we have a 'mother' and seven 'brothers and sisters'. Although filled with apprehension at first, we were immediately met with excitement and love from our mother Josephine and all of the children. Our Sunday was a day of settling and getting to know, not only the families we are living with, but all of the children living in Kids of Africa and the men and women who make it a home for these children. 

After offers of breakfast from Josephene, the group convened in the main dining hall to eat together and make the plan for the day. Exhausted from travelling the evening before, we were relieved to hear that we could get to know our way around the compound and the surrounding areas. The morning was spent mostly playing with the children, their favourite games being football on their large pitch or jumping around on their trampoline. Seeing all of the children who had come from such deprived and poor beginnings have such an amazing time together created a huge sense of family and filled us with joy.

The afternoon consisted of travelling outside of the compound and seeing how those outside lived. It was thrilling to see all of the local children and their faces of excitement once they saw us, all shouting "muzungu" which we found so cute. We walked into the centre of the village to get snacks at a supermarket, but the best part of the day was visiting Bwenga Junior Academy where we had the opportunity to see the work done on the 2015 tour and see what we would be doing for our community project.

Finally, we ate dinner together as a group and split off to our different houses to play with the children. In house 3 we taught the children how to play 'snap' with cards which they absolutely loved. We went to bed with a sense of achievement in getting to know our children and excitement for the day ahead! 

Rosie Glibbery 

Saturday 8th July

Good evening everyone,

So the celebrations continued into the night last night, at an amazing festival on the Nile. Music, drinks and a BBQ were layed out as we spent our last night in Jinja with the amazing Ugandan young leaders who have been a huge part in what has been an incredibly successful week.

We were all looking forward to our well deserved lay-in this morning, a 7:00 wake up supposed to a 6:15 start. This morning we packed our bags and got ready to leave in order to be on the road as soon as we returned from this mornings activity, white water rafting.

Having rafted the Nile before, I knew what was in store as opposed to a majority of the other team. We were briefed in with instructions and information on the route each boat would take. Our team had a hardcore boat which took the grade 5 route, rafted by Tom, Cesca, Rob and Louise, Amelia, Amy and myself. We also had a boat which started on grade 3 and wanted to test the higher rapids which was rafted by Megan, Fiona, Elise and Michelle, Sophie T and Rosie and Ugandan volunteer Martha. And lastly, we had the Loizou raft, which took the grade 3 route and had all 3 teachers aboard. Poor effort. 

The day started well, Robby C got his GoPro all set up on his helmet, got into his raft and pressed record to find he had not turned the plug switch on throughout the night to charge his camera. Luckily, the staff at Adrift Rafting have given us all the videos and pictures from the day so you will all see the action shots of us cruising through the rapids, the beautiful surroundings and a very dry Mr. Loizou.

We stopped halfway through for some lunch on our boats with the other rafters from China, South Africa and America. Pulled pork baguettes which was a massive touch! We are all Rolex'd out!

We completed 4 rapids with the final one being an enormous grade 6. All groups had to get out and walk around half of it due to it being un-raftable. We joined it half way, and the minute we were released from the side, the current swept us away as we were swallowed by the huge waves that came at us. The 2 boats that went on the grade 5 route of the rapid flipped, whilst the other boat survived their route. Tom, Amelia and Cesca flew out of the raft and into the water whilst the rest of us held on as we were chucked through the waves. We all came out at the end, the stragglers returned to their boats as we all cheered with pride and relief. We all finished our raft and we sat with a cold drink overlooking the Nile we had just completed. A very proud moment for all. 

We commuted back to the backpackers, collected our luggage and headed off for Kids of Africa. 4 hours later and we are here. We have just had some dinner, and are getting ready for our first night in our allocated houses where we will spend the next week getting to know our new brothers, sisters and mothers. 

Bring on the 2nd week!

Thanks, 

Christian

Looking forward to seeing you all, family! ❤️🇺🇬

*Photos to follow as soon as wifi is capable!

Friday 7th July

TOURNAMENT DAY!

War has continued at the backpackers camp! This morning the boys room were awoken by 8 revenge seeking girls with whistles. Yet this noise did not compete with the scream that preceded to come from Christian.

Breakfast and the bus trip to the tournament ground was dominated with arguments over which team was the best, but each of us were still excited to find out how the day would pan out. The excitement of the teams upon arrival continued to grow and was not dampened by the looming black cloud, which led to 3 hours of solid torrential rain. All of the children put in a tremendous amount of effort but the finale came between Walukuba West Deaf team (coached by Elise, Fiona and Amelia) and Kisima 1 (coached by Amy, Abbi and Michelle), who had travelled from their island in Lake Victoria, with some of the students never setting foot on the mainland before. It was a really heart-warming experience to witness the island team win and there were many tears from all Welling volunteers whether their teams won or not! There was a huge buzz across the pitch with everybody dancing together. And as if by magic the weather cleared and the sun came out for our award ceremony. The dancing continued long after the tournament ended. 

It was really hard to say goodbye to our teams. Despite only knowing them for three days, we had already developed an attachment to the children. They all wanted us to continue to visit them, which although was upsetting made us understand the the work we had put in was worthwhile. 

This afternoon's entertainment was quad biking which was "nerve wrecking at first, but was exciting when we got into it" (Sophie Cooper). 

And the celebrations from tournament will continue tonight.

Amy and Olivia

Thursday 6th July

Musibyemutya (good evening) all parents and followers of the Welling Uganda Team,

Today was our final day of coaching our schools before tomorrow's big tournament and certain people are extremely confident *cough cough Loizou*.

This morning Sara, Cesca and I got woken up by Christian and Loizou banging their African drums as loud as they could in our room. Fortunately for them we have an even better wake up call for them tomorrow morning! After breakfast we all hurdled onto the bus, our team being first to get out at Walukuba West, the best school of course. We met with the head teacher and explained the arrangements for the big tournament day and the locations and times of the day. We then begun setting up next to the big cow on their playing field, ready for the kids to come running out. Me, Elise and Fiona are focusing on the most amazing group of deaf children which as you can imagine would be completely impossible if we don't know any sign language. However these kids have been an absolute dream to teach and are teaching us so much day by day. The experience they have given us alone is something I will treasure with me and take everywhere I go.

We finally after a hard time deciding, picked our final team of deaf kids (5 boys and 5 girls) and a team of non-deaf kids. I've got to say they're brilliant and I think tournament day will definitely be an exciting day. My team and I then took a short walk to our next school which is a boarding school for Muslims. On our walk we always pass chickens with their chicks not to mention goats and baby goats which is kind of a thing out here with Fiona, she loves them! After arriving at our 2nd school our lunch was then delivered by the driver which consisted of a classic ham and cheese sandwich with a big packet of crisps, which I think everyone was absolutely over the moon. After 3 days of Rolex's for lunch we were having nightmares about them (they aren't to everyone's taste, but are a traditional Ugandan meal). After a 2 hour hot training session in the sun we also picked our team of 10 for our second school, so Team 5 are now officially ready to compete in the big day ahead. 

Excitements are high for tomorrow and everyone has been giving a role for their own team tomorrow, so may the best team win out of all of the amazing kids we have been teaching the last 3 days. I'm sure you will hear the big outcome in tomorrow's blog but for now it's a goodbye and a goodnight from all of us!

* A special goodnight to my Mum, Dad, Gracie & Livia and all of my family who I am missing so so so much and I can't wait to give you all a big squeeze! I hope you enjoyed my blog for the day, all my love Amelia X 

Wednesday 5th July

After being disturbed by the extremely loud crickets at night, we woke to Sara and Amelia dancing and singing 'my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard'. Despite being in Africa, it was freezing whilst we were waiting for our fruity breakfast of pineapple, bananas and watermelon. Everyone is really becoming a team, as we are continuously reminding each other to take our malaria tablets and not to forget to put sun cream on our ears! 

After another bumpy journey we arrived at our first school, we were greeted by the headteacher. The children were just as excited  as we were. When we got into the session the children were very enthusiastic and engaged which made us think "this is what we are here for". 

Once the session had ended, we walked to our next school and waited at the top of the hill for our lunch and the new team member Thompson. The sun was shining and the goats were screeching - just like Sophie's water bottle.

Whilst waiting for the storm clouds to disappear yet again, Olivia decided to entertain the swarm of kids around us with a complication of classic party games including the Hokey Cokey. Despite the hilarity, another terrential down pour hit the happy campers as we rushed for shelter in a nearby classroom. This is where Thompson bumped into Stormzy aka a local school girl.

In the classroom, the children took great interest into out lives, which was really heart warming. Unfortunately we were unable to finish the coaching, and the highlight of the afternoon was the chicken dancing in the rain.

Sophie, Olivia, Lauren and Thompson (Sophie)

Tuesday 4th July

The day started with an early rise of 6:00am and our room Mummy Amy made sure we were all up on time with an alarm clock. We had a few morning dramas but nothing that a little tlc couldn't sort out. After another scrambled egg breakfast we organised the kit bags ready for the day ahead and set off with our groups and our session plans in the mini bus to our first school. Everyone was dropped off without any delays and our first session began with mixed emotions. "It was brilliant" (Abbi Etherington) "Yesterday when we did our adult training recap session the pressure got to me and it overwhelmed me, I felt like I wasn't prepared to teach the children and I wasn't sure on how to play all the games. Today when we got to our first school our group paired up and took a group of around 20 children each. I was paired with a Ugandan volunteer who had lots of experience and he took a lead role in the session while I supported. Although I wanted to be more involved I actually feel that it was good for me to observe to make me feel more confident in coaching in the second school." (Ria Bailey) 

For our second session we had a short walk to the market where we picked up a boat to take us to our second school which we were on the islands of Kisoma. It was a rocky start quite literally but once we were all on a short journey across to the islands and we made our way to our second schools playing fields. "On Kisoma  1 the children were hanging off of me and they were full of excitement and joy" (Abbi Etherington). "On Kisoma  2 the children didn't really know a lot of English compared to the other school we coached, it was a challenge but I enjoyed it because it made me more confident as I took a lead role in coaching this session" (Ria Bailey). We had bad weather on the Islands which delayed the boat picking us up however when it did come we had a safe and calm return journey. Once we were safely off the boat we joined the rest of the team in the bus and made our way back to Jinja backpackers. A large group decided to take a walk into town to take in some Ugandan culture however due to Mr Loizou's excellent planning... all the shops were shut! They timed their return back very well and dinner was ready and waiting as soon as they got back. 

Another exciting action packed day tomorrow returning to our two groups for more coaching. All that's left to do tonight is plan our session, get lots of rest and an early night so that we are able to be at our best tomorrow.

Ps "I don't plan when the shops shut girls!" (Mr Loizou)

Ria Bailey and Abbi Etherington. 

Monday 3rd July

Hello everyone it's Robert here, today we had our first proper look at the schools we would be working at and the children we would be teaching, at the beginning of the day there was mixed emotions: Me, Amy, Olivia and Christian were relaxed and content because of our previous experience while some of the others were getting more and more excited by the smallest of things like the local animals and the beauty of the Ugandan countryside.

At our first school the atmosphere was very relaxed and we all enjoyed the waging and excitement of the children, as the day rolled on each school seem to possess more enthusiasm and excitement for our arrival with more waving and cheering accompanied with the group hand holding and pictures.

With the schools visited (the last one requiring a boat ride across the Nile to reach-teachers only for today) we made our way back to Jinja Backpackers for a quick Rolex lunch and onto our training sessions to give us the refresh and understanding we needed to coach tag rugby, my team comprising of 2 local volunteers, myself, Sophie T, Ria and Mrs Morrison trained with Fortunate (our lead TRT member in Uganda) who taught us the key elements of how to coach these children tag rugby.

I anticipate a tough day tomorrow due to a 6am wake up but more so for one of our groups who have the fantastic opportunity and challenge to teach a team of deaf children how to play tag rugby, this therefore meant  a breif but informative chance to learn basic sign language which was both a unique and incredible skill to use especially for the week ahead.

Currently though we are all relaxing at the Backpackers making final plans for the days ahead but with a mix of tiredness and anticipation for the next day, I personally feel so amazed that I have had the chance to return to Uganda and am very much looking forward to the next 2 weeks.

I guess I better end now, after all it's early morning tomorrow :) , take care everyone at home, wish us luck with the training but thank you for all the support you have given us and for the opportunity to actually do this trip in the first place, from all of us...

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

*Please note that Mr Loizou's emergency Ugandan sim is currently not working. Please call his UK number or email if necessary .