The Citizen, 2018-02-01, Page 19THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2018. PAGE 19.
Royall hopes to work for Uganda's Hope Land
A different way of life
Carly Royall, seen here with some of the young women she met during her recent time in
Uganda, is working towards a potential three-year stay in the country, working with the Youth
With A Mission (YWAM) Hope Land project there. She has spent time with the centre's
employees and in the community and now hopes to return for a long-term placement, which
she feels is God's path for her. (Photo submitted)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Carly Royall may have just taken
her first step towards long-term
employment working to bring a
better life to the children of Uganda.
Royall, the daughter of Huron
Chapel Pastor Mark Royall and his
wife Glenda of Blyth, returned last
week from her first trip to Africa.
She spent several weeks there as part
of Youth With A Mission (YWAM)
where she learned the ropes of
working at its school in Uganda (the
organization has schools all over the
world).
While she had initially thought the
trip would involve mission work, she
soon realized that its goal was more
to acclimatize her to Uganda and the
school's work, and those who run
the school to her. With the potential
of a long-term work placement there
(one year of training and two years
of work) it is essential that she
learned as much as she could about
the school.
What that meant for Royall was
that she was able to spend much of
her time getting to know the country
and its people. What Royall did learn
about the country, she loved and she
does hope to return to work and
fulfil what she feels is
God's calling for her to work at
the centre.
How she made her way to the
program in the first place was also
through what she felt was God's
calling. She spoke to the Huron
Chapel congregation about it just
before Christmas, saying that it was
her interest in a young man who had
experience with the centre and a
friend who was planning a similar
trip that would eventually convince
her to travel to Africa.
Royall has been on mission trips
before, twice to El Salvador, but
travelling to Uganda, she said, was a
completely different experience.
She said she was completely
overwhelmed by Uganda. Whether it
was taking a drive into town or
shopping at the local markets, she
said she was overloaded with images
and information and it was nothing
like she had ever seen before.
Living at YWAM's Hope Land,
she bunked with her fellow staff
members, where there was no
running water. This led her to, when
she returned home, take a nice long
bath and enjoy warm water for the
first time in weeks.
Royall also spent time at the
school when it wasn't in session.
That left her with time to explore the
country and the community and
really learn about the Ugandans she
hopes to help in the coming years.
"I was really able to experience
the culture," she said, adding that not
all mission work has to be building a
house or preparing food for the
hungry. She said that one of her
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fondest memories was playing the
card game Uno with some children
on the streets. Reaching out and
engaging the youth of Uganda, she
said, is just as important as some of
the other mission work being done
in countries in need.
The trip gave Royall an
opportunity to build relationships
with the staff members and it has
really made her want to go back and
continue on the path that she feels
God has laid out for her.
While there, Royall was able to
work with the community's children,
preach to the staff and attend some
of the staff meetings, as well as
plenty of other activities.
Mark, Carly's father, admits that
he was skeptical of the idea at first.
He and Glenda were naturally a little
concerned for Carly's safety,
spending weeks in a country they
knew very little about.
However, Carly said she never felt
unsafe in Uganda. She was always
with fellow staff members and was
never put in harm's way, so she is
excited to return whenever that is
possible.
With student debt incurred from
her education at Redeemer College
and the realities of the YWAM job
(there is very little pay involved,
beyond free room and board and a
small per diem), Carly said she's not
sure when she'd be able to return,
but she hopes it's soon.
Mark jokes that YWAM has a
location in Hawaii that would no
doubt be much safer for Carly, but
also be more fun for him and Glenda
to visit, but he understands his
daughter feeling God's call to serve
in Uganda and wants to support her
in any way possible.
Carly is now back in Canada, but
hopes to work towards returning to
Uganda to begin her long-term work
there as soon as possible.
For more information on the
program, visit ywamhopeland.org.
Garratt hunting for
Blyth Inn stories
Continued from page 1
unearthed recently tells the tale of
the very early days of the Inn,
Garratt said, when there was a
carpeted area for women and
chaperones and floor for the single
men.
Thompson has been consulting
extensively with village historians
Brock and Janis Vodden as well in
hopes of incorporating historical
stories about the restaurant as well.
Garratt said he's hoping for a
broad scope of stories. Whether
they're from over 100 years ago or
from last week, he said he wants to
hear them.
The building does hold a rich
history in the village, Garratt said, in
that it has been standing in Blyth for
140 years and, in many ways, the
village has been built around the
Blyth Inn.
It has also served as an example of
the symbiotic relationship the
theatre has with its home village.
Not only has the theatre helped
shape the village over the years, he
said, but the village has helped to
shape the theatre as well.
The concept for a play about the
Blyth Inn came to Garratt recently
as a result of a gift from Paul
Thompson, his mentor and one of
the great Canadian theatre minds of
this generation.
Thompson gifted Garratt a print of
Michael Ondaatje's poem entitled
"The Concessions" which makes
mention of the Blyth Inn. The poem
is printed over a map of Huron
County.
The gift got Garratt thinking about
putting the story of the Blyth Inn on
the Memorial Hall stage and he says
it only makes sense to do so.
The poem tells of actors from the
Blyth Festival and village farmers
sitting together having drinks and
watching a band together. That
relationship, Garratt said, is the very
foundation of the Blyth Festival and
it's what makes the theatre so
special.
A group of actors who will be
working on the project will be
coming to Blyth on Feb. 20-24 to
work on conducting interviews and
collecting research for the play.
To share your stories of the Blyth
Inn with Garratt and the other actors
working on this season's Wing Night
at The Boot, call the Festival office
at 519-523-9300.
GODERICH 519 524 7811
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