About two weeks ago, the kids went down to the well to do laundry (sorry I’m behind). The kids usually have fun in that area, because when they’re finished, they can play around and climb trees. This time they found some big pieces of tree bark and used them as sleds to slide down the hill. They also found some rope and a big branch to make a swing from the tree. They know how to use their resources to have fun! 

Lydia

 

Dickson

Ronny

 

Lawrence

 

Angela

Musa

Paul sledding on tree bark

 

Dickson

 

 

Daniel on the homemade swing

 

Peter

Recently I’ve been able to do a lot more things on my own, which has been really nice. Sometimes it can be hard to feel dependent on others every time you need to go somewhere. I’ve learned the taxi and boda boda system well enough, so now I can go to certain areas by myself to run my own errands. I’m sure this is nice for Robert and Phiona, too, so they can work on other things instead of just escorting me around. So lately I’ve been on a few adventures, which has been very beneficial for me!

We also recently went to visit Rhonah’s place, so she could see some of her family. And we had an outreach yesterday at a local church. I’ll have to blog more specifically about those later. 

A few days ago, Phiona and I went to visit Fred at his school, and he seems to be doing really well! He’s made friends, he’s enjoying learning, and he’s performing well in his classes…that’s what he tells us at least. This is so beneficial for Fred, so it’s good to know that he’s enjoying it! Pretty soon he’ll be home for the holidays. In Uganda they go to school for a few months, then have a month of holiday, go for a few months, have a month of holiday, etc. Holiday is in about two and a half weeks! It will be fun to have Fred around the house again!

I would like to ask for your prayers. My time here will be over before I know it. I want to make sure that I’m really taking advantage of every moment I have with the team and with the kids. Please pray that I will continue to stay focused on what I’m here to do. I want to make the most of this opportunity!

Many people have asked me when I am going to blog again, so I know that means I’m behind – sorry I’m not very good at keeping up with it! I’ve actually been trying to blog the past several days, but electricity has been really bad here lately. We’ve had about 5 days in a row where we didn’t have power the whole day until late at night. We actually don’t have power right now as I write this, but I have enough charge on my computer and internet from charging through the night to do this post.

I don’t have too much to update, but I want to share several pictures with you. I’ll probably split them up into a few different blog posts over the next few days (if we have enough power!)

A few weeks ago, I pulled out my camera on a Sunday night while the kids were having some fun. While the kids are in school, there aren’t many opportunities for just playing around. They go to school from 7 am to 5:30 pm Monday through Friday. They even go on Saturdays from 7 am until 1:30 pm. When they get home from school, they have to wash their uniforms, bathe, have devotion, do homework, get ready for school the next day, eat dinner, and be asleep by 9. So the school schedule can be pretty crazy. When I pulled my camera out that night, the kids wanted me to take pictures of everything! They started doing exercises and stretches that they wanted me to capture. It was a fun night! When Phiona looked at the pictures the next day, the first thing she said was that when she looks at these pictures, she sees that these kids really love each other. This is very true. It’s so fun to see them spending time together with so much joy. 

Lawrence loves the camera. He’s probably the funniest little kid I’ve ever met. Normally he’s making some sort of goofy face, so it’s rare to get a picture like this where he has a normal smile.

 

Musa loves taking care of Rhonah, and he’s really good at it! Rhonah loves spending time with Musa, too!

 

 

The kids wanted to show off the crazy things they could do.

 

Dickson and Denis did all these different leg stretches and exercises…

 

…so Musa and Desire decided they wanted to do them all, too. The size difference between the two of them was hilarious!

Daniel and Peter – I’m not really sure how they accomplished this.

 

Lawrence and Ryan are really close friends – they spend so much time together. And there’s one of the goofy faces from Lawrence I was talking about.

Daniel, Denis, and Dickson being funny

Rhonah and Daniel. Rhonah will always be well protected by all of her older brothers.

 

Lawrence and Desire. All of these kids really do love each other so much, and it’s awesome to see that!

 

 

 

 

I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve blogged. Time can go so quickly here without me realizing it. I’ll try to give you some of the main things that have happened since I last blogged.

The first thing is that I have been going the past two Wednesday nights to a life group with Robert and Phiona. It’s very similar to a typical life group in America. We have some food, we discuss the sermon from the previous Sunday, we pray together, we sing together, etc. It’s been a neat opportunity to be a part of a Ugandan life group. There are about ten people in the group, and they all have pretty big personalities. Something that’s special about being in this group is that I get to learn about God with people who have a completely different background than I do. Hearing what they share allows me to think with a whole new perspective. But it’s also been cool to see so many similarities between Christians in Uganda and Christians in America. It’s also nice to take a break from the kids for a little bit (even though I love them very much) and get to spend time with people who are close to my age.

Victoria, Paul, and Daniel in their Christmas clothes they got from their sponsors:

The Thursday before last, the kids went to church camp for a few days. Since they were starting school the next week, they all needed to get haircuts before they went to camp. I got to cut most of the kids’ hair. I guess I get my skills from my dad who has cut my brothers’ hair and my hair since I can remember. I think some of the kids were really nervous about having a white person cut their hair. They didn’t think I would be able to do it.

This week the kids started school, so I’ve gotten a taste of the crazy schedule that happens when the kids get home from school each day. The youngest kids come home around 1:00, the next group comes around 3:00, and the older ones get home around 5:30. Once they get home they immediately change out of their uniforms and wash them. Then they bathe, do some tutoring/homework for a little bit, have devotional, do more homework if they have any, finish their chores, eat dinner, and go to bed. All of this has to happen before 9:00, so they can get to bed on time. It’s a fight to get them to go to bed, but we’re working on a new system that we hope will work!

Yesterday I got to celebrate my birthday here. I’m not huge about celebrating my birthday, but Phiona wasn’t going to let me just have a normal day. I found out that our life group was putting together a birthday party for me. It was a pretty fun night. They cooked dinner for everyone, so we ate and talked for a while. Later we had cake, and I found out it’s their culture for the birthday person to serve everyone else the cake. They also told me that while I served the cake, I was supposed to kneel down for the girls when I was serving them. I found out afterwards that they were just messing with me. They thought it was hilarious. Before we left, everyone said something encouraging about me – even the ones that had just met me that night. I felt really encouraged by all of them, and I’m thankful I get to continue spending time with all of them over the next few months.

 

I’ve had a few new experiences since last time you heard from me. Last Thursday I rode a boda boda for the first time. A boda boda is basically a motorcycle taxi to get you to specific places quickly. Before you understand the craziness of riding a boda boda, you need to understand the craziness of Uganda traffic. We were in downtown Kampala, which is the busiest and craziest area of traffic. There are vans, cars, boda bodas, and people EVERYWHERE. It seems like there’s only one traffic rule: drive as fast as you can without hitting anyone or anything. For pedestrians the rule is: cross the street whenever you want, and get in the way of as many cars as you can. Boda boda drivers love that they have the freedom to weave in and out of cars and people, and they take full advantage of it. My knees brushed against several cars and people as we sped by. If I were brave enough to let go, I could have touched several faces of people we passed. It was exhilarating and possibly the scariest thing I’ve done in my life. I think I set a personal record for how long I’ve ever held my breath. I’m sure I’ll be riding more during my time here. Part of me looks forward to it, and part of me dreads it.

On that same day, I learned the terrible mistake of not having my rain jacket with me at all times. Phiona and I were running several errands, which of course involved a lot of walking outside. All of a sudden, there was a downpour. Errands are a lot of fun when you’re drenched the whole day. It was pretty funny though. Phiona knows how to make any situation hilarious.

On Saturday Robert, Phiona, and I went to go visit three boys to let them know that Jack LaTorre (Tonya’s youngest son) is going to sponsor them to go to school. Jack spends time making loaves of bread and selling it, so he can raise money to sponsor these kids. He’s a pretty cool 12-year-old! The three families of the boys were so thankful and so excited. Something I love about Uganda is that you can just go any time of the day to visit people who don’t know you’re coming, and they will always welcome you and visit with you for hours. Ugandans are some of the most hospitable people I’ve met.

The three boys Jack is sponsoring for school:

This week is the kids’ last week of holiday before they start another term of school on Monday. I’m going to really miss the kids during the day while they’re at school, but Phiona assures me that there is plenty the team has to do during the day while the kids are gone. Things are always busy around here. The kids are pretty excited about starting school again. I don’t think they take education for granted as much as we do in the U.S. They really love learning, and they know how important it is to their future.

Marvin being his usual self:

The other day Rhonah actually said, “Good morning” to me. But yesterday she called me “Uncle Potato.”

This is Fred moving himself from the bed to his wheelchair. It takes a lot of energy and strength, but he can do it.

I’m so thankful for the time that I’ve already had here. I can’t believe it’s been almost a month. I’ve already learned so much, and I can’t imagine what else I’ll learn in the next four months!