Greetings once again from Uganda! We are having an amazing time here and continue to be overwhelmed by the joy and hospitality of these beautiful people.
So… you must be wondering about the title of this blog. I begin by going back to the night before as our group wrapped up and went to bed for the night. Steve and I were both in our room, which is next door to Julie and Sue. We were both doing our evening reading before going to bed (Steve with earbuds in) when all of a sudden I heard a huge shriek from next door followed by laughter. I thought, "maybe they're looking at some pictures from the day!?" Within 30 seconds more shrieking and hysterical laughter. Now, I'm beginning to wonder if they are throwing a party and we weren't invited. The screams and laughter continued until I heard a sharp knock on our door. It was Sue. "Can you please come and get the mouse out of our room?" she asked. So I nudged Steve and we got dressed and went with our trash can in hand to see if we could catch this ROUS (Rodent Of Unusual Size - aptly named by Steve from the movie Princess Bride). The scene was the proverbial "women on the chair pointing in the direction of a particular corner", and every time the little varmint would show himself they would scream with a mixture of fear and laughter shouting, "Did you see him?!! There he is!! Get him!!! Steve was quick to think about building a wall as I moved everything out of the way except for the big guitar box that this obviously massive rodent was hiding behind. As we pulled the box out we saw the tiniest mouse I have ever laid eyes on, probably the size of my pinky finger (now aptly renamed by Steve, ROUSS - Rodent Of Unusually SMALL Size). Within moments the ladies were rescued from their unwanted roommate as we moved the big box and he darted around the corner and out the door into the night. Who was more frightened?? Sue and Julie or the mouse…? I'll let you decide…
Fortunately, Sue and Julie seemed to do just fine for sleeping through the night as did the rest of our group and we awoke to a cool morning in Iganga. After breakfast of eggs, fruit and toast we embarked on our first excursion of the day. This past February Musana opened an amazing Hospital/Clinic filled with all the technological advancements. There has never been anything like it in or near Iganga. It's a two story building with lab rooms, receiving rooms, examination rooms, sonogram, a dentist office, and even a new x-ray machine, soon to be completed. Truly remarkable. After a short tour of the facility we went to work assembling cotton ball and gauze packs and a couple other small jobs. By the time we left, the place was humming. Wow!
Our driver Kyemba (pronounced "Chemba") made a request of our team this year that we visit the school for his 3 youngest children and one grandchild. So, off we went down the dry, dusty red dirt roads through town and into the small rural areas of Iganga. As we arrived at the school, if I'm not mistaken, we were told that we could not see the children because they were in school. However, we were ushered in to the administrator's office and asked to sign the guest book. Now, something you should know about Kyemba is that he is a well-known and well-respected man about town - Kyemba tends to get his way. Before long here came the head master. Not only were Kyemba's children brought to us at the office but they accompanied us to every single classroom where we were paraded in front and introduced to every class. Did I mention there were almost 800 children at this school? We introduced ourselves a lot! After saying goodbye to Kyemba's children we loaded the van and back down the bumpy roads we went to grab a quick lunch at Musana before our next activity.
Following a typical Uganda lunch of rice, potatoes, cabbage, pineapple, etc. we piled back into the van and off we went again to the second Women's Ministry of Musana. Barreling down the back roads, as you are being waved at and waving back to these friendly smiles up and down narrow pathways lined with humble houses made of homemade brick and dirt, you can't help but think about trying to wave like this in America everywhere you go. I wonder what kind of looks you might receive?! We finally arrived at the ministry site where we learned the art of Uganda tie-dye. As a former Youth Minister, I've done a lot of tie-dye but I've never seen it like this. The women each take a large piece of wet material and begin scrunching it up on a tarp, then they make scoops out of leaves to cup the dye and pour it precisely onto the material. After letting it set for 30 minutes or so they would show us the most beautiful patterns on the material. After it began to dry, even more brilliant colors would start to emerge from the fabric. It was amazing. Then they danced and sang for us before we closed in prayer and went on our way.
Once more we headed back to Musana for a short pit stop before heading to Kyemba's house for our evening meal. Now this has become a group tradition. Kyemba's wife has worked doing catering for years, and she and her daughters cook such an amazing feast every year for us. We spent the remainder of our evening visiting with his family, stuffing our bellies till we felt we would pop, and singing songs to close. A prefect end to a perfect day.
You might be thinking, "What else is there left to do?" Well, still to come this week is a raucous good time of music and hand motions with the 700+ children of Musana, plus the grand opening of Musana's new coffee shop and restaurant called Sol View featuring Robin Grey and Glenn Green in concert. I'm kinda' looking forward to that. ;-)
In closing, we value your prayers for our team that no one gets sick. Donna, a new addition to our team here from Indiana was bitten by a bug today and it gave us a bit of a scare, but she's doing well now. Pray for the continuing good work of Musana and that God's hand of favor is on them. We love you all and miss you, but we are enjoying what God is doing here immensely.
Sula Bulungi (Rest Well)
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