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!

Lugandan, Lasagna and Needles...yikes

English and Kiswahili are the official languages in Uganda, but a lot of the locals speak Lugandan.  So, I'm practicing my Lugandan, and as such I'll start this with, Oliotya! (which means Hello!)

Wow, another month down and 3 months to go, and with Christmas coming during that time, we just know the time will f-l-y by.

The lasagna fundraiser was successful, and we raised $2,300.00 for the team!  That's a lot of lasagna!  And I only ate two pieces, so all that money did NOT come from me!

Besides working the fundraiser, we also got to meet and get to know the team.  There are 13 of us in total.  The youngest member is in his early 20's and the eldest member is in her late 70's!  We also have someone on our team who is visually impaired, so we are definitely a diverse group!

In addition to raising funds for the team, our fearless leader Debbie also sold several paper bead necklaces, with the funds going directly to the "Baby Justine" and "Home of Hope" funds. 

Debbie was kind enough to provide the following information about both causes:

'"Baby Justine" is an incredible woman - she is in her late forties, has 7 children of her own, and is married to a Christian pastor.  Baby Justine got her nickname because she takes unwanted and orphaned children and finds homes for them.  Many of the young Ugandan people who assist us while we are in Jinja were brought up in orphanages and were taught Sunday school by Baby Justine. Baby Justine also opened a school for children that cannot go to public schools because they can't afford the required school uniform.  In her spare time (hard to imagine her having any) she has taught groups of women all over Uganda how to make the paper beads. 

"Home of Hope" was started by the director, Edith in 2007.  Edith had a son, Derrick, with cerebral palsy.  Home of Hope provides 24 hour care to 18 children with a range of disabilities including autism, hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy and epilepsy.  In Uganda, children (and their families) are often stigmatized and many of the children at "Home of Hope" have been abandoned by their parents.'

 

All of the funds from these necklace sales go in a 50/50 split to these two causes.  Both very worthy, as I'm sure you will agree.

 

The necklaces are made of paper beads, which are beads made from long strips of magazine paper, and then shellacked and strung on the necklace string.  The beads are incredibly beautiful, and I have had the pleasure of owning a string for a couple of years now.  I will be selling these beautiful beads, along with some purses and clutches that are also adorned with these beads, at our New Year's Eve Party. 

 

Speaking of our New Year's Eve Party, this thing is going to be a blast!  We're hosting it at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Port Hope.  The night will be complete with music, a small silent auction, a midnight buffet, a cash bar, and there will even be an appearance of the 'Jewellery House'...if you haven't seen the Jewellery House in action, you are in for a treat!  I won't explain it all here, but in short: we will be selling keys for a chance to open the door and get the prize inside.  It won't be jewellery this year, but it will be something awesome, and you don't want to miss this!!  I'm kind of excited about that alone!

 

The event will only be open to 75 people, so you'll want to let us know if you are planning to come.  Tickets are $30.00 each, or 2 for $50.00. 

 

In the meantime, we are due to get our vaccinations this month.  There are a few we need to get, such as Hepatitis A and B, Typhoid, Yellow Fever, Polio, plus some anti-Malaria pills that we'll be taking before, during and after our trip.  Good thing I got over my fear of needles years ago...otherwise, I'd be in trouble!

 

We have also received the details of our flight information.  We'll be leaving on January 31st and arriving on February 1st, Ugandan time.  The travel time is 20 hours in total, just to get there (it's 22 hours to get home!)  So it'll be a lo-o-o-ng way to go.  Still, I'm excited, and I'm hoping they will serve Ted a glass of liquor up in the air, because I think he's gonna need it!  :)

 

ALSO - those that know me, know that I'm a movie fan, and they gave us a list of movies to watch to get prepared for our trip!  I haven't found them yet, but I'm keeping my eyes open for "War/Dance" from 2007 and "The Last King of Scotland" from 2006.  If you know where I can pick these up, please let me know!  I'm UBER-excited to watch them before we go!

 

Only 87 days to go...

 

I gues that's it for today, so let's finish with Mweraba!  (Goodbye!)  Two words down...and so many more to go...LOL

Planning, Fundraising and Preparing

So, somewhere along our simple, comfortable, happy, 40-something, married-with-2-kids life, Ted and I decided to throw a wrench into said simple existance.

It started with our relationships with people who are either employed by, or support, Youth For Christ Canada.  They have travelled on mission trips to Ghana, Liberia and the Gambia, for starters.  They have become "seasoned" travellers to Africa, and have regalled us with their stories of strange foods, customs, suffering peoples, great faith and immense experiences. 

We sat cross-legged on the floor listening, and perhaps (at least for Jennifer) thinking that one day, that would be us. 

But, there were things to consider; like being away from our kids (aged 8 and almost-4 years), how do we pay for the trip, how do we keep paying bills while we're away, do we want to take a full year's vacation in one shot, what if we need days off later in the year? 

All big questions, with no answers (or not very attractive ones).  So, we decided to hold off, and maybe, one day, we would get our chance.

Fast forward a few years, and suddenly Ted's boss at Ste. Anne's Spa is asking us if we would be interested in representing Ste. Anne's in Uganda in February 2014.  They would foot the bill, we would fundraise for additional funds, vacation would be sorted out. 

The answer was quick, although Ted saved it for at least 24 hours to make sure, and it was a simple and resounding, "Yes".

So here we are, October 24th, about to attend, and work our butts off at, a Lasagna Supper for the whole team, which comprises of 12 of us including our 2 leaders.  It will be a full day in Mississauga slugging dishes, food and cleaning up afterwards. 

There are few things I hate more than giving up one entire day out of my weekend, but it's for our trip, so there is no way we could say no.

On top of that, we're planning our own fundraiser for New Year's Eve, and desperately hoping the tickets start to sell a little faster, because I'm fairly certain that the measly 10 people we know are coming at this point will not be enough to raise the kind of money we need.

But all of that is just money.  There are bigger issues at hand.

What happens to our beautiful (although crazy) kids while we're away? 

Well, I'm hoping family will commit and come stay with them, because of course, that's the easiest on the kids. 

There are other options though, with our Africa-experienced friends, but I feel it would likely be a patchwork of people, and while my kids know and trust them all, it would probably be pretty disjointed and chaotic for them. 

So we wait, somewhat patiently, for people to make up their minds.

It is understandable though.  Their hesitation.  It's not my kids, while they drive us insane, that miracle-thing happens when other people are watching them, and they behave like angels - well, mostly.  Still, I don't think that's the hesitation.

I know it's about where and why we're going.  It's scary, different, and very far away.

But, here's the reason.  The why to the first question.  There is one thing that I've come to realize in my life: No man (or woman) is an island. 

You need others around you to challenge you, kick you in the butt when you need it, to give you a hand up when you fall down (or provide the cupcake incentive to make you do it on your own).  You need people to hug you when you're sad, hold your hand when you're scared, sit quietly while you complain and agree with everything you say (note to men here - quietly and agree), help you plan your parties, laugh at your kids, commiserate about your job.  All of it.  In our country, it's not hard to come up with the hardships or troubled times we routinely experience that we lean on our friends and family for.  People (and I really mean me here), complain about these things all the time.

In Uganda, those troubles are more like, how do I survive with Malaria, who will raise my kids when I die, who will raise my grandkids when I die, how can I feed my family on 1 cup of rice, how can I send my kids to school without money for uniforms or school supplies, how do I teach my kids to avoid the police when they have nothing to do all day so they don't get thrown in prison?  And a whole host of things that I don't know anything about, but will probably find out soon enough.

This boils down to me, as rich and poor, and whenever I see those people on TV that are disgustingly rich, I think to myself, "I hope they are helping those less fortunate than they are". 

And lets face it, I'm thinking of me. 

I'd like Donald Trump's car to breakdown outside my house, so I can give him a toilet and a phone to use, and have him pay my mortgage off as a "thank you".  Who doesn't want that? 

But really, I don't NEED that.  I can continue paying my mortgage, and even if we lose our house, we can rent one, or find an apartment, or lean on friends/family who have extra room while we're getting back on our feet.  But how do you do that when the entire community you live in is in the same boat as you?

If you compare our lives to those living in the slums in Africa, there are very few similarities.  We worry about wifi, they worry about food.  We worry about getting enough sleep so we can go to work the next day, they wish they had opportunities like we do to work and make money.  We worry about vacation plans, they worry about dying and leaving their kids or grandkids to fend for themselves.  We worry about getting screwed over at work, they worry about children sold into the sex trade.

It's not the same, it's not even in the same continent as the same.  And when they look at our lives, I wonder if they're thinking "I hope they are helping those less fortunate than they are". 

So, if I'm filthy rich compared to them, you bet I'm going to try to help them out.

Some might say, there are people in our own country who need help.  Why not help them? 

Yes, do help them, as I do. 

Volunteer with youth to give them other things to think about, rather than falling into temptations like sex and drugs. 

Donate money to United Way, so they can help in very specific ways by passing that money on to other organizations who offer specialized assistance, like shelters and special education efforts. 

And pray.  Pray for those you know in need, and pray for those you don't, especially when you hear police/fire/ambulance sirens.

But this time, I'm going to travel to a place where I can help someone out and look them in the eye when I do it. 

It's what we, as humans, are meant to do for each other.

But that's not until February 2014.  In the meantime, we wait, we plan, we prepare.  And when February comes, we'll jump, with both feet, and trust that God's got it all figured out.

Please join us on this blog as we prepare, and then later, as we travel to Jinja, Uganda, and hear about all the crazy things we'll learn about our world and ourselves. 

It's bound to be one-heck of a journey!