Unfortunately last year’s project to build a new toilet block has been delayed. Although some of the materials are on site work has not yet started. Now that COVID 19 has put the country into lockdown it will be some time before any progress can be made.

Alice and John are ‘stuck’ at the farmland while Uganda is in lockdown. There are about 20 other people there with them. They are having some difficulties because the pump for the borehole has broken down so there is no fresh water for the people and none for irrigation.

The good news is that the bore hole at the school and community centre nearby is still working well so they are able to get water from there but it needs transporting about a kilometer to the farm. People are praying for rain to water the crops that are being planted this month.

Another problem is getting necessary medication. Alice is not the only one who needs medicine for diabetes (and other problems) and most medication of this sort needs to be bought in Kampala. Alice’s son Simon Peter is trying to get the medicine but getting it transported to the farmland is not easy either as public transport is shut down. The bodabodas (motorcycle taxis) are not allowed to carry passengers at the moment but they can transport food and medicine, so hopefully that will be the answer to the problem.

Alice and John were thrilled to hear that they have an 11th grandchild. Their daughter Caroline, who lives in America with her husband Paul, had a little girl last week (03/04/20). Simon Peter and Lisa have 5 boys. Stephen and Brenda have a boy and 2 girls. Claire Peace and Rogers have 2 boys. And now Caroline and Paul have a daughter.

Please hold all those on the farm, the school staff and children from Modern School, and staff and children from the farmland school in your prayers during this difficult time. Alice always says that they live on miracles!

An extra piece of land that joins the plot of the nursery building has been purchased to give the children more room to play and hopefully to make room for some more dormitories. A sponsored Marathon has made it possible to buy some swings, slides and merry go rounds to put here for the use of the children.

The Bishop’s house (Bishop Rukindi who was a great help to Alice and John when they set up the school in Rukungiri but has since died) which is adjoining the school is up for sale. A miracle is needed to find the funds to buy it but there have been other miracles in the history of this lovely school!

The large hall, which is the top floor of one of the classroom blocks, has been very useful in many different ways. However, when it is needed for exams lots of benches and forms have to be carried up the stairs. To prevent this being necessary we have bought some single desks which will stay permanently in the hall but can be pushed to the back when an open space is needed.

The irrigation system on the farm was working well but when there was a period of drought the bore hole dried up. A deeper bore hole was drilled and recently a solar pump has been purchased to bring water up to a series of water tanks that will reach most of the growing areas on the farm. Another bore hole has been dug near the farmland school which will provide clean water for the school and the local community.

We have just heard that a lot of the young growing crops on the farm were destroyed by a hailstorm. This devastated the whole area around the farm shredding banana trees and spoiling the crops. Alice said she can’t remember such a thing happening in her lifetime. They are replanting with the help of refugees. There are many refugees in the area who are desperate for work to support their families.

One of the teachers at RMPS has had a nasty accident. He was knocked down by a boda boda (motorcycle taxi) and has been in hospital with face and chest injuries. We were very happy to hear that Teacher George was well enough to return to work after the long Christmas holiday.

Alice and John have 7 grandsons now and one granddaughter. A great blessing to them both.