Today was our last day with our new friends at TAOST school. We woke up to loud rumbles of thunder and the heaviest rain we have experienced here. So while we were all settling into breakfast there were a lot of ideas tossed around about how we would conduct the first ever Jinja "Olympics" in a torrential downpour out on the soccer pitch we had rented.

But as has been the case this entire trip things worked out perfectly. We started breakfast earlier than usual because I (Cregan - your guest blogger for today) had given everyone the assignment of coming to breakfast with one positive trait they appreciated about every other person on the team. The exercise was especially warming and made us even closer than we had already become.

Here's some examples of what was said:
It is official that Tommy has a special gift for making people laugh and bringing people together with humor.
I make people feel comfortable,
Mandy is organized, diligent and caring,
Amber has an infectious smile,
Dave is a steady and a dedicated companion,
Zazie is mature beyond her years,
Bianca is courageous even when she doesn't think she is,
Jess is wise and always helpful,
Jenna is compassionate and a good listener,
Max is very mature and willing to do whatever is asked, and also a good soccer player,
Joe is wonderfully expressive and relational through art,
James is a steady personality who always brings humor and encouragement when needed,
Seth is incredibly energetic and great at playing with and relating to the kids.

Everyone left breakfast with a stronger sense of how much love we share on the team. As we finished up and headed out to the van the rain stopped and the sun began to come out.


Incidentally to continue the positive vibe from breakfast a money jar was established for the team. Anyone saying a negative comment or joke that slams someone else on the team has to put a 200 shilling coin (12 cents) in the jar. All proceeds from the jar are being donated to TAOST. As of 4:00PM we have about 1600 shillings...

Our day started with dropping off all the supplies we had brought for the school at Miss Christine's (the TAOST school headmistress) house. She was quite happy to receive 10 backpacks full of books, art supplies, Bibles and other various items needed by the school. Then it was on to the "Olympics!" We arrived about 10:00AM and began putting the students into 4 teams: Red, Blue, Green and Yellow. It was easy getting them into the teams but a bit of a challenge to get them to understand each event. We held events in the 4X400 relay, 100 meter race, jump rope marathon, Discus (Frisbee) throw, balloon Caterpillar race, wiffle ball hitting, and most popular the Penalty kick competition.

The kids and leaders had a lot of fun with each event, but clearly the favorite for Dave and Tommy as well as all the students and the small crowd that had gathered was the penalty kick competition. Tommy showed his mad skills as the goalie for the competition and was virtually impenetrable. I think he only let in 3 goals on 12 attempts. For round two we added Dave along side Tommy as a second goalie and offered two points for anyone who could score on both of them. There were actually two boys who did, one of the boys did it twice as he discovered their weak spot was right down the middle.

After completing all the events we held the medal ceremony and every student got a gold medal for participating. The Blue team came in first in overall points and we gave them a rousing cheer. While some of us were off at the Olympics several of the leaders had gone back to the bags to make the 80+ peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. We all sat down together in the shade and had lunch together. Many more kids from the neighborhood were there as well, but could only watch as we only prepared lunch (PB&J, bananas, Pringles & cookies) for the school students and staff. During lunch we were treated to a special presentation of singing and dancing by some of the students.

After that we took some time to play a little more football (soccer) and say our good-byes. It's hard to believe we have come to the end of our week, and it makes me sad as I write it. Everyone on the team has been so engaging and loving to the orphans and they have been so loving and appreciative of us. We have grown so much as a group by coming here, and I am truly humbled by how much God has blessed us throughout.

I've probably over-emphasized (to our team) this year's theme from M621-"Treasure What Matters", but I know that everyone on the team will Treasure What Matters because of the relationships we've started this week. I told Miss Christine that this is only the beginning and although we may be leaving Uganda this Sunday we will be getting to know them more in the months ahead and will continue to pray for them and support them in their efforts to bring a good education to the orphans here in Jinja. We're looking forward to a fun last day tomorrow before heading back state-side. We are all looking forward to seeing you all on Monday. Thanks for all of your prayers. It was obvious that we were prayed for beyond our expectations. KWAGALA (Love) from all here.