DISCOVERING FOOTBALL TALENTS AT THE SOS CHILDREN'S VILLAGE GULU

It is barely three months before the SOS Children’s Village Gulu soccer team make their first ever football tour outside Gulu district, having played a host of local teams, registering many victories.

Preparations are already in high gear in the small playground in the village with many of the first team players struggling for fitness through daily rigorous evening training presided over by “Uncle Keo” (children’s favorite for Uncle Fred, the Admin Asst) as volunteer team coach. The training involves light jogging and some ball work.
Beaming with lots of confidence, the team looks set for the historic visit to Kampala where they will play three friendly matches with their counter parts in Kampala Kids’ League.

According to Uncle ‘Keo,’ the boys are showing a lot of progress in ball control, passing of the ball and working together as a team. They are ready to win all the matches they will play in Kampala, come August.

14 SOS CHILDREN GET BAPTISED

The civil war between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels and the Uganda government has had unfavourable consequences on the spiritual development of the people of northern Uganda, especially children. Before the war, children used to be baptised in their respective churches of worship immediately after birth. Unfortunately, most of the children born during the twenty-year civil war did not get that chance of being baptised at an early age.

On 20th May 2007, 14 Catholic SOS children were among hundreds of children who were massively baptised in Holy Rosary Catholic Church thanks to Mother Julian’s initiative to have the children baptised. At the end of the Mass, all the baptised children were invited to a reception organised by the church, where they were plentifully served with food and drinks. It was really a special occasion to the children who had been deprived of the right to worship during the insurgency. The event was one of the outcomes of the relative peace prevailing in the region ever since the peace talks began in 2006.

SOS/CVAP Partnership launched in Gulu

On 10 May 2007, SOS Children’s Villages Uganda and Concordia Volunteer Abroad Programme (CVAP of Concordia University Canada) partnership was officially launched in Gulu. The occasion was witnessed by many guests from various NGOs operating in northern Uganda, 22 CVAP volunteer students, local leaders, SOS staff and children and other people from the community. The chief guest was the Gulu District Local government chairman, Nobert Mao.

The guests were also entertained by SOS Children and youth from the community. While refreshments were served there were thrilling speeches by several speakers including the chief guest.

SOS Children's Villages Uganda was represented by the Board of Trustees Chairman and two board members while CVAP was represented by the Concordia University Dean of Studies from Canada and two Directors of Operations.

The partnership, which is aimed at alleviating the effects of HIV/AIDS and poverty and promoting education in northern Uganda, will go a long way in enhancing the SOS contribution to both SOS and community children and youth in northern Uganda.

Holiday boosted with volunteers' arrival

SOS children in Gulu are on their one-month first term school holiday which started on 20th April and will end on 20th May. Prior to the beginning of the holiday, SOS mothers and co-workers had a holiday planning meeting. They came up with a comprehensive holiday programme aimed at engaging the children in meaningful activities, including music, dance and drama, art, sports,

indoor games and guided reading. Everyday children get involved in various activities under the guidance of their SOS mothers and other co-workers.

The holiday programme was boosted with the coming of the second group of 22 Concordia Volunteer Abroad Programme (CVAP) students, who arrived in Gulu a few days ago. They interact with the children so well. They teach them new games and their intervention has helped the children to relax their minds from academic work.

SOS CHRISTMAS IN APRIL

Village administrative assistant Frederick William Odoch tells all:

Today has been a cool Friday evening with patches of clouds hanging in the sky. The atmosphere in the village was filled with anxiety, joy and excitement as SOS children rushed to their wardrobes to change their attire in anticipation of receiving

special gifts from Samaritan Purse.

It was not actually Christmas, but a day organized to distribute shoe boxes received from Samaritan Purse through Operation Christmas Child Uganda (OCC) to 100 SOS children and 70 community children who are part of the SOS Family Strengthening Programme (FSP) in the village. Graced by the presence of the village director, mothers

and other development co-workers, the distribution event was full of amusing stories given by the children and punctuated by cool sounds of music in the background.

Each child received a nicely packed box consisting of a variety of items that included sandals, underwear, colouring pencils, torches, sunglasses, sweets, toys, necklaces, small radios and many others. The items were selectively packed according to different age brackets of 0-5yrs, 6-9yrs and 10-14yrs. It was so exciting when the boxes were opened.

What a lively congregation! It was joy and fun for whoever was present for this special gathering as some children took to the floor shaking and twisting their bodies the Kalipso style (famous Ugandan dancing style among the children and youth)