Email received from Emily on

Monday 27th June

Hello everyone!

How are you all? I’ll start by updating you about Kira Farm. My last week with Joshua went well. The students had a stricter timetable during the last week, so I wasn’t able to spend as much time with them as I had.

During my last week at Kira we found that one of the girls was 7 months pregnant. She found herself in this situation from visiting home during the Christmas break. We helped her as much as we could and she has now returned home, two weeks earlier than the other students. I made the girl a baby carrier! And learnt to use a Singer sewing machine without electricity! Definitely an experience I won’t forget!

At the end of the week I gave all the students a gift. Each gift was relevant to the business that they plan to set up when they’re home. For example cotton thread, quick unpicks, calculators and potato peelers. I also printed each of them a photo, that I’d taken of them, and wrote them all a message on the back.

All the students thanked me for being there and said that I’m the only Mzungu (white person) that has spent so much time with them. They told me that most Mzungus stay inside!

On Friday, Joshua and I met Dora in Kampala.

Emily x

Click here to read messages from Dora, Joshua and Ananias.

Email received from Emily on

Monday 20th June

Hello everyone!

Just a quick email to say thank you very much for all your texts and emails!! I am low on credit again, which is why I haven't always replied to text messages! Today is quite cold and I am wearing jeans and a jumper! Joshua says I have already adapted and this is very warm for England!

Joshua arrived safely on Friday! He spent Saturday with me and two English doctors, who left very early Sunday morning. I enjoyed teaching some first aid with them for the couple of days that they were here!

Joshua and I went to Watoto church again yesterday, and met Gabriel (Vicky’s brother) there. We have had a bit more of a relaxing time, over the last couple of days. We haven't had much power, which is why I haven't been able to send you many emails.

I am very well and so is Joshua. I have started to get a cough again, but I think it's because of all of the chemicals we use to keep the mosquitoes away!!! I continue to do a lot of admin work for Joseph and wish it was only the start of my gap year, so I could stay here for the year and be his PA!!! There's so much to organise for child sponsorship and I love organising him! He says I’m a great help, which is nice to know!! While I’m writing this, I can hear the pitter-patter of tiny chick feet, which are starting to hatch in one of the incubators! They are soooo cute!

GREAT NEWS!!!!!! Herbert (who looks after the cows and goats at the bottom of Kira farm) has had a baby boy! (well his wife has!) As you can probably imagine, this excites me a lot and I have had a cuddle with him every day that he has been alive! (which is only 3!) Please pray for baby Nickson's health! He is doing really well and he is tiny! I will see if I can attach a picture!

Joshua has already picked up on things that he thinks might benefit Glenburnie, which is also great news!

Thank you for all your love, prayers and support! Hope you are all in good health and looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Em xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Email received from Emily on

Monday 13th June

Hello everyone!

Monday 6th June: I found out that the Matron, who looks after the girls and boys, had lost her sister. She travelled for around 8 hours, back to her village, to go and be with her family. She is now back at Kira, but please pray for her during this sad time.

Tuesday 7th June: First I went to a Maths lesson and learnt about different types of banks, their interest etc. After that, I then sat in a catering lesson. I didn't find out, until I had agreed to stay, that they were preparing stuffed chicken!!! The chicken was whole, with only the head removed! The girls have to saw the feet off, at the knee joint, and then cut it and take out the insides! The girls found my face highly amusing! After preparing the chicken, we then made chips, on a wood fire! And then cupcakes, in a wood burning oven! I found all of this very exciting! In the afternoon, I sat with the girls and painted their nails. We also talked about family and how to keep ourselves safe. In the evening we had devotions and then off to bed!

Wednesday 8th June: I was told we were leaving at 10am, to go to Lira. Grace (headmistress) told me she had been sick and didn't feel well. Someone came to pick her up and she has been in hospital with Malaria. She is now back at Kira, although feeling a bit weak. We left at 11.30am. We got a matatu (taxi) into Kampala and then walked through the busy roads and side rounds to the bus park! Wow, I’ve never seen a place so disorganised in all my life! I kept hold of my bag, and had men holding onto my arms telling me they love me and I’m beautiful! We then found Joseph on the bus and sat there for an hour! The buses don't leave until they are completely full! The gangways were full with huge bags and it was a very tight squeeze! The bus took over 6 hours to reach Lira, and on the way I got stung by a huge, fat, hairy fly thing!! Not a nice way to be woken up!! We then got a taxi to out very cheap hotel (less that £6 a night!).

Thursday 9th June: We went to Adele Primary School to pay fees. Two girls, who Amigos sponsor, showed me around the school. The school has a population of 10,804 and only 39 teachers – mostly male.

We went to several other schools where we paid the school fees, played with children and then left. Nobody was at Lira Central School due to public holiday so we went to visit some sponsor children, at their grandmother's house. Their grandmother looks after all 6 of them and Dolly, who has downs syndrome. Apart from Dolly providing chairs and giving us lots of hugs, we received quite a poor reception. Joseph had already guessed that one of the girls (who is 16 years old and in primary 6) was pregnant and that was why she hadn't been attending school. She hid in the house but Joseph managed to get it out of her brother. He explained that we still love her and want to support her with the baby and get her back to school after she's had it and that she might even be a candidate for Kira. At 3pm we then went to Alpha Primary School, in Amach village, where paid school fees and I spoke to some of the students and the headteacher. We then visited the families and homes of two male Kira students - you can see them in some of the pictures I’m attaching! At 7pm we met up with the girl who was pregnant and her grandmother. I explained that I would take her for a test tomorrow, so we have proof for Amigos and her sponsors.

Friday 10th June: Got up at 7 and didn't have time for breakfast. We spoke to the manager of the hotel, to see if we could have the hall for a few hours. She asked for more information and asked if she could have one of her children sponsored! The pregnant girl and her brother were waiting outside and we arranged to meet later for the pregnancy test. Then the local Rev. turned up (never met him before) and asked for children to be sponsored! (we guess the manager had passed on the message to him).

We went to some schools to pay school fees and travelled deeper into a village, where we went to King James School. This is where I stayed for a few minutes, before leaving, due to the caning. I later found out that our driver has a girlfriend in the school, even though he's married and has children! After visiting one more school the pregnant girl. I took her to the doctors, on my own. We had to pay 5,000 shillings (£1.50) for the test. Found out that she's due in August.

After the clinic it poured with rain for over 2 hours! So we stayed put, until it passed. We then made our way deep into a village, where we met the LC1 chairman, parents and children, to identify children who need sponsoring. I was able to choose many of them! I will attach some pictures. If there's anyone who would like to sponsor one of them, please attach their picture and email it back to me!

We went for a meal at another hotel at 8pm. Very hungry as we didn't have time to eat all day!!

Saturday 11th June: We had arranged to meet all the sponsor children (over 50 of them) at 8am with their guardians, to write letters to their sponsors and for them to receive a present, like toothbrushes, bags and shoes. One child got there on time, but we couldn’t get into the hall, due to complications. So I sat with them outside my room, and we started. They also helped me to get all the ants out of the bags, that we brought with us from Kira! They had hatched and taken over all of the bags and my bedroom! This is when I met the boy with HIV (information in the previous email I sent you). He couldn’t even walk or sit up. Joseph took pictures and we both paid for him to be rushed to hospital. Many different people had found out about the event (we guess through the manager) and were asking us to sponsor their children. Joseph dealt with it very well. After they all finished their letters and received their gifts, I sat with the girls and talked about how to keep ourselves safe and why it's important. We finally finished at 3pm (4 hours behind schedule!) We then made our way to visit the families and homes of two Kira students. We went out for a meal, at around 8pm. Very hungry again because we didn't have time to eat anything all day!

Sunday 12th June: Up at 6am and went to visit the boy with HIV in hospital. We then managed to get a free lift back to Kampala, with the brother of someone who works for Kira! I got back to Kira at 4pm, slept, had some food and then went to bed!

I'll update you all again soon, hopefully before Sunday!

Thank you for all your support and prayers,

Em x