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!

Four Weeks and Counting

Four Weeks and Counting...seriously, I knew time was going to go fast with Christmas and New Years, but it's still a surprise that we're only 28 days away (well, 27 now...yikes).

There are things to do, and things that need to get done before we go.  Our last vaccination is on Monday, and we'll also get our Dukoral and the Malaria pills at this appointment.  Our appointment with our family doctor is this week too, so we'll get the added comfort of knowing we are in good health before we head out, God willing!  :)

Our time has been booked off of work, our childcare is organized (much thanks to Mom, Melanie and Steve, Penny and Lawrence, and Hope and Daryl!!) 

Plus, I agreed to put together a presentation for younger kids and another one for older kids that we will present to Elizabeth's school when we return from our trip.  That should be interesting!!  LOL

We have managed to raise almost $5,000.00 for our trip, and we're still promised more funds to come in, so who knows where that number will rest.  Amazing!

Practically all of those funds were donated directly from people, and not as a result of any fundraising efforts.  I think that was God's plan all along for us.

Our New Year's Eve party didn't go as well as we planned, but we believe that God is always holding the reins, and while we didn't have very many people come out, we still managed to raise over $500, so it wasn't a complete bust.  And, we ended up winning the laptop we bought to raffle off at the party, (with complete integrity and honesty people - no fixes!), and it seems only fitting, since we needed a computer to Skype to our family while we're away.  God is good!

The jewellery sales for the benefit of the Home of Hope and Baby Justine orphanages have exceeded $300.00, so even that seems to be a rousing success.

So, final shopping for scrubs and good working shoes, packing, and preparing are well underway.  Ted and I also have the added advantage of having close friends who have made similar, if not the exact same, journeys many times over, so we're getting lots of advice, which we will follow to the letter, let me assure you.

Excitement and Eagerness (not to be mistaken for fear and anxiousness) have set in around the Stacey household, and we are counting down the days.  Tomorrow, it will be 26...yikes!  I mean, YAY!

I will try to get another blog written before we go, perhaps the day before, but if not, then the next one will be written from Uganda!! 

Woohoo!