Not an Easy Start!

Adapting to life as a family of 4 has been challenging at times, not least for Noah, whose first act in greeting his new sister, Emily, was to give her a hearty slap in the face! We do wonder whether people who post adorable photos of their toddlers tenderly holding their newly born siblings have been using the powers of photoshop (or perhaps even behaviour enhancing drugs), as it took us all of 13 weeks to finally get the photo below of Noah actually showing some sort of affection to his sister! Thankfully since then things have steadily improved and he is finally on his way to becoming a very loving big brother!

It was great to spend time with family whilst in the UK and whilst it was not always easy, Noah in particular testing our powers of patience, there were also many moments to treasure.

Sarah continued to show her mixed abilities when it comes to her hairdressing talents. Thankfully she has moved well beyond her inauspicious beginnings which left Tim looking like Jim Carry from ‘Dumb and Dumber’, but still managed to leave Noah with a sizable bald patch on the left side of his head, when accidently using the wrong setting on the clippers (3mm instead of 13mm!). Still, a dodgy haircut or two is par for the course when it comes to toddlers!

Whist Sarah may be accused of negligent hairdressing, Tim may be accused of worse as it was on his watch during a function whilst in the States that Noah sneakily chugged someone’s cup of vino before announcing that he would like some ‘more special water please!’

Emily has played her part as well, including her most prodigious guffs (to which Noah will announce “Emily did a BIIIIIG fartie!”) and a wondrous 7 day poo amnesty (I’m sure you can all guess how that ended!).  

 

Our return to Uganda in August was not the easiest of transitions. Arriving back to a dirty house, a car that wouldn’t start and an empty water tank may have had more than a little to do with Sarah announcing on the very first day that she was getting on a plane and going straight back home! Things then got even more challenging as we discovered a poisonous snake in the house, just a meter from where Emily had been lying on the floor. 

Enter Katende and Tim with sticks to give it a good battering and after that our trusty farm manager Stephen (usefully formerly a pest controller) to come and spray the house, requiring us to move out for a night. 

Stephen strikes his best Winston Zeddemore
pose as he prepares to vanquish snakes!

Thankfully it has got a little easier, although the fact that this month’s water bill is just 85 pence gives you an idea of just how little water we’ve had to survive on this first month back!

We are all getting back into the swing of things, Sarah picking up things on what has been a VERY busy Baby Unit as well as taking on River of Life communications (Facebook and Blog - do take a look!), Tim preparing for a new season at Synergy, Noah settling back into playgroup and Emily doing her best to make her presence felt with squawks, screeches, giggles and of course BIIIIIG farties!

As the ever-expanding Crow Clan we ready ourselves for another year in Uganda and look forward to what God has in store!   

Labour, truly a Fiat of endurance!!

They say that good things come to those who wait... But beware... Sometimes you can wait too long. For example if you delay going to the hospital when in labour. Although in fact, we went to the hospital alright, to be told to go home as nothing was happening. An hour later, we were careering back in our fiat punto, after sarah felt the urge to push whilst lying in our bed at home!! By the time we got there, the baby's head was out, but luckily Sarah's tights kept the baby off the car floor, and then a midwife dashed out and delivered the rest of baby Emily Mirembe Crow! Within 10 seconds, sarah had turned to Tim and said: "oh well, at least it's good for the blog!". Nice to see we have our priorities right! Mama & baby well... Fiat punto less so. 

On a completely unrelated topic, we have a high quality item to sell - the front passenger seat of a Fiat Punto, nearly mint condition, slight (ahem) discolouration, giving it an original and quirky appearance. Viewing really not necessary!

Still Waiting...

We’ve now been back in the UK for a month and are, quite frankly, getting fairly keen to meet our new arrival, but no sign as yet (due date has now come and gone).  So I’m afraid this is the visual that the world is having to endure…

DOWN ON THE BABY UNIT...

Sometimes a bit of encouragement can go a long way in our Baby Unit, so when Juliet was struggling to see a future with her tiny new arrival, who had been born in poor condition (APGARS 1 +3, at one and five minutes respectively), and weighing just 860g, Cathy decided to ask Babirye to come, with her baby Grace (who you will remember was born at 820g), to encourage Juliet.  Well it’s been quite a few weeks since then, and Juliet’s little baby Pamela has been at home a couple of weeks, and is doing very well indeed! 

We’ve also seen a bit of what can only be miraculous healing, for a little baby Kellen.  This little fellow had experienced difficulties during his birth, and had had convulsions since (though these had stopped with medication).  In addition, he was continually oxygen dependent with intermittent low oxygen levels despite high flow oxygen, for no obvious reason (no heart murmurs, chest sounded ok etc).  Things were not looking good.  Well, I think it must have been prayer, because a week after he was transferred by ambulance to Kampala (sent for further investigation), he was off oxygen, breast-feeding well, and was even sent home (all the investigations having been ok).  Apparently his parents had been continually praying for a miracle, and a miracle is what they got!

SYNERGY CLOSE IN ON BIG LEAGUE SURVIVAL

It has been quite a turn around since Christmas when Synergy FC looked sure candidates for relegation from Big League. An excellent run has seen us win 5, draw 1 and lose only 1, pushing up to 4th in the table with even a possibility of reaching the play offs! Considering the challenges we have had to overcome and the fact that this is only our first season in Uganda's second tier, it is a great  achievement! We have also managed to gain 30 new scholarships for Synergy players for 2015, taking the total to 80 players who now have educational opportunities they would otherwise have lacked. 

Madi, first Synergy player to be
signed by Super League Club!

And Synergy has also reached another exciting milestone: the first signing of a Synergy player to a Super League Club (top division in Uganda) Madi, a player we started working with when Synergy first began, has been signed by SC Villa, one of Uganda's top clubs. What is even better is that they have loaned him straight back to Synergy as they are happy with the way he is developing with us. That means he is getting paid by Villa, but he is still playing for us, until they feel he is ready to move to their senior squad, either next season or in 2016/17. Awesome!

And on a final note...

...being people that are always looking for ways to save a bit of dosh, we have come up with a novel way of transportation that overcomes the high price of petrol in Uganda. The only problem is that Noah loves it so much it is something we are having to continue here in the UK (albeit just round the back garden!)

Football is great but....

...there are much more important things in life! As I reflect on my beloved Spurs failing in their attempt to overcome Chelsea in this years League Cup final I have also been thinking about Synergy, and the task ahead. And the truth is that our task goes well beyond what happens on the pitch.

I have often talked about the on-pitch struggles and successes of Synergy, but to focus just on football would be a misrepresentation of what we are really about. At Synergy we love football, but that is just one facet of what we do. Football is the point of contact which gives us an opportunity to get along side young people who, for the most part, have little experience of church, and would normally be unlikely to think about ever going.

Firstly football gives us that opportunity to broaden their horizons and opportunities. That includes 50 Synergy players this year, whose talents have enabled us to find bursaries for their education, from primary right up to university level. For some players this means lightening the financial load on their already overstretched parents and enabling them to attend better schools than they would otherwise be able to afford. But for many others it goes beyond that; for them it’s the difference between educational opportunity and no education at all.

Take John as an example, his single parent is desperately poor to the point that even though he has a bursary, his parent is not even able to provide the other school requirements beyond school fees that his bursary covers, such as a uniform and books. Despite our limited funds, we do our best to provide these requirements where parents have no way to meet them, ensuring that the offer of a bursary doesn’t go to waste for the want of money for a uniform.

Secondly football gives us a chance to speak into their lives, not just on matters of a sporting nature, but through lessons for their wider lives. Take 2 of our senior first team players, David and Paul, who have recently become fathers. The small match day allowance they receive from Synergy for being Big League players certainly helps in some small way, but perhaps more valuable than that is the continued life skills and mentoring they receive that is challenging them to be the good fathers that this nation so dearly needs.

Or then there is Tony whose poor decision-making led to problems with alcohol resulting in him being thrown out by his parents. The mentoring and discipleship that Synergy provides has helped Tony get his life back on track, sobering up, changing his behaviour and bringing reconciliation with his parents. Time and again, we have been thanked by grateful parents and teachers who have seen the work of Synergy bring about real change in our players attitudes and behaviour.

Whilst trophies and titles are great, they are not the measure of our success. It is the stories and testimonies such as those above that is what really matters, and what Synergy is all about.

If you would like to support us in what we are doing, we are in real need of monthly sponsors, so please do get in touch!

And on another note, some new staff for the Baby Unit…

Good things come to those that wait – after months (really, about five to six months) of waiting, frustration, and yes tears (on Sarah’s part – God (and most other people) knows she’s a cry-baby!), we are now (whisper it) fully staffed on the baby unit.  Yes, we can’t believe it either!

OH… No…. wait for it…. Now we’re not fully staffed anymore…. The new member of staff has had to go back to school to retake an exam.  Frustrating?  You think?????  It’s like a roller coaster!

Anyway, now once again we’ve been provided with another staff member, so now once again, we’re fully staffed, and Sarah is doing training *again* today – not a thing that she greatly relishes, in view of her ever-increasing girth and general discomfort.

Assisting her in training will be head nurse Cathy, so that, should any staff leave during Sarah’s absence, it will be no challenge for Cathy to whip out her new baby unit computer (kindly donated by one of you!) and train up any new staff!

Of course no story about the Baby Unit would be complete without a cute picture of a ex-tiny baby, now chubby and healthy.  Here’s Baby Wasswa (who featured in our mid-November blog).  His little sis died very soon after birth, but Wasswa did well, despite his tiny size.  And now look at him – not so tiny anymore!  Time for some exercise, m’boy!

Waswa as he left the Unit

Waswa Today!

Salt & Light!

Here at Synergy, after the joys of Christmas, we are focussed on the start of the second half of our Big League campaign which will kick off again next month.

As I reflect on 2014, and in particular on the first half of our season there are many things that spring to mind.

Perhaps the main one is a question that troubles me: In a football system so lacking in integrity, how can we begin to make changes that will really make a difference?

I have been involved in football in Uganda long enough to have experienced first hand the corruption that is a cancer destroying the ‘beautiful game.’ There is a very good reason that Uganda has failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations since 1978, and it’s not because of lack of talent! Whilst there may be a number of contributing factors, lack of integrity, in my view, stands atop the list.

I have more than once reflected on the poor example that comes from above (just see the scandals surrounding FIFA – the world governing body) and how this no doubt fuels the lack of interest in change here in African nations like Uganda when it comes to finding a better, more honest way forward. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, there are too many people who are far more interested in lining their own pockets than in developing the young talented youngsters of this nation.

On the pitch our season so far has been one of missed opportunities, tough lessons, learning to cope with failure, and allowing it to shape our character as a team and as individuals. However, it is also a story of deep frustration as we see inconsistent rule application, poor organisation, and at times, ludicrous refereeing that stinks of bribery.

Some might say that this is the rant of a coach who looks at his team’s lowly position in the table (we currently stand 3rd from bottom) and is trying to find excuses. But the truth is that I am much less concerned with our position in any table than I am about the example being set for our young sportsmen and women and the lessons they are learning.

At Synergy we are trying to help young people reach their potential, not only on the sports field but in their wider lives. A massive part of that is helping build the right attitude and conduct of which integrity is key. But in a system where honesty gains little reward, and instead bribery, back scratching and political manoeuvrings are the recipe for ‘success’ where do we start?

The only place we can really start is with ourselves; to be the change we want to see. Jesus calls us to be salt and light, to be living examples in order to bring change from the ground up. And so as we begin 2015 the main message I will be communicating to all our players is to be a beacon of light in a system that is shrouded in darkness. It may not bring the worldly success that so many others are happy to sacrifice their integrity for, but it will bring the kind of success that matters most!

The reality come season’s end may well be relegation, but at least we will face that with a clear conscience, whilst others will know that their success has been bought, not earned. 

If and when that time comes, we will stand upon Proverbs 10:9 which says, ‘whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.’

A Light Christmas after all!

As you may know from our last blog, Christmas Eve was spent enjoying the peaceful serenity of a power cut – and it made us feel all the more special in that it was only affecting our house and one other.  So Christmas morning dawned… a dark and rainy morning, so much so that lights would have been necessary even in daytime.  

That morning we headed off with some meat to put in the freezer, and a bucket of stinking nappies to wash at some friends’ house, plus our LED “emergency” lights to charge (which in fact Sarah forgot to bring!). 

On arriving, we discovered a totally flat rear tyre, with a nail deeply embedded (so our Christmas Day was so Christmassy, we even missed church – although Noah had great fun playing with a raft of toys at our friends’ house).  Not a good start.  Moreover, when Tim tried to take the spare tyre off, he discovered that one of the securing nuts wasn’t compatible with the wrench he had, prompting a few choice words, and a trip to another friend who obliged with a tool kit. 

However, despite this, we had a brilliant Christmas!  The cooking was mastered with the help of a BBQ, gas hobs, and a 30m extension cable routed from a neighbour’s house so that we could at least have roast potatoes, stuffing and broccoli cheese.  And just as we sat down to eat, BAM….. the power returned!!!!!  This HAS to be a miracle, so we thank the many people who told us they were praying.  We didn’t even think to pray such a preposterous thing…. But it turns out that for a God who can inhabit the earth as a human, turn water into wine, heal the blind, and walk on water, fixing the power in Bwala on a public holiday is also not beyond Him! Hallelujah! 

We had cunningly decided to put Noah down for his nap a bit late, to afford our guests some baby-free time, but NO, he had other ideas, and woke after 15 minutes with a stinky nappy, and angling for an escape from his cot.  In fact, he was quite a delight, and enjoyed impressing our guests with his expanding vocabulary, as well as his less-adorable trick of spitting water out of his mouth (funny the first time, and unfortunately the laughter given to him served to reinforce the behaviour which we are now struggling to eradicate!).

Cow's about that!

Noah's vocabulary is steadily increasing and one of his favourite words is cow, often shortly followed by "moooooooo!" How fitting therefore that the Kitovu Nutrition Unit also enjoyed a good Christmas in the form of this little (or rather fairly sizeable) beauty (see picture below)! She is ready to bless the unit with milk to feed undernourished babies and all thanks to a generous donation from the company of one of our readers! 

Anyway, we hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and are enjoying a great start to 2015! Lets hope there are good things in store for the year ahead!