Friday - March 23
More experiences hard to describe. I said good-bye to one of my English classes at Smile Africa in the aftrnoon after spending all morning thoroughly cleaning the house. The most important thing that the ladies mentioned over and over was how grateful they were for learning to write their names. But they were thanking the wrong person. This was Pstr. Alex's idea which I believed was a great idea which I proceeded to borrow from him.
We have had an infestation of moths, and not just us. I have seen them other places as well - there must have been a hatch. It's a good thing I have no woolen clothes along.
Made "syrup" tonight to have with French toast tomorrow which is what I am preparing for Pstr. Peter's birthday brunch with Sarah and us here at the house.
Saturday - March 24
Said farewell at Juba. Pstr. Alex is going to try to get me an adungu (African harp). One of my students in the good-bye talked about how when she took her children to the doctor when they were ill, she couldn't talk, but now because of the classes, she can talk in English and she did so very well. The students are all very fond of Alex - he really helps them. Lawrence came to get me. We took his wife to the eye doctor. She is having a painful problem with her left eye. However the doctor was gone for the day. We will go back on Monday.
In the evening Peter and Sarah came over and we had a small "tasting- new-things" birthday party for him. I made some syrup last night and made French toast for them. Stevie made a salad with dressing from home. Sue worked very hard making egg salad and tuna salad sandwiches, deviled eggs and stewed sliced apples. Sue and Stevie also made iced tea. We had ordered a cake that said "Happy Birthday Peter." He was very pleased.
Sunday - March 25
Peter, Sarah and I went to Busowa to worship. At the end of worship my students brought me gifts and said good-bye. I was very touched by these people - my students from last time and my students from this time. Peter's sermon had been about good news and bad news. When I was to stand up to speak, I told them I believed that God uses the bad things that happen for his good purposes. I talked about the bad in my life that was the death of Roy and how God used that event to propel me to Africa.
In the evening had Jane and her daughter, Princess, to dinner at the Prime. We did not really have an opportunity to talk but I think Jane was pleased that I wanted to spend the time with her. I hope God uses that for good.
Monday - March 26
Oh my - what a day!! We took Rose to the eye doctor which took most of the morning. Then I met a friend at the TLT for lunch - a difficult lunch. Said good-bye to another friend. I had barely gotten home when I received another call so had one last meeting. Ended the day beating myself at Scrabble.
Tuesday - March 27
Peter came this morning to settle some money and household things and we exchanged info. Lawrence took me to Wikus. The students were a bit upset because no one had let them know it was my last day. I didn't want them to know because I knew it would have been a lot of gift giving. On the other hand, maybe it was a pleasure I had now denied them. Sometimes, MANY times, it is very hard to know what the right thing, the best thing is to do. We spendt quite a bit of time talking about how they could develop a market for their handwork. I will discuss the issue with Peter to see if we can come up with some creative ideas to help the women work together. He needs someone to develop this project and delegate it. They also came up with the idea of meeting the people of the other classes I taught in Busowa and Juba for some social exchange.
Wednesday - March 28
Today my father would have been 93.
Something I forgot to mention yesterday was something new I observed and learned. I wanted teacher James to be in the class photos. I asked him to sit on the bench with some of the ladies. All of a sudden there was a shuffle of bodies. The ladies had rearranged themselves. When I questioned this, James explained some of the ladies were his in-laws and it was tabu to sit next to them, so now he was sitting next to his sister.
It was good-bye at Smile Africa. The class photo taking got ridiculous, but afterward they had a mass good-bye for me with endless gifts. It was teary time for me with all the accolades. They gave me MONEY to treat myself to chicken-on-a-stick on the way to the airport. I couldn't believe it. Also, my writing class had tried to find an adungu for me as I had mentioned I was trying to find one. Such thoughtful, loving people!
Thursday - March 29
I didn't sleep a wink last night! I spent the morning packing and sweeping as Stevie will move into my room when I leave. Pstr. Alex brought the adungu that I ordered. I think I will carry it separately on the plane. Gave him the cassava and avocados I had received at Smile Africa yesterda
y. Now I just haave last minute things to do tomorrow morning before we are picked up for the airport at 11:00 a.m. The power just came back on briefly - the fan sure felt good!
I will finish this saga when I am home once again - - - -
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
WEEK 10
Friday - March 16
Pstr. Godfrey told me an African saying the other day, which I really liked: "When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers." How true - most of us are grass.
My faithful Anna (interpreter) was not there today. Her grandchild is ill. Faith helped in the English class and Justine did her best in the Reading class. All went well. Hopefully, we will accomplish what we need to before I leave.
In the evening we were invited to Pstr. Ruth's for dinner. Michael de la Rocha was also there with his African wife, Sylivia. Ruth had her lovely meat samosas. Oh how much I enjoy them. We had such a nice visit with Michael who seems so happy here. His life has been transformed. He is originally from the LA area and came here the first time with Hope 4 Kids. He made several trips, started staying longer and now is a true "ex-pat".
Saturday - March 17
St. Patrick's Day. Kent left for Kampala at noon for his return flight to the US. It was hard to see him go. Had a long talk with Pstr. Alex about future plans for teaching, overseeing the other teachers and some ideas he has to help the women of Juba.
We had an hour and a half combined class to talk about what the Bible has to say about saving, planning for the future and being responsible stewards of what God has given us. I used the story of Joseph and the "feast and famine" of Egypt when God put Joseph in charge of preparing for the 7 years of famine. I also used Proverbs 21:20 from Wendy's Mission Character Development about saving.
The only good thing about Kent leaving is now I have the use of the fan he bought for more comfortable sleeping WHEN we have power that is, which fortunately came back on a bit ago.
Sunday - March 18
Well, Kent is still on a 9 hour layover in Amsterdam. We all went to Soni today, a village on the Nagongera dusty, hot, dirt road to worship. After the service we gave out the last of the pillowcase dresses and T-shirts for little boys with their names written on the shirts. Everyone seemed pleased and happy to receive. We had a small luncheon of pork and kalo. Peter talked about village life and polygamy almost all the way home.
We got back about 3:00 p.m. I worked on the awards for my classes and as I had no sleep last night that was it - nothing else, nada, kaput!!
Monday - March 19
We had a few gentle drops of rain last night - not enough to make any difference. It is now 6 in the evening and we are having a downpour. How nice! Said good-bye to people at True Vine today. Set up an email account on Yahoo for someone. Took a map and we talked geography. It was a nice, pleasant morning. In the afternoon we did a bit of shopping, ordered a birthday cake for Peter and then I took Alex back to the hospital. He really looked bad today. He was so listless and had such dull eyes. The hospital about drove me up the wall. I almost lost it - so dirty, so Alsslow, so disorganized and to them "so expensive". It was 3000 UGX for a consultation - $1.50. Alex had 2 tests there, one for malaria and one for typhoid, both negative. Then they sent us to Divine Mercy, the best hospital in Tororo. It was considerably cleaner. Another test was done there on his blood - don't know what it was, but it was also negative. They gave him a prescription to fill but my question is, what are they treating him for if they haven't made a diagnosis? In fact, HE said to Pstr Lawrence it was a "guess prescription".
Tuesday - March 20
Yesterday's rain did nothing to ease the heat, unfortunately. Pstr. Peter drove me to Wikus so it gave me an opportunity to speak to him about my idea of a mobile tacher and classroom for the remote villages to share. Also, it gave him an opportunity to speak to Jackline's husband. This was my last teaching class in Wikus. We had fun and struggled a bit with money management. Next week will be farewell.
Wednesday - March 21
Happy 16th Birthday Kelsey!! How nice your Dad made it home to share it with you.
Did hand laundry for the last time. Worked on attendance records, awards and certificates.
At Smile Africa, I took some time in the English class to let the ladies ask me questions through our interpreter. Most of the questions they asked were about relationship and social problems: disrespected in-laws, teen-age pregnancy, wife beating, etc. I said I thought these problems were universal. One thing that for the most part is different in the USA and Uganda is that when a husband dies, his brothers can come in, take over the house and land and push the wife and her children out into the street. There are laws to combat this problem but many don't know of the laws and even if they do, they have no means to try to have the laws enforced. The police and courts all work on bribes.
Thursday - March 22
In the US spring has officially arrived! Tomorrow it is just one week 'til we fly home. It is always hard to say good-bye but I am ready to be back home. Went to Busowa. I am having difficulty finding the words to express my feelings or to describe these people. I handed out the 3 attendance awards. I took photos individually and of the classes. Then I asked if they had any questions, The questions were all about what would happen next, who would come to teach them, would they teach like I do, would they stay a long time and to them, very important, would they receive certificates. One man who had been in my class in 2010 again now, got up and spoke. He said how grateful he was and how these classes had made a difference for him in his home. Now his wife can understand and speak a little English and his English has improved, especially his understanding of the muzungu accent. Previous to my being there, he was not able to understand the muzungu visitors at all, but hearing me speak over extended periods of time he is better able to understand and most important to him,, his understanding of what he reads in his English Bible has greatly improved. What greater testimony could I, as a teacher, ask for. Then they said they wanted to pray for me that I could save my money to return to them, and that God would add good years to my life that I could return and for my safe journey home and back again. They started the prayer by singing - a leader started the "call" and then all joined in the "response" in beautiful harmony. I felt like the angels were singing and praying for me. I was overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude, humbleness and quiet joy. They ended the prayer with one person praying in English so I could understand what they were asking for and their praise of God. Finally as we were waiting for my ride, they decided to dance in the Lusogan way for me. They had 3 different drums and they dance similarly to what I have seen represented as Polynesian dancing - much fast him movement - very joyous and sensuous. It was wonderful.
We (3 muzungus) then ended the day by having dinner at the Prime with Pstr. Lawrence and his wife Rose as our guests. What fun!! Again I felt humbled as at the end of the meal Pstr, Lawrence tried to express his thanks. He is truly a man who always tries to "put the best construction" on everything. When we left the hotel he made a point of stopping to say thank you to the men who were working on the road bed. My reaction was of annoyance that we could not bring the car into the hotel grounds to park. Oh, I have so much to learn. Lawrence's reaction was gratitude for the hard work of improving the road.
Please excuse this very poor writing - it is late, I am very tired and am not doing this task well.
Pstr. Godfrey told me an African saying the other day, which I really liked: "When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers." How true - most of us are grass.
My faithful Anna (interpreter) was not there today. Her grandchild is ill. Faith helped in the English class and Justine did her best in the Reading class. All went well. Hopefully, we will accomplish what we need to before I leave.
In the evening we were invited to Pstr. Ruth's for dinner. Michael de la Rocha was also there with his African wife, Sylivia. Ruth had her lovely meat samosas. Oh how much I enjoy them. We had such a nice visit with Michael who seems so happy here. His life has been transformed. He is originally from the LA area and came here the first time with Hope 4 Kids. He made several trips, started staying longer and now is a true "ex-pat".
Saturday - March 17
St. Patrick's Day. Kent left for Kampala at noon for his return flight to the US. It was hard to see him go. Had a long talk with Pstr. Alex about future plans for teaching, overseeing the other teachers and some ideas he has to help the women of Juba.
We had an hour and a half combined class to talk about what the Bible has to say about saving, planning for the future and being responsible stewards of what God has given us. I used the story of Joseph and the "feast and famine" of Egypt when God put Joseph in charge of preparing for the 7 years of famine. I also used Proverbs 21:20 from Wendy's Mission Character Development about saving.
The only good thing about Kent leaving is now I have the use of the fan he bought for more comfortable sleeping WHEN we have power that is, which fortunately came back on a bit ago.
Sunday - March 18
Well, Kent is still on a 9 hour layover in Amsterdam. We all went to Soni today, a village on the Nagongera dusty, hot, dirt road to worship. After the service we gave out the last of the pillowcase dresses and T-shirts for little boys with their names written on the shirts. Everyone seemed pleased and happy to receive. We had a small luncheon of pork and kalo. Peter talked about village life and polygamy almost all the way home.
We got back about 3:00 p.m. I worked on the awards for my classes and as I had no sleep last night that was it - nothing else, nada, kaput!!
Monday - March 19
We had a few gentle drops of rain last night - not enough to make any difference. It is now 6 in the evening and we are having a downpour. How nice! Said good-bye to people at True Vine today. Set up an email account on Yahoo for someone. Took a map and we talked geography. It was a nice, pleasant morning. In the afternoon we did a bit of shopping, ordered a birthday cake for Peter and then I took Alex back to the hospital. He really looked bad today. He was so listless and had such dull eyes. The hospital about drove me up the wall. I almost lost it - so dirty, so Alsslow, so disorganized and to them "so expensive". It was 3000 UGX for a consultation - $1.50. Alex had 2 tests there, one for malaria and one for typhoid, both negative. Then they sent us to Divine Mercy, the best hospital in Tororo. It was considerably cleaner. Another test was done there on his blood - don't know what it was, but it was also negative. They gave him a prescription to fill but my question is, what are they treating him for if they haven't made a diagnosis? In fact, HE said to Pstr Lawrence it was a "guess prescription".
Tuesday - March 20
Yesterday's rain did nothing to ease the heat, unfortunately. Pstr. Peter drove me to Wikus so it gave me an opportunity to speak to him about my idea of a mobile tacher and classroom for the remote villages to share. Also, it gave him an opportunity to speak to Jackline's husband. This was my last teaching class in Wikus. We had fun and struggled a bit with money management. Next week will be farewell.
Wednesday - March 21
Happy 16th Birthday Kelsey!! How nice your Dad made it home to share it with you.
Did hand laundry for the last time. Worked on attendance records, awards and certificates.
At Smile Africa, I took some time in the English class to let the ladies ask me questions through our interpreter. Most of the questions they asked were about relationship and social problems: disrespected in-laws, teen-age pregnancy, wife beating, etc. I said I thought these problems were universal. One thing that for the most part is different in the USA and Uganda is that when a husband dies, his brothers can come in, take over the house and land and push the wife and her children out into the street. There are laws to combat this problem but many don't know of the laws and even if they do, they have no means to try to have the laws enforced. The police and courts all work on bribes.
Thursday - March 22
In the US spring has officially arrived! Tomorrow it is just one week 'til we fly home. It is always hard to say good-bye but I am ready to be back home. Went to Busowa. I am having difficulty finding the words to express my feelings or to describe these people. I handed out the 3 attendance awards. I took photos individually and of the classes. Then I asked if they had any questions, The questions were all about what would happen next, who would come to teach them, would they teach like I do, would they stay a long time and to them, very important, would they receive certificates. One man who had been in my class in 2010 again now, got up and spoke. He said how grateful he was and how these classes had made a difference for him in his home. Now his wife can understand and speak a little English and his English has improved, especially his understanding of the muzungu accent. Previous to my being there, he was not able to understand the muzungu visitors at all, but hearing me speak over extended periods of time he is better able to understand and most important to him,, his understanding of what he reads in his English Bible has greatly improved. What greater testimony could I, as a teacher, ask for. Then they said they wanted to pray for me that I could save my money to return to them, and that God would add good years to my life that I could return and for my safe journey home and back again. They started the prayer by singing - a leader started the "call" and then all joined in the "response" in beautiful harmony. I felt like the angels were singing and praying for me. I was overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude, humbleness and quiet joy. They ended the prayer with one person praying in English so I could understand what they were asking for and their praise of God. Finally as we were waiting for my ride, they decided to dance in the Lusogan way for me. They had 3 different drums and they dance similarly to what I have seen represented as Polynesian dancing - much fast him movement - very joyous and sensuous. It was wonderful.
We (3 muzungus) then ended the day by having dinner at the Prime with Pstr. Lawrence and his wife Rose as our guests. What fun!! Again I felt humbled as at the end of the meal Pstr, Lawrence tried to express his thanks. He is truly a man who always tries to "put the best construction" on everything. When we left the hotel he made a point of stopping to say thank you to the men who were working on the road bed. My reaction was of annoyance that we could not bring the car into the hotel grounds to park. Oh, I have so much to learn. Lawrence's reaction was gratitude for the hard work of improving the road.
Please excuse this very poor writing - it is late, I am very tired and am not doing this task well.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
WEEK 9
Friday - March 9
Boy, I am really tired tonight - not sure why. It was hot and rainless today - maybe that is part of it.
My ladies at Smile Africa are all very excited, concerned and have lots of questions about personal budgets and money management. It feels good that they are so involved - I just wish I could solve all their problems regarding income, but . . . . . .
Sorry, but I just can't think any more tonight soooooo lala salama. That means "good sleep" in Swahili. It is what one says instead of good night.
Saturday - March 10
Well, what a bust!!! A group called Youth Ablaze set up a generator, loud speakers, electronic music with singing and dancing right in the middle of my first class about 50 feet away. I couldn't hear myself think let alone talk and on top of it, how could phonics and money management compete with all that excitement?? They love to dance!!!! This is an organization that are proslytizing (spelling?) to gather youth into their fold to train them in their "disciple school" for the main purpose of combating the spread of Islam in Africa. They don't have the same amount of money the muslims are able to pump into sub-saharan Africa but they are fighting for the same souls. It just isn't my style. I get really turned off.
Kent and I were invited to dinner at the home of Pasto Alex. It was very nice: chicken, rice, potatoes, eggs and all with a lovely sauce. We had a nice visit. Alex shared how disappointed he is with his oldest son, who had an opportunity to be sponsored in Senior 1-4 and is frittering away this chance by hanging out with the wrong crowd and skipping school. Same problems with teen-agers the world over.
Sunday - March 11
We went to Wikus for church. Peter's sermon was on faith which needs to be based on Biblical facts and not on feelings and how we an expect to be cared for by God not according to our wants and needs but according to our faith: as Jesus said, "Your faith has made you whole." As I am listening and watching I am overwhelmed by these people and their faith responses. They are worshiping in a structure with no walls, a dirt floor, a thatched roof, they sit crowded on wooden benches or floor mats in the heat with joy on their faces. They clap and dance to the drums and "shakers" and spontaneously harmonize in their singing.
After the service, we distributed pillowcase dresses from Kent's church and then had a presentation on the Tyler Dirks Saving and Credit Cooperation (a micro-finance organization that was started with seed money as a gift to Tyler for his 21st birthday). The members were very excited to meet Kent, father of Tyler. The presentation was very thorough and very well done. Then we were served dinner: kalo, posho rice, pork, chicken and hard-boiled eggs. The pork was soooo good - the first "red" meat I have had since leaving home.
After dinner, one of my former students wanted a private conversation with me. As it turned out, it was a very personal conversation about her family planning and weight gain concerns. I was truly honored that she would seek my advice. The other occurrence that did me great honor today was all of the first time visitors to the church who were my students. Some came forward to express an interest in becoming a regular attendee. Also, all of these students very proudly came and greeted Kent with the greeting in English that they had learned in class.
What finally topped the day, was Peter came for an impromptu visit right at dinner time so he joined Kent and me with our beans and rice, plus some crackers and dried apricots. We had a long conversation about his vision of the mission of his churches, which is reaching out to the needy: widows, orphansm those who are sick and those who are in prison - many strangers. He truly believes in sharing/showing the love of Christ.
Monday - March 12
Went to True Vine where I happened upon Kent's sponsored boy, Pius, so was able to help Kent set up a meeting with him. Had a very long conversation with Pstr. Godfrey about his concerns for the future of his ministry.
Following that I met with Odongo, my dyslexic (?) non-reader. His friend, Francis, joined us and when I told him next week would be my last day, Francis promised to help Odongo continue learning as they are neighbors. Then Francis asked me if I would go into the hospital with him to pray for a patient there. I agreed. She was a young woman with a heart problem. Her heart beats very fast. The doctor told her she needs to go for a "scan", That could be anything from an X-ray to an EKG with everything in between. Their English vocabulary is smaller than ours, though sometimes more sophisticated; as for instance, instead of saying "school supplies" they say "scholastic materials". Anyway, I prayed for the woman and did what I could. Lastly, I promised the three men that next time I would bring my laptop and a map; my last time at True Vine.
Tuesday - March 13
I forgot to mention that on Sunday when we had lunch after church in Wikus, it was the first time I had eaten rice with my fingers.
Kent told me of a woman he had seen at the hospital with Pstr. Eric, maybe 19 or 20, who had very painful, bulging sores on her legs. It has been diagnosed as Kaposi Sarcoma, a cancer of the lymph glands and blood vessels. There is a strain that is peculiar to Africa. We don't know if that is what she has or if she has the kind associated with HIV. Eric had an appointment with the doctor today to get more information - no HIPPA laws here.
Kent and I went to Kisoko today to meet with a headmistress of a girls primary school to discuss the possibility of a mobile science lab. Our friend, Wendy, had given us this lead. We found it to be a bit different than what we had anticipated but nevertheless it was of value. While I was listening to the discussion, I started thinking about all of the remote villages where there is no school and a how a mobile classroom with teachers might be a solution for those areas. I am going to discuss this with Sue and Stevie, who are teachers and see what they think It could be the teacher's home and storage of materials. The teaching could be a month to a term (3 months long) in each location to teach reading, writiing and excite some imaginations.
Took Kent back to Tororo, then Pstr. Lawrence took me to Wikus. I told each of my classes how proud I was of them of how they greeted Kent on Sunday. I saw a lot of smiling faces looking at me.
I talked briefly to Jackline about her situation of weight gain and family planning. I told her I had discussed it with Pstr, Peter as she told me I could, and he agreed to speak with her husband, James.
I was exhausted by the time we got back to Tororo. Kent and I went to the Prime Hotel for dinner, The ladies declined to join us, Finally, had a badly needed shower about 9:30 and went to bed.
Wednesday - March 14
Kent left at 5:15 this morning to go to Pstr. Peter's brother's to join a hunt for small mammels. When he returned, he was full of hilarious stories of chasing mongoose with dogs and men waving spears and pangas (like a machete). They eventually got 3 mongoose which they cooked in the field and promptly ate.
Then we found out something really wierd. The woman we saw yesterday was the wrong headmistress Irene! No wonder it was different than we anticipated. So in the afternoon while I went to Smile Africa, Kent met with the right headmistress Irene and got the correct information, which made much more sense.
In the evening, the four of us were invited to Andrew Agassi's for dinner. We sat outside to eat and enjoyed the early stars. We could see Jupiter and Venus shining brightly close to the horizon, It was a very special way to end the day.
Thursday - March 15
It is hard for me in my observance of Lent not to have a community that is observant also. The Christians I am in contact with here are dedicated, loving, faithful Christians but their observance (even in the Catholic church) of the liturgical year is less than I find fills me, However, these are Christians who live their faith more intensely than any I have known previously. They truly feed the hungry clothe the poor, visit those who are ill and in prison and give unceasingly of all they have. They forgive horrific wrongs done them and are joyful, friendly, outgoing and always have time for a fellow.
It was a long HOT, DUSTY drive to Busowa. We need rain. My English class went well - we had fun. We had two new verbs - unimportant ones, but fun ones: blink and wink. I had someone there who could interpret so I told them how winking (in the USA) and flirting are connected. They all laughed and said it was the same here.
Tomorrow is Kent's last day.
Boy, I am really tired tonight - not sure why. It was hot and rainless today - maybe that is part of it.
My ladies at Smile Africa are all very excited, concerned and have lots of questions about personal budgets and money management. It feels good that they are so involved - I just wish I could solve all their problems regarding income, but . . . . . .
Sorry, but I just can't think any more tonight soooooo lala salama. That means "good sleep" in Swahili. It is what one says instead of good night.
Saturday - March 10
Well, what a bust!!! A group called Youth Ablaze set up a generator, loud speakers, electronic music with singing and dancing right in the middle of my first class about 50 feet away. I couldn't hear myself think let alone talk and on top of it, how could phonics and money management compete with all that excitement?? They love to dance!!!! This is an organization that are proslytizing (spelling?) to gather youth into their fold to train them in their "disciple school" for the main purpose of combating the spread of Islam in Africa. They don't have the same amount of money the muslims are able to pump into sub-saharan Africa but they are fighting for the same souls. It just isn't my style. I get really turned off.
Kent and I were invited to dinner at the home of Pasto Alex. It was very nice: chicken, rice, potatoes, eggs and all with a lovely sauce. We had a nice visit. Alex shared how disappointed he is with his oldest son, who had an opportunity to be sponsored in Senior 1-4 and is frittering away this chance by hanging out with the wrong crowd and skipping school. Same problems with teen-agers the world over.
Sunday - March 11
We went to Wikus for church. Peter's sermon was on faith which needs to be based on Biblical facts and not on feelings and how we an expect to be cared for by God not according to our wants and needs but according to our faith: as Jesus said, "Your faith has made you whole." As I am listening and watching I am overwhelmed by these people and their faith responses. They are worshiping in a structure with no walls, a dirt floor, a thatched roof, they sit crowded on wooden benches or floor mats in the heat with joy on their faces. They clap and dance to the drums and "shakers" and spontaneously harmonize in their singing.
After the service, we distributed pillowcase dresses from Kent's church and then had a presentation on the Tyler Dirks Saving and Credit Cooperation (a micro-finance organization that was started with seed money as a gift to Tyler for his 21st birthday). The members were very excited to meet Kent, father of Tyler. The presentation was very thorough and very well done. Then we were served dinner: kalo, posho rice, pork, chicken and hard-boiled eggs. The pork was soooo good - the first "red" meat I have had since leaving home.
After dinner, one of my former students wanted a private conversation with me. As it turned out, it was a very personal conversation about her family planning and weight gain concerns. I was truly honored that she would seek my advice. The other occurrence that did me great honor today was all of the first time visitors to the church who were my students. Some came forward to express an interest in becoming a regular attendee. Also, all of these students very proudly came and greeted Kent with the greeting in English that they had learned in class.
What finally topped the day, was Peter came for an impromptu visit right at dinner time so he joined Kent and me with our beans and rice, plus some crackers and dried apricots. We had a long conversation about his vision of the mission of his churches, which is reaching out to the needy: widows, orphansm those who are sick and those who are in prison - many strangers. He truly believes in sharing/showing the love of Christ.
Monday - March 12
Went to True Vine where I happened upon Kent's sponsored boy, Pius, so was able to help Kent set up a meeting with him. Had a very long conversation with Pstr. Godfrey about his concerns for the future of his ministry.
Following that I met with Odongo, my dyslexic (?) non-reader. His friend, Francis, joined us and when I told him next week would be my last day, Francis promised to help Odongo continue learning as they are neighbors. Then Francis asked me if I would go into the hospital with him to pray for a patient there. I agreed. She was a young woman with a heart problem. Her heart beats very fast. The doctor told her she needs to go for a "scan", That could be anything from an X-ray to an EKG with everything in between. Their English vocabulary is smaller than ours, though sometimes more sophisticated; as for instance, instead of saying "school supplies" they say "scholastic materials". Anyway, I prayed for the woman and did what I could. Lastly, I promised the three men that next time I would bring my laptop and a map; my last time at True Vine.
Tuesday - March 13
I forgot to mention that on Sunday when we had lunch after church in Wikus, it was the first time I had eaten rice with my fingers.
Kent told me of a woman he had seen at the hospital with Pstr. Eric, maybe 19 or 20, who had very painful, bulging sores on her legs. It has been diagnosed as Kaposi Sarcoma, a cancer of the lymph glands and blood vessels. There is a strain that is peculiar to Africa. We don't know if that is what she has or if she has the kind associated with HIV. Eric had an appointment with the doctor today to get more information - no HIPPA laws here.
Kent and I went to Kisoko today to meet with a headmistress of a girls primary school to discuss the possibility of a mobile science lab. Our friend, Wendy, had given us this lead. We found it to be a bit different than what we had anticipated but nevertheless it was of value. While I was listening to the discussion, I started thinking about all of the remote villages where there is no school and a how a mobile classroom with teachers might be a solution for those areas. I am going to discuss this with Sue and Stevie, who are teachers and see what they think It could be the teacher's home and storage of materials. The teaching could be a month to a term (3 months long) in each location to teach reading, writiing and excite some imaginations.
Took Kent back to Tororo, then Pstr. Lawrence took me to Wikus. I told each of my classes how proud I was of them of how they greeted Kent on Sunday. I saw a lot of smiling faces looking at me.
I talked briefly to Jackline about her situation of weight gain and family planning. I told her I had discussed it with Pstr, Peter as she told me I could, and he agreed to speak with her husband, James.
I was exhausted by the time we got back to Tororo. Kent and I went to the Prime Hotel for dinner, The ladies declined to join us, Finally, had a badly needed shower about 9:30 and went to bed.
Wednesday - March 14
Kent left at 5:15 this morning to go to Pstr. Peter's brother's to join a hunt for small mammels. When he returned, he was full of hilarious stories of chasing mongoose with dogs and men waving spears and pangas (like a machete). They eventually got 3 mongoose which they cooked in the field and promptly ate.
Then we found out something really wierd. The woman we saw yesterday was the wrong headmistress Irene! No wonder it was different than we anticipated. So in the afternoon while I went to Smile Africa, Kent met with the right headmistress Irene and got the correct information, which made much more sense.
In the evening, the four of us were invited to Andrew Agassi's for dinner. We sat outside to eat and enjoyed the early stars. We could see Jupiter and Venus shining brightly close to the horizon, It was a very special way to end the day.
Thursday - March 15
It is hard for me in my observance of Lent not to have a community that is observant also. The Christians I am in contact with here are dedicated, loving, faithful Christians but their observance (even in the Catholic church) of the liturgical year is less than I find fills me, However, these are Christians who live their faith more intensely than any I have known previously. They truly feed the hungry clothe the poor, visit those who are ill and in prison and give unceasingly of all they have. They forgive horrific wrongs done them and are joyful, friendly, outgoing and always have time for a fellow.
It was a long HOT, DUSTY drive to Busowa. We need rain. My English class went well - we had fun. We had two new verbs - unimportant ones, but fun ones: blink and wink. I had someone there who could interpret so I told them how winking (in the USA) and flirting are connected. They all laughed and said it was the same here.
Tomorrow is Kent's last day.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
WEEK 8
Friday - March 2
My final class at Smile Africa was cancelled once again because Pastor Ruth wanted a meeting with all of the women. So as I was sitting there waiting for my ride, I observed the 4:00 exodus from the enclosure. There were no parents to meet the children. There were 7 and 8 year olds carrying infants on their backs. There were 2 and 3 year olds leaving on their own. What a half hour earlier had been raucous, noisy children at play, now became a solemn, subdued exit to spend the night who knows where, with no food for dinner in raggedy, dirty clothes that hardly deserved that designation. There were some welll-used pillowcase dresses among the departing. Some children walked with arms around each other in quiet mutual support. It was a procession which could only be watched with teary eyes.
Saturday - March 3
Right now it is 8:00 in the evening and I am sitting here in the dark (no power) and through my windows am hearing such lovely singing of children, sweet voices and charming melodies. What a delight AND contrast to the sounds we usually hear of crying, loud electronic and repetitious "music" and drunken laughter and conversation,
We are awaiting Stevie's (another teacher) arrival. Peter wnt to meet her plane in Kampala. They called - it took her forever because 2 of her bags were missing so a claim had to be made, etc.
I spent the morning, 4 plus hours, thoroughly cleaning the house, scrubbing all of the floors on my hands and knees. I was hot and exhausted.
Went to Juba to teach which went well though I cut my second class short as Pastor Alex is ill and I wanted to get him into Tororo for medical care. We accomplished this though I don't know what the diagnosis is but he is on 4 medications and is to return in 2 weeks if he is not cured.
One other little annoyance - I can't get my email to work. Yahoo instituted some new security measures and now I can't send any emails. Have been trying for the last 2 days, but no luck.
Sunday - March 4
Still no luck sending emails on Yahoo. We three were all up early and were the first ones to arrive for church in Juba. The boarding school kids were just getting their morning porridge (kind of like very thin grits). Pastor Peter preached. The subject of his sermon was faith and preparation. The part I remembered most is when one door closes, look for a new door God will open. At the end a group of about 10 children did a skit vreated by them and one of the teachers. The theme was pastors who are charlatans. The it was presented had the whole congregation in stitches. When it was over, Pstr. Peter added his two cents worth of another aspect to watch out for with charlatan pastors.
Pstr. Lawrence dropped me off at the TLT restaurant so I could meet another Ugandan friend for lunch. It was a pleasant lunch, The woman I was with has such a big heart, is very creative with so many good ideas and it is so sad because she does not currently have a good outlet for the special gifts she has.
Monday - March 5
My sister, Bette, would have been 68 today.
We all went to True Vine, Stevie to meet with Pstr. Wilber and the headmaster and Sue to follow her appointed schedule. I stopped in at the orphan office to greet everyone and check with Joseph's field officer who said he saw Joseph on Friday and so far is feeling positive about him and his progress.
I had 2 people show up for Bible study and one stayed on for his tutoring in Reading. I wish I were better trainedm better qualified in order to have a better plan to work with him. I am beginning to wonder if he has dyslexia. I feel so terribly inadequate but we struggle on.
No Rita there to arrange a visit to Jaja Andera. She, Rita, is out on a mission. This is what happened last time I was here - the activities of the church conflicted with what I was doing so it just didn't work well at True Vine.
Tuesday - March 6
Hooray!!!! I was finally able to send an email via my Yahoo account!
Peter went to Kampala to get Kent, my son, and to retrieve Stevie's lost bags. All accomplished.
I went to Wikus and started the theme of Money Management for the Reading and Writing classes. The English class continues as normal. We started with a Bible lesson from Proverbs 21:20 and then to saving for the drought times (school fees, illness, etc.) and finally to personal budgets. Their homework is to determine how much they are currently spending and earning.
Now that they have the micro-finance system underway, it seemed a good time to discuss, teach and learn money management,
Wednesday - March 7
First thing this am I "picked beans". When one buys dry beans here for cooking beans and rice, the beans are scooped out of a large bag. I naively thought it was like buying beans in bulk at a health food store at home. The first time I put some beans on to soak, I just put them in a pot with water and saw all this debris rising to the top. So dumped out the water and started over. I "picked beans" to remove the dried plant residue, the pebbles, the bits of dried dirt and the shriveled beans. This is certainly a different process from what I do at home. At Smile Africa one day, I helped "pick rice". This was the same process but a more painstaking job and for 400 kids rather than 3 adults.
Thursday - March 8
Today is International Women's Day and for the Ugandans we associate withm it is an important day. Many of the pastors we know are cooking for their wives and serving them Here, in what is still a very patriarchal society, this is a really big deal.
At True Vine Stevie and Sue found classrooms filled with children with no teachers, The teachers had taken off for Women's Day and the children showed up anyway. So they did their best to do the teaching with the language barrier.
Kent went to Busowa with me. I taught my classes on Money Management while Kent did video tape interviews with people of Busowa who have taken advantage of the micro-finance program his chuch has contributed to.
Before I forget, I wanted to note how Stevie's bed got delivered to our house. Peter and I went to the carpenter shop to pick out a bed, we paid and then went back to the city center to find a bicycle "driver" to deliver the bed. He followed us back to the carpenter, they tied the bed on the bicycle and then the "driver" followed us to our house. For this service the driver got paid 2,000 shillings, roughly $1.00.
My final class at Smile Africa was cancelled once again because Pastor Ruth wanted a meeting with all of the women. So as I was sitting there waiting for my ride, I observed the 4:00 exodus from the enclosure. There were no parents to meet the children. There were 7 and 8 year olds carrying infants on their backs. There were 2 and 3 year olds leaving on their own. What a half hour earlier had been raucous, noisy children at play, now became a solemn, subdued exit to spend the night who knows where, with no food for dinner in raggedy, dirty clothes that hardly deserved that designation. There were some welll-used pillowcase dresses among the departing. Some children walked with arms around each other in quiet mutual support. It was a procession which could only be watched with teary eyes.
Saturday - March 3
Right now it is 8:00 in the evening and I am sitting here in the dark (no power) and through my windows am hearing such lovely singing of children, sweet voices and charming melodies. What a delight AND contrast to the sounds we usually hear of crying, loud electronic and repetitious "music" and drunken laughter and conversation,
We are awaiting Stevie's (another teacher) arrival. Peter wnt to meet her plane in Kampala. They called - it took her forever because 2 of her bags were missing so a claim had to be made, etc.
I spent the morning, 4 plus hours, thoroughly cleaning the house, scrubbing all of the floors on my hands and knees. I was hot and exhausted.
Went to Juba to teach which went well though I cut my second class short as Pastor Alex is ill and I wanted to get him into Tororo for medical care. We accomplished this though I don't know what the diagnosis is but he is on 4 medications and is to return in 2 weeks if he is not cured.
One other little annoyance - I can't get my email to work. Yahoo instituted some new security measures and now I can't send any emails. Have been trying for the last 2 days, but no luck.
Sunday - March 4
Still no luck sending emails on Yahoo. We three were all up early and were the first ones to arrive for church in Juba. The boarding school kids were just getting their morning porridge (kind of like very thin grits). Pastor Peter preached. The subject of his sermon was faith and preparation. The part I remembered most is when one door closes, look for a new door God will open. At the end a group of about 10 children did a skit vreated by them and one of the teachers. The theme was pastors who are charlatans. The it was presented had the whole congregation in stitches. When it was over, Pstr. Peter added his two cents worth of another aspect to watch out for with charlatan pastors.
Pstr. Lawrence dropped me off at the TLT restaurant so I could meet another Ugandan friend for lunch. It was a pleasant lunch, The woman I was with has such a big heart, is very creative with so many good ideas and it is so sad because she does not currently have a good outlet for the special gifts she has.
Monday - March 5
My sister, Bette, would have been 68 today.
We all went to True Vine, Stevie to meet with Pstr. Wilber and the headmaster and Sue to follow her appointed schedule. I stopped in at the orphan office to greet everyone and check with Joseph's field officer who said he saw Joseph on Friday and so far is feeling positive about him and his progress.
I had 2 people show up for Bible study and one stayed on for his tutoring in Reading. I wish I were better trainedm better qualified in order to have a better plan to work with him. I am beginning to wonder if he has dyslexia. I feel so terribly inadequate but we struggle on.
No Rita there to arrange a visit to Jaja Andera. She, Rita, is out on a mission. This is what happened last time I was here - the activities of the church conflicted with what I was doing so it just didn't work well at True Vine.
Tuesday - March 6
Hooray!!!! I was finally able to send an email via my Yahoo account!
Peter went to Kampala to get Kent, my son, and to retrieve Stevie's lost bags. All accomplished.
I went to Wikus and started the theme of Money Management for the Reading and Writing classes. The English class continues as normal. We started with a Bible lesson from Proverbs 21:20 and then to saving for the drought times (school fees, illness, etc.) and finally to personal budgets. Their homework is to determine how much they are currently spending and earning.
Now that they have the micro-finance system underway, it seemed a good time to discuss, teach and learn money management,
Wednesday - March 7
First thing this am I "picked beans". When one buys dry beans here for cooking beans and rice, the beans are scooped out of a large bag. I naively thought it was like buying beans in bulk at a health food store at home. The first time I put some beans on to soak, I just put them in a pot with water and saw all this debris rising to the top. So dumped out the water and started over. I "picked beans" to remove the dried plant residue, the pebbles, the bits of dried dirt and the shriveled beans. This is certainly a different process from what I do at home. At Smile Africa one day, I helped "pick rice". This was the same process but a more painstaking job and for 400 kids rather than 3 adults.
Thursday - March 8
Today is International Women's Day and for the Ugandans we associate withm it is an important day. Many of the pastors we know are cooking for their wives and serving them Here, in what is still a very patriarchal society, this is a really big deal.
At True Vine Stevie and Sue found classrooms filled with children with no teachers, The teachers had taken off for Women's Day and the children showed up anyway. So they did their best to do the teaching with the language barrier.
Kent went to Busowa with me. I taught my classes on Money Management while Kent did video tape interviews with people of Busowa who have taken advantage of the micro-finance program his chuch has contributed to.
Before I forget, I wanted to note how Stevie's bed got delivered to our house. Peter and I went to the carpenter shop to pick out a bed, we paid and then went back to the city center to find a bicycle "driver" to deliver the bed. He followed us back to the carpenter, they tied the bed on the bicycle and then the "driver" followed us to our house. For this service the driver got paid 2,000 shillings, roughly $1.00.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Week 7
Friday - February 24th
More people keep getting added to my classes at Smile Africa. It is very difficult when we are already at our 8th meeting. I don't know how to integrate the new students without making the material redundant for the established students. It is frustrating.
One of my students brought me oranges today. She is the same student who previously brought me bananas.
There was a problem being picked up today because all of the leaders of Hope 4 Kids partners were in a meeting with Hope 4 Kids personnel. So I had to hire a taxi to get home and couldn't do the food shopping I needed to do, so I ended up eating peanut butter and crackers for dinner. Oh well ----.
Saturday - February 25
SAFARI !!!!
We were supposed to leave at 10 for a 5-7 hour drive. The van we hired needed a battery so we left over an hour later. We made it to Kampala in about 3 hours but to get through Kampala took about 2 hours. There was much traffic and many badly flooded streets. We didn't even have a torrential rain. I can't imagine how badly the streets would be flooded with a torrential rain. Kampala, the capitol, is a little over a million people. The people who had given me an idea of the time to get to Fort Portal were badly mistaken at 5-7 hours. We finally arrived at our hotel at 9:00 p.m., for a total of 10 hours. Fortunately, we could still get dinner. Everyone was tired and sore from the worn-out seat pads of the van over very bumpy roads. The hotel is lovely - felt luxurious after our home in Tororo. The best part was a good meal we didn't have to prepare. Sue and I sat out in the cool of the evening with no mosquitos and talked over a nice glass of wine - telling ourselves that it was okay we were having 2 days of "vacation".
Sunday - February 26
We were at breakfast at 5:30 so we could leave for the park by 6:00. It was a 2 hour drive and we were not exactly sure where we were picking up our guide, Ven. On the way we saw a mother and baby elephant - pretty special. Stopped at the equator for photos and eventually found Ven and made our way to the park. It really was a great day!! The weather was comfortable though sunny. We saw all the animals that part of the park has available except for a leopard. We saw a lioness with 3-4 small cubs. Very exciting!! We saw elephants, Ugandan kob (a type of antelope), water bucks, warthogs and many beautiful birds. We also saw hippos, a huge crocodile and many cape buffalo. The rest of the animals there, are nocturnal, or too small to see except we did see a monitor lizard - not too big. We were lucky. All in all, it was a lovely day. Had a late dinner and went to bed for an early start in the morning.
Monday - February 27
Spent the day driving - 8 hours to return to Tororo. There was a northern bypass around Kampala which we took which cut down on the time in the city. It gave me a whole new view of Kampala - new construction, modern housing, some affluence. We arrived home tired - unpacked and went to bed = back to our teaching routine tomorrow.
Tuesday - February 28
We haave a little visitor every morning. There is a bird with a longish curved bill that looks like it is made for picking insects from the bark of a tree, that comes knocking at all of our windows every morning. First it comes to Sue's, then usually the kitchen windows and usually, but lastly, it comes to my window. So if our "preacher" is not walking through the neighborhood about 7:00, this little bird with its knocking is sur to wake us at 7:00.
Back to work. Drove to Wikus. With Peter driving we got there 20 minutes early. What a shock!! When we first arrived there was no one there. At first, I thought I had the wrong day, but upon checking the time, discovered we were early. We had 3 good classes. I have a suspicion that teacher James is helping the students with the homework assignments I have given them, which is fine, except it is more difficut for me to determine if they have truly understood what I have tried to teach or are just copying off the board what James has written.
Wednesday - February 29
It is a friend's "18th" birthday today as he was born in a leap year.
The last 2 days we have been experiencing, weather-wise, an inversion. The air is heavy, almost fog-like, with little sun. I think we need a good rain to wash it away.
I told all of my students about leap year to the best of my non-scientific ability. We spoke of the reasons for leap year, how often it happens, etc.
Pretty exciting - there are only 2 students in my Wed. Smile Africa English class which have not yet written their names on the board.
Thursday - March 1
We are having a few water troubles. The pump for the tanks is making a pounding sound plus the tanks overflowed - SOOO now we have an over-abundance of water as opposed to none. This situation of over-abundance is far better than none!!!
Peter drove me to Busowa. There was a downpour on the way, one could hardly see to drive. This is a bit scarey when there are so many reckless drivers on the road.
My English class did well in numbers and activity There are only 3 who need to learn to write their names. The Reading class were only 5 in number but we carried on. I think the rain made it difficult for many to come. We meet in their church which is mud walls of wattle and daub construction with a hip roof of reeds/grass. Windows are holes in the walls and doorways are totally open. The difficulty is discerning those dark faces inside a dark structure under a dark sky. Didn't get home until 7:00 p.m., very late.
We add 2 to our small team during this coming week. Another teacher, Stevie, joins us and then my son, Kent, is coming for 2 weeks. We anxiously await their arrival.
More people keep getting added to my classes at Smile Africa. It is very difficult when we are already at our 8th meeting. I don't know how to integrate the new students without making the material redundant for the established students. It is frustrating.
One of my students brought me oranges today. She is the same student who previously brought me bananas.
There was a problem being picked up today because all of the leaders of Hope 4 Kids partners were in a meeting with Hope 4 Kids personnel. So I had to hire a taxi to get home and couldn't do the food shopping I needed to do, so I ended up eating peanut butter and crackers for dinner. Oh well ----.
Saturday - February 25
SAFARI !!!!
We were supposed to leave at 10 for a 5-7 hour drive. The van we hired needed a battery so we left over an hour later. We made it to Kampala in about 3 hours but to get through Kampala took about 2 hours. There was much traffic and many badly flooded streets. We didn't even have a torrential rain. I can't imagine how badly the streets would be flooded with a torrential rain. Kampala, the capitol, is a little over a million people. The people who had given me an idea of the time to get to Fort Portal were badly mistaken at 5-7 hours. We finally arrived at our hotel at 9:00 p.m., for a total of 10 hours. Fortunately, we could still get dinner. Everyone was tired and sore from the worn-out seat pads of the van over very bumpy roads. The hotel is lovely - felt luxurious after our home in Tororo. The best part was a good meal we didn't have to prepare. Sue and I sat out in the cool of the evening with no mosquitos and talked over a nice glass of wine - telling ourselves that it was okay we were having 2 days of "vacation".
Sunday - February 26
We were at breakfast at 5:30 so we could leave for the park by 6:00. It was a 2 hour drive and we were not exactly sure where we were picking up our guide, Ven. On the way we saw a mother and baby elephant - pretty special. Stopped at the equator for photos and eventually found Ven and made our way to the park. It really was a great day!! The weather was comfortable though sunny. We saw all the animals that part of the park has available except for a leopard. We saw a lioness with 3-4 small cubs. Very exciting!! We saw elephants, Ugandan kob (a type of antelope), water bucks, warthogs and many beautiful birds. We also saw hippos, a huge crocodile and many cape buffalo. The rest of the animals there, are nocturnal, or too small to see except we did see a monitor lizard - not too big. We were lucky. All in all, it was a lovely day. Had a late dinner and went to bed for an early start in the morning.
Monday - February 27
Spent the day driving - 8 hours to return to Tororo. There was a northern bypass around Kampala which we took which cut down on the time in the city. It gave me a whole new view of Kampala - new construction, modern housing, some affluence. We arrived home tired - unpacked and went to bed = back to our teaching routine tomorrow.
Tuesday - February 28
We haave a little visitor every morning. There is a bird with a longish curved bill that looks like it is made for picking insects from the bark of a tree, that comes knocking at all of our windows every morning. First it comes to Sue's, then usually the kitchen windows and usually, but lastly, it comes to my window. So if our "preacher" is not walking through the neighborhood about 7:00, this little bird with its knocking is sur to wake us at 7:00.
Back to work. Drove to Wikus. With Peter driving we got there 20 minutes early. What a shock!! When we first arrived there was no one there. At first, I thought I had the wrong day, but upon checking the time, discovered we were early. We had 3 good classes. I have a suspicion that teacher James is helping the students with the homework assignments I have given them, which is fine, except it is more difficut for me to determine if they have truly understood what I have tried to teach or are just copying off the board what James has written.
Wednesday - February 29
It is a friend's "18th" birthday today as he was born in a leap year.
The last 2 days we have been experiencing, weather-wise, an inversion. The air is heavy, almost fog-like, with little sun. I think we need a good rain to wash it away.
I told all of my students about leap year to the best of my non-scientific ability. We spoke of the reasons for leap year, how often it happens, etc.
Pretty exciting - there are only 2 students in my Wed. Smile Africa English class which have not yet written their names on the board.
Thursday - March 1
We are having a few water troubles. The pump for the tanks is making a pounding sound plus the tanks overflowed - SOOO now we have an over-abundance of water as opposed to none. This situation of over-abundance is far better than none!!!
Peter drove me to Busowa. There was a downpour on the way, one could hardly see to drive. This is a bit scarey when there are so many reckless drivers on the road.
My English class did well in numbers and activity There are only 3 who need to learn to write their names. The Reading class were only 5 in number but we carried on. I think the rain made it difficult for many to come. We meet in their church which is mud walls of wattle and daub construction with a hip roof of reeds/grass. Windows are holes in the walls and doorways are totally open. The difficulty is discerning those dark faces inside a dark structure under a dark sky. Didn't get home until 7:00 p.m., very late.
We add 2 to our small team during this coming week. Another teacher, Stevie, joins us and then my son, Kent, is coming for 2 weeks. We anxiously await their arrival.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
WEEK 6
Friday - February 17
We had another brief, gentle rain while I was teaching at Smile Africa. My interpreter did not show up for my English class so it was a bit of a struggle to explain the Valentine project. One of the women from my Writing class was there early. She attempted to help and did her best, but the language the other ladies had in common was Swahili, not a language for which she had fluency. But it all worked out okay. They made their Valentines and the interpreter and I wrote messages in them. At the end they received their Valentine sweets.
Saturday - February 18
Today we had Valentine projects in Juba. Everyone seemed very pleased with their T-shirts. Pstr. Alex and I wrote the kids' names on the shirts for the English class. For the Reading & Writing class I showed the ladies how to make "God's Eyes". These little craft projects are made with sticks in the shape of a cross and then variegated, brightly colored year is wrapped on the cross in such a way as to make a lovely diamond-shaped pattern until the arms of the cross are completely covered. Pstr. Alex caught on quickly and was able to help some of the ladies who had several false starts. They all seemed very pleased with their handiwork and enjoyed their treats of candy hearts. Thank you Jesse, for teaching me how to do this craft.
Something I noticed today is the very good English a few of the very young children had. There were about 5 children popping in and out of my classroom before class began. The oldest was 7, the youngest, probably, 4. Their English was very impressive. We could easily understand each other. They had very little of the local accent. I am very curious as to where and with whom they are learning to speak.
Sunday - February 19
We had several passing rains during the night which were nice as it cut the heat a bit and made sleeping more comfortable.
Well, I found the mosquito that got inside my net and kept buzzing in my ear last night and gave me several new bites AND guess what? I squashed him!!!!
We went to church at Sacred Heart with Alex (cabbie) and his wife, Harriet. After church I had him drop me at TLT, hotel restaurant, where I was to meet a friend from True Vine who never showed up. I spent 3 hours waiting. I will try once more to make that contact and it if doesn't happen, it won't be because I didn't try. This is a person Pstr. Ruth particularly asked me to make contact with, which I had intended to do anyway.
Monday - February 20
Today I was able to reach the woman I was supposed to lunch with yesterday. She was ill and didn't have my phone number. There is alot of sickness - mostly malaria but pneumonia also and today someone told me she had been diagnosed with typhoid. Not sure about that. I had one person at my Bible study today, a new person. This is actually someone who has been here since I've been coming to Tororo. He told me today that he was one of the pillars of the church. He's been here for ten years, since before they had water at the site. His English is very good. He also writes in 3 languages. He told me he went to school as far as P7 and he is 56 years old. He is a helpful, good-natured man. There is so much to learn from these people. The only other person who came today was my English speaking non-reader. We are struggling but he is persistent and has been here every time. He had on a shirt today that was literallym in tatters and he sits there trying so hard to learn. I have so much respect for him and for many people here.
Tuesday - February 21
Happy Birthday my dear sister, Terry. Pstr. Peter drove me to Wikus today. I have a very high level of frustration with the teacher there. He is constantly interrupting me trying to be helpful. It is such a struggle for my students to get the sound of English vowels in their ears to try to say them. In their speech they use what I term "Italian vowels" which are used in Swahili, Lugandan, most of the local languages and, of course many other languages as well, BUT not English. So I am trying to get them to hear the differences and then say them. James, the teacher, is correcting them with his version of English vowels (short sounds, especially) which he speaks exactly the same as they do. It takes all of my patience to remain calm and civil.
On the way home we had 3 passengers coming from the funeral of a 3 year old. The child died because his "stomach swelled up". What could this be? What occurs to me is parasites. I know a swollen stomach can be a symptom which many children have, of intestinal parasites. The health department tries to regularly "deworm" the children, but it is an ongoing problem.
On this trip to Wikus, on a dirt road through many villages a common sight on the return between 5 and 6 p.m. is a gathering of men sitting in a circle with very long straws (reeds) around a jerrican of "home brew". Only very rarely, can be seen a woman or two. This consumption of raw alcohol is, in most cases, very destructive to a sound, healthy family life. In the churches one hears many "testimonies" of overcoming an addiction to alcohol.
Wednesday - February 22
Happy Birthday Brother Dale. Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. The end of my devotional this morning spoke of our individual "messy houses" with the following admonition: "If the house is messy, why not clean it up, why not make it into a place where God might wish to dwell?" A good question - one which I will strive to answer this Lenten season.
Today was a Smile Africa day. I am there twice a week so my Reading and Writing classes get twice as much attention as any of the other locations. We seem to be zipping along. I felt like I made good progress today with sounds of the alphabet in the Reading class. The Writing class had barely gotten started before we had to stop as Pstr. Ruth wanted to meet with all of the ladies.
No electricty all of today.
Thursday - February 23
How sad - the grandson of Peter's cousin was killed - hit by a taxi walking home from school, the baby class - this means a 3-4 year old. They walk all over by themselves. By the time a girl is 5 she is carrying an infant sibling strapped to her back. Sometimes it seems that life is not valued here. I know that this is not true, but precautions are so cavalier.
I went to Busowa for belated Valentine projects. That went well - people left happy with their T-shirts and "God's eyes". Pstr. Charles told me one of the men who made a God's eye, showed it to him and very happily told him he was taking it home as a Valentine gift for his wife.
We have about 20 T-shirts left so when we are handing out the rest of the pillowcase dresses, we will give the boys the T-shirts. This will be in a village of Peter's choice.
Our planned photo safari for this week-end is finally coming together. We are going to Queen Elizabeth National Wild Animal Park in western Uganda, on Saturday. Sunday we will see the park and return home Sunday night.
We had another brief, gentle rain while I was teaching at Smile Africa. My interpreter did not show up for my English class so it was a bit of a struggle to explain the Valentine project. One of the women from my Writing class was there early. She attempted to help and did her best, but the language the other ladies had in common was Swahili, not a language for which she had fluency. But it all worked out okay. They made their Valentines and the interpreter and I wrote messages in them. At the end they received their Valentine sweets.
Saturday - February 18
Today we had Valentine projects in Juba. Everyone seemed very pleased with their T-shirts. Pstr. Alex and I wrote the kids' names on the shirts for the English class. For the Reading & Writing class I showed the ladies how to make "God's Eyes". These little craft projects are made with sticks in the shape of a cross and then variegated, brightly colored year is wrapped on the cross in such a way as to make a lovely diamond-shaped pattern until the arms of the cross are completely covered. Pstr. Alex caught on quickly and was able to help some of the ladies who had several false starts. They all seemed very pleased with their handiwork and enjoyed their treats of candy hearts. Thank you Jesse, for teaching me how to do this craft.
Something I noticed today is the very good English a few of the very young children had. There were about 5 children popping in and out of my classroom before class began. The oldest was 7, the youngest, probably, 4. Their English was very impressive. We could easily understand each other. They had very little of the local accent. I am very curious as to where and with whom they are learning to speak.
Sunday - February 19
We had several passing rains during the night which were nice as it cut the heat a bit and made sleeping more comfortable.
Well, I found the mosquito that got inside my net and kept buzzing in my ear last night and gave me several new bites AND guess what? I squashed him!!!!
We went to church at Sacred Heart with Alex (cabbie) and his wife, Harriet. After church I had him drop me at TLT, hotel restaurant, where I was to meet a friend from True Vine who never showed up. I spent 3 hours waiting. I will try once more to make that contact and it if doesn't happen, it won't be because I didn't try. This is a person Pstr. Ruth particularly asked me to make contact with, which I had intended to do anyway.
Monday - February 20
Today I was able to reach the woman I was supposed to lunch with yesterday. She was ill and didn't have my phone number. There is alot of sickness - mostly malaria but pneumonia also and today someone told me she had been diagnosed with typhoid. Not sure about that. I had one person at my Bible study today, a new person. This is actually someone who has been here since I've been coming to Tororo. He told me today that he was one of the pillars of the church. He's been here for ten years, since before they had water at the site. His English is very good. He also writes in 3 languages. He told me he went to school as far as P7 and he is 56 years old. He is a helpful, good-natured man. There is so much to learn from these people. The only other person who came today was my English speaking non-reader. We are struggling but he is persistent and has been here every time. He had on a shirt today that was literallym in tatters and he sits there trying so hard to learn. I have so much respect for him and for many people here.
Tuesday - February 21
Happy Birthday my dear sister, Terry. Pstr. Peter drove me to Wikus today. I have a very high level of frustration with the teacher there. He is constantly interrupting me trying to be helpful. It is such a struggle for my students to get the sound of English vowels in their ears to try to say them. In their speech they use what I term "Italian vowels" which are used in Swahili, Lugandan, most of the local languages and, of course many other languages as well, BUT not English. So I am trying to get them to hear the differences and then say them. James, the teacher, is correcting them with his version of English vowels (short sounds, especially) which he speaks exactly the same as they do. It takes all of my patience to remain calm and civil.
On the way home we had 3 passengers coming from the funeral of a 3 year old. The child died because his "stomach swelled up". What could this be? What occurs to me is parasites. I know a swollen stomach can be a symptom which many children have, of intestinal parasites. The health department tries to regularly "deworm" the children, but it is an ongoing problem.
On this trip to Wikus, on a dirt road through many villages a common sight on the return between 5 and 6 p.m. is a gathering of men sitting in a circle with very long straws (reeds) around a jerrican of "home brew". Only very rarely, can be seen a woman or two. This consumption of raw alcohol is, in most cases, very destructive to a sound, healthy family life. In the churches one hears many "testimonies" of overcoming an addiction to alcohol.
Wednesday - February 22
Happy Birthday Brother Dale. Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. The end of my devotional this morning spoke of our individual "messy houses" with the following admonition: "If the house is messy, why not clean it up, why not make it into a place where God might wish to dwell?" A good question - one which I will strive to answer this Lenten season.
Today was a Smile Africa day. I am there twice a week so my Reading and Writing classes get twice as much attention as any of the other locations. We seem to be zipping along. I felt like I made good progress today with sounds of the alphabet in the Reading class. The Writing class had barely gotten started before we had to stop as Pstr. Ruth wanted to meet with all of the ladies.
No electricty all of today.
Thursday - February 23
How sad - the grandson of Peter's cousin was killed - hit by a taxi walking home from school, the baby class - this means a 3-4 year old. They walk all over by themselves. By the time a girl is 5 she is carrying an infant sibling strapped to her back. Sometimes it seems that life is not valued here. I know that this is not true, but precautions are so cavalier.
I went to Busowa for belated Valentine projects. That went well - people left happy with their T-shirts and "God's eyes". Pstr. Charles told me one of the men who made a God's eye, showed it to him and very happily told him he was taking it home as a Valentine gift for his wife.
We have about 20 T-shirts left so when we are handing out the rest of the pillowcase dresses, we will give the boys the T-shirts. This will be in a village of Peter's choice.
Our planned photo safari for this week-end is finally coming together. We are going to Queen Elizabeth National Wild Animal Park in western Uganda, on Saturday. Sunday we will see the park and return home Sunday night.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
WEEK 5 Continued
so spent the whole day here in the house. Got some lesson plans done and some housekeeping. We had a few sprinkles but coud use another nice rain to settle the dust.
I hope all had a love-filled St. Valentine's Day.
I hope all had a love-filled St. Valentine's Day.
WEEK 5
Friday - February 10
Now that we have water I spent the morning cleaning. It feels really good to once again have chased the dust away.
I went to Smile Africa in the afternoon. I had five people in the English class write their names on my white board. Now there are only 35 to go. Hopefully, they will all have accomplished this task by the time I leave. Actually, that class is a bit of a challenge as I have in tyhe class who were in the class the last time I was here, so there is a lot of repetition for them and I am sure they are a bit bored, BUT there are many new ones for whom is is all new. Unfortunately, I have not the time to divide them up.
Judging from the homework done by my writing class I did not make myself clear or explain well the concept of an adjective, so I went over all of that again. Plus, I had new people joining my class - always a bit of a struggle, but I can't keep starting over each class meeting to accommodate the new joiners.
I must say, I was exhausted by the time I got home at 5:30. I was glad I just had to warm up my dinner as it was waiting for me in the fridge. Fell asleep about 9 and slept soundly until 7.
Saturday - February 11
A rather slow day - I took care of household duties and went to Juba in the afternoon. There are a group of neighborhood people 2 or 3 women and twice as many men, who occasionally sit just ouside the gate of our compound under a lovely oleander-like tree who socialize and drink alcohol to the point of drunkeness. This disturbs Pastor Peter greatly. Today he said he wanted to talk to the supervisor of this area (politician?) to get these people to stop. My fear is if he complains they may take it out on us - harrass us. I left it to his judgement but let him know my concerns.
Classes went well. One was bigger, one was smaller but both went well and were fun.
Sunday - February 12
We have our first rain including some lovely thunder. It is just a gentle little rain, but nevertheless, it is rain.
We went with Alex (cabbie) to his church this morning, Sacred Heart Catholic Church. It was so nice to participate in a liturgy with responses, creed and prayers that were familiar. The second reader when finished, announced the gospel as "Let us welcome the gospel". I really liked that. When the offering was brought forward it was not only money but food as well, including a live chicken. It was brought forth with ceremony, singing and dancing.
We received a call from Peter this afternoon that one of the "elders" of his church in Juba was killed on the rad last night by a semi. So Peter's night was a difficult one, arranging transport of the body, finding $100 for the post-mortem, finding funds for and purchasing a coffin. The burial will be tomorrow. They have to get them in the ground as soon as possible. He sounded exhasuted.
Well the rain has gotten heavier with much thunder and a lovely wind. It is glorious!!
Monday - February 13
Lawrence picked us up this morning to take us to True Vine before he began his burial/funeral duties. He told us the man who was killed was riding a motorcycle with his sister and his neice. Three women were running across the road, one with a cell phone to her ear, so she was crossing with divided attention. The side mirror of the motorcycle hit her which threw the bike out of control and the 3 riders into the middle of the road in the oncoming path of a semi. People who saw the accident got one of the women off the road, the truck ran over the man, killing him, and the other woman was between the wheels of the truck which passed over her, leaving her with a few bruises from the fall. The man leaves 5 children, the oldest not yet in his teens.
I saw my boy Joseph this morning He was able to beg his way back into school and has begun Senior 2 on probation. We will see how he does. I told him he had better us this chance well.
My Bible study group did not come together this morning. I was saddened, but not surprised. I did see 5 people individually however. Sarah, who is reading "The Book of God" on my kindle brought a young friend whose schooling ended in P2. I worked with her a bit. I think she is quite bright.. Her English isn't good good but she caught on to alphabet sounds and was able to read "Hop on Pop". I found a ride home with Zach of True Vine as I didn't want to bother those at the funeral which was in Maguria, a bit away from Tororo.
Tuesday - February 14
Today is Valentine's Day. I have special projects planned for my classes all week.
I had a surprise this morning. When Peter picked Sue up, he had my girl, Elizabeth, with him who he was taking to True Vine on her way to school in Jinja so I got to see her, give her the gift I had brought plus a little jacket and a skirt and blousem that hopefully, she can use. Sarah seems bigger than Elizabeth who doesn't seem to have grown since the last time I saw her. I hope she does well and finds a good place for herself at school.
Lawrence drove me to Wikus. I had 3 sizes of plain white kid T-shirts with me for all of my classes to draw/design/write on for a child of their choice as a Valentine gift. The people were quite excited about it. Lawrence told me on the way home that he had overheard them talking and they were all pleased and happy about the project, When they had finished with the T-shirts I had a few little heart candies (the kind with sayings printed one) for each of them as their Valentine gifts. It was a good day.
Happy Birthday Don!!!
Wednesday - February 15
Every time I come here, whether it is for 2 weeks or for 3 months, I have a meltdown at some point - an overwhelming feeling of sadness, inadequacy and frustration. I have been staving one off for a few days now, but today came close,
This was my day for Smile Africa. My Reading class was very happy with their T-shirt project. I had my English class make a folded paper Valentine for someone they loved, They drew pictures, made designs and then Anna (my interpreter) and I helped them write a message At the end of the message we had them write their own names. What hit my meltdown button was watching Margret Aketch very carefully, painstakingly with much struggle and time write her name on the card for her grandson.
The other incident today was on my way to the office at Smile Africa with both of my arms full, I saw this small child standing by himself heaving left-over sobs of a really hard cry. I started to walk on but realized I couldn't and turned and just rubbed his back for a few minutes, trying to soothe him. He was filthy, with dried nose mucous smeared all over his face, his clothes in rags and the saddest eyes I have seen in a while.
Many of the children at Smile Africa come during the day from scavanging from the garbage piles in Tororo. They receive at least 1 meal a day, as stab at some small piece of education, and an enclosed safe place to run and play and be kids. Where they sleep at night is anyone's guess, some outside and if lucky, under a tree. Many of these children are tribal Karamajong who are looked down upon by the other tribes and are refugees from the intermittent fighting in the north They flee from The Lord's Resistance Army, a rebel group that raids villagesm captures women to use as slaves and makes "boy soldiers" of the children.
Thursday - February 16
Today, my Roy would have been 73. This has been a really strange day. Peter's car broke down taking Sue to True Vine, so he called and canceled my trip to Busowa,
Thursday, February 9, 2012
WEEK 4
Friday - February 3
The power continues to be out for all of Tororo. There seems to be a problem at the sub-station.
The chairs had been returned at Smile Africa so my classes could sit more comfortably. It also made it easier to do the "stand up/sit down" exercise. I have all ages - an 80+ to young mothers. We worked on colors today and reviewed body parts. Next time we will work on more verbs.
The Writing class is doing quite well - catching on. There is a woman in that class who has a special needs granddaughter for whom she is responsible. She has asked me for help for school fees and supplies. I told her she should speak to Pstr. Ruth. She said she is fearful to do so and asks me to do so for her. I will and I am sure will learn more from Ruth.
I will soon be up to 20 in number of those who have approached me for funds. Again, I say this has not happened before in such numbers. People are hurting.
Good news! The power is back on,
Saturday - February 4
A day to sleep in for a bit and here I am awake at 6:30 - oh well.
There is a sizeable population of Muslims in Busowa and also in Juba. In Juba many are refugees from the war in Sudan. The pastors at Juba were talking about the countries that have been sending money here to build mosques and schools: Libya (before the end of Quadaffi sp?), Saudi Arabi and Pakistan. They said that young boys are invited in with the promise of 50,000 shillings (roughly $25.00) if they stay for three months. They stay in the compound of the mosque and schoof\l for those 3 months, being fed and sheltered and, I imagine, indoctrinated in the Muslim faith without being able to leave. At the end of 3 months they are given new clothes, 50,000 shillings (alot of money here) and sent home to convert their families
Well a new wrinkle tonight - no water. We thought with tanks in the yard we were protected from this problemm but the flow valve has not been working properly. However, there has been no water flowing into Tororo for 3 days we have learned so now our reserve tanks are empty. It is 9:00 at night and Pstr. Lawrence just brought us two jerricans fulll of water from the well in Juba so we can flush the toilet. He said he would bring more in the morning. It is a mistake to take anything for granted here..
Sunday - February 5
Still no water - we are flushing from the filled jerricans Lawrence brought last night.
We went to Juba for church this morning Hope 4 Kids purchased a tent to be used until they can get a building up. It was really a wonderful service. We got there about 9:30 and left at 1:00. The adults were on plastic chairs and the kids on grass mats on the ground. Even the littlest (2 & 3 years old) know to take their shoes off and leave them on the edge of the mat. They sit quietly or sing and clap when appropriate and sometimes curl up in a ball and go to sleep. There were 4 choirs, 2 young people and 2 adult. The music was all a capella with just drum with alot of dancing and clapping. When an anthem llike piece was sung which moved ito a prayer period it conjured images in my mind of Christians all around the world doing the same thing as the world slowly turns for the sun to shine in each time zone moving to the west. There were announcements, "testamonies" of how God had worked in their lives (5 people), welcome to visitors with time for them to introduce themselves, 2 sermons and much prayer and praise. It really was a wonderful way to start the Lord's day.
I met a friend, Ikibo, for lunch. It gave me time to hear where he was in his life and then Alex and his wife, Harriet, brought their estimates for household expenses and details for starting a business. They didn't come right out and ask, but I, unfortunately, had to let them now I did not have the kind of money they needed, either to invest or lend them.
When I got home, I swept up all the red dust that had blown into the house on this very windy day. I could have filled a sandbox - perhaps that is a slight exaggeration.
Monday - February 6
Still no water. We both went to True Vine. I went back to the Orphan Office to speak about Obbo Joseph, my sponsored boy. He failed all his classes, was caught drinking and forged his report card to turn into the Orphan Office. As it turned out, Joseph came, his uncle guardian came, the Director of the orphan program, his assistant and Joseph's field officer and I. We met for 2 hours to hear what Josehp had to say for himself, and for him to hear that we all agree as to our expectations of him.
Following this meeting, I met with the field officer of the 4 other children I have in boarding school. They are 2 brothers and their 2 sisters. The boys and oldest girl were all number one in their class at the end of last term. This new term they all advanced a grade. The younger sister was 6th in her class so she is doing well also. She is now in Primary 7. The two boys are in P6 and P5. The oldest girl will be leaving True Vine boarding school and going to Senior 1 in a good school in Jinja (about 5 hour drive from where she lives). Everyon here is very excited about this family and the possibilities for their future. I was able to meet with the 3 younger ones today.
After that I met with the gentleman who is trying to learn to read. That was all I got accomplished today. I was not able to see any other adults because my schedule got all turned around because of my meetings with, for and about my sponsored kids.
We do have power now, but our fridge is not working. What next?
Tuesday - February 7
We had power during the night enough to get the fridge working so that was good BUT it is off again this morning. Still no water. For the town of Tororo now this is 6 days without water. For us it is 3 as we had our reserve tanks for 3 days. Thank goodness for the few boreholes scattered around. They give people water to drink.
What a strange day this has turned out to be - no water, intermittent power and the car broke down and was at the mechanic's all day so I never got to Wikus. This evening I will have a sponge bath like I used to have at my grandmother's who never had running water in the house. Hopefully, our faithful Ugandan friends will refill our jerricans as we will be needing the water.
Wednesday - February 8
Still no water though Peter says his reserve tank has been filled. However we do have lovely fresh morning air coming in the windows. It is always refreshing in the morning. By early to mid-afternoon, it is HOT everyday, in the 90's. Getting to sleep is a bit tryng as we must shut the house up against the mosquitos, so the house is stuffy. It is always a relief in the morning to let in th fresh air.
It seems incongruous that I can sit with my laptop and communicate with people across the ocean but I turn the water tap on and nothing comes out. These people here live with this unreliability all of the time. I think often we in the United States forget how truly blessed we are to have been born there.
I met with my classes at Smile Africa. I now have over 40 in the English class so I have split it in half. Half will meet on Wednesday and half will meet on Friday. I look at those women and know how hard they work every day: up early morning to "dig" in their garden, cook food over an open fire, struggle to keep their children and grandchildren in clothes and shelter and then walk long distances of an hour or more to come to learn English and how to write their names, and for the Reading class struggling to remember the sounds of the alphabet to help them read "Hop on Pop", or the Writing class learning to construct a proper, meaningful sentence. They are simply amaziing! They encourage one another, clap and sing for one another. It is a humbling experience to know them.
Thursday - February 9
It appears we have WATER in our reserve tanks - don't know how much BUT the toilet flushes and WATER comes out of the taps. WOW!!!! I had a real shower tonight. It felt wonderful. So far our water seems to be working.
Had a fun time with my students in Busowa. Lots of laughing, learning and doing verbs. Lots of clapping and encouragement for those who can write their names, which was most of them. Lastly, Lillian INTERRUPTION - I kept smelling something bad - not out of the ordinary here and all of a sudden I remembered I had beans cooking on the stove - now they have been BURNED on the stove - PUDDLEDUP!!!! Okay, back to Lillian, who read from my kindle. Two other women stayed and read with her. They were all fascinated by the "gadget". What impressed me most is that when we came to a stopping place, Lillian went back and found all of the words she din't know the meanings of and asked for their definitions. It wass a good day - a real shower and intellectual curiosity!!!
The power continues to be out for all of Tororo. There seems to be a problem at the sub-station.
The chairs had been returned at Smile Africa so my classes could sit more comfortably. It also made it easier to do the "stand up/sit down" exercise. I have all ages - an 80+ to young mothers. We worked on colors today and reviewed body parts. Next time we will work on more verbs.
The Writing class is doing quite well - catching on. There is a woman in that class who has a special needs granddaughter for whom she is responsible. She has asked me for help for school fees and supplies. I told her she should speak to Pstr. Ruth. She said she is fearful to do so and asks me to do so for her. I will and I am sure will learn more from Ruth.
I will soon be up to 20 in number of those who have approached me for funds. Again, I say this has not happened before in such numbers. People are hurting.
Good news! The power is back on,
Saturday - February 4
A day to sleep in for a bit and here I am awake at 6:30 - oh well.
There is a sizeable population of Muslims in Busowa and also in Juba. In Juba many are refugees from the war in Sudan. The pastors at Juba were talking about the countries that have been sending money here to build mosques and schools: Libya (before the end of Quadaffi sp?), Saudi Arabi and Pakistan. They said that young boys are invited in with the promise of 50,000 shillings (roughly $25.00) if they stay for three months. They stay in the compound of the mosque and schoof\l for those 3 months, being fed and sheltered and, I imagine, indoctrinated in the Muslim faith without being able to leave. At the end of 3 months they are given new clothes, 50,000 shillings (alot of money here) and sent home to convert their families
Well a new wrinkle tonight - no water. We thought with tanks in the yard we were protected from this problemm but the flow valve has not been working properly. However, there has been no water flowing into Tororo for 3 days we have learned so now our reserve tanks are empty. It is 9:00 at night and Pstr. Lawrence just brought us two jerricans fulll of water from the well in Juba so we can flush the toilet. He said he would bring more in the morning. It is a mistake to take anything for granted here..
Sunday - February 5
Still no water - we are flushing from the filled jerricans Lawrence brought last night.
We went to Juba for church this morning Hope 4 Kids purchased a tent to be used until they can get a building up. It was really a wonderful service. We got there about 9:30 and left at 1:00. The adults were on plastic chairs and the kids on grass mats on the ground. Even the littlest (2 & 3 years old) know to take their shoes off and leave them on the edge of the mat. They sit quietly or sing and clap when appropriate and sometimes curl up in a ball and go to sleep. There were 4 choirs, 2 young people and 2 adult. The music was all a capella with just drum with alot of dancing and clapping. When an anthem llike piece was sung which moved ito a prayer period it conjured images in my mind of Christians all around the world doing the same thing as the world slowly turns for the sun to shine in each time zone moving to the west. There were announcements, "testamonies" of how God had worked in their lives (5 people), welcome to visitors with time for them to introduce themselves, 2 sermons and much prayer and praise. It really was a wonderful way to start the Lord's day.
I met a friend, Ikibo, for lunch. It gave me time to hear where he was in his life and then Alex and his wife, Harriet, brought their estimates for household expenses and details for starting a business. They didn't come right out and ask, but I, unfortunately, had to let them now I did not have the kind of money they needed, either to invest or lend them.
When I got home, I swept up all the red dust that had blown into the house on this very windy day. I could have filled a sandbox - perhaps that is a slight exaggeration.
Monday - February 6
Still no water. We both went to True Vine. I went back to the Orphan Office to speak about Obbo Joseph, my sponsored boy. He failed all his classes, was caught drinking and forged his report card to turn into the Orphan Office. As it turned out, Joseph came, his uncle guardian came, the Director of the orphan program, his assistant and Joseph's field officer and I. We met for 2 hours to hear what Josehp had to say for himself, and for him to hear that we all agree as to our expectations of him.
Following this meeting, I met with the field officer of the 4 other children I have in boarding school. They are 2 brothers and their 2 sisters. The boys and oldest girl were all number one in their class at the end of last term. This new term they all advanced a grade. The younger sister was 6th in her class so she is doing well also. She is now in Primary 7. The two boys are in P6 and P5. The oldest girl will be leaving True Vine boarding school and going to Senior 1 in a good school in Jinja (about 5 hour drive from where she lives). Everyon here is very excited about this family and the possibilities for their future. I was able to meet with the 3 younger ones today.
After that I met with the gentleman who is trying to learn to read. That was all I got accomplished today. I was not able to see any other adults because my schedule got all turned around because of my meetings with, for and about my sponsored kids.
We do have power now, but our fridge is not working. What next?
Tuesday - February 7
We had power during the night enough to get the fridge working so that was good BUT it is off again this morning. Still no water. For the town of Tororo now this is 6 days without water. For us it is 3 as we had our reserve tanks for 3 days. Thank goodness for the few boreholes scattered around. They give people water to drink.
What a strange day this has turned out to be - no water, intermittent power and the car broke down and was at the mechanic's all day so I never got to Wikus. This evening I will have a sponge bath like I used to have at my grandmother's who never had running water in the house. Hopefully, our faithful Ugandan friends will refill our jerricans as we will be needing the water.
Wednesday - February 8
Still no water though Peter says his reserve tank has been filled. However we do have lovely fresh morning air coming in the windows. It is always refreshing in the morning. By early to mid-afternoon, it is HOT everyday, in the 90's. Getting to sleep is a bit tryng as we must shut the house up against the mosquitos, so the house is stuffy. It is always a relief in the morning to let in th fresh air.
It seems incongruous that I can sit with my laptop and communicate with people across the ocean but I turn the water tap on and nothing comes out. These people here live with this unreliability all of the time. I think often we in the United States forget how truly blessed we are to have been born there.
I met with my classes at Smile Africa. I now have over 40 in the English class so I have split it in half. Half will meet on Wednesday and half will meet on Friday. I look at those women and know how hard they work every day: up early morning to "dig" in their garden, cook food over an open fire, struggle to keep their children and grandchildren in clothes and shelter and then walk long distances of an hour or more to come to learn English and how to write their names, and for the Reading class struggling to remember the sounds of the alphabet to help them read "Hop on Pop", or the Writing class learning to construct a proper, meaningful sentence. They are simply amaziing! They encourage one another, clap and sing for one another. It is a humbling experience to know them.
Thursday - February 9
It appears we have WATER in our reserve tanks - don't know how much BUT the toilet flushes and WATER comes out of the taps. WOW!!!! I had a real shower tonight. It felt wonderful. So far our water seems to be working.
Had a fun time with my students in Busowa. Lots of laughing, learning and doing verbs. Lots of clapping and encouragement for those who can write their names, which was most of them. Lastly, Lillian INTERRUPTION - I kept smelling something bad - not out of the ordinary here and all of a sudden I remembered I had beans cooking on the stove - now they have been BURNED on the stove - PUDDLEDUP!!!! Okay, back to Lillian, who read from my kindle. Two other women stayed and read with her. They were all fascinated by the "gadget". What impressed me most is that when we came to a stopping place, Lillian went back and found all of the words she din't know the meanings of and asked for their definitions. It wass a good day - a real shower and intellectual curiosity!!!
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Week 3
Thursday - January 26
First, I was mistaken in my posting re the videotaping women - they were not BRR but BFR, Be Free Revolution. If you are interested, check out their website.
I have been having some very intense dreams - this could be a side effect of the malaria meds I am taking. Anyway, last night's dream was about the loss of childhood innocence and my part in that loss. I woke with a great sadness and the realization once again of how grateful I am for the forgiveness given me by the Grace of God. It also brought to mind the story I heard yesterday from one of the pastors. His wife's mother was the first wife of her husband with whom she had 5 children. The husband took another wife who proved to be barren. This 2nd wife became fearful of being abandoned and was very jealous. One day she prepared food for the children while their mother was away. The youngest child was playing in the banana plantation. When the youngest child and the mother returned home they found the other 4 children laying on the ground vomiting - they all died of the poison they had ingested in their food. The extended family derided the husband so the point that after the burial, he took his 2nd wife and went to Kenya, abondoning his 1st wife and only surviving child. That child is now the wife of this pastor. Recently, this woman's father and his 2nd wife returned to Tororo. The father had a bicycle accident and needed to be taken to the hospital. The pastor counseled his wife that as they are Christians they needed to forgive the father and his 2nd wife and come to their aid - to care for them in their old age. I ask myself, could I live my faith the way these people do?
Friday - January 27
Spent the a.m. waiting for my internet connection to send 2 emails to the 2 people who will be joining us in March. Also worked on lesson plans. Getting the emails sent took 2 hours. Anyway by the time I left at 1:30, they were on their way and my lesson plans were ready.
It took a while, when I reached Smile Africa, to get all of the ladies sorted out so thay they were in the correct class at the correct time. We got off to a rocky start as we had children disturbing us with much noise and running in and out. The English class is huge so to give everyone the attention they need will be a challenge. I am going to use an interpreter this time in that class as it is too hard with so many. We got through a greeting, "God bless you" and "please" and "thank you".
I made the same mistake with the writing class that I did the last time when I started teaching. I didn't plan enough. Also, it really is a challenge not to have a chalkboard. I borrowed a white board from my daughter-in-law which works but not half so well as a blackboard would. The white board is small and I need to keep erasing AND it is hard for all to see. Oh well - we will make do with what we have.
Saturday - January 28
Spent the morning housekeeping: cooking, laundry, cleaning the floor, emails and also did some lesson plans for Juba.
Juba is undergoing a flurry of activity to prepare for the opening of the new school term on Monday. Rooms are being repaired, repainted, blackboards are being painted - their blackboards are concrete with blackboard paintm all over a cross between adobe and kiln-fired bricks, which they use for construction. The boys' dormitory is being constructed along with the kitchen. The girls' dormitory has been enlarged with new beds. It will be a small miracle if all is ready by Monday morning.
Pstr. Alex and I will team teach the women at Juba. He has an English class and combined Reading & Writing class. I worked on alphabet names and sounds with both classes. The English class is doing very well. They all wrote their names and he has them doing written homework every class period. When it was time for the Reading & Writing lass to end they wanted to continue and were disappointed I would not be there Wednesday when Alex holds his next classesm but I can only be there Saturdays as the rest of my schedule is filled. Working with those women and Alex put a smile on my face and most especially in my heart.
Sundaty - January 29
In my nine visits to Uganda, this morning I experienced a first - a Ugandan had to wait for me, a muzungu (what we foreign whites are called). We were supposed to be ready at 8:00 to with with Pstr. Peter to Buwendo where he was going for the first time to a newly planted church. When he knocked on our gate my clock read 5 minutes to 8:00. He came in and had to wait those 5 minutes. We were ready at 8:00 but his clock was 5 minutes ahead of ours. Anyway, it was a first and we all had a good laugh.
The village is to the east of Bugiri on the Kampala road. The dirt road into this village was very bad. It will be impassable during the rainy season. This poor village is without a school, any medical care and most importantlym a clean water source. They have put up a frame structure for their church, roofed with a plastic tarp, with walls of the same. However, it was lovely to hear the druming, singing, praying and preaching with no sound system hurting one's ears. As this was Peter's first visit (the "overseer") he was dressed ceremoniously in a kanzo (a long white dress, long sleevedm with some embroidery at the neck and down the front; under were his suit pants and he wore his suit coat over the top. He was the guest preacher of the day. The whole premise of his sermon was so simple and yet deeply profound: What is worship? Worship is loviing God above all things and living accordingly. I love listening to him preach for the homely little examples he uses. He pokes fun at himself and also at his listeners in such a gentle, non-judgemental way, that they laugh and agree, "yes, it is true" and understand how they are asked to improve in responses to God's great love for all of us.
After the service was over, Sue and I, with the help of the men present, fitted the little girls with pillow case dresses from Hope 4 Kids' Dress a Girl Around the World program. It was crowded, hot and little ones cried, but all were joyful and anxious to have their photos taken. We had a small bag full of matchbox cars which the littlest boys received with happy smiles.
Finally, we were served a meal of rice, chicken, beef, soda and kalo (a soft, dough-like bread made of cassava flour, millet and a little sorghum). I don't like the texture and the flavor is very bland. They pinch a piece off and use it for dipping in their other food. Finally we bid them all good-bye and started the long, dusty, HOT journey to Tororo.
The road between Bugiri and Tororo goes through an area where a fairly large troop of baboons live. They appear to be ranging over a much larger area and many are seen along the road. They are coming closer to the villages. Peter says this is because there is no food in this dry time of no rain - they will start raiding the villages for food. This is very scarey! I would hate to fight a baboon over food - they are viscious and could easily kill a man let alone a child.
Peter forgot to get gas in Bugiri, so the next small town we came to, he purchased gas by the liter - literally 2 plastic bottles of a liter each which got emptied into the gas tank.
We arrived home about 4:30, ready for a shower and something cool to drink. Altogether a really great day!!
Monday - January 30
Both Sue and I went to True Vine - the first day of the new school term. Lots of confusion, small attendance (no school fees probably being the reason) and long meetiings of adults. Sue ended up working with 3 teachers of the "baby" classes (3 and 4 year olds).
I met my group whivh had a new personm one who did not show up, one that came late, and 2 that arrived after we had finished our Bible Study/Prayer time. I then proceeded to work with individuals who had made appointments. The first was Margret who is struggling to learn to speak English. I was able to get her to understand using some Swahili phrases and then added learning the names for body parts (this is helpfu when they go to the clinic when no one speaks their tribal language). Next I worked with a man whose spoken English is quite good but he can't read at all so we started with the ABC's. Then a young man who reads fairly well, but who needs help to improve his writing came and finally Sarah arrived. She is a well-educated woman. I let her read the Wangerin book on my kindle for an hour while I went outside and discussed the map I had brought along with Pstr. Aggrey. Pretty soon, Rita arrived, overseer for the True Vine widows, to take me to see Jaja (grandmother) Andera. However, she had failed to arrange transport so we never got there before our ride home arrived.
Just finished dinner when the power went off so said "lala salama" (good sleep) early.
Tuesday - January 31
Washed all the floors in the a.m. after Sue left at 8:00 for her return to True Vine. Then got a call from Pstr. Peter who wanted to leave for Wikus 2 hours early as he and 2 others had some things to attend to there
When we arrived in the small village of Sonim the children were about to be fed their porridge (gruel of posho, finely ground corn) as part of their being at school. So many of the little villages struggle to educate the children. There were several adults of varying ages helping, trying to make a difference in the lives of these children.
My classes at Wikus went well. We are still getting acquainted - getting used to each other's accents, style of teaching, etc. James insists on all the formal classroom politeness. I believe we are all adults togetherm learning together so our styles are very different. I told the students they did not have to stand to answer questions and to please call me Bonnie and not Madam. After the 5th person still called me Madam, I said it made me feel old. The reaction to that was general laughter which was good. I think we can have fun while learning. I want them to feel equality and not be in a one-down position just because there is a student/teacher dynamic.
Wednesday - February 1
Here we are already in February. Went to Smile Africa early to save Peter some gas. As Ruth had let a church borrow her chairs, which were not yet returned, the ladies had to sit on the floor. I was very pleased with the Reading class. They understood the exercise I had given them for their homework. I now have over 30 for the English class. It really is too big. To give all the ladies an opportunity to speak takes a long time to get around the class. I did think of dividing them into 2 groups of 15, one on Wednesday and one on Friday but that would create problems for Jane who is teaching Mission Character Development during the same time slots. Each lady has 2 classes to attend each day she comes. Finally, my Writing class - some did not understand the homework assignment. It is hard to get them to tell me when they don't understand and get them to ask questions. To them it is very impolite to say no, and to ask - so it is a bit of frustration I have not yet discovered how to overcome.
We had Alex (the cabbie) take us to the Prime Hotel for dinner this evening. What a treat!! I had some dry white wine and fish tika masala and chips masala. Both were delicious. They usually do a nice job with their Indian dishes.
There is a sizeable Indian population in Uganda. They were orginally brought in by the British to build the railroad in the 1800's so their ancestry in Uganda is quite old - like min in the US. Some of the Indian food has become standard fare for all of Uganda such as samosa (deep fried pastry filled with a variety of meat and vegetables) and chapati (a flat bread).
Thursday - February 2
Sue reminded me it is Groundhog Day - I doubt whether the shadow/winter connection works here. The other problem is I don't believe there are any groundhogs. It is also the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple.
We drove to Busowa. In the countryside they are preparing their fields for planting by the long-discarded method in the US of "slash and burn", so there is much smoke mixed with all the red dust. In Tororo the dust from the cement factory is also added to that mix so that the air is really thick.
I had new students in Busowa which I had expected so it was a lot of review for the first students who joined the class. I was delighted to see one of my former students, Lillian, my African madonna. In 2010 I had taken a photo of Lillian and her baby that turned out to be one of my favorite photos
Just a side note - once again we have been without power about 22 hours.
First, I was mistaken in my posting re the videotaping women - they were not BRR but BFR, Be Free Revolution. If you are interested, check out their website.
I have been having some very intense dreams - this could be a side effect of the malaria meds I am taking. Anyway, last night's dream was about the loss of childhood innocence and my part in that loss. I woke with a great sadness and the realization once again of how grateful I am for the forgiveness given me by the Grace of God. It also brought to mind the story I heard yesterday from one of the pastors. His wife's mother was the first wife of her husband with whom she had 5 children. The husband took another wife who proved to be barren. This 2nd wife became fearful of being abandoned and was very jealous. One day she prepared food for the children while their mother was away. The youngest child was playing in the banana plantation. When the youngest child and the mother returned home they found the other 4 children laying on the ground vomiting - they all died of the poison they had ingested in their food. The extended family derided the husband so the point that after the burial, he took his 2nd wife and went to Kenya, abondoning his 1st wife and only surviving child. That child is now the wife of this pastor. Recently, this woman's father and his 2nd wife returned to Tororo. The father had a bicycle accident and needed to be taken to the hospital. The pastor counseled his wife that as they are Christians they needed to forgive the father and his 2nd wife and come to their aid - to care for them in their old age. I ask myself, could I live my faith the way these people do?
Friday - January 27
Spent the a.m. waiting for my internet connection to send 2 emails to the 2 people who will be joining us in March. Also worked on lesson plans. Getting the emails sent took 2 hours. Anyway by the time I left at 1:30, they were on their way and my lesson plans were ready.
It took a while, when I reached Smile Africa, to get all of the ladies sorted out so thay they were in the correct class at the correct time. We got off to a rocky start as we had children disturbing us with much noise and running in and out. The English class is huge so to give everyone the attention they need will be a challenge. I am going to use an interpreter this time in that class as it is too hard with so many. We got through a greeting, "God bless you" and "please" and "thank you".
I made the same mistake with the writing class that I did the last time when I started teaching. I didn't plan enough. Also, it really is a challenge not to have a chalkboard. I borrowed a white board from my daughter-in-law which works but not half so well as a blackboard would. The white board is small and I need to keep erasing AND it is hard for all to see. Oh well - we will make do with what we have.
Saturday - January 28
Spent the morning housekeeping: cooking, laundry, cleaning the floor, emails and also did some lesson plans for Juba.
Juba is undergoing a flurry of activity to prepare for the opening of the new school term on Monday. Rooms are being repaired, repainted, blackboards are being painted - their blackboards are concrete with blackboard paintm all over a cross between adobe and kiln-fired bricks, which they use for construction. The boys' dormitory is being constructed along with the kitchen. The girls' dormitory has been enlarged with new beds. It will be a small miracle if all is ready by Monday morning.
Pstr. Alex and I will team teach the women at Juba. He has an English class and combined Reading & Writing class. I worked on alphabet names and sounds with both classes. The English class is doing very well. They all wrote their names and he has them doing written homework every class period. When it was time for the Reading & Writing lass to end they wanted to continue and were disappointed I would not be there Wednesday when Alex holds his next classesm but I can only be there Saturdays as the rest of my schedule is filled. Working with those women and Alex put a smile on my face and most especially in my heart.
Sundaty - January 29
In my nine visits to Uganda, this morning I experienced a first - a Ugandan had to wait for me, a muzungu (what we foreign whites are called). We were supposed to be ready at 8:00 to with with Pstr. Peter to Buwendo where he was going for the first time to a newly planted church. When he knocked on our gate my clock read 5 minutes to 8:00. He came in and had to wait those 5 minutes. We were ready at 8:00 but his clock was 5 minutes ahead of ours. Anyway, it was a first and we all had a good laugh.
The village is to the east of Bugiri on the Kampala road. The dirt road into this village was very bad. It will be impassable during the rainy season. This poor village is without a school, any medical care and most importantlym a clean water source. They have put up a frame structure for their church, roofed with a plastic tarp, with walls of the same. However, it was lovely to hear the druming, singing, praying and preaching with no sound system hurting one's ears. As this was Peter's first visit (the "overseer") he was dressed ceremoniously in a kanzo (a long white dress, long sleevedm with some embroidery at the neck and down the front; under were his suit pants and he wore his suit coat over the top. He was the guest preacher of the day. The whole premise of his sermon was so simple and yet deeply profound: What is worship? Worship is loviing God above all things and living accordingly. I love listening to him preach for the homely little examples he uses. He pokes fun at himself and also at his listeners in such a gentle, non-judgemental way, that they laugh and agree, "yes, it is true" and understand how they are asked to improve in responses to God's great love for all of us.
After the service was over, Sue and I, with the help of the men present, fitted the little girls with pillow case dresses from Hope 4 Kids' Dress a Girl Around the World program. It was crowded, hot and little ones cried, but all were joyful and anxious to have their photos taken. We had a small bag full of matchbox cars which the littlest boys received with happy smiles.
Finally, we were served a meal of rice, chicken, beef, soda and kalo (a soft, dough-like bread made of cassava flour, millet and a little sorghum). I don't like the texture and the flavor is very bland. They pinch a piece off and use it for dipping in their other food. Finally we bid them all good-bye and started the long, dusty, HOT journey to Tororo.
The road between Bugiri and Tororo goes through an area where a fairly large troop of baboons live. They appear to be ranging over a much larger area and many are seen along the road. They are coming closer to the villages. Peter says this is because there is no food in this dry time of no rain - they will start raiding the villages for food. This is very scarey! I would hate to fight a baboon over food - they are viscious and could easily kill a man let alone a child.
Peter forgot to get gas in Bugiri, so the next small town we came to, he purchased gas by the liter - literally 2 plastic bottles of a liter each which got emptied into the gas tank.
We arrived home about 4:30, ready for a shower and something cool to drink. Altogether a really great day!!
Monday - January 30
Both Sue and I went to True Vine - the first day of the new school term. Lots of confusion, small attendance (no school fees probably being the reason) and long meetiings of adults. Sue ended up working with 3 teachers of the "baby" classes (3 and 4 year olds).
I met my group whivh had a new personm one who did not show up, one that came late, and 2 that arrived after we had finished our Bible Study/Prayer time. I then proceeded to work with individuals who had made appointments. The first was Margret who is struggling to learn to speak English. I was able to get her to understand using some Swahili phrases and then added learning the names for body parts (this is helpfu when they go to the clinic when no one speaks their tribal language). Next I worked with a man whose spoken English is quite good but he can't read at all so we started with the ABC's. Then a young man who reads fairly well, but who needs help to improve his writing came and finally Sarah arrived. She is a well-educated woman. I let her read the Wangerin book on my kindle for an hour while I went outside and discussed the map I had brought along with Pstr. Aggrey. Pretty soon, Rita arrived, overseer for the True Vine widows, to take me to see Jaja (grandmother) Andera. However, she had failed to arrange transport so we never got there before our ride home arrived.
Just finished dinner when the power went off so said "lala salama" (good sleep) early.
Tuesday - January 31
Washed all the floors in the a.m. after Sue left at 8:00 for her return to True Vine. Then got a call from Pstr. Peter who wanted to leave for Wikus 2 hours early as he and 2 others had some things to attend to there
When we arrived in the small village of Sonim the children were about to be fed their porridge (gruel of posho, finely ground corn) as part of their being at school. So many of the little villages struggle to educate the children. There were several adults of varying ages helping, trying to make a difference in the lives of these children.
My classes at Wikus went well. We are still getting acquainted - getting used to each other's accents, style of teaching, etc. James insists on all the formal classroom politeness. I believe we are all adults togetherm learning together so our styles are very different. I told the students they did not have to stand to answer questions and to please call me Bonnie and not Madam. After the 5th person still called me Madam, I said it made me feel old. The reaction to that was general laughter which was good. I think we can have fun while learning. I want them to feel equality and not be in a one-down position just because there is a student/teacher dynamic.
Wednesday - February 1
Here we are already in February. Went to Smile Africa early to save Peter some gas. As Ruth had let a church borrow her chairs, which were not yet returned, the ladies had to sit on the floor. I was very pleased with the Reading class. They understood the exercise I had given them for their homework. I now have over 30 for the English class. It really is too big. To give all the ladies an opportunity to speak takes a long time to get around the class. I did think of dividing them into 2 groups of 15, one on Wednesday and one on Friday but that would create problems for Jane who is teaching Mission Character Development during the same time slots. Each lady has 2 classes to attend each day she comes. Finally, my Writing class - some did not understand the homework assignment. It is hard to get them to tell me when they don't understand and get them to ask questions. To them it is very impolite to say no, and to ask - so it is a bit of frustration I have not yet discovered how to overcome.
We had Alex (the cabbie) take us to the Prime Hotel for dinner this evening. What a treat!! I had some dry white wine and fish tika masala and chips masala. Both were delicious. They usually do a nice job with their Indian dishes.
There is a sizeable Indian population in Uganda. They were orginally brought in by the British to build the railroad in the 1800's so their ancestry in Uganda is quite old - like min in the US. Some of the Indian food has become standard fare for all of Uganda such as samosa (deep fried pastry filled with a variety of meat and vegetables) and chapati (a flat bread).
Thursday - February 2
Sue reminded me it is Groundhog Day - I doubt whether the shadow/winter connection works here. The other problem is I don't believe there are any groundhogs. It is also the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple.
We drove to Busowa. In the countryside they are preparing their fields for planting by the long-discarded method in the US of "slash and burn", so there is much smoke mixed with all the red dust. In Tororo the dust from the cement factory is also added to that mix so that the air is really thick.
I had new students in Busowa which I had expected so it was a lot of review for the first students who joined the class. I was delighted to see one of my former students, Lillian, my African madonna. In 2010 I had taken a photo of Lillian and her baby that turned out to be one of my favorite photos
Just a side note - once again we have been without power about 22 hours.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Week 2 Continued
The dust was so thick in the air on the road to Wikus today that it was like fog. We spent a long time (4 hours) getting all of the students sorted out into 3 classes: Speaking, Reading and Writing. I did a little sample teaching in each. Hopefully, James, will follow through when he meets the classes on Friday. I don't go back until next Tuesday.
Wednesday - January 25
We have been without power almost 24 hours now. This becomes a problem for food stored in the refrigerator. There are very strong, gusty winds this morning. A couple of buildings behind our compound may lose their roofs in this wind - they flap alot, making much noise. They are metal sheet roofs.
Went to Smile Africa and sorted 69 women into 3 class levels by interview. Oh my - a long, drawn-out process.
There were 3 young women there from BRR video-taping testamonies of the women. Don't know the organization or what they were doing. Will look them up on the internet. I have some concerns regarding exploitation.
On my first trip to Romania we met the matron of a House for Children whose parents suffered from TB. She didn't want any cameras because a group had come in and taken many photos, went home and raise funds from those photos and the House of Children never saw any of the money.
Will leave off for this week and start next week with Thursday's activities. Blessings to all of my readers.
Wednesday - January 25
We have been without power almost 24 hours now. This becomes a problem for food stored in the refrigerator. There are very strong, gusty winds this morning. A couple of buildings behind our compound may lose their roofs in this wind - they flap alot, making much noise. They are metal sheet roofs.
Went to Smile Africa and sorted 69 women into 3 class levels by interview. Oh my - a long, drawn-out process.
There were 3 young women there from BRR video-taping testamonies of the women. Don't know the organization or what they were doing. Will look them up on the internet. I have some concerns regarding exploitation.
On my first trip to Romania we met the matron of a House for Children whose parents suffered from TB. She didn't want any cameras because a group had come in and taken many photos, went home and raise funds from those photos and the House of Children never saw any of the money.
Will leave off for this week and start next week with Thursday's activities. Blessings to all of my readers.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Week Two
Friday - January 20
Spent the morning getting email answeredm cooking beans, cleaning veggies, and doing dishes. Then tried to publish my first posting on my blog. Frustration!! Had to get ready to go to Wikus to observe the teacher there. However, Pastor Peter called - he would be late so decided to use the time to once again work on the blog - I got it figured it out. I was so excited to have posted my first report that I felt like ululating like the Ugandan women do when welcoming visitors.''
There has been no rain for over a month so the red dirt roads have loose dirt an inch thick which, when vehicles traverse, creates huge clouds of dust covering all the roadsie plants in a thick layer. To drive with the windows closed is stifling, so the interior of the car and its contents (us) are also covered with red dust. When my hair looks pink I know it is bad.
Observing the classes went well. Greeting each student individually gave me an opportunity to do a little evaluatiing. Following the class I met with James, who is a trained teacher (he has also been a policeman).
INTERRUPTION/ANNOUNCEMENT!!!! The power just came back on! I am now writing with electric light rather than by flashlight! Whoopee!!
Anyway, getting back to James - we will try to team teach for the next two months. I have a few ideas I would like to gently introduce that could benefit the students. Fortunately, when I asked Pstr. Peter for his thoughts (before sharing mine), I discovered we were in agreement in our assessment.
The really exciting thing today was seeing all of the documentation and the resultant actions taking place regarding the "Tyler Dirks Savings and Credit Co-Operation Wikus" - a savings and micro finance organization - my grandson, Tyler's 21st birthday gift. I received copies of everything - saw the ledger and saw people making their deposits under a tree, which happens every Friday. I have to shout with the Ugandansm "God is good" and the response "All the time!"
Saturday - January 21
The day started really well. I was able to send all the emails with the blog info. Hopefully, they all got through. I do have one "little" problem with the computer - I can't open any of my documents on the Word application. I will need help with that - but think I will wait until I get home. Next, I got all of Sue's and my expenditures figured out and balanced. Two big jobs done. Really good.
In the afternoon I had a request to meet Pstr. Godfrey from True Vine for a private talk. The story he shared with me was so difficult to hear when one is not able to help. His second son (young man in Senior 4, like high school) was killed in a car accident in March. Following this event there were major issues with his wife's emotional stability and very severe financial problems. He had to leave his phobne with a shop keeper to get food for his family as he had no money. And on top of all that he now has the new school term starting and school fees and supplies for 5 children to pay for.
Here in Uganda, among these people, this is one of many stories. At the meeting in Smile Africa, the women were sharing their "testamonies". One woman told how her husband tried to sell her to a wealthy man who would use her for a sacrifice, to gain more wealth, so she ran away from her husband.
The really wonderful thing today was observing the classes Pstr. Alex of Juba is teaching in English, Reading & Writing. He has the English class talking. Also, they can write their names. He teaches with lots of visuals, demonstration, much speaking and encouragement. He has the students supporting one another - all very positive. The other class of Reading & Writing is also very good - expanding correct useage. I was so very pleased!
Sunday - January 22
We went to church at Tororo Pentacostal Church - Pastor Ruth's church. Got there around 9:45 and left after the service at 1:45. Their services are looooong. As usually happens, visitors are invited forward to introduce themselves and make a short address to the gathered. This is the 4th time I have been to this church but the first time it had a roof. I often wondered what they did during the rainy season. It was a fine experince except the sound system was so loud I left feeling there had been damage done to my hearing.
I had a lunch date with Babra (a young woman who has been a special friend since my first visit in 2004) to hear how she is doing - no answer on her phone alll morning - checked at True Vine following church (where she is a member), went to her home - finally gave up and switched my evening appointment to noon. What a surprise! My young friend, Alex, brought a wife along. He got married last April. I heard another difficult story. He is the sole support of his mother, 3 sisters and his wife, plus 4 school age children whose father died and whose mother abandoned them. He drives a taxi for a living and with gas prices so high there are many days he has no fares at all but still must pay a weekly rental for the car he uses. The poor world economy has really hurt the people here. They just have no wiggle room when things get tough - they are living so close to the edge all of the time. This is my 9th time here and I have never seen people in such dire straits except for natural disastor or war. I have been here just a little over a week and have already had 4 requests for financial help. It is difficult for people to be "begging" to feed their families.
Finally connected with Babra for dinner and heard of her relationship difficulties over the last year. Got home to a cool shower - how wonderful, even with the power out again.
Monday - January 23
Sitting down to dinner was another bit of Africa. I had cut up a cucumber for a salad, made some rice and beans, took a plate from our open-to-the-air trolley where they are stored. When I sat down to eat, I noticed what looked like dirt under my wet cucumber and thought "where did that come from?" Then I looked more closely at the plate and realized the whole plate on which my food was sitting was covered with a fine layer of red dust - so I ingested some of Uganda with my dinner. We now know to store all of the dishes upside down and cover the cuttlery with a towel.
This morning I went to True Vine for my Bible Study/Prayer/Support Group. I had 6 people. Four of them have requested other services. One wants English, one wants to learn to read, and one wants to improve his writing. One is well educated and requested a novel to read about God. I had loaded Walt Wangerin's book "Book of God" on my kindle so will bring that for her to read. It is a truncated version of the Bible written in a novel format. So she can have an hour to read it each week.
Pstr. Aggrey and I had a long conversation about divorce, marriage customs in the US and Uganda. He was trying to convince me the bride price (they call dowry or appreciation) was a good thing. If there is trouble in the marriage the woman will stay or her family has to repay the money (or cows, etc.) which may have already been used - so she will think twice before abandoning the marriage. I was not convinced.
Got home late afternoon, cooked and tried to get my computer to work. The internet seems very slow that time of day. I will try again in the morning.
Tuesday - January 24
Our "town Crier" just went by - he is my alarm clock. In this neighborhood where we are situated, there is a mentally disturbed man who wanders around the area "preaching" in a very loud voice. He usually walks by our compound at around 7 every morning - one morning it was 6.
Within our compound is an unfinished 2 unit building and there is our 2 unit building. The compound is enclosed by a high wall. Grass has been planted but so far has not grown much, so there is much red dust constantly being tracked in or blowing into our unit when the windows are open for a little cool, fresh air in the morning.
The air is so dry right now that my nose is reacting like it does when I go the higher elevationns in Colorado - dry to the point of some little blood.
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