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My First Blog Post

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

Happy New Year! Happy New Decade. Wow what an adventure the last decade has been. As I looked back at the last decade to see where it has brought me, I realised it may just be the most exciting decade of my life…ever…I may never match it…

In 2010 I was still living in the UK praying about what exactly the future holds for me. With some puzzle pieces in place I was still in a time of waiting for God to make the rest of the image clear. In 2011 the puzzle piece featuring an aeroplane and a piece in the shape of Uganda fell into place and by August that year my life changed drastically, new home, new culture, new adventure, new everything…in some ways it was exciting and in other ways it terrified me.

Since making that journey in 2011, I have been on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs, or moments my life blossomed and moments I felt like I was sinking in quick sand and may never get out. I have learnt way more than I ever could have imagined by being pushed in and out of my comfort zones and yet it is the best decision I ever made…to follow where God led my heart.

The children I have worked with have impacted my life in so many ways. I have seen children grow from age 1 to age 10 and I have seen them blossom. I have seen the Inclusive school grow from 10 children to 120 children and still growing.

Add to all that the fact that I joined an amazing dance group called Clay Dance Company and participated in dance ministry for close to 5 years (hopefully soon to be resumed for a new decade with a little life to inspire in tow), married my best friend in 2015, gave birth to our firstborn in 2017, got to travel to Cyprus twice with my family thanks to kind hearted and generous people who may never fully know just how much that meant to us as a family…

The day I got to tell hubby ‘no escaping now’

We have come a very long way and in all the changes, on that note, kids grow up way too fast, there is one thing that has remained constant…and that is God’s faithfulness and never ending love. As we enter the next decade we know it will bring new adventures, starting with baby girl joining baby class at the end of Jan, turning 3 and wait…maybe I spoke too soon when I said this may have been the most exciting decade yet, because by the end of the current decade my baby girl will be graduating from Primary School. There are not enough words or emojis in the world to explain the look on my face just thinking about that…but we won’t wish away the years…we will enjoy every step together as a family and take one day at a time doing and enjoying life together, with God at the very center of it all.

Did I become that mum?

Growing up I was a bit of a tom boy. I wasn’t really one of those girls who would play with dolls or hair. In fact, I remember asking for a car garage and goalkeeper gloves for birthday or christmas gifts at some point. And then…I had a baby girl. I didn’t think I would be one of those mums that gets excited by her daughter’s hair growth or the way her hair looks or even that I can play with it. But my oh my, did I become that mum.

I told myself I didn’t mind what kind of hair my beautiful mixed race baby girl would grow, but deep down inside I think we all know those African curls are too cute not to wish for. And get those African curls she did.

Now she is 2 and a half her hair has changed a little since the photo above. Her hair is no longer black, its more of a dark brown/ golden brown mixture and the curls are much tighter. There was a point where i thought i had ruined everything. I used a conditioner with straightening chemicals, really had no idea what I was doing at this point, and half her hair fell out and the other half became so straight I actually cried real tears.

Thankfully with some good advice from fellow mum’s and a lot of patience her hair is now growing and beautiful again. Cantu children’s hair products saved my life and my baby girl’s hair.

The day I realised her hair was long enough to actually play with and style I was more than a little over excited, maybe too much, but in her words she would ask ‘mummy I want the colours in my hair’ and I was more than happy to oblige.

I think this little mohawk my be my personal favourite style. The day she told me ‘Mummy I don’t want colours’ I was feeling a little lost. What now? After asking her ‘so now you want the afro?’ she has started telling me ‘mummy i don’t want colours I want an aflo’ (read afro, hehe) and she couldn’t look cuter.

ok…so the afro is still growing…but it will get there. My next mission is to learn how to braid/ plait this beautiful African hair and to pray that she grows up knowing just how beautiful she is and that she never believes anything less.

When you find that special someone…

I know what you were all thinking…love, marriage, the love of your life, that special someone you get to spend the rest of your life with, journey and adventure together with…well yes…hubby Amps is pretty amazing. BUT, this time I am talking about something else. I mean that special someone you find, or maybe it’s more like, who God brings across your path, who loves your child almost as much, if not more than you do, if that’s possible.

Today I want to give massive shout outs to a very special someone, as Kimberly fondly calls her Aunty Cistine (also known as Aunty Christine). There is that special bond I have seen grow between Kimberly and her Aunty Christine over the last year, the two of them are almost inseparable.

Christine started ‘working’ with us as a nanny in 2018 and would help me watch Kimberly on the school compound as I was working in the office and the two of them bonded immediately. It’s not always easy to find someone who give’s everything of themselves to ensure someone else’s child is well taken care of and I hope Christine knows how much we truly value and appreciate her. When Kimberly joined playgroup we hired Christine as a classroom assistant at the school and yet she still remains Kimberly’s nanny. She gives of her time to watch Kimberly after school when I have errands to run and is always available to tag along as part of the family whenever I have places to be or work related commitments and need an extra hand or ten. And there it is, family, when God brings someone across your path who you know is just meant to be…a young person who is selfless and full of life, who you know will be a good influence on your growing daughter.

Learn to always be thankful for the good people God brings into your life. Aunty Christine we love and appreciate you and more than anything, we thank God for you. We are blessed, Kimberly is blessed to have you in our lives.

To read is to go on an adventure

Kimberly has loved to read since I can remember. She has even started to read books herself now, or rather at her age of 2 and a half years it’s more like quoting what she can remember from her head and giving us a summarised version. She even reads for us and asks us questions, what’s this? a sheep, yes, clap clap clap for mummy. When we had visitors recently she proceeded to read them a Bible story but when daddy started up a conversation with uncle, Kimberly smartly told uncle, are you listening, you’re not listening, see, the storybook is here.

We believe that to read is to go on great adventures, to go to places you have never been or seen before, to experience and learn new and wonderful things.

For children with special needs, to read is a great achievement in whichever form it takes. Where some people believe they are not able to achieve this, we think otherwise, and especially through the use of Jolly Phonics, we have witnessed firsthand many children learn to read. Books are also a great method to help children with and without special needs learn new concepts in class.

For two weeks Kimberly and her school mates are participating in a sponsored read to raise money to expand their school library. The children are engaging in all forms of reading activities from listening to stories, to reading stories and words independently, to reading flashcards and sounds and of course, picture reading and more. The kids are having so much fun.

If you would like to sponsor Kimberly and her friends and help them expand their library, please drop me a message for more details or send via Paypal to sctuganda@gmail.com with a note saying Sponsored Read. Every donation makes a difference whether small or otherwise. We invite you to be part of Kimberly’s story, to be part of her friends stories and to be a monumental part of their educational journey, but most of all, to enable them to take adventures to new places and to show them there are people who believe in them.

8 Years of up, down, turn around, 8 Years of love and learning…

When i moved to Uganda 8 years ago I couldn’t have imagined the place I would be in right now. It hasn’t been 8 years of easy, but rather 8 years of new experiences, ups and downs, joys and sorrows, and immense growth. It has required a constant reminder that on my own I am nothing, but with Christ, I am more than a conqueror. A constant reminder that if I try to go it alone all my weaknesses and imperfections are ever so evident, but when I travel this journey with Christ He gives me a strength that is beyond what I could fathom. On my own this journey, this road God led me to would truly be impossible and only He can equip me to fulfill the purpose He has laid on my heart.
Right now as I type I am the International Coordinator for an NGO and Admin in an Inclusive Kindergarten and Primary School. 11 years ago, God started something in me and 8 years ago He launched me on a journey I did not feel equipped to follow, but I learned very quickly that as I surrender to Him, He gives me what I need to keep going. Indeed it has been a necessity to surrender to Him continuously.
I am so glad God didn’t give up on me. When He put Africa on my heart 14 years ago, I said no and I laughed at Him. I laughed at God. I told Him, little me, are you sure? I don’t think so. But He was persistent. And I am glad He was. I have grown in character and in relationship with Him. I have grown in faith. He gave me friends that will last a lifetime. He gave me a wonderful husband and a most beautiful daughter (which is another journey and adventure all of its own).

I have seen children with special needs be given life and joy simply in the provision of a place to go to where they are loved and where someone believes in them and their unlocked potential. I the last 8 years I have seen children who cannot sit, eventually learn to walk, children who were told they could never learn, progress through kindergarten to primary education, and they are excelling. Why? Because someone believed in them. Their resilience and determination has spoken volumes to me. I have witnessed children without special needs embrace those with special needs as friends, cheering them on and demonstrating the heart of God in its purest child-like form. I have witnessed my own daughter, from the age of 3 months to her current age of 2 years and 5 months old, grow alongside children with special needs and know for a fact she is better because of it.
When a teacher tells you ‘some children run away from other children because they struggle with saliva control, but not your daughter’, it warms my heart. And my prayer is that as she embraces and befriends others, those who ‘run away’ will learn from her.

As we celebrated the opening of a new building this weekend on Bussi Island, in an amazing event, I was taking photos with my little girl shadowing behind me and I was told your protege is watching and learning to follow in your footsteps. As I watched her enjoying life and interacting with other children, disability was not an issue, skin colour was not an issue and I thanked God for the opportunity she has to grow up in this environment of inclusion and love. My prayer was that she would develop her own relationship with God in which she wouldn’t just follow in my footsteps, but she would trust God to blaze for her a new trail, one that is guided by a love and a heart for others no matter their differences.
After 8 years in Uganda, I am still learning new lessons, some of them now from my own daughter, in what it truly means to love others and surrender to Christ on a daily basis.
The best is truly yet to come…

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
What topics do you think you’ll write about?
Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.