On a warm sunny Sunday afternoon in Kampala, with a full stomach and some ‘Blue Nile’ vibes in the background, I greet you all and hope this finds you all well.

I believe there are always some new folk that read my newsletter, and also for those with poor memories, I will give a quick recap on who I am and the work here. Before I came to Africa I was called Marsali Anne Campbell, now I also add my tribal/Ffumbe clan name of Nalumansi. I am with African Inland Mission, and I am a nurse working with a Ugandan Christian team, ‘An Open Door (AOD)’, with street children.

The team have been busy this year writing mission statements, aims and objectives and budgets but basically AOD is reaching street children by 3 main areas of outreach, on the streets, in a rehabilitation home and in Katwe, the large slum area here in Kampala.

My own work has been based around health care, and much has been happening! When I joined the team last September there was no health worker, so I had to start from scratch. In some ways that has been both a huge blessing and also carried many challenges. Basically I love the children, I love to reach out to them on the streets and yet it breaks my heart to see children live like that. I also love my kids at the home, we are now at 87 resident children, all ages from 7 months to 16 years, both boys and girls.

The Katwe work is so huge in both the need and logistics it has been difficult to contemplate even starting a comprehensive work there, but I am involved as much as possible.

I now have a room to work from which is a huge development after working out of boxes for 8 months! I’ve been decorating it with lots of pictures of my family, friends and Scotland and it’s been so lovely to see the faces of my kids beam with excitement of seeing where Aunty Marsali has come from.

There is much I can say about my work, we still have 5 kids with TB but are doing very well on treatment, other common problems like respiratory infection and diarrhoea have improved, and the malnutrition has also improved with our emphasis on prioritising food in our budgeting. The huge area of HIV is still a concern, we are in the process of trying to organise lots of testing in the Home, and we have to be ready for the impact of the results. As well as the day-day care of the kids I am trying to do some long-term health care things like education (both for the kids and staff), policies, and charting systems. I have recently enjoyed doing some adolescent health discussions with our teenagers, very challenging but good, they are both ‘street-wise’ and naïve!

Language study is ‘kind-off’ improving, I can get by with greetings and simple sentences, but my language teacher has been away from Feb-May so I will be back to studies again soon. I still value your prayers with that, it is so important with the children and my team, and just living here, I love to see relationships developing and language can be so crucial.

I should also update you on some previous items of prayer - Esther is doing amazingly well! This little girl was born on the streets to a young street girl, and had been badly neglected and was very sick and semi-conscious when she came to us. She has sickle cell anaemia, TB and also a muscular problem that meant she was unable to weight-bear, now she is well, bright, happy and after months of slowly trying to help her stand, she shuffled over to me recently and pulled herself up on my chair! Her big bright eyes and smile still makes my day!

Little Emmanuel who was found Christmas 2000 in a rubbish bin, is growing FAT and happy! Isaac, a teenage boy that was briefly with us at the end of last year left and has not been seen on the streets, please pray for him wherever he is.

I had also sent a group email out about an incident that the Ugandan government/military had ‘rounded-up’ some street children and taken them to a remand centre, Kampinigisa. It continues to be a very difficult time for all involved, especially for the 255 (the estimates are there are more than 2,000 street children) children still behind bars.

Please continue to pray for;
The health of all my children, whether on the streets, in the Home or in katwe.

Relationships with the children and the team would grow and be a blessing for all.

The situation at kampinigisa would resolve and these children would be freed and be allowed their rights. We all want to see them resettled off the streets, whether back in their homes, communities or with organisations that will keep them safe and well.

Safety and protection, both personally and in travel, living and working in Kampala continues to be a challenge!

That I can show the love of God to these very needy and vulnerable children, that they will know that they are special, individual and loved.

That I may be able to get a good balance of working and relaxing, to enjoy life in Uganda.

That’s all for now folks! If you want any more info or photos, see www.marsali.co.uk

Thank you more than I can say for all the letters and support and prayers.

WITH MUCH LOVE FROM AFRICA

MARSALI NALUMANSI