Yesterday the team enjoyed a well deserved rest day after 12 straight days of bedkit distributions. It was a day for a leisurely breakfast, a swim, a nice walk in downtown Kampala and some shopping for local crafts. The day ended with a delicious evening meal at a patio restaurant. Also a day to have some laundry done!
Today is ‘Martyr’s Day’ in Uganda. Homage is paid to the memory of 20 young men who chose to die in the late 1800’s rather than denying their religious beliefs. Throngs of people walk to the historic site at this time every year to remember the sacrifices made by their ancestors. A number of us went to a church service this morning to experience the culture of this special day.
This afternoon we joined with the executive of the Inner Wheel Club of Kampala to formally debrief our shared experience of 12 distributions that provided bedkits to 7000 joyous children. Everyone agreed that it had been an amazing journey with excellent outcomes. At each rural centre we were welcomed by excited throngs of children and their parents who greeted us with dancing and songs. The Inner Wheel members and the SCAW team from Canada worked hand-in-hand to ensure that 7000 children received their precious bedkit and that a photograph was taken of each happy child. This debriefing session enabled us to jointly assess the whole distribution experience and to make suggestions for the future.
Afterwards our overseas partners, the women of the Inner Wheel, treated us to a celebratory dinner hosted at the home of this year’s SCAW Chair, Winifred Biraaro. We laughed, hugged, sang, danced and enjoyed a delicious buffet meal prepared by Winnie’s daughters. What a grand way to end this year’s SCAW distribution - celebrating as a unified team who had achieved so much over the past two weeks.
It has been a privilege to serve as the Team Leader for Team Uganda 2018. Working together with the amazing women of the Inner Wheel was delightful. Our joint team was strong, dedicated, flexible, energetic and wiling to do anything to make the project successful. Thank you to the thousands of donors who made it possible to improve the lives of so many children. 100% of your money was utilized to provide Ugandan children with the gift of a better night’s sleep and school supplies to support a brighter future.
Team Uganda is now signing off….
Lois Wey
Team Uganda 2018Post your comments here:
