The children of St Noa's

These guys desire a write up of their own....

First off for anyone wondering who St Noa is, St Noa (actually spelled Noe) Mawaggali was killed for his faith in 1886 in Uganda, the year after he was baptised in the Catholic Church. He was in his early thirties, one of the older martyrs.

I was blessed when in Uganda to work in St Noa's primary school in the village of Bujuuko. And what a pleasure it was. I could not have asked to work with nicer children. The children of St Noa's were kind, compassionate and caring. Thank you to head teacher Moses and the board for giving me the opportunity to work with these children.

Just been around these children gave me an energy and made me smile. I remember the kindness they showed us on sports day, our second day in the school. They invited us to sit beside them as they watched the boys playing football. Then when there was nowhere to sit they got us stools to sit on. I felt bad for sitting as it meant they could not sit on the stool. The ground in the venue was very dusty. At times we put down our bags or our bottles of water. As soon as they seen our stuff on the ground they picked it up and in the case of the bags they dusted them off with their hands. I honestly did not mind my bag getting dirty, I knew I was putting it on a dusty surface. But the girls insisted on cleaning it as best as they could. My water bottle, I think I asked one of the girls to hold for a second while I got into a photo r helped someone. Regardless of what I was doing this student looked after my bottle with such care. There was a point that I observed another child offering the student to mind it but she refused to give it away. Obviously the small task I gave the student is a big thing in her culture. I trusted her to mind my possessions so she was not going to let it go. Then we had the plank incident later in the day. Our boys were playing a soccer match and we went over to support them. However, in order to get on to the pitch you had to cross a plank of wood. Now anyone that knows me knows I'm fearful on blanks or things like that. I hesitated to go over but one of the girls held my hand and walked me slowly over the plank, not letting go until she knew I was safely across. And it was the same when we crossed back over in the rain, they didn't let go until I was safely over. They did the exact same for Fiona who would not cross.

Back to school and some more examples of their care and kindness. On our first day I told them I would get my own food and to just look after themselves, next thing they turned up in the classroom with lunch for me. They often brought us fruit or other food. They included us in their games even if we (me) were kinda crap. 3 times in a row they hit me with the ball cause I was distracted. But they didn't tell me to go away. They gave us hugs and hi fives. And one day one of them gave me a note saying I was her favourite teacher, that note is currently on my bedside locker waiting for blue tac to stick it up. I also witnessed the older students explain to the younger ones who did not understand me.

My favourite memory of there care, compassion and kindness was on our last day in the school. It was raining but I needed space so I went over to the shelter outside the church which was located across the compound. When it rains in Uganda it really rains. One of the girls was coming back from her house, she took shelter with me from the rain. She looked cold so I tried to huddle to keep her warm, I'm not sure if that worked. When the rain started to calm I sent her back to school. As I gave her my jacket I could not go with her. A few minutes later I seen a group of students running towards me through the rain. They got to me and some smothered me with hugs while others just stood around. The student who had sought shelter with me earlier was in the middle of the group. I suspect when she had got back to the school she told her classmates that teacher Melissa was sad and then they all came over to me, boys and girls. They would not leave me either. I told them all to go back to school but until they seen me moving to go too they wouldn't go. 2 of the girls were holding on to me and would not let go. I explained they had to as it was raining and it was not possible for us all to run while holding on to each other.

I may not remember all their names or who was who but I will never forget the children of St Noa's school. The kindness and compassion they showed me during my 4 weeks there meant the world. In my heart I will forever hold them dear.

TR Melissa  ☺