February is here. In Uganda, a new academic year started in the last week of January as their two-month long Christmas holiday, similar to the Norwegian summer vacation, has come to an end.

The children at Nyenga Children’s Home spent 2 weeks visiting their relatives during the holidays. Spending time together with relatives is important for the children as they get to know their roots and build up a network outside the protected life at the children’s home. This will help them on the day they have to move from the children’s home and manage on their own.

Back at Nyenga, the children were all eager to share their experiences and describe the sumptuous food they had eaten during Christmas. Similar to Norway, food is an important part of the holidays. However, in Uganda it is not common to exchange Christmas gifts.

Everyone was back at the children’s home for the last part of the vacation. The most urgent task at hand was to check whether the Jack fruits were ripe. And that they were! Some of the fruits weighed more than 20 kg and were brought back to the home and shared brotherly.

Besides the Jack fruits, there were more chores to be done. Everyone participated, whether it was weeding the pineapple-fields, chopping firewood, washing, cooking during the weekends or taking care of the livestock. When these chores were completed, the children had time left for handicrafts, playing soccer and other games. News of the year is that the children are now cooking their own lunch and dinner during the weekends. This is something they really seem to enjoy!

The children’s own company, “Live in peace company”, has sold enough bracelets – which the children make themselves – for them to reach their goal: a visit to the zoo in Entebbe. The children had big expectations for the trip to the zoo as well as seeing all the animals. At the zoo a guide told them exciting details about all animals they got to see. This was an amazing experience for everyone.