We're in Tilling ....!

In spite of all our planning to arive in Tilling in daylight, we turned into the lane leading to the new Living Learning Centre under the cover of darkness and an incredible display of stars above! But, that wasn't the best part. Before we could even see the Centre, we could hear the amazing sound of voices singing, even though it was already 9 pm, a very late hour for the people here. As we pulled up to the Centre the children were lined up along the driveway singing, shouting, waving a wonderful sign of welcome. When we climbed out of the vans the children rushed to us with flowers and led us up to the lighted verandah where we were seated. It was a very emotional moment for the team, an amazing welcome ... homecoming!

The days have been filled with so many things ...

On our first morning in Tilling (Sept 9) we helped feed 55+ children porridge. Sylvia was thrilled to tell the story of young Samuel to the children, complete with lots of action! The little ones laughed when she acted out the various parts of the story.

The women on the team spent several hours unpacking the many suitcases and organizing the contents. We also began planning for a Ladies Tea for the following afternoon. Darryl & David spent the afternoon scouting out the neighbourhood, checking out chicken coops and various other stops along the way, including a brief visit to New Hope Home for Children. Their driver was a young man named, Laz, who has been volunteering with GROW for some time. The guys really enjoyed getting to know him.

The plan for Friday was to feed the children porridge at 9, and then go for a walking tour of the nearby huts and fields, before it got too warm. Well...as Ugandan time goes ... and the other things the team needed to attend to the walking tour began more like 11:30 (the heat of the day!!!). You will have to see the great Kodak moment of all the gals in the Ugandan walking attire!

The team visited some of the nearby fields in various stages of planting, growing, and harvesting. The drought has really taken its toll on anything being able to grow or reach maturity. To get to the lake the team walked through dry ground covered with bushes, where once it had been swampy land. The lakeshore line is signicantly receded since Lynn's first visit 2 years ago.

The team met a woman harvesting groundnuts (peanuts) and stopped to visit with her. Winnie did a great job of translating. And they learned how to harvest groundnuts. Sylvia dug up one plant, to find only 1 lonepeant