Home Sweet Home

Leaving Jinja was definitely hard.  We looked around and didn't want to leave our friends, both those on the team as well as our local volunteers, and we didn't want to leave the beautiful weather.  Still, when Faruk says it's time to get on the bus, you get on the bus.

We waved goodbye, with plenty of hugs and promises made to the waitresses at Surjios, and to the various volunteers that were not coming with us to the airport.

As we passed through Jinja, we pressed our noses to the windows to commit the smells and sights to memory for one last time.  But we still had to stop for more wine...and to check out Kyle and Nellie's apartment for the next 2 weeks...LOL

We drove to the Rainforest Lodge, which is definitely in the rainforest, in case you were wondering.  There were monkeys jumping from tree to tree around our bus.  We checked in and received our cottages.  The place was practically vacant, except for us.  Of course, our cottage was at the bottom of the steepest hill ever...I didn't sleep very well that night because my calves were aching!!

The next day, we said goodbye to Brenda and Donna - two of our Northumberland County team members.  They were heading on a private Safari in Northern Uganda.  They hadn't even arrived at their destination, and they were seeing elephants, hippos and monkeys!

After lunch, we said goodbye to the lodge, and headed onto the bus once again.  Kyle and Nellie hit the road when we got to the main highway and caught a taxi back to Jinja.  Kyle is our last Northumberland County team member, and Nellie was one of our local volunteers.  They met last year, when Kyle was on this trip, and have been dating ever since.

We drove through Kampala and then finally arrived in Entebbe.  We pulled into a swank hotel to wait out the final 4 hours before we had to head to the airport.

The journey home was long, with many security checks (4 in Entebbe alone), long waiting times (a total of 14 hours over the whole journey), 2 planes, 1 delay, and 1 failed tail engine.  It was exhausting, and I am not in a hurry to get on another plane for a long time.  Two 8 hour flights back to back will do that to you...LOL

When we got home, our friend Daryl was waiting for us, very patiently I might add - which was good since we were delayed and it took forever for our final bag to come off the conveyer belt.  We hopped into his car and started home.

We pulled into our driveway, and (after waking up), we came into the house to see our children jumping up and down, my mom, a huge banner saying "Welcome Home", some valentine cards, and much love and hugs and "I missed you!"  Thankfully, the kids wound down after about an hour, and both went promptly to bed, since it was easily an hour past their bedtime.

We lasted one more hour, before we blissfully drifted off to sleep.

Our journey was life changing, as we truly expected it to be.  We haven't completely come to terms with everything we did, the distance we travelled, and the effects it will have on us and our children, all positive I'm sure.  We're told a few months after we get home, it'll sink in. 

We're already dreaming about going back, and we're joking about it being next year.  Not sure if it will truly be that soon, but it's something to consider.  :)

Thank you to all of the people who have journeyed with us, either physically, or mentally through this blog.  The support we received from our family and friends truly made it easy for us to do this, and without it, it would've been clean impossible.

Blessings to all of our friends, both here and in Uganda, and I hope to see you all soon! 

Rain Water Collection System at Kiryowa School

from left to right

back row - high above the others:  Richard and Esther

next row - Ted, Jennifer, Henry, Hilda, Maria, local boy that we didn't get his name from, Pat, Brenda, Donna, Maureen (with Godfrey hiding behind her)

front row - Paul, Debbie, Ben, Dave and Faruk

absent - Kyle and Nellie (they were in Kampala meeting Nellie's mom)

Mobile Medical Clinic and Baby Justine

Monday morning - bright and early after our "day off" on Sunday, we had breakfast and loaded into the bus to head to a remote village - as they all have been - to help with the mobile medical clinic that we have paid for.

The village had not ever seen a mobile medical clinic before, and most people had not ever been tested in any way for anything.  They were unsure of the needles, and they were very unsure of the Mzungus who were pricking their fingers, namely me...LOL

We were set-up with 2 doctors, 2 lab techs and 2 pharmacists.  They expected 200 people at the clinic for testing for Malaria, HIV and any Eye or Stomach issues.  We received over 500, and cut off the group at that time.

There were 2 stations for testing for Malaria and HIV, and I was with Donna who is another member of our team.  We had people come to us with a note from the doctor, which indicated what they were being tested for.  I held their hand, cleaned the finger with the alcohol, wiped it off, held their finger tight, pricked it with the clean and pre-packed lancet, wiped off the first drop of blood, and then held their finger while Donna collected the blood sample.  Once the sample was collected, we put it on the test strip, applied the buffer and handed the final result to the lab tech, who read and recorded the result.  We had approximately 20% of the 100 people tested come out positive for Malaria.  There were no positive results for HIV.

 

Once the results were given to the doctor, they spoke to the patients and gave them prescriptions for medications, which they collected from the mobile pharmacists.  Ted was working in the ambulance, which was the makeshift pharmacy.  The pharmacist had Ted prepping medication in envelopes for easy dispensing.  The patient handed the prescription to the pharmacist, who filled the order and gave it to the patient.

It was a busy day, and provided its drama, starting with a Epileptic patient who had a grand mal seizure while waiting to see the doctor, to the children who screamed incredibly loud and long because they didn't want their fingers pricked for testing.  We were exhausted by the time we were done.

On the flipside, the team realized that we had time, funds and expertise to install an unexpected 2nd rain water collection system on the fly.  We quickly arranged to have the remaining funds transferred, we selected the site, which was a Prenatal and Postpartum Medical Clinic, and Ted lead a small group of only 4 people to quickly install the system.  We expected it to take a day and a half, and they got it done in only 1/2 a day!  What an amazing accomplishment!  The clinic staff were ecstatic and we were satisfied that we had done the most that we could while we were here!

Today, we visited Baby Justine's school.  Baby Justine is a pastor's wife who was so-nicknamed because she willingly takes in orphan babies and finds homes for them.  She has also created a primary school, that currently teaches over 300 children.  When we got to the school, the teachers had prepared their students to speak English in unison to welcome us.  The entire school put on a presentation of singing and poetry, and then Baby Justine introduced each and every teacher to us.  All the while, continuing to ask God for His blessings for us and thanking us over and over.  By the end, a few of us were crying, and it was a moving experience.  While we feel that we are not special, these people truly believe that we somehow have God's ear.

Our day ended with some shopping, where we bought some things for our wonderful children, whom we miss incredibly, so we're excited to get home to show them what we got for them!

Our mission is at an end, and we are patiently waiting to have supper with all of our Give volunteers, Ben, Faruk, Omar, Godfrey, Richard, Henry, Esther, Nellie, and Lillian.  It will be a tearful goodbye, but we have a surprise for them.  We will all be singing We Are The World with all of them, which they have said is a song that touches their hearts!

Tomorrow morning, we are travelling to a Rainforest Resort to break down what we experienced, and relax before we fly out.  Some will be heading out to a Safari, some are travelling to South Africa and Portugal, and some - like us - are heading home Thursday night.

We will write one more blog after we get home to wrap up our experience.

Until then friends - bless you!

African Church and the Nile

For almost 8 years now, I've been hearing from our friends how awesome church is in Africa!  Today, our whole team of 12 people got to compare what we know of church in Canada to this new experience.

So, forget the big bricked/wooden buildings, church here is outside under a tent/makeshift roof.  Ours was in what appeared to be someone's front yard.  There is a tarp and tin roof above many posts, with hundreds of plastic lawn chairs set up in rows.  As we approached the church, we could hear the music and singing from down the street.

They had a keyboard player and a sound system for the microphones.  They sang for an hour straight, various songs, and prayerful music.  The leader spoke and sang while someone else translated.

They then invited 3 testimonies from the crowd.  I was tempted, but kept my feet planted.  I was still in awe of this church.  LOL  Two people came from the crowd and spoke about how they came to God.  There were several "Amen's" from the crowd, and a few "Hallelujah's" too.

We were then invited to sit!  Yay!  I was tired!  LOL

The minister, Pastor Robert, then got up and delivered his sermon, which was another hour.  He invited the readings to be read from the previously designated reader.  The readings today were from Samuel, Isaiah and John.  The stories told of Jesus speaking to the woman at the well from Samaria, David leaping and dancing before the ark, and worshiping in spirit and truth, and there was also the story of the 3 boys who were captured in Greece (I think) and because they wouldn't worship the idol, they were put into the furnace, but didn't burn.

Pastor Robert was enigmatic and demonstrated the leaping and dancing that David did, and he pulled 4 boys from the audience to demonstrate that they were walking around in the furnace without being burned.  There were 4, because the story says that the Son of God was with the 3 boys in the furnace.

He also talked about not letting our pride get in the way of our worshiping.  We should lift our arms and hands to the sky when we worship, and not keep them close to our chests because we are CEO's or Bankers and are embarrassed by our desire to worship.  :)

After the next hour had gone by, he invited about half the congregation by name to the front of the church to identify them as the new leaders of the various programs at the church.  Lots of volunteers/voluntolds (lol) and so much love and appreciation from the rest of the congregation.

After these people were prayed for and held up to the church, they invited the guests of the church, (with a pointed look at us - the only Mzungus in the church) to stand up and tell us our name and where we were from.  We each took our turn, and when it came to me, I described how we have friends who have travelled to Africa several times over, to Ghana, Liberia and the Gambia, and how we had always wanted to travel to Africa, but due to money and small children, had not had the chance.  Then I explained how God had arranged for the money and people to watch our children, so that all would be well while we travelled to Uganda to be with them.  I think they were happy to hear that God had sent us!

We finished with a final prayer, and then the Mzungus were invited to the back of the church to buy various items from the women who attended church there, and who made jewellery and other things to sell to support their families.

We travelled back to our rooms, and then took the bus to a boat ride which took us across Lake Victoria (which is the 2nd largest fresh water lake in the world - anyone know which one is the 1st?  Lake Superior in Canada of course!  And Lake Huron is the 3rd).  The boat then took us along the shoreline to the source of the Nile river, which runs North from Uganda.  We visited a shop that was built on a man-made island that was only about 100 yards long, specifically there to mark the "Source of the Nile" and of course, to sell things to the tourists...lol

The Source of the Nile is also one of the 5 places that Ghandi's ashes were spread, and so we also visited the monument that was erected in his honour. 

 

In addition to the monument, we saw lots of wildlife along the shoreline and around the monument.

 

Such a beautiful relaxing day - until next time!

 



Emotions and Hard Work

Wednesday took us to a location known as Railways.  This was a location that was originally inhabited by Northern Ugandans who were escaping from the war in the 70's.  The refugees set up home at an old railway barracks location.

The first thing we noticed about the area was the smell.  The scent of rotting garbage and human sewage is stagnant before you even get to the immediate area.  Having never been there before, but having been warned about the smell, I knew we were close when I caught a whiff a long way down the road.

The buildings are cemented, but the "homes" are tiny units measuring 8' x 8'.  Each unit has a doorway covered over by a blanket or a tablecloth, long since donated to them from visitors from years past.  Some homes have 15 people living in the very same unit.

Many people were sitting out front of their homes scaling fish, or cooking on an open fire.  The children ran to us almost as soon as we got off the bus.  Having long been taught that the Muzungas will bring food or clothing.  They immediately latch to your hand and walk with you.  Poor Ted had 3 boys pulling on his arms the whole time, trying to get him to lift them up into the air.  We finally had to ask the translator to tell them to stop hanging on him because he was getting rope burn on his arms...LOL

I politely asked a couple if I could take their picture while they were descaling fish, and they said no.  I moved away and smiled anyway.  Later I found out that the size of the fish they were eating were too small to be legal, so they probably were afraid of the evidence.

After touring the site and meeting the children, we proceeded to the park area outside the school where we would be providing breakfast to over 300 of these children. 

Two "Aunties" had cooked the huge pots of porridge, and we set up to serve a cup full and provide a packet of cookies to each child.  We started by the translators telling them to get their cups, and the kids instantly dashed away scattering everywhere to grab their cup.

We lined them up in two lines, served the porridge, gave them a packet of cookies, and we personally walked the little ones to go and sit with an adult (preventing any chance of the older kids from stealing their cookies).  We were able to serve seconds because we had so much, and the kids looked thrilled to be there.

We finally handed out some soccer uniforms to the school sports team, and we handed out school supplies to all the kids going to school.  Some of the other kids who weren't in school also received scribblers. 

Our next stop was to the orphanage for severely disabled children, called Home of Hope.  Most of the kids at this orphanage have Cerebral Palsy and some of Hydrocephalus (water on the brain).  They invited us to take a child for a ride in their wheelchair and take them outside.  Ted chose to take Charity, a 7 year old girl with Cerebral Palsy, who couldn't speak or hold her own head up.  I took a little boy named Ashram who was considered one of the babies, even though he was 3 years old.  He also had Cerebral Palsy.  He couldn't sit in a wheelchair, so I just carried him in my arms.  He had a noise at the base of his throat that sounded like he was constantly congested.  I was told he was born that way.  He drooled all the time, so I was always wiping his mouth with my own bandana.

We took them outside as a large group and sang songs to them and dressed them in the new clothes we brought them.  There were some real spit-fires amongst this group, including Rashida, who was 7 years old and insistent that she could wheel her own chair around, and almost ended up in the road several times.  LOL  There was also Washua, who knew everyone's name, and constantly asked if we remembered his name! 

We fed them all some milk, which was difficult in the case of Ashram, because he couldn't drink by himself.  One of the volunteers poured milk into his mouth, while another volunteer held his head.  It constantly sounded like he was choking to death, although I was assured he wasn't.  When I said goodbye, I left him my bandana and cried like a baby - thinking of him being there alone.  It was an incredibly emotional day, and I had difficulty talking about it until today.

These children are often left on the streets by themselves by their parents, because having a child with a disability is considered an embarrassment to the family.  The volunteers and employees from Home of Hope scour the streets collecting these kids to bring them back with them.  The youngest was 1 year old and the oldest was 25.

The past volunteers on our team were very impressed, as last year they were in a very small space and the smell of human sewage and conditions were deplorable.  They are now located in a brand-new facility, larger than they need currently, with a lot of room to grow.

Home of Hope works only on donations of others, and from the sale of paper bead necklaces, which we sold in advance of our trip.  The excitement Edith, the director of Home of Hope, showed when we handed her all the money we had raised, was unbelievable!  She started shrieking and insisted on hugging each of us, lifting every single one of us at least 1 foot off the floor!  She is a strong woman!

Today, we went to the Kiryowa School to continue with the construction we started on Tuesday.  The two classrooms are made with plaster walls, and we have decided to sand them, paint them, and also to build a Rain Water Collection System, so that the community can use that water for cleaning and cooking.

Ted was named boss of the whole Kiryowa School project, and I was named Supervisor of the painting, while Ted led the team to build the Rain Water Collection System...LOL 

We were a productive team today, getting two coats of Latex, and one coat each of the enamel paint, both on the window frames and the lower half of the walls, despite the sudden horrendous downpour that showed that the roof was built about a foot shy of keeping the last classroom dry! 

The rain was helpful for Ted to assure them that the slope of the eaves trough was correct.  They managed to get most of the eaves trough done, and the base for the 5000 Litre holding tank was almost completed by the local masons.  We will back tomorrow to complete this work, while also providing a breakfast for the 120 children that live there.

Everyone is bone tired from the work, and most have already gone to bed as I write this, except for the hardcore domino players!  LOL

Until next time - take care!

Delivering Family Kits

This post might make you cry.  It was a difficult day, emotionally, to say the least.

We woke up to a thunderstorm this morning, the first time any of our seasoned volunteers had even seen rain in Jinja.

The day cooled off and stayed overcast all morning, which made today much easier, at least physically.

We split into two groups, and some of us went into the market to purchase lunch supplies, and the others stayed with the truck and picked up family kit supplies.  These include, a mattress, a jerry can to carry water, a pot, a bowl, a long bar of soap (about 12" long), a mosquito net, some salt, and a blanket.  They loaded the supplies on the truck that we hired for the day, and we proceeded into the outlying villages.

 

 

When we arrived, we got off the bus, and were immediately greeted by the elders who had chosen the families that the 20 kits would be delivered to, as well as a throng of children who had chased the bus from further down the road. 

 

The elders were ecstatic that we were there, but their energy paled beside that of the children.  They were dressed in clothes that had clearly been donated from North America, as there were Dora pictures, Lightning McQueen pictures, and a bevy of other characters seen on the fronts of their shirts.  They obviously, had no idea who any of these characters were that they were wearing. 

 

Those who were wearing shirts, were wearing what would have passed at sometime for a shirt in North America.  One boy had so many holes in his shirt, that he frequently chose different ones to put his arm through.  Another boy had an umbilical hernia that showed prominently through the huge gaping whole in his shirt.  They were all dirty.  None of the babies had pants on, some of the children didn't wear shirts at all.  This was a day, where Ugandan citizens found the weather cold, due to the rain from earlier today.  Our Ugandan volunteers were very chilly and some wore jackets.  Of course, all of the rest of us were sweating from the humidity...LOL

 

We pulled out our cameras to take pictures of the kids, and they stood confused at us as we snapped away.  Only when we turned the cameras around to show them the pictures, did they scream with excitement, pointing out their friends.  Most of them didn't know which person was them, having never seen pictures of themselves, or mirrors before.

 

It didn't take them long to figure out what buttons we were pushing on the camera, and suddenly we had 20 hands all over the buttons trying to push them and see other pictures.  If we knelt down to show them the pictures, we were quickly mobbed by the group, each pushing another child out of the way so that they could see.  At this point in the picture, the kids were calling out Mazumba, Mazumba (which means White Person) so that they could get my attention to take another picture.  LOL

 

We each took a turn delivering the items to the locals, who only spoke Lugandan.  We had translators with us to help us communicate.  We went into their mud-huts and set up the mattress, the mosquito net, and gave them the other items.  Some of the huts were so small, we could barely get 2 people in there to set-up the mosquito nets, and our pictures from inside just don't show how small and sad these dwellings were.  For one old man, we came upon him cooking with an open fire in the ground inside his grass/mud hut, and the translators quickly pointed out that he should not be cooking inside, in case of fire.  He shrugged them off.  Likely, he has rebuilt his hut before, and will again. 

 

The picture below is really one of the better built huts, made from branches with mud packed into the openings.

 

 

I was in a hut with the woman (a grandmother) and the other volunteer who was installing the mosquito net, and I was commenting by gesturing with my hands at how nice her home was.  She just kept hugging me and thanking me.  Her granddaughter came in, and she said something to her and pointed to the floor.  Her granddaughter promptly dropped to her knees, and reached out for my hand, obviously to offer thanks.  I teared up, and promptly came to my knees to hug her and thank her for letting us see her home.

 

It seems like we were the ones getting a better lesson here.  About not taking anything for granted, and being appreciative for the scant items you might have in your life, and learning to just appreciate being alive.

 

We still have much to learn.

 

Tomorrow will be constructing a rain water collection system, while also painting, building a frame structure to contain some kind of mulch material for the base of a playground, and we'll be visiting Jinja Connection, which is my friend's NOG for street boys in Jinja.  Since most of the kids went off to boarding school from the last group she had, this group will be newer kids, still showing up high off car fumes, because they won't be familiar with the program.  Another emotional day, perhaps.

 

 





Arriving in Entebbe

Good Morning!

Well our travelling time is almost done, in that we have arrived in Uganda, but we still have a 3 hour bus ride to get to Jinja, where we'll be staying for the duration of our trip.

After 28 hours and who-knows-how-many time zones, our bodies are quite confused to be seeing the morning sun at 1:30am...LOL

The biggest score was finding the lounge chairs at Heathrow airport where we proceeded to nap in 45 minute intervals over our full 7 hour layover (which was supposed to be 5, but oh well!)

The temperature here is about 21 degrees Celsius (sorry!) and there is a slight breeze.  The birds are chirping, and I think I see an orange or maybe a lime tree outside?  The smell in the air is very reminiscent of lemongrass, and everyone has been so incredibly friendly!

We have so much to experience, with food, culture, the environment, and we're trying to take it all in, but I'll admit that I think I'm still in shock a little bit.  I had a brief 2 hour moment of serious doubt during our 8 1/2 hour flight from London to Entebbe, but obviously it was too late to change my mind at that point!  I was missing my kids and worried about the flight (which did have more turbulence than I prefer...LOL).  I got through it though, and I'm excited about the trip again.

The hard-boiled eggs this morning had white yolks, so that was different, but the tea, toast, potatoes were all the same as home.

Ted has decided he wants to try fishing out of the Nile on our day off...let's see what kind of fish story he comes up with!

Lots of love and hugs to everyone!  I hope to have pics for the next post. 

Only Days and Hours Away...

This is it.

It's this week that we leave.  We're madly gathering the stuff that we need to bring, figuring out our flight information, checking and double-checking that we have everything our kids will need while we're away, verifying with various caregivers who have gratiously accepted our invitation to watch our little monsters.  (suckers - lol)

I'm prepping my work to be without me for 3 weeks (while our trip is only 2 weeks long, I decided to stay home for the 1st week back to reconnect with my kids - oh yeah, and to SLEEP!)

And on top of everything else, we are madly dealing with snow, and more snow.  Both at work, and at home.  Driving through it, clearing it, planning for it, trudging through it in not-high-enough boots, sweeping it off our car/truck only to have the wind blow it in our faces.

We are actively ignoring all the stories we're hearing about flights being cancelled and delayed for days on end.  That WON'T happen to us - we've got all available fingers and toes crossed though, just in case.

We have said goodbyes to our friends at church, we have received all the last-minute advice.  Good stuff too - "pay attention and have conversations with people", "waiting is not wasted time, but time meant to be spent praying/journaling/conversing/taking pictures/resting/napping - and be prepared for it, because there will be lots of waiting time", "have patience for the members of your team that are not enjoying the trip", "have patience with those that don't understand when you return and keep asking if you had fun". 

The last bit of advice might be the most important.  It's sometimes hard to explain to people that you aren't flying to Cuba to sit on the beach.  You're travelling to a 3rd World Country to learn, provide assistance and to follow God's will.  It's not a leisure trip.

While we are quite happy to kick the snow off our boots for 2 weeks, we know that we're not going to be sitting on a beach ordering drinks. 

Our itinerary is as follows:
Feb 1st, 10:40pm - arrive in Entebbe, Uganda.  Travel minutes to the hotel and sleep.
Feb 2nd, 10:00am - travel to Kampala, attend church.  Drive to Jinja, check-in to guesthouse, tour town and have evening orientation session to learn about the historical/political/socio-economic context of Uganda
Feb 3rd - travel into Jinja-town to purchase and organize family kit supplies.  Distribute 20 kits
Feb 4th - painting and construction at the school, assist with daily activities at two different street kid program facilities
Feb 5th - run a breakfast feeding program, and recreation activities for children, basic construction at the school, visit orphanage
Feb 6th - assist with construction at the school
Feb 7th - breakfast feeding program, basic construction at the school, additional visits to the street kid program facilities
Feb 8th - travel to Jinja-town to purchse family kit supplies, distribute 20 family kits, visit orphanage
Feb 9th - travel to church service - free time
Feb 10th - coordinate and assist with the mobile health clinic, could include recreation activities for kids and parents waiting in line, and another breakfast program
Feb 11th - visit program facilities one last time - finish up projects, say goodbye
Feb 12th - packing, afternoon travel to a lodge for our last night, team discussion
Feb 13th - free time in the morning, packing in the afternoon, travel to airport in the evening, fly out after midnight
Feb 14th - arrive in Toronto

There are NOT a lot of hours for free time in that schedule, so you can be sure that we'll be exhausted when we get home, both physically, mentally and emotionally.

We are excited, scared, anxious, nervous, happy, sad, and everything in between.  Friday will come soon enough.  This is the last post before we go, for sure - so the next one will be from Africa.

Please pray for good weather and smooth connections, peaceful hearts and friendly banter among the team, as well as safety for the team: Paul, Debbie, Hilda, Kyle, Brenda, Donna, Mary, Maria, Pat, Dave, Ted, and me - and also please our local leader Benjamin and our driver Farouk.

Thank you!