First Day of the Tournament

Well, after such a long day of being at the school yesterday, I ended up falling into bed right after dinner. Sarah M. said she would try her hand at the blog, but same thing with her...went right to bed. So, I will try and remember everything that happened yesterday. We woke and had a breakfast of toast, omlets with peppers...which were so good, and bananas. Our goal was to be out at the school by 8:30am. When we had the briefing about the tournament the director said....schools will be arriving at 8:00, we will begin the tournament at 9:00. We got there at 8:30 and not all of the schools had arrived. Fountain had painted all the bricks surrounding pathways...alternating orange, yellow and white...it looked so pretty. We unloaded all the suitcases into one room and then the checking in of teams started at 10:00. They wrote the colors of the t-shirts on little slips of paper and each coach picked the color of their team. We then started the process of placing bands on each athlete...you know the bands that kids wear at waterparks in America? Todd thought of that idea...it was a good one. It was announced in the beginning if you don't have a band you can't play...the band also served as the way the kids got lunch too. Those types of bands are not transferable either. We have had cheating in the past where the teams are set, the kids are weighed and measured and found eligible to play, they get the shirt and then the the coaches give the shirts to kids that are not eligible, hoping to increase their chances to win. The bands if removed rip and can't be replaced and if you don't have a band you don't play. They did try to get around it by putting a shirt on another player, coming back and saying this player didn't get a band. But we did not give a shirt until we saw they had the band, so we turned them away...saying no. It was a little chaotic, but we got through all 12 teams and by the time we were done the tournament started at 12 noon. I have been here before so I know African time so it did not surprise me...you just roll with it and have a good time. We went and watched netball first. The Fountain of Hope team is incredible. They have an awesome coach and better training then the other teams. They played 3 games and I don't think the other teams even scored. One of the matches was like 30-0. There was much cheering and people dancing on the field. The soccer team is matched pretty good with the other teams, so their games were pretty stressful. Pastor Robert said he can't watch the boys play because something happens to his heart. It must race from all the anxiety:) The boys did end up winning the first game, but it was close. They ended up with one more goal in like the last 2 minuets of the game, so it ended 2-0. We had lunch out at the school. They made us rice, beans and meat...I think it was beef. They don't normally have meat during the week...only on weekends and on special occasions. We then watched another netball game. During the games the team is interacting with all the kids. We play with them, Todd chases them...which they think is hilarious, we take pictures and show them photos of themselves, they sit on our laps, hold our hands...we just love them. While the games were going on in the afternoon, Sarah S. got her church choir together in one of the new buildings and held practice for church in the morning. She gathered quite a crowd...I was able to video the practice. They are so good...singing and dancing, praising the Lord! We left the school around 4:30, handing out sweeties as we left. By the time we got home everyone was very tired. We had a wonderful dinner of spaghetti with meat or peas, pineapple...the best I have ever tasted, potatoes, cauliflower and greenbeans. After dinner Sarah M. sat on the porch and talked about family and culture with Irene and Napoleon. Todd played soccer with Israel...wait, I think this happened before dinner...because after dinner we all fell into bed:) Sarah M. showed Irene and Napoleon a picture of her family and Napoleon asked if he could have it. She said it was so sweet...he put it in his pocket and then would take it out to look at it and would say I love this so much...like it was a treasure. Napoleon comes from the Congo and his family is still there living in a camp and they don't always have food to eat. He sends money to them. Well, I better go get a shower. Soon it will be breakfast and then we will head back to the school for church. Oh, one thing I did want to mention was the torrential down pour of rain we experienced the other day. I know in Spokane we had been having some pretty heavy rain fall, but compared to Jinja...it's nothing. This rain goes on for about 30-45 min. and gushes from the rooftops...ponds of water form in the grass and once it is done the water soaks up right away...but there is mud everywhere. Ok, I need to close, have a great day!

Beth