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!!!