Saturday 11th July - Farewell Uganda!

Well, here we are, enjoying our final day in the beautiful country of Uganda.

Before I begin this final blog post I would like to add that the staff beat the students 20 - 8 in a Tag Rugby game during this morning. This was a very professional and decisive victory which was thoroughly enjoyed by the child spectators from the Kids of Africa (KOA) orphanage.

Today has been generally relaxing, allowing the Welling team to spend a last few hours with the children and staff from the orphanage. This has been the most amazing place! We have been thoroughly looked after and spoilt by our hosts and our students have been referring to their wonderful housekeepers as their African 'Mothers'.

After the emotional farewells, the team were treated to another day by the pool at a hotel near Entebbe Airport followed by a 'climatisation' meal of Pizza at a nearby restaurant.

How do I begin summarising this experience? When we landed in Uganda on day 1 in the middle of the night, there was a real air of apprehension as many of the team wondered what lay ahead for them.

The first week in the town of Jinja, the source of the Nile, was a baptism of fire for the team. The coaching began almost immediately and it was the end of the first day's session that everyone had realised how special this time in Uganda would be. Day after day, the team coached Tag Rugby to schools of up to 120 smiling and enthusiastic students who began to form an emotional bond with the Welling students.

The Jinja Backpackers lodge, which provided our accommodation during that first week, was a perfect environment to really appreciate life in the country. Power cuts and lack of water were frequent, but the positiveness of the students never wavered.

The Jinja tournament, at the end of week 1,  highlighted to all our students just how far they had brought on their children through the coaching sessions. The ability level was impressive and the Welling students were all completely focused on winning the competiton with their own team. The winning team was managed by James, Jasemine L and Kayleigh. Their team had beaten the 'hot' favourites which were managed by Christian, Jasemine S and Amy. It was an experience that we all thought could never be bettered. We were all to be proven wrong!

The following day, the team went on a rafting adventure down the ancient river Nile. Split between two rafts, the team made it through Rapids that were classed as Grade 5 as well as noting the beautiful natural scenery that the great river had to offer. An amazing experience.

Week 2 began with an excruciating transfer to Entebbe , which consisted of being in solid traffic for just over 4 hours. The driving skills of many of the local people kept the team highly amped throughout!!!!

Arriving at the Kids of Africa orphanage , the team were faced with a completely new experience to the previous week. Gone was the Backpackers Lodge, with our most helpful host 'Suz', which allowed time to let of steam and relax during the evenings. At KOA, the Welling students shared the accommodation with the orphaned children and their housekeepers or 'Mothers'. Before long, our students were part of each family and loved spending time with their adopted brothers an sisters. The compound was the most beautiful environment, hugging the shores of Lake Victoria. This was a far cry from the obvious poverty that was encountered in the surrounding villages.

Once again, the students went out at early each morning to meet with their school and coach Tag Rugby. Tag Rugby in Entebbe was at a developmental stage compared to what the team had experienced in Jinja. There was, therefore, a huge responsibility on the part of the Welling School students to continue to motivate the local community to take up this new type of sport. By the end of the week, the whole community were taken in by the commitment and enthusiasm of our students. The way they had adapted their leadership skills from what they developed during the Jinja phase was impressive to even the most experience of teachers.

Then came the Entebbe tournament at the end of week 2. Far more slick and effecient thanks to our local coach , Fortunate, who spent hours of preparation to ensure that the tournament ran smoothly. With the PA system blaring out music from 8.30 am, the tournament began with a huge wave of energy from the Welling students, the players and the supporters. The atmosphere intensified as the day went on. All over the ground, people sang and danced as well as cheering their teams with wild affection. Brandon and Molly's team came out as eventual winners and lifted the trophy for the Welling/Entebbe Tag Rugby Tournament. 

The celebrations then exploded as the spectators ran onto the pitch and joined the coaches and players in a wild hour of dancing and singing. It would be difficult to explain the experience but we all agreed that it was something that would stay with us all forever.

An amazing and life changing 2 weeks. We are all ready to go home to be with our families and friends , who have been sorely missed. But the times we have spent here in this most amazing of countries will  affect us all in many ways for the rest of our lives. To experience the friendliness of the local people who  struggled with life in poverty stricken areas was truly humbling. Their constant smiles and laughter has taught us all a valuable lesson in life. The natural beauty of the country, the challenge of rafting the Nile and living within local communities were experiences that will make these weeks so memorable.

But above all else, the real memories from this trip, for us as staff, was to see our young Welling students, grow up in front of our eyes over a very short time. The expectations and demands that was put upon them, the long days and hot sun, the constant dust which coloured all their clothing tested them to limits that they had never reached before. They truly rose to the challenge and are leaving here as better human beings with an adjusted outlook on life.

Before we complete this blog, there are a number of people we would like to thank:-

The staff and pupils at Welling school

The Tag Rugby Trust and our Tour Leader, Michael Breen,

The families of our Welling team who have been a pillar of support

The individuals and organisations who have helped us to reach our fundraising total

The wonderful people of Uganda.

Thank you for following our blog.

We're coming home!

Wednesday 8th July- the best blog 👍🏻

The day started like the beginning of the week and the day before with Abbie waking me and Sam up after a very long and nice sleep (-Sam's snoring). We all sat down for breakfast all exhausted some more than others however we still knew we had a job to do, with coaching not getting off to a good start with some teams not turning up. 

As we all boarded the bus Mollie also got on as she was not too well and did not want to walk. We got to the first place dropping just Mollie off on her own to be sorrouneded by all her kids. After we all sat on the bus and enjoyed the roller coaster ride till Kids of Africa school where me and my group got off to enjoy our amazing view off lake Victoria and the facilities surrounding us. As we arrived we realised quickly there was a football and netball tournament going on which meant I lost some of my players as well as the space we had to train. Jazmine's group turned up again, however Scott's did not so he just joined in and helped out Jazmine's team. 

After much consideration I was already able to tell my 10 that They were chosen for my team. Even though I lost half my team to football and netball. Jazmine was unhappy with her team as at the break they decided to run off and play netball and also hide the equipment which angered her as she turned into the Hulk to chase them down. Meanwhile this was happening Mr Loizou  forgot the fatal rule about sleeping at my school as I tipped water down his head to wake him up. On this day we had to end a little early due to the number of players. 

After lunch we headed out to the community project which went very well as we are so close to completing it with only one day remaining. As we arrived at the shop where we all had a cold refreshing drink 6 of us boys decided we were going to play the teachers at volleyball after a little friendly bet which Robert agreed on our behalf,  even though none of the other boys agreed. So as we all walked back we were all discussing tactics on how you could beat them even though we did have youth on our side! 

Me and Sam decided to have a little nap when we got back as everyone else decided to play with the kids. At dinner I decided to taunt the teachers in the spirit of the game,  making them feel as if they had no chance to win. Obviously they were never going to because of their lack of youthfulness in their side 🌚. 

After dinner we were all treated to entertainment from the kids from Kids Of Africa with some great dancing. Obviously some of my team were involved as they were the best........... of course!

Thank you for reading the best blog post!

Aaron Pye 😏

Thursday 9th July: Pre tournament day

Today was the last day of training with our schools before the second tournament of the tour which is taking place at the orphanage where we are staying . Twenty children in each team had to be whittled down to ten,which involved some difficult conversations with those not selected.Brandon is confident he has a winning team.Most of the children being coached this week have not played tag before, so to get them to participate in a tournament within a week is a tremendous achievement for all the students .

The community project finished today with much pomp and ceremony.Having completed the construction of the extra classroom and painted the front and side we arrived today and were asked by the headteacher to paint the rear of it which is not visible from the road.We declined and instead painted the front of the main school building which IS visible from the road. Amy and Olivia had spent a couple of days designing and painting a new school sign. A kit bag of tag rugby kit was handed to the headteacher who then ceremoniously cut a ribbon (which mysteriously appeared from Miss Faragher' s rucksack)band thanked everyone for their hard work over the week. I am positive that everyone thoroughly enjoyed their time on this project and the before and after photos are very impressive.

The light hearted banter between students and staff which had gone on all tour reached a climax this evening with the students taking on teachers and adult volunteers in a game of volleyball. Much hype preceded the game with Aaron being particular vocal in his prematch confidence.Mr Brown had analysed the opposition in great detail and came to the conclusion that the teachers had the edge. Aaron was targeted as a possible weak link but played well throughout. Regretably the teachers put in a shocking performance and lost 2-0. The students were cock- a - hoop and Miss Faragher is

looking into booking some volleyball lessons! Injury prone Mr Loziou (finger nail and toe nail) survived the encounter without further incident! 

The evening finished with a meal with our host families (consisting of a mother and 9 or 10 children of various ages). It was a delightful experience with the children gradually growing in confidence as the evening progressed. It finished with all the children singing a medley of gospel songs- truly memorable.

Tournament day tomorrow - bring it on , good luck Brandon.

Richard Orpin

Tuesday 7th July - Day 2 of coaching in Entebbe & community project

Today mine and my friends start to the day was a rush as breakfast was being served as we woke up at 7.30. We finally reached breakfast 20 minutes late where we joined the whole group; with faces full of disappointment from the teachers due to our lateness. 

Luckily today all the schools turned up for training in my group unlike yesterday, although Jasmine L's group was rather late. The children picked up the rules of the games more quickly than yesterday and the coaching went more smoothly. After a long morning of coaching we arrived back to kids of Africa to sunbathe on the top terrace before we went to continue our community work at a local primary school.

When we arrived to the school, the boys took the job continuing to build the classroom alongside Mr Brown whilst some of us continued to paint the already existing classrooms and help teach; while our photographs were being constantly taken by Mr Loizou.          

                                             

 After our 2 hours of work we walked into town to get a drink then the boys set off to find some nails for tomorrow's building work. After 20 minutes of walking they turn back round to find out the shop was only 2 minutes away from where they started. 

Love from Mollie 👸🏼 ft Aaron🐷🐽

Saturday 4th July: Rafting day

So then, hello everybody and apologies for the past blogs not going up as well as this one due to the Ugandan internet connection.

Today myself and the team went White Water Rafting down the Nile. Throughout the 12km there were many scared faces and loud screams. Everyone participated in the rafting but we had to go out in two different boats so we arranged ourselves into two groups consisting of the hardcore adrenaline junkies and the not so hard core. After experiencing the rapids some people decided it was not for them and aborted to get on to the safety boat which took the calm and soft water and was controlled by one of the instructors. The people on this boat were known as the 'Melts' (someone who is sacred, for those who do not know what a melt is). Overall I think we all agreed that the day was 'river  SAVAGE' and such an amazing experience for all of us as none of us have got a past experience which compares to White Water Rafting down the Nile which is the biggest river in the world. We also flipped the boat and swallowed what felt like half the Nile.

After rafting we went to watch our local volunteer helpers play contact rugby against a local team which was a very different and messy experience. To get to and from the pitch we had to cross a water logged field which most people were not prepared for as they came in flip flops and ended up bare foot with mud covering half of their legs and resulted in a piggy back ride for Mollie to keep nice and clean. The game was full on contact and showed us a different side to our volunteers that we have not seen before and we noticed that they were pretty good despite losing. Besides the watery and muddy experience from the day we certainly did enjoy it, sleeping the whole way back to backpackers. We then settled down with cold showers to cool our red thighs from the sun, and sat around together talking about the day. 

Amazing photos and video footage ( Go Pro scene of a group being flipped by a huge wave!) to follow.

Sweet as a nut

James.

Sunday 5th July: transfer day

Today consisted of a 6 hour, hair raising journey where we passed closely to a man carrying many chickens, a donkey, cows, goats and general manic roads. The distance was 75 km and we were all very hot. Christian had a hair raising experience where a man touched his arm which was hanging out the bus. He screamed only to find out it was a member of the Tag Rugby trust. We arrived at the Kids of Africa oasis orphanage around 4pm, eaten two meals, met our houses where we were staying and hit the sack!

Monday 6th July: Kids of Africa

Hello everyone, it's Robert blogging today.

Today has been the first morning in Kids of Africa (an orphanage for many young Ugandan children that have been abandoned) and has been a fairly good start. Many of us were woken early ( 5:30am to be precise ) by the children who were preparing to go to school. We all had a lovely breakfast at 7:30am which consisted of sausages, buttered bread, cereal, and much more.

Our team was split into 3 groups for the day, my group of 7 were to teach 5 schools, another group took 3 and the last took 2 schools. The trip to our training ground started well but we had to stop because of an unknown issue with the tag rugby equipment being mixed up, while Mike sorted the issue we proceeded to the field and found 2 schools ready and waiting. Eventually my school turned up (African time) however, it was the football team not the tag rugby team so for a while we all teamed up to teach the other 2 schools.

Eventually all 5 schools turned up and we all pitched in, our main focus today was to familiarise the children with the warm up games we play (bulldog, stuck in the mud, netball rugby, etc...) so that the specific skills of tag rugby can be introduced through fun games rather than drills and lessons.

After a good morning session (and a small water fight between Mr Brown and Mike) we all headed back to Kids of Africa for lunch and rest. Lunch consisted of water, coke, rice, soup, banana's, spaghetti with sauce and good English tea ( I love a good cup of tea ).

Around 2pm we all walked to the school that we were helping to improve and make better for the staff and children. The staff spoke to the acting head teacher and we were split into three groups: 1 group did construction of another classroom, 1 group painted the outside walls a beautiful sky colour, and the last group (my group) helped the children in their classes.

Jasmine L helped a class with R.E (Religious Education), Brandon and Amy helped with English while Olivia and me helped a class learn History, in Arabic (which we both understood of course)!

Soon though we went outside to work, I helped paint and Olivia helped in the other class, painting went by quicker than I expected but the heat was very nasty, when I took my latex gloves my hands and the gloves were soaked in sweat ( good job I planned a shower later )!

We finished around 4 and took a quick trip into the local shops for food and soft drinks. See the pics below, it's not your average high street. We returned around 5pm to Kids of Africa and played football and jumped on the trampoline with the kids before leaving for dinner and our evening talk with the teachers. We then played games and read in our respective orphanage houses.

All in all our first day felt very promising and I feel that the tournament day on Friday will go very well, and my team will win.

Thanks for reading everyone, this is Robert Conner signing out.

Peace.

Friday 3rd July: Tournament Day

(Currently writing this mostly in a blackout)

ST. GONZAGA! ST. GONZAGA! (And Jinja SDA)

After the long training week, the tournament had arrived, and obviously the team that was coached by James, Jasmine and myself won! Even though I think us coaches were more savage than our teams!

It kicked off to a bit of a late start as even the home school (and our winners in the end) hadn't arrived by half 9! Jasmine and me had to wait (impatiently) for the whole school to get out of church before robbing our ten players for the match to get them all kitted up, Tag Rugby Trust style. All eighty of our picked teams looked amazing in their kits and were ready to tear the pitch up! After getting them warmed up and excited by making them dance and cheer, it kicked off and the atmosphere was continuous until the end! 

It all went smoothly and saying goodbye did break my heart a bit and seeing the children in a state about us leaving was beautiful, however, I think we all refrained from being crying (except Christian). If I'm honest, the love spread from the children made me feel at home and the one girl that really touched me was Usela, my little friend from Jinja SDA, she broke down in tears as I said goodbye and to not cry watching and hugging her was a challenge. Also, I was astonished by the strength in a girl from Methodist, who could pick me up, spin me around and then pick Sam up, and for anyone who's seen Sam, that's impressive! 

When all of the tournament was wrapped up and we presented St. Gonzage their well-deserved trophy. We celebrated with a nice hour of quad biking through some traditional Ugandan villages on the bank of the Nile, and although some of the sights were heart-breaking, everyone was covered in mud (and possibly crops, for some). It was an amazing experience and our stop off for water and a quick look at some drowning boats and the Nile was breathtaking, and the guide even made us jump for a little cute picture. The riding, except for the loss of control, was exhilarating and something I'd love to do (and probably everyone else) through all different places. 

The day did not end there... We invited our young leaders to a spit roast dinner back at our accommodation where we played darts, chatted and learnt about the Ugandan culture a bit more. After another blackout and a 40 minute torrential downpour we returned to normal. As expected we were all shattered after an amazing day where both the kids and students of Welling school shone, once again above and beyond our expectations.

Kay 

Thursday 2nd July: Day 4 Training

Mulymunta ("greetings" in Ugandan) parents/carers and followers of the Uganda Team! 

Today was, again, absolutely brilliant, and a tad emotional. After 3 days of training, today was our last session. Today was the day we had to whittle our teams down from 40 to 10 for our tournament tomorrow.

The day started, as usual with a 6:50 alarm wake up, followed by a breakfast consisting of fresh fruits, cereal, toast and a treat of scrambled eggs. We then arrived at our schools, mine being Jinja Army Boarding School and Jinja Police Primary for 09:00am to start the final session of our training. (this is Christian writing this post by the way, hi mum and dad)

In the morning I had Jinja Army who had been progressing so much over the week. You really do build relationships with the children you teach, for me, especially with a boy called Arron. On Monday I couldn't get a word out of him, but session after session he slowly became a leader and potential captain for the team for the tournament. Last night, Jazmine, Amy and I made a list of 18 names that could potentially make the team, which needed 5 boys and 5 girls. However, during this session everyone stepped up their game and it made our decision incredibly hard. A couple of long stories short, it came to the end of the session and we had to announce the team. Jaz, Amy and myself had two volunteer workers called Yusuf and Bashir who helped us choose the final 10. After fighting for a place for Arron, the group decision meant he would have to watch from the sidelines. This decision was one of the toughest things I have ever had to do, and I even shed a little tear, however he was still enthusiastic in supporting his school and I'm sure he will be at the games tomorrow in full spirit. 

Onto the afternoon session, and this was a lot easier. We had Jinja Police Primary, the team I am managing tomorrow. There were 5 or 6 stand out players, both boys and girls, that had caught my eye from the first session. Each day, we had separated them from the rest and worked harder on them and been a lot harsher with the rules and regulations. It definitely worked as they now play amazingly as a team and I am super excited to see how they perform in the actual competition tomorrow morning. 

In the evening, we took a stroll through the Ugandan markets where a few of the boys purchased a Uganda football shirt, and Kayleigh bought a traditional African dress. It was a strange but great experience, as well as visiting the food markets where I tried a fried grasshopper which was surprisingly not as bad as I imagined. Mr Brown has had three pieces of toast, two bananas oh and the surprise was he ate a Rolex!

But anyway, I am going to finish this post (essay) here, as we all need to get to sleep for an early start in the morning to prepare for the Tag Rugby Tournament. It is going to be a fantastic day, and I'm sure tomorrow's blog post we fill you all in with the events that took place. 

COME ON JINJA POLICE!!

This is Christian writing this blog. Hello family and Amelia!! ❤️

Wednesday 1st July: Day 3 in Uganda- Big session today

Today we had our third day of training and after having to cut a huge 120 students down to only 40 for today in my group (Sam's) it was finally starting to take shape, where children could fully play tag rugby without much intervention. Very confident ahead of the tournament on Friday where without a doubt we will win :D There were many other stories which involved me and Christian attempting to teach each of our schools various dances such as 'the whip' and the 'nae nae', resulting in some pretty funny videos! (Feel free to google those dances if you haven't got a clue what I am on about).

Meanwhile, Aaron spent his whole day in bed and had to do a stint  back at camp and recover from his illness (sore throat) and after a day of rest he was back on form. He even stole a couple of towels from the showers whilst various members of the group were showering. Mr Loizou wasn't happy and suggested that he doesn't stay at base again! Furthermore Molly realised she misplaced her money in a local cafe three days earlier! This has now been replaced. Mr Brown has had two slices of toast and a banana today! Lasagne is on its way for dinner.

Sam's group, Me (Brandon), Molly, Scott and Sam, visited our second school after picking up Aaron's group and a Rolex stop-off. A Rolex is just rolled eggs (omelette, tomatoes & chipatti) we

were pretty exhausted as by then as we had already spent the day at Kiira primary. This consisted of Scott, Sam and I performing bicep curls with 3 kids on each arm which we instantly realised can break your back. Meh👎🏻. Molly also got mobbed by a load of children and was dragged all around the field by children, fascinated by her hair. Meanwhile, Sam was told he looked like a woman😄 Needless to say we were absolutely shattered by the time we got on the coach but we were all buzzing for St Nicholas junior school to see what they had in store for us talent-wise. We had a nice training session teaching the kids and it was clear to see the potential in most and the improvement of all. After we were challenged with picking our final ten-man team... that of which we are still deciding on... I decided to distract myself from the pressure of deciding on a team so I made the wonderful mistake of forming an emotional connection with two boys, Ali and James. When I found out that they couldn't participate in the tournament on Friday due to their size, I was gutted. However, I knew that I had to be the one to let them know so I did. Watching their face drop hurt but what can you do? Well I'm not too sure what to expect for the next week and a half but we have quad biking on Friday after the tournament and white water rafting in the Nile on Saturday. I've already faced some challenges and learnt so much about myself and I honestly love how independently we run these training sessions and how independently we are actually living. I've already made strong bonds with everyone here and my confidence of in talking infront of people has gone up so much and i'm actually loving this. Oh and btw, hello family, I'm still alive :P peace! 

Sam, Scott and Brandon