August 19 (or, goodies, g-nut paste and goodbyes)

It's here. Our last day in Masindi. Our leaving is still a surreal fact to me - we're so settled, but I'm looking forward to home, so it will be "sweet sorrow".
Much has happened in the last week. Much. Here is a short version:

We went to the Falls, as I mentioned. First, we hiked around the Falls. They're stunning - there is a constant rainbow around it. So we took lots of snaps and got a good deal of spray on us to refresh us from the hot, hot sun. Next, the game park - we saw elephants, hippos, giraffes, water buffalo, antelopes, a variety of birds, warthogs and even a pair of lions. Most of these, including the lions, we were just meters from our tax. It seemed like we should be watching it on tv, not sitting right there in the grasslands with wild beasts. They were mighty beautiful beasts, though.

Friday night, we hosted a thank-you supper for everyone who's been quite involved with our program. It was a blast. We went to a country-club type place, in Kinyara, and played pool and ate food. Some of the guys and Amanda even went swimming in the pool. It was really nice to have everyone together to start the good-byes.

Sunday was a fundraiser for the Orphans' Centre that's going to be built. Many of the students were there and their guardians. There was a good deal of items donated (including some few items from Tash and me), and the end tally was about 800,000 shillings (about $525), which is a good start. It was a really beautiful thing to see the community working together to develop itself. The concern and care toward orphans is ingrained in these people - they are really trying to help their society and these children.
In case you'd like to know what we purchased: we got baskets, a bowl, some necklaces and some pineapples. But the best was my first buy: the entire stack of sugar cane for all the students to eat while they were waiting around.

Yesterday, we went and played football with some of our students. I couldn't say good-bye to them yet, so we arranged it for the morning (and again today), and then in the afternoon we were going to come back to have a good-bye supper with the staff. When we came back, the kids were still playing! The supper was lovely - an African feast.
Afterward, we had a debrief will Rev. Mike, Christine and Garrison (the executive directors of UMOJA). They are such passionate people with such big dreams. It is very clear that they have a good attention to both present and future needs to be planned for, and it was such a pleasure to be a part of helping to discuss with them and being part of the planning for their future.

Thank you everyone for your support through prayer and e-mails. Please continue to intercede for us as we travel home, and for this community as it strives and struggles to better itself.

August 10 (or, colds and caravans)

Greetings everyone,
Sorry for the delays in updating you - we are so busy right now!
Things continue to be amazing here - play hard, work hard, love hard, sleep hard.
I have a cold, again, but it's not incapacitating, so hopefully it will just fade away like the others have. I'm not surprised at all that we're getting sick though - we take good care of ourselves, but the weather changes on a dime - from blistering hot to a downpour - and we've been frequently washed by rain the past few days.

The week was fairly normal. Lesson continue to go well (even if the rain interferes sometimes) - for those of you who have seen pictures of the school, I'm sure you can imagine the flooding in the classrooms we get sometimes...

Yesterday (Saturday), it was time for more field work. We left at 10 am, since we were told to be at the office then, but didn't leave until 12:30 pm (this is not uncommon since, as I'm sure you know, time is different in Africa). We took about a dozen boxes of blankets, clothes, school supplies, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and food out with us. They were first loaded precariously onto motorcycles (at least 6 to a cycle) and transported to the chairman of the village's home. We then met up with him, Madam Lydia (a teacher from the school) and a couple of our students. We enjoyed a snack of yellow jackfruit, while waiting for the remainder of our party.
By the time we were all together, it was time for lunch. Rice, matoke, cabbage, chicken, avacadoes and beef (all in great quantity... we can only eat about 1/3 of what we are "supposed" to eat and are constantly teased about it).
From there, we created a caravan of bicycles (which were loaded with the boxes and pushed along the narrow dirt paths of the bush) and walkers. We made it around to some 15 homes before 7 pm.
It was such a beautiful sight to see the faces of all the family members light up. These few things we could deliver to the orphans will make all the difference. We can't wait to go out again today.

We have a busy week and a half left before flying out: a few more days of school, one more trip to the field (Tuesday), going to the Falls, hosting a thank-you supper for our family, a fund raiser (on Sunday) for the Orphans' Centre, and then a good-bye party.

Thank you to everyone who responded to my request for updates on life in Canada; they were humorous and nice to read.

I'm still trying to keep focused on the things to look forward to coming home (seeing family and friends, meeting our first years, school, food...), because it's going to be very hard to leave.

August 2 (or, fireflies and full recoveries)

It's August! (As if you didn't know, but the shock has lingered with me).
The time here is flying. I'm looking forward to what the fall and winter seasons hold, but it's going to be very hard to leave. Masindi has really become a second home, with parents, friends, a job, routine...
I succumbed to some sickness also this week (just one day) - the fatigue of the weekend/beginning of the week caught up with me Thursday, and I was out of commission.
Yesterday, though, I was back on my feet, with more energy than before; I haven't run that much in a long time... The kids continue to be great learners and playmates. We are so sad that classes end next week, but I'm sure the students will be relieved.
In our religion classes, we've been working along the timeline of the the life of Jesus or doing the creation story, depending on the class. The Gideons came the other week and distributed New Testaments to the children, so it's nice for the younger ones to find a connecting point with the Word they've been given.
At home, we've been getting a few lesson on the charcoal stove - mostly observation, but we've been enlightened as to how to prepare chips, matoke, different sauces and posho.
Tomorrow, we are hoping to go to the Baptist church in town (the service is in English), and then we have a meeting with the board of directors for UMOJA.

I hope all is well at home - sometimes it feels as if we're going along and nothing is happening in Canada (please, send us some news, even the everyday events will helps us out).

Also, please continue to pray for the health of our friends and the children at the schools. The P7s are doing their exams this week, so the pressure is high - pray for strength and clear minds for them. Also pray that we will continue to be a blessing to this community and that we will have open eyes, ears and hearts to the needs around us.

July 30 (or, Ducka, ducka, ducka, Bush!)

This weekend we travelled to Kampala for our mid-way-through-the-trip debrief. On the way, we stopped in Hoima to see the UMOJA office there and meet up with Rev. Mike. We then made the rest of the 5 hour journey to Kampala. Ugandan roads always make the trips interesting (let alone squishing as many people as possible on the seats...)

In Kampala, we stayed at the Maranatha Guest House. It was lovely - we even had a shower.

The first night, Tash and I decided it was time to mix up the food a bit and went for Italian. We ate so much. It was nice to have a taste of home.

The next day we visited the school where the children from the African Childrens' Choir stays. We had a tour, then some lunch, and met the kids. I got to meet the girls who stayed at my parents home this past year, and they told me about remembering eating shrimp and swinging on swings. We also sang with them a bit before we left - they were so charming.

We then had our meeting, which was a good time to discuss what has been happening and how everything is going. As well, we are trying to arrange for some much need school supplies to be sent the school soon.

Then it was time to rest our tired selves (I'm telling you, the roads in Uganda can take a lot out of you).

Sunday we went for worship at the Full Gospel Church. They sang songs and hymns we knew, we danced and received a very encouraging message on "The God who abandons not".

Then, away we went again, back to our home in Masindi. We had been missing it; we've become very grounded in the community here.



Everything else had been mostly normal (if that word applies here). I took on the teaching myself the first two days of this week (so Tash could recover from our journey) and the kids were great.

One of the boys we live with, Nicholas, was quite sick this week. Please pray for his health at this time, and also for all our friends who are suffering with sickness.

July 23 (or, We make quite the pair...)

We've been here almost a month... that's quite an outrageous thought! It's going so fast - there's always so much to do and learn and see.

Please, put all worries aside on account of our health; we are much better now and more active than ever.

I've been enjoying the teaching SO much. P6 is by far my favourite class (a confirmation that middle schoolers are the ones for me). Making lesson plans, getting covered in chalk dust (which is actually white than me now), watching the students' eyes begin to sparkle as they catch onto a concept, playing games, laughing until my sides ache - all this and more happens during our school days. I do not want this to end!

Often now, we are invited to peoples' homes in the evenings. They try to feed us way too much maize and mango, but it is lovely to sit and here about peoples' lives.

This weekend we are going to Kampala for our first/half-way debrief, and honestly, we don't want to leave. We're so grounded here - it's really becoming a second home.

On Saturday, we went for field-visits. We made it around to 16 homes ('footing'). We visited homes from 1 child to 12, some with many orphans. The houses also ranged: they were 4-room mud-huts to permanent structures in good shape. We asked them many questions (as we're collecting data - part of our job here) about food, their health, what would help them most and other things.
The strength we met in these women was incredible. I am so in awe of them.

On Sunday, we had couch church due to miscommunication on our transport for going for worship. Then, Momma Christine insisted we see a little more of the country and go swimming, in Kinyara. Kinyara is an industrial town/area that produces Uganda's sugar. We met a really sweet lady there, named Vicky - she's a favourite!

All is well here for Natasha and I, and we hope everything is well with each of you as well.
Thank you for your prayers, and please continue them.

July 15 (or, power outages and pigs)

Moleymoota!
Ndoho kurungi (I'm doing well).

We are catching on to a little more of the language all the time:
Mpah = give to me
Mukono = hand
Entebbe = chair
And the English words which have different meanings:
Sure? = Seriously?
Fine = Good
Catch = Carry
And many more...

In so many ways, I feel as if I'm having a second infancy and childhood.
I have been renamed "Aboki"
I am learning to walk differently (more slowly)
Talk differently (different language, and vowel emphasis)
Different manners
How to eat properly with my fingers (and at different times: breakfast = 7 am, lunch = 2 pm, evening tea = 6 pm, supper = 9 pm... and any other time our friends feel like feeding us. As the Director says, "Anytime is food time in Africa")
Indirect vs direct communication
Etc, etc, etc...

Everyone here has done everything in their power to make us feel at home. We have very good friend whom we talk about every topic with, and several mother who check on anything and everything.

Our schedule looks like:
Awake at 6:45.
Leave home by 7:30 to "walk" (more of a hike...) to school for 8.
At school, we have been added to the timetable. This is a wonderful development. We can now prepare lessons and give the students a better idea of what we will be doing with them that day. We have begun some music theory lessons and taught them many "Canadian" games.
We teach several periods and observe for some also.
At 5:30, it is time to walk/hike back home. (The very sweet children always insist on carrying/catching our bags).
At home, we take tea (which on several occasions has been french toast!! so delicious).
Afterward any number of evening activities could transpire - for example, one night we viewed a pig slaughtering (no comment), other evenings we walk to town (about an hour - and again, more of a hike), sometimes we sit in the kitchen and chat with our cook and host-mom, other times we relax and play cards with Nick and Brian... and sometimes, we sleep.
Often in the evening, the power will go out for several hours. This is supposed to lead to sleeping, but we manage to entertain ourselves. Even now, the power is out (the internet cafe has back-up generators, since it is attached to a hotel for muzungos).

There is so much else to share! We also went to an introduction ceremony (which is an official event put on by a potential bride, in which she introduces her intended husband to get approval from her parents - very interesting), and we met with the Umoja womens' groups on Sunday (after church, which was in Kinuro). The women are running their own micro-finances - collecting dues to help one another, give out loans, etc - and they are the guardians of the orphans at Progressive. On Saturday, we being our visits to their homes.

Some prayer requests are:
- the fundraising the womens' groups are doing in August for an Orphans Centre at the school
- health for the children (often they are absent due to illness, whether it is malaria or otherwise)
- the teachers at the school also have a variety of health troubles, and they would be happy to know you are praying for them
- also, please being praying about how you would like to invest more in this community. They do not need band-aids; they need people who are will to partner with them to develop over the long-run.
- our health (we are still a little unfamiliar with the times for eating, and we have caught colds from our precious children)

July 4 & 5 (food and friendships)

Hello everyone!

It is a beautiful day in Uganda - we had rain this afternoon which has kept things fairly cool.

This morning we had chapoites (a fried dough flat bread), watermelon, and eggs (an omlet made from at least 3 eggs). Hopefully my stomach streatches sooner rather than later; everyone asks us why we eat so little (3 huge meals a day and evening tea... we're barely managing).

After breakfast, we spent the morning at the school. Tash and I were together in P2 for the first bit, then I was sent to P6. I was quite the distraction... but the teacher got through a great science lesson on seeds (hurrah for science). As soon as it finished though, I heard a timid, "Madam...?", and was answering question after question. It is exciting to tell them about Canada. They can't believe we don't have our own mango tree, or kasava. And winter, well, that's quite the topic to get onto. It has helped to have pictures to show them.

After the class, Tash and I met with the Director, and he told us all about the school and its partnership with Umoja orphanages.

Next , I went to P5. What a wonderful group of children! They were too excited and curious to do their lesson. I felt badly that I was such a distraction, but the teachers seemed to know it would happen - I'm sure it will settle down in a few days. They asked me a huge range of questions and were very amused with the texture of my skin, hair on my arms and colour of my finger- and toe-nails.

About 12 students walked us home for lunch, and so we could rest of the afternoon (our hosts are very gracious and are making the jet-lag very easy for us to handle - Momma Christine is especially adament about letting us having enough rest). The kids stay for a good 30 minutes - we sang, talked and played a few games. One game they taught us was a combination of duck-duck goose, tag and leap-frog - very fun, very exhausting.

We rested the majority of the afternoon, then took a leisurely stroll. Brian (one of our friends and people who live in our compound) escorted us, since it was dusk.

While supper was being prepared, we were invited to the kitchen and Margaret, Lillian, Tracy, Tash and I ate roasted maize - so sweet (the english word for delicious here).

Supper was millit (a gummy, purple staple prepared from millit and kasava) and peas and carrots and roasted maize.

After supper, we washed our feet and prepared for our nightly games of cards with Brian and Nicholas (a quickly developed nightly routine). Brian is a business student in university and Nicholas is finishing highschool. We have all kinds of wonderful conversations covering all kinds of topics - culture, geography, imports/exports, education, transportation, and they are also teaching us the local language. We doing surprisingly well at catching on, since we have no reference to any Bantu dialects.



Today, we walked into town (about 45 minutes). On the way, we were beckoned to share some breakfast along the roadside. Raymond, who is in the defence corp, invited us and was very happy that we would sit and share with him. We at kasava (which was roasted with salt - sweet.) and chatted a little about our stay.

Here we have been getting a few supplies, and we'll go to Christine's for lunch. From her home, we'll take boda-bodas back to our home. Boda-boda (said buddah-buddah) are motorcycles with seats afixed to the back - this should be an adventure on these bumpy roads.

Tonight, we expect the same as last night - supper and cards. It is so good to be somewhere that is completely people oriented; it is refreshing to not be so task oriented that we aren't taking the time to properly get to know people and really hear their stories, hopes and dreams.