Preparing for our travels

After attending our orientation for our trip to Rukungiri we have been so excited to get prepared. And there is still lots to prepare. First on our list is injections, for needle phobic Chipman this is not filling him with much joy! He has been incredibly brave so far and on Tuesday went for our next lot of immunisations. As a mum this process has been difficult. I am taking my son to the doctor to be protected against some pretty nasty and sometimes fatal diseases. Doing everything I can with my mothering instincts in overdrive to protect. I know for Chipman this is the best thing I can do for him before travelling but it also makes me realise how privileged I am. Those we will be serving in Uganda do not have this opportunity, the medicines which we take for granted are not readily accessible. The mother's in Uganda have the same motherly instincts to protect their children as we have here in the UK but only 52% of children in Uganda are fully immunised, which it gives it the lowest immunisations statistics in Eastern Africa. So as I went to the doctor's surgery on Tuesday I am incredibly grateful for the medicines we have available for myself and Chipman but I also had a prayerful heart for those that are not in the same situation as us, in Rukungiri, across Uganda and the world.

If you would like to support Chipman and I in prayer then please pray for us as we continue with our injections, that Chipman will be brave and that all goes smoothly. Also pray for us that God is in control of our fundraising as we are on the final stretch to our end goal. Please pray for all the others on our trip that their preparations go well. Most importantly please lift up in prayer all those in Uganda and across the globe who do not have access to the immunisations they need, that those in control make wise decisions.

As always I value your feedback!

Our first stop......

A little background of who I am and what myself and my 12 year old son Chipman are doing would probably be helpful right about now, so here's the low down on all you need to know. I am Helen, I am a mum of 2, my daughter Beebie is 6 and as I mentioned before Chipman is 12. My husband Mark is a motorcycle mechanic and loves his bikes almost as much as us! We are not a perfect family, we fight, we forgive, we fall out and we love just like everyone else. Our family does have added pressures in that Chipman has Aspergers and ADHD and Beebie has speech and language problems. There is never a dull moment in our house!

So now you have a picture of who we are, what on earth are we doing? Well Chipman and I are heading off to Uganda in July, not on an exotic 2 week relax by the pool type of thing but a getting our hands dirty, building, visiting and helping type of trip. All of this has been made possible by a fantastic charity called Mission Direct. They work in 11 different countries building with bricks and mortar and with God in people's hearts. The trip we are going on is to a town called Rukungiri, Mission Direct have done lots of work there already building schools, boring water holes, and now they have a new project. The mainstream primary school is amazing, it has a class especially for deaf children and it is giving the children a future but there are a group of children missing out. Disabled children. They have no opportunity to learn, that is until now. A and I will be going with a team of 18 others to help build an extension onto the existing school just for disabled children. They too will soon have the chance to learn and a better future too.

As you may have guessed with the list of diagnosis our children have, helping others with disabilities is something very close to our hearts. We have been so amazingly blessed by God with this opportunity to not only build buildings with physical materials but also help build his kingdom too. If you are reading this and would like to know how you could support Chipman and I as we embark on our adventure then I would love to ask that if you are the praying kind that you pray for our family, the team going and also the staff team who will be in Uganda organising everything for 4 months (they are all volunteers which I think is amazing).

For our family in particular I would love Chipman to be surrounded by prayer for the change, having Aspergers means that he likes structure and routine to be the same, Uganda will be very different. Please pray that he can enjoy the time in Rukungiri and grow and give to the best of his ability. For me I would love prayer for patience, dealing with Chipman on my own without my husband especially on a long flight will be demanding. Please pray for all of our team that vaccination plans, fundraising and practical preparations go smoothly. Please also pray that we are quick at learning how to lay bricks and are given opportunities to share God's love with those we meet.

 

Keep checking back to see what is happening on our journey to Rukungiri!