The Revd Tim Hall (St David's College), Revd Peter Marshall (Llangystenin Parish), Rachel Hall (St Thomas', Sheffield) and Robert Williams-Day (St David's College and St Giles, Wrexham)
Purpose:
Visiting Team:
The
Revd Tim Hall (St David's College), Revd Peter Marshall (Llangystenin
Parish), Rachel Hall (St Thomas', Sheffield) and Robert Williams-Day
(St David's College and St Giles, Wrexham)
Purpose:
To open the classrooms built by St David’s College in Katwe United School and to speak at their Speech Day.
To review last year’s visit by St David’s Pupils.
To plan for further visits.
To review John’s plans for the future.
To begin the process of a legal and financial framework for John’s work.
To investigate the possibilities of extending the work into Rwanda.
To introduce Robert Williams-Day at the start of his extended GAP stay.
To make a link between the Centre and a local church.
Tim
declares the new classrooms well and truly open.
Katwe United
School
This
school is in a shanty town in Kampala. It is the community in which
John was brought up and where he went to school until he was 14.
Pupils
at Katwe United School enjoy their new classrooms.
The visit was quite remarkable, with parents and friends filling the outside area and the children singing and dancing for hours on end. We arrived mid-way through at 12 noon and left before the end at 5 pm. The welcome as huge and the impact of the St David’s pupils last summer was extraordinary.
Amazing
happiness on the faces of the children.
2005
Visit
Clearly this had gone
exceptionally well. John and I examined safety issues at the
Centre – fire precautions, electricity, security – and
put procedures in place as required.
It was decided that all visitors should enjoy the local food and Annette and Sophie will provide all hospitality. Visitors will not be permitted to cook or provide their own food.
2006 Visit
The aim of this
visit will be to work in Katwe School, doing games, dance, and
creative activities with the children. The pupils will also be
given opportunities to explore the area and experience African
culture. The possibility of a period of time in Rwanda is also
being explored. The headmistress also welcomed the possibility
of 3rd year teacher training students from Leeds serving a two week
placement in Katwe School – there are tentative plans for the
placement to be in June 2006.
Artist’s
impression of the new accommodation unit at the Link Centre (by
Tobias Morris, St David’s College).
Future Plans
In order to cater for a greater flow of visitors to the Centre without displacing John’s young people and to be able to cater for wider age ranges and family visits, further accommodation is required. The land on the lower part of the site is liable and the building has started! £5000 would ensure the basic structure and roof being built and a further £5000 would enable the building to be functional by June 2006. I can see the possibility of raising £5000 by February and the rest will need some kind of sponsorship.
A ‘Toyota Taxi’ –
the sort of vehicle needed for the Link Centre.
We agreed to
launch a minibus appeal – our main concern is the safe
travel of visitors. Currently this happens by hired Taxis (see
picture!). These Toyota 15 seaters are often in a dire state of
repair with ‘mental’ drivers! I am concerned that
we are able to provide a vehicle in good state of repair and use a
regular driver employed by the Centre. The cost to purchase
such a vehicle newly imported from Japan is £7000. This
project would also be self-sustaining as the vehicle would be rented
with our own driver to churches and other Christian visitors to
Kampala.
The vision has always been to
extend the work into Rwanda and our dream is to have a Centre
on the Kampala model in Kigali within 3 years. We were able to
spend some time in Rwanda and share John’s grief with him over
the loss of his brothers in the conflict leading to the genocide in
1994. this experience was deeply moving. A remarkable
meeting took place whilst we were in Rwanda – a close advisor
to the President’s came to meet us at our hotel and we were
able to discuss John’s personal plans for his involvement in
the rebuilding of his country as well as the work of the Link.
The Trust
John and I were
able to begin work on a Trust document with a lawyer in Kampala –
another of John’s faithful supporters. With superb legal
advice we were able to finalise a signed and witnessed statement of
intention for the Trust, which will be formed in the UK and
registered in Uganda and then Rwanda. Given support and the
necessary advice and expertise we are hoping to have the Trust
established within the next 6 months.
Robert Williams-Day and Rachael
Mukunde with Tim and John
(Rachel and Robert have just dug the
first turf for the new accommodation unit
as a symbol of young
people across the world uniting together to plan for the future of
their world).
Robert
Williams-Day
We were thrilled to have Robert with us and
he demonstrated remarkable skills at integrating young people at the
Centre (Robert and Rachel Mukunde cut the turf together for the new
building – see photograph). He will be thrown fully into
the new building project as well as helping in the Sunday School at
St Luke’s Ntinda, and being fully part of their youth group.
Robert is planning to stay for another 4 months.
Tim speaks to the youth at St Luke’s Church, Ntinda.
The Local
Church and the Centre
I am very
hopeful that Robert’s link with St Luke’s will generate a
permanent link between the Centre and the Church and future visitors
to the Centre. During our stay at the Centre we were privileged
to speak at St Luke’s Church as well as to their young people’s
group ( see photograph). It was also very exciting to spend a
day with Pastor Sarah in another shanty town area of Kampala and
spend the morning running a children’s programme and the
afternoon with the adult church. On a wider sphere we were able
to spend an overnight stay in a remote subsistence village of N’gara
in the Kigezi Diocese. We visited the new Cathedral of Kigezi
and spoke in the Church at N’gara and took the school
assembly. This visit made a lasting impression and I am sure
has set up opportunities for further visits.
Robert
is welcomed into St Luke's Youth Group 
Kigezi Cathedral
The
Church at N'gara
And
finally - a very special moment
One
remarkable moment was our visit to John’s mum’s home in
Kitintale. This is a typical shanty town, noisy, open sewers,
deeply rutted unmade roads, and a mixture of the poorest shacks and
some self-help improved homes. We drove through the noise and
heat and dust of the shanty and turned a corner, in front of us was a
steel gate.
The
beautiful compound and buildings John built for his mother which he
began to build as a 17 year old!
We walked though into a haven of peace, cleanliness and order (see photograph). This was the compound John built for his mother in 1993 when he was just 17 years old and staying with us at St David’s College. He had been worried about his mother’s health and security while he studied here in the UK. We raised a little money and sent John home one holiday to find somewhere for his mum to live – he bought the land and built this amazing haven within her shanty town. The tiny thing we thought we were doing for John at that time had the most amazing impact – this small act gave this gracious lady (who is a refugee and does not read or write) not just a home but a life and dignity. And there is more!
John’s
mother hosts the team on the porch outside her room.
The
compound has several buildings that John has built and John’s
mother could live in a lovely little bungalow but she doesn’t.
She shares one tiny room 8’x 8’ with a 15 year old boy,
Abdul. Abdul is an aids orphan and with the money she has from
renting the other accommodation in the compound she feeds them both
and enables Abdul to go to school.
Thank
you all so much for your prayer and support, so much was achieved
during this short visit to Africa and so many people were
encouraged. The impact on us was massive, too!
Blessings,
Tim
Email:
revtimhall@stdavidscollege.co.uk
Link
to the 2005 Visit
Link
to the 2006 Review
15+/Mission
House Link
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