Let me start by saying that I wish all of you a very, Merry Christmas! I can hardly believe that Christmas is here in only a few days. Today is a rainy, cool day, but lately it has been very hot with a sky full of sun! Apparently, December and January are to be very hot months even though we are north of the equator here. Good news is that my soon-coming visit to the US will include me having a better tan than I ever would have had during any December before.
December has been a very busy month here in Kampala. I have been working to complete all of the home visits for the children who are being sponsored for school. These home visits have continued to be quite an eye opener of just how impoverished so many people in our world exist. Most of the "homes" are simply one room (usually around 6x10 or 8x10) where whole families live. Most have no electricity and none have running water - and what water the families and children can gather is polluted and disease ridden.
I think somewhere in my head and heart I hope to find a family that isn't struggling for food or children that don't go to bed hungry and sick - but the people in community in which I work just don't have that luxury. I continue to be amazed at the resilience of these families and children. They struggle to access the simplest things - things that in my life experience have been taken for granted. I remain grateful to be able to serve these wonderful people in whatever way possible.
One of my home visits included a drive out to a village southwest of Mpigi, Uganda. We parked at an uncle's plot and walked some distance to the family's home. The family included 9 children - 7 or 8 of which were orphaned by both parent's death and were living with a maternal grandmother and one aunt. They were fortunate to have maize, matooke and mangoes, but lacked money for food staples and fuel and didn't have a water supply that was close. Sadly, since most families in the area have the land to grow those foods no one can sell any of their produce in order to get money for the other needed items. There is a simplicity in a "farm life", but the lack is so very evident. The family was so happy that two of the children were sponsored (for boarding school, since the nearest school was probably 10 miles away) that the grandmother had the children cut some maize to roast for us and served us some of the tea we'd brought them as a gift. The grandmother apologized for not having any real food to serve us as a thank you... but the generosity of her giving some of what they had was such a beautiful gift for us to receive. And, honestly, freshly cut and roasted maize is delicious!!
In one home we visited, the mother cried when we gave her a gift of rice and sugar. She cried because she hadn't had food to feed the children even the night before (they'd shared a few beans cooked in lots of water) and that night they would have a feast of rice. Man! I am still often so convicted about how selfish I am and what I still "expect" as part of my life.
All this to say... Giving IS better than receiving - the gift of joy I get to experience every day is that we can and do make a difference in one person's life....it's truly amazing. I am so grateful that I get to play a part in it all.
I am also certainly reminded in these days of the greatest gift of all - a Father who gave His Son for us to have life and have it to the full. The teeny gifts I get to take to these families pales in comparison to the wonderful gift of life granted to us through Jesus. The example of Jesus is one to follow...He served at the will of the Father - to love, heal, provide, comfort, show the way and save - despite being poor, not physically attractive, laughed at and ridiculed, doubted, looked down upon, betrayed by one of His friends, ultimately tortured and beaten cruely and crucified. To have a King who would do this for us....amazing!
Happy birthday, Jesus.... and Merry Christmas to all!!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
There and Back Again
I am back home now in Uganda after a wonderful 10 days in Italy. This was such a blessing of the Lord for me… great break and a wonderful time with great friends, great food and a beautiful country. God’s kindness was really evident to me in His allowing this trip to be planned so long ago – He knew exactly what I’d need and enjoy during this season. Only He knew I’d be living in Uganda and would love so much an opportunity to catch up with dear friends in the midst of a wonderful experience – when we planned it, I certainly had NO clue that I’d be quitting my job and moving a third of way around the world. What grace and kindness!
I can’t wrap up this experience with just one word (and all you who know me well are likely chuckling right now in complete agreement that “one” word just isn’t me!)… it was stellar (that’s as close as I can get, but probably not close enough). We began the trip meeting up at the Florence airport. As it turns out, there were a couple of flight changes for us all and we actually arrived within minutes of each other – perfect! We spent a couple of days in Florence. Oh, the Uffizi was beautiful, the food was outstanding (one lunch in particular…can’t remember the name of the place, but – YUM!) and it was great to have some chilled “tourist” time with my friends Mardee and Meitra. Then, Saturday it was off to our cooking school in Poppi, Italy…not too far outside of Florence (even though we went the “long” way … another story for another day – but a beautiful ride into town).
What can I say about Casa Ombuto…oh, it was a gorgeous setting. The house was quite old – a renovated structure of a large “apartment” upstairs and two downstairs. They’d also built a huge kitchen and dining room into the hillside just outside the house. Tuscan law prevents the building of new structures in the region (to preserve the beauty of the environment there) unless they are built “underground”. The care they took with the new construction was admirable - and it really seemed that it was part of the old… almost as if a couple of great wine cellars had been uncovered. The care they took with the guests and our comfort was also really lovely. We felt at home immediately.
We were part of a group of 13 people at the school for that week. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out with so many people, but working in the kitchen with everyone really was “controlled chaos”. I can’t remember who first labeled it as such, sorry, but it was certainly an accurate description. In the end, all the courses of the dinners rolled out and most all were really delicious. The day started with breakfast, then either chill time in front of the huge fireplace or out on the balcony – with lots of reading time – or travel to close towns or shopping nearby. Then it was lunch at 13:00 and “school” beginning at 15:00. We had discussion time with Chef Paola to go over the evening’s menu then off to the kitchen to prepare a “school break snack”, dinner and lunch prep for the following day(s). We were assigned our menus for the day and worked either independently or in teams. If one were simply watching – it would probably have had a dizzying effect! But it was quite a choreographed dance. We did the usual food prep stuff but also got to work on things we’d never made before. I was particularly excited to make pasta (not in a machine) and actually prepare a successful and tasty loaf of bread (my first – since all my prior bread experience pretty much had ended in bricks!).
Alas, at the end of a wonderful week, it was back to Florence for the trip home. I didn’t like saying goodbye to my friends and certainly could have easily been convinced to stay in Italy for some time…but it was time to come home and get back to life in Uganda.
The few days I’ve been home have been good… wonderful news that we only have 6 more children on the list for school sponsorship for next year. That’s a great blessing and has been awesome news. Thanks so much to all of you who have been willing and wanting to sponsor these kids. The schedule for all the “home visits” is getting put together tomorrow so the rest of the year will be busy to say the least!
Blessings to each of you… God is good and I remain awed by His grace and gifts of love.
I can’t wrap up this experience with just one word (and all you who know me well are likely chuckling right now in complete agreement that “one” word just isn’t me!)… it was stellar (that’s as close as I can get, but probably not close enough). We began the trip meeting up at the Florence airport. As it turns out, there were a couple of flight changes for us all and we actually arrived within minutes of each other – perfect! We spent a couple of days in Florence. Oh, the Uffizi was beautiful, the food was outstanding (one lunch in particular…can’t remember the name of the place, but – YUM!) and it was great to have some chilled “tourist” time with my friends Mardee and Meitra. Then, Saturday it was off to our cooking school in Poppi, Italy…not too far outside of Florence (even though we went the “long” way … another story for another day – but a beautiful ride into town).
What can I say about Casa Ombuto…oh, it was a gorgeous setting. The house was quite old – a renovated structure of a large “apartment” upstairs and two downstairs. They’d also built a huge kitchen and dining room into the hillside just outside the house. Tuscan law prevents the building of new structures in the region (to preserve the beauty of the environment there) unless they are built “underground”. The care they took with the new construction was admirable - and it really seemed that it was part of the old… almost as if a couple of great wine cellars had been uncovered. The care they took with the guests and our comfort was also really lovely. We felt at home immediately.
We were part of a group of 13 people at the school for that week. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out with so many people, but working in the kitchen with everyone really was “controlled chaos”. I can’t remember who first labeled it as such, sorry, but it was certainly an accurate description. In the end, all the courses of the dinners rolled out and most all were really delicious. The day started with breakfast, then either chill time in front of the huge fireplace or out on the balcony – with lots of reading time – or travel to close towns or shopping nearby. Then it was lunch at 13:00 and “school” beginning at 15:00. We had discussion time with Chef Paola to go over the evening’s menu then off to the kitchen to prepare a “school break snack”, dinner and lunch prep for the following day(s). We were assigned our menus for the day and worked either independently or in teams. If one were simply watching – it would probably have had a dizzying effect! But it was quite a choreographed dance. We did the usual food prep stuff but also got to work on things we’d never made before. I was particularly excited to make pasta (not in a machine) and actually prepare a successful and tasty loaf of bread (my first – since all my prior bread experience pretty much had ended in bricks!).
Alas, at the end of a wonderful week, it was back to Florence for the trip home. I didn’t like saying goodbye to my friends and certainly could have easily been convinced to stay in Italy for some time…but it was time to come home and get back to life in Uganda.
The few days I’ve been home have been good… wonderful news that we only have 6 more children on the list for school sponsorship for next year. That’s a great blessing and has been awesome news. Thanks so much to all of you who have been willing and wanting to sponsor these kids. The schedule for all the “home visits” is getting put together tomorrow so the rest of the year will be busy to say the least!
Blessings to each of you… God is good and I remain awed by His grace and gifts of love.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Northern Uganda, amoebas and the rest...
Well, the last several weeks have FLOWN by! I could hardly believe it was already October and now it's even almost half way through. I promised an update after my trip into northern Uganda, but the update has been delayed by a number of factors (power and internet access still at the top of the list). So, better late than never....
Northern Uganda
This trip was awesome. It was too short, but impacting none the less. I travelled with a group of 12 people to visit a couple of families in Kitgum and we stayed in a village called Rackoko. We traveled north to visit a family of three of the adopted children of the family with whom I'm currently living (particularly - the mother and sister of one of the 3). This daughter (along with 2 other of the adopted children) escaped the war in the north with her aunt and was brought to Kamapala. She and her cousins lived in the slums with that aunt who was desperately poor and was highly abusive. The three children were rescued from their horrible situation into this family. At the time of her adoption, the aunt had instructed her to lie and say her mother was dead "so that she would be wanted by another family" - very sad, but shortly after coming to live with the family, she broke down crying and said she wanted to visit her mother, who was blind. The family was surprised to hear this truth, but immediately began making plans to connect them and began looking for the mother. This proved highly difficult as families were so scattered from the war and returned to the land that was not their original property when they were able to return from IDP camps. The great news is that in August of this year, a couple of folks traveled north and finally found her mom!! So, we all set out together to visit her family and to take them oxen, a bike, a plow, food, clothing, etc., because this family lives in such horrible poverty and hunger. It was really awesome to go along with them on this trip - and get to see God work in such a powerful way. The mom (and older sister) had been praying to see her daughter again but thought she never would... she lived constantly in prayer about it and felt for the longest time that God wouldn't answer her. And then her daughter showed up!! OH MY - the rejoicing was amazing!! The mom danced and screamed out in an Acholi yell several times (more on that later... but this is really something that norther women do...I'll get more info to share on it some time) to show her rejoicing and appreciation! Tears were flowing and people dancing all around.... village children started showing up through the grasses to see all the happenings. Everyone joined together in discussion and rejoicing and singing, then the gifts were presented (more rejoicing and tears) then the family asked us to stay for a meal. They prepared from their heart - they even killed one of their precious chickens to share with us so we would have meat - chicken, rice, sweet potatoes and malecquon (sp?). It was delicious food and was even more appreciated because of their great sacrifice!
We stayed in a "compound", for lack of a better word, where a school, hospital and rescue shelter was located. I was blessed to get to know Francis and Trudy Odida (they were part of the travelling party) and hear about their lives - they had built this compound, along with many other schools and buildings in the area. Francis is from the Pader district in northern Uganda and Trudy is from Austrailia. They married about 25 years ago and the Lord had them serve the people of the north through the worst years of the war. God saved their lives many times and their stories are incredible. They built countless schools and even today sponsor over 3000 kids for education. They have had provision from the Lord to complete all of it.
There is such horrible poverty in that district (the Pader District is said to be the poorest district in Uganda and, along with Kitgum and Gulu, was where so much of the "war" was happening) and the atrocities that touch almost every family there is still somehow palpable in the air. There is such deep memory of devastation. They are at "peace" at the moment, but the fear lingers and the hunger lingers.... many have returned to "home" or land from the IDP camps, but disputes over property (which is necessary to grow food and survive) are pretty bad since most all of the tribal leaders/council were killed and there is no paperwork to prove ownership. Many still live in the camps and regularly die of hunger and disease - sad that it is still occurring in this day and time of such wealth in so much of the world.
I have recognized how easy it is to sit in comfort and prosperity without a thought about the intense and incredible suffering around the world. I have done it and, sadly, still do - from the security of a house on a hill (or a fancy hotel lobby where I'm typing this).... Seeing some of its effects first-hand cause me shame for my apathy and are incredibly convicting. I cried watching Hotel Rwanda, I cried about the horrible genocide and abuse in Sudan - all with real emotion and a desire that the world change - but Darfur can so easily become just a word that popped out for a while on CNN but isn't so fashionable to keep tabs on. And yes, we can all quickly make judgements about why a people group or country or region is torn apart and innocents killed - but that doesn't help. What do we DO? We can all do more.... I know there is much, much more I can and should do. I pray about whatever is coming next in my life... that it be filled with more action, with sacrifice, with feet in motion.
But, now the rest of the update .... on to: amoebas and other stuff.
I have encountered my first amoeba (well, at least my first BAD kind for my body). Apparently, there are amoebas around here who love to get into your gut (not necessarily through food - often through skin/touch) and cause bad things to happen. Let me tell you.... the treatment is just as bad as the amoeba! So, I'm finished with meds tomorrow and hoping to have normal stomach function soon. Much better now, but gee, it wasn't really all that fun.
The rest of these several weeks between posts have seen some cool stuff... we've gotten a few more children sponsored for school (YEAH!!) and the web content is complete and on its way to the people that really know how to create a website. The team and Ray of Hope is so excited about finally having a website - and we're really hoping this will help drive more sponsorship and donation to them to serve the people in Namuwongo. They are such a committed team - they sacrifice so much and live as quite an example of the love the Lord wants us to show others.
OH - so it wouldn't be a note from me if it didn't include the "if anyone wants to help with something" update... we have about 15 more children to sponsor for school (there are countless others, but I committed to trying to get sponsorship specifically for this current P3 class moving up to P4 in January). Also, there are a number of women who need "sponsorship" for beginning a business. This is donation oriented at the moment, but I'm hoping to get information on possibly connecting with kiva.org to look at micro-lending for them (check out the site - there are a number of entreprenuers around the world who would really be blessed by a micro-loan from you - or check out neverendinghope.org for your donation to fund loans).
That's about it from here. Thanks for reading and for your patience through my rambling!! Hope all are well and blessed - wherever you are.
Northern Uganda
This trip was awesome. It was too short, but impacting none the less. I travelled with a group of 12 people to visit a couple of families in Kitgum and we stayed in a village called Rackoko. We traveled north to visit a family of three of the adopted children of the family with whom I'm currently living (particularly - the mother and sister of one of the 3). This daughter (along with 2 other of the adopted children) escaped the war in the north with her aunt and was brought to Kamapala. She and her cousins lived in the slums with that aunt who was desperately poor and was highly abusive. The three children were rescued from their horrible situation into this family. At the time of her adoption, the aunt had instructed her to lie and say her mother was dead "so that she would be wanted by another family" - very sad, but shortly after coming to live with the family, she broke down crying and said she wanted to visit her mother, who was blind. The family was surprised to hear this truth, but immediately began making plans to connect them and began looking for the mother. This proved highly difficult as families were so scattered from the war and returned to the land that was not their original property when they were able to return from IDP camps. The great news is that in August of this year, a couple of folks traveled north and finally found her mom!! So, we all set out together to visit her family and to take them oxen, a bike, a plow, food, clothing, etc., because this family lives in such horrible poverty and hunger. It was really awesome to go along with them on this trip - and get to see God work in such a powerful way. The mom (and older sister) had been praying to see her daughter again but thought she never would... she lived constantly in prayer about it and felt for the longest time that God wouldn't answer her. And then her daughter showed up!! OH MY - the rejoicing was amazing!! The mom danced and screamed out in an Acholi yell several times (more on that later... but this is really something that norther women do...I'll get more info to share on it some time) to show her rejoicing and appreciation! Tears were flowing and people dancing all around.... village children started showing up through the grasses to see all the happenings. Everyone joined together in discussion and rejoicing and singing, then the gifts were presented (more rejoicing and tears) then the family asked us to stay for a meal. They prepared from their heart - they even killed one of their precious chickens to share with us so we would have meat - chicken, rice, sweet potatoes and malecquon (sp?). It was delicious food and was even more appreciated because of their great sacrifice!
We stayed in a "compound", for lack of a better word, where a school, hospital and rescue shelter was located. I was blessed to get to know Francis and Trudy Odida (they were part of the travelling party) and hear about their lives - they had built this compound, along with many other schools and buildings in the area. Francis is from the Pader district in northern Uganda and Trudy is from Austrailia. They married about 25 years ago and the Lord had them serve the people of the north through the worst years of the war. God saved their lives many times and their stories are incredible. They built countless schools and even today sponsor over 3000 kids for education. They have had provision from the Lord to complete all of it.
There is such horrible poverty in that district (the Pader District is said to be the poorest district in Uganda and, along with Kitgum and Gulu, was where so much of the "war" was happening) and the atrocities that touch almost every family there is still somehow palpable in the air. There is such deep memory of devastation. They are at "peace" at the moment, but the fear lingers and the hunger lingers.... many have returned to "home" or land from the IDP camps, but disputes over property (which is necessary to grow food and survive) are pretty bad since most all of the tribal leaders/council were killed and there is no paperwork to prove ownership. Many still live in the camps and regularly die of hunger and disease - sad that it is still occurring in this day and time of such wealth in so much of the world.
I have recognized how easy it is to sit in comfort and prosperity without a thought about the intense and incredible suffering around the world. I have done it and, sadly, still do - from the security of a house on a hill (or a fancy hotel lobby where I'm typing this).... Seeing some of its effects first-hand cause me shame for my apathy and are incredibly convicting. I cried watching Hotel Rwanda, I cried about the horrible genocide and abuse in Sudan - all with real emotion and a desire that the world change - but Darfur can so easily become just a word that popped out for a while on CNN but isn't so fashionable to keep tabs on. And yes, we can all quickly make judgements about why a people group or country or region is torn apart and innocents killed - but that doesn't help. What do we DO? We can all do more.... I know there is much, much more I can and should do. I pray about whatever is coming next in my life... that it be filled with more action, with sacrifice, with feet in motion.
But, now the rest of the update .... on to: amoebas and other stuff.
I have encountered my first amoeba (well, at least my first BAD kind for my body). Apparently, there are amoebas around here who love to get into your gut (not necessarily through food - often through skin/touch) and cause bad things to happen. Let me tell you.... the treatment is just as bad as the amoeba! So, I'm finished with meds tomorrow and hoping to have normal stomach function soon. Much better now, but gee, it wasn't really all that fun.
The rest of these several weeks between posts have seen some cool stuff... we've gotten a few more children sponsored for school (YEAH!!) and the web content is complete and on its way to the people that really know how to create a website. The team and Ray of Hope is so excited about finally having a website - and we're really hoping this will help drive more sponsorship and donation to them to serve the people in Namuwongo. They are such a committed team - they sacrifice so much and live as quite an example of the love the Lord wants us to show others.
OH - so it wouldn't be a note from me if it didn't include the "if anyone wants to help with something" update... we have about 15 more children to sponsor for school (there are countless others, but I committed to trying to get sponsorship specifically for this current P3 class moving up to P4 in January). Also, there are a number of women who need "sponsorship" for beginning a business. This is donation oriented at the moment, but I'm hoping to get information on possibly connecting with kiva.org to look at micro-lending for them (check out the site - there are a number of entreprenuers around the world who would really be blessed by a micro-loan from you - or check out neverendinghope.org for your donation to fund loans).
That's about it from here. Thanks for reading and for your patience through my rambling!! Hope all are well and blessed - wherever you are.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Things are happening....
I can hardly believe it’s been almost two weeks since my last blog update. Things here are progressing rapidly.
We’ve secured sponsorship for the 2011 school year for 12 children – there are many more children in need so please tell all your friends and family about this wonderful opportunity to bless others in need. (This opportunity can make a difference in the life of a child. If you have the money to go out to eat more than once a week and you actually buy coffee someone else has prepared, chances are good you can come up with the $25/month to help a child. Some of these kids only have 1 meal/day on a good day, so please consider a small sacrifice to you in order to make a BIG difference for someone else!) 100% of the donation goes to the child’s school fees or supplies. And – it’s tax deductible. Ask me how you can help….
Well, thanks to the continuing offers of support from dear friends in the US, it looks like we’ll be able to do a good work for Ray of Hope in the soon-coming days….I’m in the process now of developing web content with the RoH team and confirming the structure for their new website. Hopefully after some technical items are resolved, we’ll be able to proceed and get a great site up and running for them. I’m so privileged to work with these folks and am also very grateful and privileged to know an awesome creative team in the states who are willing to offer time and energy to support this effort. Many, many thanks to you all!! As many know, this can be a rather lengthy process – but in “Africa” time, it seems to be so speedy. The folks at RoH keep talking about how fast things are happening. :-)
This coming weekend I head into northern Uganda to Kitgum. As many of you are aware, northern Uganda has been a place of dramatic struggle and physical and spiritual oppression. So many innocent people have been murdered, raped, or kidnapped. The bloodshed has been so violent…and many families continue to suffer there. Many children were abducted and were forced to become child “brides” or child soldiers….and many still live on the streets and stay in hospital basements or alleys in an attempt to be “safe”. I can’t even wrap my mind around the horror so many of these children (and women and men) face regularly – still!! Even with Kony/the LRA supposedly in the DRCongo, people live under a blanket of fear that just won’t easily be lifted (you can read books like “The Aboke Girls”, “First, Kill Your Family: Child Soldiers of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army” and “The Teeth May Smile But The Heart Will Not Forget” to read just a little of has gone on here). A number of the kids in the family I’m living with have been rescued from those horrible conditions. I am grateful for the opportunity to go with some of the family and some friends of theirs who have family there. It will be an honor to bless some of the families there who are struggling so severely.
Next topic: I’ll be honest, while I appreciate facebook, the updates can make me miss the US a bit…. thinking about Auburn football and football Saturdays with friends – football, food and often a great round of cards! I do miss all my friends but remain in such peace and happiness here. I can hardly believe I’ve been here almost 8 weeks…but sometimes it feels that I’ve lived here for years. All is good!
I will try to send another update once I return from Kitgum… love and blessings to you! I remain grateful for your friendship, prayers and support, and the opportunity to serve the people of Africa!
We’ve secured sponsorship for the 2011 school year for 12 children – there are many more children in need so please tell all your friends and family about this wonderful opportunity to bless others in need. (This opportunity can make a difference in the life of a child. If you have the money to go out to eat more than once a week and you actually buy coffee someone else has prepared, chances are good you can come up with the $25/month to help a child. Some of these kids only have 1 meal/day on a good day, so please consider a small sacrifice to you in order to make a BIG difference for someone else!) 100% of the donation goes to the child’s school fees or supplies. And – it’s tax deductible. Ask me how you can help….
Well, thanks to the continuing offers of support from dear friends in the US, it looks like we’ll be able to do a good work for Ray of Hope in the soon-coming days….I’m in the process now of developing web content with the RoH team and confirming the structure for their new website. Hopefully after some technical items are resolved, we’ll be able to proceed and get a great site up and running for them. I’m so privileged to work with these folks and am also very grateful and privileged to know an awesome creative team in the states who are willing to offer time and energy to support this effort. Many, many thanks to you all!! As many know, this can be a rather lengthy process – but in “Africa” time, it seems to be so speedy. The folks at RoH keep talking about how fast things are happening. :-)
This coming weekend I head into northern Uganda to Kitgum. As many of you are aware, northern Uganda has been a place of dramatic struggle and physical and spiritual oppression. So many innocent people have been murdered, raped, or kidnapped. The bloodshed has been so violent…and many families continue to suffer there. Many children were abducted and were forced to become child “brides” or child soldiers….and many still live on the streets and stay in hospital basements or alleys in an attempt to be “safe”. I can’t even wrap my mind around the horror so many of these children (and women and men) face regularly – still!! Even with Kony/the LRA supposedly in the DRCongo, people live under a blanket of fear that just won’t easily be lifted (you can read books like “The Aboke Girls”, “First, Kill Your Family: Child Soldiers of Uganda and the Lord’s Resistance Army” and “The Teeth May Smile But The Heart Will Not Forget” to read just a little of has gone on here). A number of the kids in the family I’m living with have been rescued from those horrible conditions. I am grateful for the opportunity to go with some of the family and some friends of theirs who have family there. It will be an honor to bless some of the families there who are struggling so severely.
Next topic: I’ll be honest, while I appreciate facebook, the updates can make me miss the US a bit…. thinking about Auburn football and football Saturdays with friends – football, food and often a great round of cards! I do miss all my friends but remain in such peace and happiness here. I can hardly believe I’ve been here almost 8 weeks…but sometimes it feels that I’ve lived here for years. All is good!
I will try to send another update once I return from Kitgum… love and blessings to you! I remain grateful for your friendship, prayers and support, and the opportunity to serve the people of Africa!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
August Update :: The Giant "Catch Up" Post
Finally a blog update!
So, life in Uganda has hit a nice rhythm. I feel like I’m making some progress in relationships and in activity. There are several things to tell you about so I’ll just divide it into topics and hope it is readable!
>> Ray of Hope
In Namuwongo slums, I work with and through the Ray of Hope organization supporting their efforts to keep children off the streets, provide an education for them as well as help grow skills and give support to vulnerable women and their children. The women who are part of this organization are awesome – they give more than 100% everyday and make progress one child, woman or family at the time. They give and give…they are not the “takers” of this world. It’s quite convicting to my thoughts of my own needs and wants and it is also such a privilege to work with them.
Basically I’ve created a schedule to be down at RoH every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday to be with the women, do bead work with them, help do clean-up in the slums (physically with shovel, rake and wheel barrow – to load and cart trash that’s been piled by the water sources [still not clean water, but..] out to a garbage pile on one end of the slums) with the women and work with the staff there to gather info and develop materials to help them and help all of us work towards a website and more robust sponsorship (for education for kids in the slums) options. I also try to work on their materials from my “hotel lobby office” as often as I can during the other days of the week.
Below is a write up I put together in order to begin building that website info and get a formalized sponsorship process in play. It has not been edited or word-smithed at all (looking forward to some friends helping me with that!) but it shares some history about the organization.
***********
A Ray of Hope
In 2000 a teacher and a civil servant decided to build a home in Namuwongo, an area of Kampala, Uganda. Little did they know that the choices they made in that year would have wide-reaching and on-going positive impact to the people of the Namuwongo slums as well as a view of God’s love to people around the world. This is a story of faith and of the miraculous provision of a loving God.
Emily’s Story
Circumstances outside of their control dictated that this teacher and civil servant, Emily and Richard, move into their unfinished, un-walled and un-gated home in Namuwongo in 2000. Emily soon discovered that not having a wall or gate allowed her to see what was happening in the neighborhood – and what she saw caused her concern and grief. In the early morning, poorly dressed and undernourished children would come and knock on the doors of the neighbors on the street. They would dart into the gates of these homes then come back out carrying bags or old luggage pieces full of garbage. Instead of being in school, which they – nor their parents (if they were lucky enough to have parents) – could afford, they were on the streets trying to earn money in order to stay alive. Most often, these children were “paid” with spoiled food or items of little to no value. And even if it was possible to earn enough to cover school fees, there were still uniforms, food and school supplies to buy – they just didn’t have chance.
That’s where Emily came in. She saw an opportunity to share the love of God with these children. She first began to pray for them diligently and encourage them verbally every day. She recognized the great need of these children and began to meet some of those physical needs by feeding them porridge in the mornings and giving them money as payment for their garbage collection work. She also began to look for organizations that could help these children. The sad news – none of the organizations were able to accept any more children. She was encouraged by those organizations to simply help them herself. So she did!
Emily began looking, and finally found, a primary school teacher who would teach those children in the front yard of their unfinished home. They got their church to agree to let them bring the church benches to the yard each morning and return them back to the church each evening. This was a true labor of love…and active show of God’s kindness to the poor and orphaned. Others began to offer some financial support to pay the teacher’s salary and the children were showing up to learn! Most often there would be different children showing up each day, but a core group was there regularly to learn and grow.
Soon, Emily was faced with another problem. Some of the children were stealing from homes in the area and their gathering at Emily’s house was beginning to attract legal attention. She knew they had to move their “school” to another location. At that time she and Richard knew they would have to legalize this group and in 2001 they first registered Ray of Hope Uganda as an organization.
They moved to a two-room office in Namuwongo and enrolled 45 children for school. Emily was still working as a teacher herself, so they added 2 teachers to the Ray of Hope team and continued educating the children. She also “borrowed” money from her husband, Richard’s, bank account, while he was out of town on a training trip, to pay for 6 months of rent for a house to serve as the school. She did that with the prayer on her lips that “God will sponsor us!” When her husband returned unexpectedly, he agreed to allow her to use the money and wait to see what God would do when the 6 months were over.
A School Comes
The end of the 6 months arrived and a sponsor had not come. Emily and the Ray of Hope team dismantled the school, made repairs to the house and knew they had to seek a new location. Knowing they served the community in the slums of Namuwongo, Richard decided to go down into the slums to try and find a new location. God opened the door and showed him a papyrus building being used as a church. He spoke with the pastor and they agreed on renting the building cheaply to be used during the day as the school. This meant the pastor could still have his evening and Sunday church with no interruption.
This new home for the school was a dirty place and an environment which would generally turn most people away. There were drainage problems and sewage issues, people making the local brew right outside the doors and drunkards hurling insults regularly. But all 45 children showed up for the first day of class, happy to be receiving an education – even without porridge (at this point, there were too many children to feed) – and the school environment was about to change.
God had placed an older couple, from Korea, in the lives of the children at Ray of Hope. This couple would come in and pray with the children and spend time with them just showing the love of God. When they returned to Uganda, they found the children in this new school and immediately wanted to help. The children were just sitting on mats on the ground and the couple knew then just how bad the situation was for these children. They had benches made and sent to this new school and also went to the US to raise money and tell others about the needs of these children. Before they’d left, they purchased the land on which the school was located and had also left money with Ray of Hope to build another structure since the church had removed their structure from the site.
Emily and the Ray of Hope team moved into a time of “mad faith” to get a building built and a school operational. God was at work and the miracles began to come one after another. A volunteer from Newcastle, England, Tom, came to help – after the organization with whom he worked had said they couldn’t send anyone because the conditions were so bad. Then, Tom’s mother came for a visit and bought timber to be used in the building of the school. Shortly after, another volunteer came and pushed the walls up. Emily had gone earlier to the industrial area, walking and praying all the way, to try to receive help from an iron-works company for security bars on the school – once the building was ready, the iron works company called to say the iron sheets were ready and that they’d been trying to call for 3 months! It was all coming together at the right time. “Hope for Children” came in and helped divide the rooms so that Ray of Hope could support more grades and get more teachers. Then the Mumford family, connected through one of their daughter’s intership and subsequent volunteer support of Ray of Hope, joined with them to build a support building. The school was complete and children were enrolled. Ray of Hope was providing a foundation of education from nursery school through grade P3.
Current update…
To-date, over 225 children have finished P1 through P3 schooling in the Ray of Hope school or been sponsored for P4 and above – thousands more wait for help. All the children in Nursery Top Class – grade P3 currently receive meals at the school and are also provided basic medical care.
All the drainage and sewage issues on the school property became so bad that the school was forced to close and another temporary location has been found. Currently money is being raised to purchase a building that will be the long-term offices and school for Ray of Hope.
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For more information on how you can help, where you can send donations as well as sponsorship for children in grades P4 and higher, please contact me or just leave a comment here with any of your contact details and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
>> Nawezikana
Below is a write up I put together in order to prepare for a business plan and website information for the women’s micro-business. It too has not been edited or word-smithed but it shares some basic info about the group.
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“With God, all things are possible.” Nawezikana. That’s what the women decided should be their name. What began as a burden on one woman’s heart, to help teach women in the Namuwongo slums skills that would enable them to raise their income level, became a micro-business that is now so much more – it is a community of women sharing life and support of one another while working with their hands to provide for their families and homes. This love and support has transformed the lives of these women, many of whom face tremendous hardship and even abuse, by offering them the opportunity to share with one another and share their talents with the world.
Throughout late 2008, a group of about 8 women were led through many one-off projects that could be used as a skills growth opportunity for the women of the Namuwongo slums. These small groups generally worked on projects like tailoring, cooking and craft projects such as making embroidered greeting cards. In a short time, the group began to grow and all recognized the need to create something more permanent – something where the commitment to one another and the community could be nurtured. The group had already begun to pray together, and for one another, and to commit their work to the Lord.
In early 2009, through the blessing of generous donations from a number of people and organizations, the family helping with this start up was able to work with the Ray of Hope team to find and rent a building where the women could regularly meet and work on their crafts and projects. This new building provided office space for Ray of Hope as well as rooms to work indoors for the women in the group. It was a place they could gather safely and regularly to use their talents and gifts to create something beautiful – beautiful, quality products as well as beautiful relationships with one another.
The group soon increased to about 35 women all working together. Money was raised for the purchase of sewing machines that allowed part of the team of women to focus on tailoring and volunteer teams that came to work in the slums brought supplies for the various projects on which the women were working. The team and the micro-business were growing – because “with God, all things are possible.”
Current update…
The Nawezikana women’s micro-business produces embroidered greeting cards, jewelry purses, bags, African paper beads and various pieces of jewelry. Many individuals have purchased products from this group to re-sell in other places but this has not reached far enough. Nawezikana is now looking to partner with organizations that focus on fair trade as well as justice and equality for the individual in order to create an opportunity to share the stories of these women with, as well as create a sales pipeline that can reach, the world.
************************
If you would like to help these women in any way (rent $ for their homes [small cement rooms in the slums – 4x6 or so], sponsorship $ for their kids school fees, etc.), help the micro-business (supplies, capital for new projects, rent for other sales stalls or shops, etc.), or generally help RoH, please just let me know. You can leave a comment here with any info or contact emails and I’ll get in touch.
>> The Lake Victoria Serena lobby
I am so grateful for the Lake Victoria Serena. I’ve spent a number of hours in their lobby…sending emails and doing on-line research to support all that I’ve been burdened to do to help create an infrastructure for sponsorship and micro-business support for Ray of Hope. The people who work there are so welcoming and nice and the environment is a perfect “office” with the nice sound of the fountain in the lobby and great internet speed - all for the price of a soda or a latte. I occasionally spend time there when I’m not in the city, slums or supporting the family with whom I’m currently living - and will probably have to spend more time there soon in order to get all my on-line work completed.
>> The family
The family I’m living with is a large family of American, Ukranian and Ugandan children – biological and adopted. The adopted children were rescued from horrible situations in life – abuse, neglect, results of war, etc. So, any help I can provide to the family is also helping children who have survived atrocities I can’t even imagine. To see these kids getting an education and being provided a chance to grow and learn in a secure environment , where food and clothing are readily available and love is shared, is awesome.
I’m on breakfast preparation duty on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and dinner preparation duty on Monday and Wednesday evenings. I also make grocery runs regularly for them (imagine the Duggar family shopping without a SuperWalmart in sight!) and those happen almost every day –I’m one of only a few adults that can drive here. Feeding 25 people per meal (that includes the kids, adults [family and not] and the occasional guests) takes a LOT of food and many hours of cooking every day. Lately, most of the cooking has been done with only gas and with no refridge or freezer since the power has been out every day for over 3 weeks now. We run the generator periodically, but very sparingly because of the cost of fuel. Kerosene lanterns at night when it’s out and just window light during the day.
I’ve also gotten to help with some admin/business stuff at the house…good to use some of my "career" experience while here.
>> The house
I get the priviledge of living in an awesome house in a beautiful setting. It’s a large house – with home school rooms, girls side, boys side, great room, good kitchen, laundry room and a laundry dry-house outside. There is a view of Lake Victoria from the back screened porch and there is a constant breeze off the lake that keeps the lower floor of the house fairly cool, even on the hottest day. The views are 360 – the lake and the valleys on either side of the hill. It’s really awesome for the kids who have joined the family here because they have come from slums and the bush and would have never imagined living in a house like this. I have my own room and share a community girls bathroom.
Some things not so cool…. there is often no power, some cold water showers and you have to carry your laundry down to hang on the line – no dryers. You make do with kerosene lanterns in the evening and have to go to a hotel lobby to get internet service. There is no phone line and no cable tv (which I’ve been really used to over the last year or so – really grateful God got me used to that!!)….and also it’s REALLY noisy quite often (which for me is a great growth opportunity since I’ve always enjoyed having silence in my house and being able to get plenty of alone time when I felt I needed it….not the case for me at the moment). Imagine no walls in the common areas and lots of kids screaming, listening to music, running and playing and watching DVDs…all those things are great and happy family things, but it takes quite an adjustment for one who has never been part of that kind of environment (or has had an opportunity to escape it when needed). I need some more highest-decibel possible earplugs since I now have to sleep in them nightly. Anyone is welcome to mail some to me – the ones you can use when shooting a weapon!! : )
>> Transportation
Transportation is the fun part. This is some of worst traffic I’ve driven in (including Seville, Spain and Boston during the “big dig”) but it’s awesome because there seem to be almost no road rules – it’s a bit like Cairo. I get to drive the equivalent of a tank (big Toyota Land Cruiser – the old kind… nice and square and huge) and can make my way through most any intersection or roundabout without an issue. Imagine being able to take a 4 lane highway and drive in 6 lanes worth of traffic – with people running across the street constantly (and sometimes even cows – by accident – got to see that a couple of days ago), taxi vans and boda boda’s (motorcycle “taxis”) EVERYWHERE coming into traffic randomly and the bodas weaving through all the lanes of traffic. Bodas are often dangerous, but in town they are the best way to travel because they can get through all the cars. Everywhere people are walking and there are street markets all by the side of the road.
Driving in the city is fine – but there are “traffic cops” standing on many corners with their whistles ready to pull you over for a driving infraction. They are also terribly crooked and expect monetary bribes in order to prevent them taking your license and making a hard time for you. So, last week on a money exchange run, I made an illegal u-turn (mind you there was no sign and the intersection was completely open) and had 3 of those dudes running after me with their whistles blarring… scared the living daylights out of me at first. Anyhoo – the meanest looking one got in the car with me and started telling me, in a fairly direct and loud tone, that I should know better and shouldn’t be on the street and I’ve broken the law and all about how horrible I am…. Well, he was working on a bribe because he would never get his pen and pad out to write me a ticket. I just sat there saying “Mercy, ssabo (sir, in Luganda), mercy…I saw no sign and I would never want to disobey your law, please give me mercy, ssabo!” He then began to harass me that anyone I knew in Uganda should be with me because I shouldn’t drive without knowing the road, so I had to start in on the story of how they’d told me all about the roads and I was just the one making the mistake – pleading for more mercy and trying my best to work up some tears. Finally they seemed to figure out that I was a not going to offer to bribe them (I’m sure they just thought I was an idiot “muzungu”) and one of the officers outside the car called the other gentlemen out and said they would grant me mercy – but just for today! Phew!!
The streets in the city “proper” are bad, but the streets outside of town center are HORRIBLE!! Potholes everywhere and sides of the streets just chunking off because they only pave a few inches over top of a red dirt road – so it certainly is not able to stay together. It’s like driving in a mind field. You certainly have to know where you are before you’d even consider taking a sip of anything to drink….it’s enough to jostle your brain out. There are also people all over and these huge trenches on either side (that can’t even contain much of the flash floods that rampage during a hard rain carrying red water everywhere along with so much trash it makes you want to cry or be ill…reminds me of the litter commercial from my childhood with the Native American guy with a tear running down his cheek) – trenches that would certainly cause an axle to snap in half if you drove off into it! And of course these trenches on both sides leave little room for navigating around the people and bodas without running the on-coming traffic off into the one on their side…. It’s like an advertisement for a “Driving Extreme” training camp. At night loud music is booming through most of the streets and the place stays alive all night. And one other note on driving during a hard rain… many of the streets do suffer flood-like conditions so the UN trucks (shiny white and new – don’t even get me started) and their closed-engine, above cab air intake are not such a bad thing. Driving through it is horrible because you just don’t know what you’re driving over or what pothole you’re about to get lost in!
The road up through the bush to the house is a teeth-loosening road to say the least. Just when you get a good feel for the right ruts and the least jarring spots to transition, a good rain will come and just change the map! Ruts that were once good are suddenly rock filled, bone rattling traps…and once gentle humps now have mini-Grand Canyons carved out either side that make them strut/shock killers to be sure. But the always present African red dirt on these roads is still a beauty to me.
>> Food
Food in Kampala is great… awesome Indian food (lots of folks of Indian nationality – mostly business owners and many are VERY wealthy), tasty local fare (personal favorite – goat or pork muchomo), EXCELLENT avocados, great fruit and even some really good thin crust pizza.
I plan to do a separate “food blog update” so stay tuned.
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Hope this update has been one that you enjoyed.
Love and miss family, friends and many of the conveniences of living in the US, but my heart is at such peace here and I am happier than I can share in the written word. It’s a more than a full time gig here but there is also such fun and great people with whom I get the privilege of engaging.
Looking forward to sharing more information soon on school sponsorship opportunities (for something like $25 a month) for children in the slums who can’t afford a desperately needed education – a personal project here that I’m beginning to work on. I can’t even begin to describe the need accurately, but I will do my best! Their Term 1 for the next academic year begins in late January and I’m hoping to have sponsors lined up for as many children as possible for the next school year – be on the look out for more to come on that!
So, life in Uganda has hit a nice rhythm. I feel like I’m making some progress in relationships and in activity. There are several things to tell you about so I’ll just divide it into topics and hope it is readable!
>> Ray of Hope
In Namuwongo slums, I work with and through the Ray of Hope organization supporting their efforts to keep children off the streets, provide an education for them as well as help grow skills and give support to vulnerable women and their children. The women who are part of this organization are awesome – they give more than 100% everyday and make progress one child, woman or family at the time. They give and give…they are not the “takers” of this world. It’s quite convicting to my thoughts of my own needs and wants and it is also such a privilege to work with them.
Basically I’ve created a schedule to be down at RoH every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday to be with the women, do bead work with them, help do clean-up in the slums (physically with shovel, rake and wheel barrow – to load and cart trash that’s been piled by the water sources [still not clean water, but..] out to a garbage pile on one end of the slums) with the women and work with the staff there to gather info and develop materials to help them and help all of us work towards a website and more robust sponsorship (for education for kids in the slums) options. I also try to work on their materials from my “hotel lobby office” as often as I can during the other days of the week.
Below is a write up I put together in order to begin building that website info and get a formalized sponsorship process in play. It has not been edited or word-smithed at all (looking forward to some friends helping me with that!) but it shares some history about the organization.
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A Ray of Hope
In 2000 a teacher and a civil servant decided to build a home in Namuwongo, an area of Kampala, Uganda. Little did they know that the choices they made in that year would have wide-reaching and on-going positive impact to the people of the Namuwongo slums as well as a view of God’s love to people around the world. This is a story of faith and of the miraculous provision of a loving God.
Emily’s Story
Circumstances outside of their control dictated that this teacher and civil servant, Emily and Richard, move into their unfinished, un-walled and un-gated home in Namuwongo in 2000. Emily soon discovered that not having a wall or gate allowed her to see what was happening in the neighborhood – and what she saw caused her concern and grief. In the early morning, poorly dressed and undernourished children would come and knock on the doors of the neighbors on the street. They would dart into the gates of these homes then come back out carrying bags or old luggage pieces full of garbage. Instead of being in school, which they – nor their parents (if they were lucky enough to have parents) – could afford, they were on the streets trying to earn money in order to stay alive. Most often, these children were “paid” with spoiled food or items of little to no value. And even if it was possible to earn enough to cover school fees, there were still uniforms, food and school supplies to buy – they just didn’t have chance.
That’s where Emily came in. She saw an opportunity to share the love of God with these children. She first began to pray for them diligently and encourage them verbally every day. She recognized the great need of these children and began to meet some of those physical needs by feeding them porridge in the mornings and giving them money as payment for their garbage collection work. She also began to look for organizations that could help these children. The sad news – none of the organizations were able to accept any more children. She was encouraged by those organizations to simply help them herself. So she did!
Emily began looking, and finally found, a primary school teacher who would teach those children in the front yard of their unfinished home. They got their church to agree to let them bring the church benches to the yard each morning and return them back to the church each evening. This was a true labor of love…and active show of God’s kindness to the poor and orphaned. Others began to offer some financial support to pay the teacher’s salary and the children were showing up to learn! Most often there would be different children showing up each day, but a core group was there regularly to learn and grow.
Soon, Emily was faced with another problem. Some of the children were stealing from homes in the area and their gathering at Emily’s house was beginning to attract legal attention. She knew they had to move their “school” to another location. At that time she and Richard knew they would have to legalize this group and in 2001 they first registered Ray of Hope Uganda as an organization.
They moved to a two-room office in Namuwongo and enrolled 45 children for school. Emily was still working as a teacher herself, so they added 2 teachers to the Ray of Hope team and continued educating the children. She also “borrowed” money from her husband, Richard’s, bank account, while he was out of town on a training trip, to pay for 6 months of rent for a house to serve as the school. She did that with the prayer on her lips that “God will sponsor us!” When her husband returned unexpectedly, he agreed to allow her to use the money and wait to see what God would do when the 6 months were over.
A School Comes
The end of the 6 months arrived and a sponsor had not come. Emily and the Ray of Hope team dismantled the school, made repairs to the house and knew they had to seek a new location. Knowing they served the community in the slums of Namuwongo, Richard decided to go down into the slums to try and find a new location. God opened the door and showed him a papyrus building being used as a church. He spoke with the pastor and they agreed on renting the building cheaply to be used during the day as the school. This meant the pastor could still have his evening and Sunday church with no interruption.
This new home for the school was a dirty place and an environment which would generally turn most people away. There were drainage problems and sewage issues, people making the local brew right outside the doors and drunkards hurling insults regularly. But all 45 children showed up for the first day of class, happy to be receiving an education – even without porridge (at this point, there were too many children to feed) – and the school environment was about to change.
God had placed an older couple, from Korea, in the lives of the children at Ray of Hope. This couple would come in and pray with the children and spend time with them just showing the love of God. When they returned to Uganda, they found the children in this new school and immediately wanted to help. The children were just sitting on mats on the ground and the couple knew then just how bad the situation was for these children. They had benches made and sent to this new school and also went to the US to raise money and tell others about the needs of these children. Before they’d left, they purchased the land on which the school was located and had also left money with Ray of Hope to build another structure since the church had removed their structure from the site.
Emily and the Ray of Hope team moved into a time of “mad faith” to get a building built and a school operational. God was at work and the miracles began to come one after another. A volunteer from Newcastle, England, Tom, came to help – after the organization with whom he worked had said they couldn’t send anyone because the conditions were so bad. Then, Tom’s mother came for a visit and bought timber to be used in the building of the school. Shortly after, another volunteer came and pushed the walls up. Emily had gone earlier to the industrial area, walking and praying all the way, to try to receive help from an iron-works company for security bars on the school – once the building was ready, the iron works company called to say the iron sheets were ready and that they’d been trying to call for 3 months! It was all coming together at the right time. “Hope for Children” came in and helped divide the rooms so that Ray of Hope could support more grades and get more teachers. Then the Mumford family, connected through one of their daughter’s intership and subsequent volunteer support of Ray of Hope, joined with them to build a support building. The school was complete and children were enrolled. Ray of Hope was providing a foundation of education from nursery school through grade P3.
Current update…
To-date, over 225 children have finished P1 through P3 schooling in the Ray of Hope school or been sponsored for P4 and above – thousands more wait for help. All the children in Nursery Top Class – grade P3 currently receive meals at the school and are also provided basic medical care.
All the drainage and sewage issues on the school property became so bad that the school was forced to close and another temporary location has been found. Currently money is being raised to purchase a building that will be the long-term offices and school for Ray of Hope.
*****************
For more information on how you can help, where you can send donations as well as sponsorship for children in grades P4 and higher, please contact me or just leave a comment here with any of your contact details and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
>> Nawezikana
Below is a write up I put together in order to prepare for a business plan and website information for the women’s micro-business. It too has not been edited or word-smithed but it shares some basic info about the group.
******************
“With God, all things are possible.” Nawezikana. That’s what the women decided should be their name. What began as a burden on one woman’s heart, to help teach women in the Namuwongo slums skills that would enable them to raise their income level, became a micro-business that is now so much more – it is a community of women sharing life and support of one another while working with their hands to provide for their families and homes. This love and support has transformed the lives of these women, many of whom face tremendous hardship and even abuse, by offering them the opportunity to share with one another and share their talents with the world.
Throughout late 2008, a group of about 8 women were led through many one-off projects that could be used as a skills growth opportunity for the women of the Namuwongo slums. These small groups generally worked on projects like tailoring, cooking and craft projects such as making embroidered greeting cards. In a short time, the group began to grow and all recognized the need to create something more permanent – something where the commitment to one another and the community could be nurtured. The group had already begun to pray together, and for one another, and to commit their work to the Lord.
In early 2009, through the blessing of generous donations from a number of people and organizations, the family helping with this start up was able to work with the Ray of Hope team to find and rent a building where the women could regularly meet and work on their crafts and projects. This new building provided office space for Ray of Hope as well as rooms to work indoors for the women in the group. It was a place they could gather safely and regularly to use their talents and gifts to create something beautiful – beautiful, quality products as well as beautiful relationships with one another.
The group soon increased to about 35 women all working together. Money was raised for the purchase of sewing machines that allowed part of the team of women to focus on tailoring and volunteer teams that came to work in the slums brought supplies for the various projects on which the women were working. The team and the micro-business were growing – because “with God, all things are possible.”
Current update…
The Nawezikana women’s micro-business produces embroidered greeting cards, jewelry purses, bags, African paper beads and various pieces of jewelry. Many individuals have purchased products from this group to re-sell in other places but this has not reached far enough. Nawezikana is now looking to partner with organizations that focus on fair trade as well as justice and equality for the individual in order to create an opportunity to share the stories of these women with, as well as create a sales pipeline that can reach, the world.
************************
If you would like to help these women in any way (rent $ for their homes [small cement rooms in the slums – 4x6 or so], sponsorship $ for their kids school fees, etc.), help the micro-business (supplies, capital for new projects, rent for other sales stalls or shops, etc.), or generally help RoH, please just let me know. You can leave a comment here with any info or contact emails and I’ll get in touch.
>> The Lake Victoria Serena lobby
I am so grateful for the Lake Victoria Serena. I’ve spent a number of hours in their lobby…sending emails and doing on-line research to support all that I’ve been burdened to do to help create an infrastructure for sponsorship and micro-business support for Ray of Hope. The people who work there are so welcoming and nice and the environment is a perfect “office” with the nice sound of the fountain in the lobby and great internet speed - all for the price of a soda or a latte. I occasionally spend time there when I’m not in the city, slums or supporting the family with whom I’m currently living - and will probably have to spend more time there soon in order to get all my on-line work completed.
>> The family
The family I’m living with is a large family of American, Ukranian and Ugandan children – biological and adopted. The adopted children were rescued from horrible situations in life – abuse, neglect, results of war, etc. So, any help I can provide to the family is also helping children who have survived atrocities I can’t even imagine. To see these kids getting an education and being provided a chance to grow and learn in a secure environment , where food and clothing are readily available and love is shared, is awesome.
I’m on breakfast preparation duty on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and dinner preparation duty on Monday and Wednesday evenings. I also make grocery runs regularly for them (imagine the Duggar family shopping without a SuperWalmart in sight!) and those happen almost every day –I’m one of only a few adults that can drive here. Feeding 25 people per meal (that includes the kids, adults [family and not] and the occasional guests) takes a LOT of food and many hours of cooking every day. Lately, most of the cooking has been done with only gas and with no refridge or freezer since the power has been out every day for over 3 weeks now. We run the generator periodically, but very sparingly because of the cost of fuel. Kerosene lanterns at night when it’s out and just window light during the day.
I’ve also gotten to help with some admin/business stuff at the house…good to use some of my "career" experience while here.
>> The house
I get the priviledge of living in an awesome house in a beautiful setting. It’s a large house – with home school rooms, girls side, boys side, great room, good kitchen, laundry room and a laundry dry-house outside. There is a view of Lake Victoria from the back screened porch and there is a constant breeze off the lake that keeps the lower floor of the house fairly cool, even on the hottest day. The views are 360 – the lake and the valleys on either side of the hill. It’s really awesome for the kids who have joined the family here because they have come from slums and the bush and would have never imagined living in a house like this. I have my own room and share a community girls bathroom.
Some things not so cool…. there is often no power, some cold water showers and you have to carry your laundry down to hang on the line – no dryers. You make do with kerosene lanterns in the evening and have to go to a hotel lobby to get internet service. There is no phone line and no cable tv (which I’ve been really used to over the last year or so – really grateful God got me used to that!!)….and also it’s REALLY noisy quite often (which for me is a great growth opportunity since I’ve always enjoyed having silence in my house and being able to get plenty of alone time when I felt I needed it….not the case for me at the moment). Imagine no walls in the common areas and lots of kids screaming, listening to music, running and playing and watching DVDs…all those things are great and happy family things, but it takes quite an adjustment for one who has never been part of that kind of environment (or has had an opportunity to escape it when needed). I need some more highest-decibel possible earplugs since I now have to sleep in them nightly. Anyone is welcome to mail some to me – the ones you can use when shooting a weapon!! : )
>> Transportation
Transportation is the fun part. This is some of worst traffic I’ve driven in (including Seville, Spain and Boston during the “big dig”) but it’s awesome because there seem to be almost no road rules – it’s a bit like Cairo. I get to drive the equivalent of a tank (big Toyota Land Cruiser – the old kind… nice and square and huge) and can make my way through most any intersection or roundabout without an issue. Imagine being able to take a 4 lane highway and drive in 6 lanes worth of traffic – with people running across the street constantly (and sometimes even cows – by accident – got to see that a couple of days ago), taxi vans and boda boda’s (motorcycle “taxis”) EVERYWHERE coming into traffic randomly and the bodas weaving through all the lanes of traffic. Bodas are often dangerous, but in town they are the best way to travel because they can get through all the cars. Everywhere people are walking and there are street markets all by the side of the road.
Driving in the city is fine – but there are “traffic cops” standing on many corners with their whistles ready to pull you over for a driving infraction. They are also terribly crooked and expect monetary bribes in order to prevent them taking your license and making a hard time for you. So, last week on a money exchange run, I made an illegal u-turn (mind you there was no sign and the intersection was completely open) and had 3 of those dudes running after me with their whistles blarring… scared the living daylights out of me at first. Anyhoo – the meanest looking one got in the car with me and started telling me, in a fairly direct and loud tone, that I should know better and shouldn’t be on the street and I’ve broken the law and all about how horrible I am…. Well, he was working on a bribe because he would never get his pen and pad out to write me a ticket. I just sat there saying “Mercy, ssabo (sir, in Luganda), mercy…I saw no sign and I would never want to disobey your law, please give me mercy, ssabo!” He then began to harass me that anyone I knew in Uganda should be with me because I shouldn’t drive without knowing the road, so I had to start in on the story of how they’d told me all about the roads and I was just the one making the mistake – pleading for more mercy and trying my best to work up some tears. Finally they seemed to figure out that I was a not going to offer to bribe them (I’m sure they just thought I was an idiot “muzungu”) and one of the officers outside the car called the other gentlemen out and said they would grant me mercy – but just for today! Phew!!
The streets in the city “proper” are bad, but the streets outside of town center are HORRIBLE!! Potholes everywhere and sides of the streets just chunking off because they only pave a few inches over top of a red dirt road – so it certainly is not able to stay together. It’s like driving in a mind field. You certainly have to know where you are before you’d even consider taking a sip of anything to drink….it’s enough to jostle your brain out. There are also people all over and these huge trenches on either side (that can’t even contain much of the flash floods that rampage during a hard rain carrying red water everywhere along with so much trash it makes you want to cry or be ill…reminds me of the litter commercial from my childhood with the Native American guy with a tear running down his cheek) – trenches that would certainly cause an axle to snap in half if you drove off into it! And of course these trenches on both sides leave little room for navigating around the people and bodas without running the on-coming traffic off into the one on their side…. It’s like an advertisement for a “Driving Extreme” training camp. At night loud music is booming through most of the streets and the place stays alive all night. And one other note on driving during a hard rain… many of the streets do suffer flood-like conditions so the UN trucks (shiny white and new – don’t even get me started) and their closed-engine, above cab air intake are not such a bad thing. Driving through it is horrible because you just don’t know what you’re driving over or what pothole you’re about to get lost in!
The road up through the bush to the house is a teeth-loosening road to say the least. Just when you get a good feel for the right ruts and the least jarring spots to transition, a good rain will come and just change the map! Ruts that were once good are suddenly rock filled, bone rattling traps…and once gentle humps now have mini-Grand Canyons carved out either side that make them strut/shock killers to be sure. But the always present African red dirt on these roads is still a beauty to me.
>> Food
Food in Kampala is great… awesome Indian food (lots of folks of Indian nationality – mostly business owners and many are VERY wealthy), tasty local fare (personal favorite – goat or pork muchomo), EXCELLENT avocados, great fruit and even some really good thin crust pizza.
I plan to do a separate “food blog update” so stay tuned.
****************
Hope this update has been one that you enjoyed.
Love and miss family, friends and many of the conveniences of living in the US, but my heart is at such peace here and I am happier than I can share in the written word. It’s a more than a full time gig here but there is also such fun and great people with whom I get the privilege of engaging.
Looking forward to sharing more information soon on school sponsorship opportunities (for something like $25 a month) for children in the slums who can’t afford a desperately needed education – a personal project here that I’m beginning to work on. I can’t even begin to describe the need accurately, but I will do my best! Their Term 1 for the next academic year begins in late January and I’m hoping to have sponsors lined up for as many children as possible for the next school year – be on the look out for more to come on that!
Friday, August 27, 2010
Pictures... a little of life in the slums
There is so much to share, but lengthy photo uploads with a lot of file failures means I likely won't have time to create the full post tonight. I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to share some of these pictures with you though... so be on the look out for more pictures and more information to come (tonight or soon!).
These first pictures are of "the market" in the Namuwongo slums. Obviously no Wholefoods, Publix or Fresh Market nearby - but trust me, this stuff is "fresh". The lack of refridgeration would certainly scare some away, but I've discovered that you can eat food (with mayo in it) that hasn't been refridgerated for several days... and it doesn't kill you! (Or make you sick....hmmm.... what would the FDA say about that?)
Papyrus strips tied together keep the sun off the matoke (small, green bananas... that taste more like potatoes than bananas).
TJ Maxx and Steinmart - eat your heart out! These ladies have it all.... well, not really, but if you want some "name brand" (yeah, right!!) flip flops, you can get them here.
Hauling water is one of many kids' job. Another reason they often aren't allowed to get an education. Try hauling jerry cans and plastic jugs full of water every morning for a mile. It's exhausting! These kids walk through trash, sewage and harassing adults. 
One of the vegetable "stands" along the strip. The shallots really do look fresh and tasty. The couple of carrots in the foreground don't look so nice, though. :-)
These first pictures are of "the market" in the Namuwongo slums. Obviously no Wholefoods, Publix or Fresh Market nearby - but trust me, this stuff is "fresh". The lack of refridgeration would certainly scare some away, but I've discovered that you can eat food (with mayo in it) that hasn't been refridgerated for several days... and it doesn't kill you! (Or make you sick....hmmm.... what would the FDA say about that?)
Papyrus strips tied together keep the sun off the matoke (small, green bananas... that taste more like potatoes than bananas).
TJ Maxx and Steinmart - eat your heart out! These ladies have it all.... well, not really, but if you want some "name brand" (yeah, right!!) flip flops, you can get them here.
But actually, these little stands are a lifeline to these families... most of whom hardly ever have enough money for food, much less school fees or uniforms for their children.
Today I watched a group of girls do laundry in small buckets for several hours (more on my wonderful Friday morning later) - so much work for these children.
One of the vegetable "stands" along the strip. The shallots really do look fresh and tasty. The couple of carrots in the foreground don't look so nice, though. :-)
Beans cooking in a woman's house (she's one of the women in the Nawezikana micro-business, and there will also be more on that later)... the ceramic charcoal "stove" is sitting right by the chair (you can see the arm of it) in the 4x6 room that is their home (5 children and two adults). The afternoon we went to hang out with her, the room was about 100 degrees because of the cooking... many cook outside.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
August Update - to come soon....
Just a very brief update that I will be sending a "real" update out soon - with pictures (yeah - got pics off the photo card finally!). We've had consistent power outages and no internet connectivity so when I've been able to find spots to log in, it's been a rush to answer an email or two. Today I'm at the Lake Victoria Serena lobby for internet, but have some other work that I must do first....
Anyhoo - the quick update is that all is well here. I am healthy, happy and enjoying the time. I do have so much to share so am hoping for another internet day this week to update the blog. I really appreciate everyone's patience.
Miss everyone much!
Anyhoo - the quick update is that all is well here. I am healthy, happy and enjoying the time. I do have so much to share so am hoping for another internet day this week to update the blog. I really appreciate everyone's patience.
Miss everyone much!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Ice
So, last week I had my first (and I pray, last) episode with a bad, bad stomach thing in Africa. I ate something that went horribly wrong once inside of me!! And I discovered something I badly missed, albeit only circumstancially. ICE. Now, people who really know me know that I don't really ever need ice with my drinks - I'm happy for a room temp Coke or glass of tea - but when I was a child and got sick with a stomach virus my mom would prepare a cup of chipped up ice with a Coke or Sprite or Ginger Ale... we would sip it slowly and it always seemed to help. Let me tell you - water on a sick stomach is a bad time! It was just not what my body was conditioned to take in as an acceptable hydration option. It revolted... and not in a pretty way. I was sitting up in bed in the middle of the night wishing for a cold, ice-chip filled cup of soda. I was out of pocket for about 36 hours and really only began to feel better after a friend had picked up a Sprite for me at a grocery. Thankfully I'm back on my game - but I know one of the simple, small things from home that I do miss.
Grateful, too, for the power and internet to be back on for the moment. We've all spent the last week with no power, so that can probably go on the list as one of the other things I could say I would miss for the long-term...although, it's been really cool to see how successfully one can live without refridgeration, washing machines and lights.
All for now - will post this in hopes the internet connection has stayed up while I've been writing this!
Grateful, too, for the power and internet to be back on for the moment. We've all spent the last week with no power, so that can probably go on the list as one of the other things I could say I would miss for the long-term...although, it's been really cool to see how successfully one can live without refridgeration, washing machines and lights.
All for now - will post this in hopes the internet connection has stayed up while I've been writing this!
Friday, July 30, 2010
What Do I Take for Granted?
So, I'm sitting at a nice hotel in their back lobby to get power and internet access and can finally take some time to post an update. I'll start by saying how grateful I am to have power and internet access - gee, the things I used to take so for granted.
That is a concept to explore a bit. So, I got to spend time yesterday with a little girl (Ellen) in Namuwango (the slums) while she drew on some of my scrap paper. I take for granted that there are paper and pens/pencils available - but that is just not true in an environment of such poverty. I was reading, to help edit/check, a letter a little boy (Richard) wrote to his sponsor in the UK - this sponsor pays his school tuition so that he is able to get an education - and the main point of his thank you note was that he'd never before received a letter (the letter his sponsor had written him was his first ever and he'd been running through the slums showing the envelop and paper to his friends - because they'd never seen or received one either). I take for granted that I am able to communicate with others in written or electronic form. I take for granted that people have sent messages to me... it seems part of a "normal" life. However, these things are not "normal" for about 80% of the world - only normal for our western/1st world culture. I don't "dis" our advantages- I simply challenge that we should recognize they aren't "norms" for all and I wonder what steps I can take to help change that.
I would like for everyone in Namuwango to feel the worth of having someone know them and send something directly to them - even if only a paper letter. I would like for everyone in Namuwango to have paper and pencils when they'd like them... but more importantly, I'd like for people in Namuwango (and every other slum in the world) to have nutritious food and clean water. Food and drink for thought.... what can we do to about it?
That is a concept to explore a bit. So, I got to spend time yesterday with a little girl (Ellen) in Namuwango (the slums) while she drew on some of my scrap paper. I take for granted that there are paper and pens/pencils available - but that is just not true in an environment of such poverty. I was reading, to help edit/check, a letter a little boy (Richard) wrote to his sponsor in the UK - this sponsor pays his school tuition so that he is able to get an education - and the main point of his thank you note was that he'd never before received a letter (the letter his sponsor had written him was his first ever and he'd been running through the slums showing the envelop and paper to his friends - because they'd never seen or received one either). I take for granted that I am able to communicate with others in written or electronic form. I take for granted that people have sent messages to me... it seems part of a "normal" life. However, these things are not "normal" for about 80% of the world - only normal for our western/1st world culture. I don't "dis" our advantages- I simply challenge that we should recognize they aren't "norms" for all and I wonder what steps I can take to help change that.
I would like for everyone in Namuwango to feel the worth of having someone know them and send something directly to them - even if only a paper letter. I would like for everyone in Namuwango to have paper and pencils when they'd like them... but more importantly, I'd like for people in Namuwango (and every other slum in the world) to have nutritious food and clean water. Food and drink for thought.... what can we do to about it?
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Back in Africa
This blog update should have come sooner, but connectivity and access issues prevented me from doing anything online.
Arrival – 21 July
After a long couple of flights, the journey is done! Felt great to land again on African soil and to head out of the airport into a starry night towards Kampala. Man, the sky is so black and the stars so beautiful.
Day 1 – 22 July
Today was a great day… ran errands with a couple of friends from here then went down to Namuwango to meet some of the ladies who meet there to do tailoring and bead work in one of the micro-businesses the team here has helped them start. I received such a warm welcome and am looking forward to serving them in many ways. I saw Agnes, a woman whose family we visited on our medical trip. Her smile was wide and welcoming when she saw me come in and we recognized one another – it was awesome to get to see her again and check up on her and her children. We couldn’t stay long with them, but it was a really nice to have a quick visit to meet some of them. It was also great to speak with several of the women I’d met before who run the Ray of Hope organization.
After stopping in Namuwango, we ran errands and headed up the hill to home… only to find, near the top, a broken down delivery truck blocking the narrow red dirt road. No way to pass – even in the 4-wheel drive. So, we headed to a little dive near the house for some of that delicious pork again… awesome (had been looking forward to that since returning to the US in June)! Headed back up an hour or so later to find the truck still there… so another turn around and back into town to hang out for a couple of hours to wait. Late night home but was nice to have some time to hang out with two friends I’d met while here in May. We had a great evening of chill and chatting – so I guess I should send a “thank you” to the truck. : )
Arrival – 21 July
After a long couple of flights, the journey is done! Felt great to land again on African soil and to head out of the airport into a starry night towards Kampala. Man, the sky is so black and the stars so beautiful.
Day 1 – 22 July
Today was a great day… ran errands with a couple of friends from here then went down to Namuwango to meet some of the ladies who meet there to do tailoring and bead work in one of the micro-businesses the team here has helped them start. I received such a warm welcome and am looking forward to serving them in many ways. I saw Agnes, a woman whose family we visited on our medical trip. Her smile was wide and welcoming when she saw me come in and we recognized one another – it was awesome to get to see her again and check up on her and her children. We couldn’t stay long with them, but it was a really nice to have a quick visit to meet some of them. It was also great to speak with several of the women I’d met before who run the Ray of Hope organization.
After stopping in Namuwango, we ran errands and headed up the hill to home… only to find, near the top, a broken down delivery truck blocking the narrow red dirt road. No way to pass – even in the 4-wheel drive. So, we headed to a little dive near the house for some of that delicious pork again… awesome (had been looking forward to that since returning to the US in June)! Headed back up an hour or so later to find the truck still there… so another turn around and back into town to hang out for a couple of hours to wait. Late night home but was nice to have some time to hang out with two friends I’d met while here in May. We had a great evening of chill and chatting – so I guess I should send a “thank you” to the truck. : )
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Galatians 5:13-15 (MSG)
It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. For everything we know about God's Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?
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