12/2/2024 - Nearly there!!! Decorating day and lots of extras

Today the team headed back to NVI to continue the decorating. We all had a great laugh and managed to get ahead of the schedule with the decorating thanks to the help of an ex NVI student Isaac and the return of James and Brian (the current students mentioned in a previous blog post). It was so lovely getting to spend quality time with everyone and we really built a bond with each other. During a snack break (usually one of many) some members of the team spent time getting to chat to James and Brian. We learnt that James has a twin sister and he enjoyed talking to another twin on our team about this. The students then had some questions about the differences between Uganda and the UK. Getting to learn more about their culture was a real privilege.

The team then carried on with the decorating before we were joined by Edison, the director of NVI, for lunch. The team enjoyed the lunch, handmade by the catering students. To our surprise it was chicken burgers and chips on the menu, slightly different from what you’d expect from home and a first for us at NVI. A familiar face popped his face through the window while we were eating lunch - it was Paul, one of the catering students that waited on the team last year. The whole team were delighted to see Paul again and he assured us that he was doing well, happy and a regular visitor to NVI. This just goes to show how much the students love being at NVI and how grateful they are to study there.

After lunch the decorating continued before we washed the floor ready for it to be painted tomorrow. Some of the group chose to make the beautiful walk home and to take their time enjoying the view. Other, more energetic, members of the group decided to run all the way back to the hotel. They told us that they enjoyed it, although I don’t think all members of the group were convinced.

After showering and scrubbing all the paint off we went for dinner. We were joined by very special visitors - William and Ruby. William has been a close friend to members of the Ugandan team for over 20 years. The relationship the team has built with him and his daughter Ruby is incredibly special and the new members of the team were fascinated by his life story and how he came to adopt Ruby. Ruby had great fun laughing with everyone and she experimented by trying lots of British snacks such as Jammy Dodgers and Party Rings. If you’d like to know more about their story please read the previous blog post from the 20th of February 2023.