Gulu Greens!

An update from the Green family: Our time in Gulu. 

We arrived in Gulu on Saturday evening. We stayed in the Church hill courts hotel. On Sunday we got up to go to church, and went to the Gulu cathedral. The service was amazing, so lively and fun. Everyone was so welcoming. Elliot's highlight was definitely having hard boiled eggs with the clergy afterwards! 

We got picked up from church and met our hosts, Moses and Caroline and their sons and daughters. We went to their day care centre and had a lovely lunch. Then we traveled to their house which had lots of land, including swamps and lots of trees. We found plants that are sensitive to touch and they close when touched. It was very fun.

That evening, we had a campfire and learnt about how Ugandans live. It was eye opening and a great evening. 

Me and Elliot then went to school with the ACs. It was interesting to see how school works here. However since I finished my GCSEs, I haven't learnt for months, and it was a struggle to get back into the learning mindset! I did biology and chemistry. The boys played cricket as their year was doing assessments and they thought it was mean to make them do a Swahili reading assessment! 

Mum and Dad went to a meeting with the diocese. Apparently it was very long! 

That afternoon we went to the market. Me and Mum got measured for beautiful African dresses and Elliot got measured for a shirt. We picked the style and fabric. I'm so excited to see what mine looks like!!

We then went to a café and had a team meet up. We drank some beautiful passion fruit juice. 

That evening, our hosts picked us up. We spent some very special time at the daycare. We gave the children sweets and got introduced to them. We also gave the centre some toys that we had brought, including some games. They were very grateful.

After a good night's sleep, we woke up bright and early to get to the Vocational training centre. Here we got welcomed and prayed for and sang. 

Me, Elliot, Ruby, Zac and Sharon went to a different school this time. The people were very welcoming, and loved our hair. The boys were called handsome and I think the girls loved them! We had a tour of the school and saw their farm. It had rabbits, pigs, chickens and goats, but we didn't see the goats. They also grow lots of vegetables including aubergine, cabbage, tomatoes and cucumbers. Me and Ruby went to an agriculture lesson, while the boys did maths. It was very interesting. The class was very welcoming, and we took pictures with them. 

Meanwhile, Mum visited the health centre. It is classed as a level 2 health centre but has facilities to suggest it's higher. They have maternity, outpatients, 2 wards and a radiology department - which includes brand new x-ray machines. As a nurse it was good to see facilities in a different health system and was very grateful for the NHS. It seemed like people did three different jobs as opposed to the UK. 

At the same time, Dad went to the Vocational college and was taught how to sew. 

In the afternoon, I got my hair braided which was very exciting! 

Elliot and Mum learnt how to plant coffee.

That evening was spent with our hosts. It was very special. We planted mango trees in their garden. Each one of us planted a tree and then another one with a member of the family. Hopefully these trees will signify our relationship, and bare fruit in the future. 

We said a final goodbye to our hosts and turned on for the night. It has been a blessing to stay with them, Caroline's cooking was amazing! Everyone was so welcoming and we will miss them. They gave us gifts of clothes.

Stay rooted 🇺🇬

~ Eloise