Good day Ladies and Gentlemen - In Luganda: Musiibye mutyanno bassebo ne bannyabo.

Hello and very warm greetings everyone. If this is not the clearest update I ever send, bear with me please. My days are full and mixed, and I've now started studying the Luganda language so my head is even fuller! I wanted just to write a general update, letting those who do not already know that I did arrive safely on Sept 20th, and explain a bit about what life is like here.

As I sit here, I'm in the AIM guesthouse, called Matoke Inn, in Kampala. It's a lovely house, with varying numbers and nationalities, incl European, American, Congolese, Ghanaian, Kenyan and Ugandan. I share a room with Winette (my Dutch friend), but she will leave on Mon to start her placement in Jinja (one and a half hour drive away). We get fed and watered very well (mostly 'European' food), and the garden is lovely, so living here is not a struggle, though a little peace and quiet would be nice sometimes! It is the rainy season just now Sept-Dec, so most days there is rain at some point, occasional thunder and lightning storms, and it's usually warm- hot.

Now I must tell you about the kids! For those who don't know or remember I'm going to be with Open Door Ministry, a Ugandan Christian charity working with street children. As I'm a nurse they've asked me to work in both the refuge/home and a slum health clinic. The home has 72 kids at the moment, all ages from babies to teenagers, different histories, some unknown, some abandoned, some orphans, some victims of abuse, poverty, addictions, and there are MANY more still out on the streets. My involvement in the slum health clinic is 'on hold' just now until I settle down with the kids in the home. I've visited the kids twice and I love it, the team are all lovely and welcoming, and although there is a striking poverty the children are happy and they say they are part of a family now. I was very nearly in tears as they welcomed me and told me how much they had prayed for a nurse to come and help them. After all the changes and uncertainty I am so delighted to be here, I can see God's hand so clearly in so many ways, how He has gone before me and how His plan and timing are always perfect, long before I knew anything about Open Door.

As you may tell from my introduction I've started studying the Luganda language. I have a lovely calm, patient teacher called Herbert (please pray he will continue to be patient!). I'm really trying hard with the language as it's so important with my work and relationship with the kids and team.

I'm going to start a 'homestay' on Monday as part of my orientation which involves living with a Ugandan family for 3 weeks to learn more about African life and culture. After that I don't know where I will stay, the AIM folk are looking for somewhere that I will share with Kristen (an American also working with Open Door).

A wee bit about communications: my new e-mail is marsali@infocom.co.ug, the AIM office here has also changed to aim-uganda@infocom.co.ug The www.marsali.co.uk is great thanks to Neil, although he told me he was having some computer problems and "normal service will be resumed ASAP".

I have a little request, could someone volunteer to send me some general and world news, we do have access to a TV but the news coverage is not great, and it would be good to know a bit of what's happening in the rest of the world.

Thank you so much for all the support, encouragements and prayers. I appreciate it more than I can say. God Bless and keep you.

MUCH LOVE MARSALI