Day 9 - Building & Books

​Monday began with an early wakeup, devotion and our usual Rolex and chapati breakfast. Before long we were hauling mud bricks at the Village, and we continued our bricklaying. The weekend away from building refreshed us all, as the walls rose up around the newly added door frames. 

Shortly after we made the walk back to Suubi House sufficiently covered in machenga, greeting the locals and practicing our Luganda amongst ourselves. A lunch of Juliet’s freshly baked rolls along with a platter of watermelon, pineapple and banana sustained us for the walk back to the Village of Hope.
 
While most returned to their building to see the walls quickly rise and window frames installed, six of the girls followed Rachel to the Village’s admin building to help tutor the young ones. The kids chose their favourite story books and sat down with us to read them, and we encouraged them to write their names and various words and letters while we helped them. The opportunity to help the children to read and write helped us to see how precious the gift of education really is, and it was so special to watch them improve.
 
We weren’t only the teachers, though, as they insisted on teaching us parts of their language. Pointing to pictures in story books and spelling out words had to come to a close when the builders wrapped up their work. We couldn’t help but spend some time with the kids, before returning to the house for dinner, board games and plenty of mosquito repellent, of course.
 
- Bree