Blessings

Hello there friends!

I hope that this blog finds everyone well and happy. 

After a couple days traveling around Iganga dropping off various supplies, going to church, and visiting friends, we were glad to have a day to spend at Musana. Most of my day was filled with staring at a blue wall while I painted it. Another wall of the dining hall is officially finished! This one is covered with clouds, sunbeams, and hot air balloons. I had to explain to the students and staff what a hot air balloon was, because apparently they aren't common in Uganda. Musana had also previously asked us if we could redecorate a bulletin board used for hanging and displaying jewelry for sale in Sol Café. Originally, the sign had cloth words stitched onto it saying Musana Children's Jewelry. This gave off the wrong impression that this jewelry is being sold to support some poor orphans at a home. Musana is not about using pity to try and buy support for their students. It is almost entirely self sufficient with over six hundred students, along with wonderful teachers and staff. They support themselves through a very large farm, Sol Café, a new bakery, and the craft room. Any donations they receive are used to help start up new programs and business ventures like a brand new hospital here in Iganga. The beautiful crafts sold at Sol are made by women in the community who were previously in unstable conditions. Musana seeks to empower these women and everyone else associated with the school including their students and staff. Therefore, the sign will soon be changed to say "Musana Crafts". Sue went into town with our driver Kymba to purchase some navy blue fabric for the sign and pick up some beautiful tie dyed fabric scraps from the women in the craft room. Samantha has been using the scraps to cut out the new letters to be sewn onto the sign. After a busy day, we were all back in our room around six o'clock exhausted. After seven hours of painting, I laid on the floor of our room for a while not even wanting to get up and shower. Thankfully for the sake of Sue and Samantha, I managed to shower before we headed to the dining room for dinner. Sarah had prepared rice, g-nut sauce, fresh pineapple, and Irish potatoes. Leah, Yvonne, Andrea, and little Dezi joined the interns and us for dinner tonight. It is so strange to think that we only have four days left here in Uganda, but I think that will be the perfect amount of time for Sue, Samantha, and I. While we will be very sad to leave Uganda and our friends, we are also looking forward to getting back home to our families and friends in the States. It has really been a special trip for us all. God has really blessed me personally on this trip with so many new friends and experiences. While the team was here, Tamara gave a BEAUTIFUL devotional about blessings. A blessing from God is not wealth or success or even health necessarily, even though it might include those things. Being blessed by God means to simply be in His presence and have your heart changed by experiencing His Glory. I can say for myself and the whole team that we have truly been blessed by God here in Uganda with His presence and perspective. We look forward to returning home soon with hearts that have been grown, stretched, changed, and matured. 

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Love Hannah

 

(P.S. Mom, Please buy me some dark chocolate for when I get back! I love you!!)

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Whoops and Poops from Uganda

Hello everyone! It's Samantha blogging tonight. Today was a really good, long day. We got up and drove to Kokombo for church. Several people were baptized at the end of the service, which was really cool to watch and be present for. After the service we stayed at Kokombo for a while and got to spend some time with the kids. I always really enjoy getting to play with kids, even if some don't speak English (or just won't speak to me), we're always able to have fun and play together. From Kokombo we went to Sol Café to have lunch with our friend Umar. During this time, there was a huge thunderclap that briefly took out the power and made all of us jump. Then it rained pretty hard throughout our meal, but thankfully it stopped right before we had to leave! Next on our stop was Pastor Andrew's house in Idudi. We got there before he did, so we passed the time with the neighborhood kids. At first they were excited to see us, but nervous to come up to us. A few brave ones started to creep up to us and then peer through the window of Andrew's house at us. Eventually we came out to play with them. Hannah and I made funny faces at them while Sue captured many photos. It's really fun to see how excited the kids get at seeing their own photos. After some time, Andrew's friend Peter arrived, so he and Kyemba took us to see New Life school that Andrew built. It wasn't long before Andrew arrived with his guest Francis. Francis is an evangelist from Kenya, who has spent the past two weeks in Uganda working to bring people to church. So he got a tour alongside Sue, Hannah, and I of the work that Andrew is doing. He has developed an amazing ministry so far, and has good plans for its future as well. The new school building was awesome to see, especially compared to the old, smaller building nearby. Andrew showed us around the different classrooms and offices, as well as the lesson plan they use for their kids who come to church classes on Saturdays. They showed us the spot on the property that they are planning to build dormitories for boys and girls, so that New Life can develop into a boarding school in addition to being a day school. Next we went back to Andrew's house, where we gave him some supplies of vitamins and seeds that we had brought for him. We then drove to the farm, where they have many adorable two-week old chicks. They have many different plants as well, along with an area they will develop for cattle. We had one more stop with Andrew left, which was the village that the Karamojong lived. We got to see them and where they get water, as well as a beautiful sunset on the horizon. The kids had a blast with Sue, as she quickly took photos before they shied away and then rushed to see their photo. It was really great to see Andrew's ministry and the work that he has put into his community. I feel that G-d has really blessed him and his service. By this point, it was past 7 pm before we went back to Musana. So we stopped at a super market for snacks and sodas on the way, and once we got back we had a feast while we discussed our "whoops and poops" ("highs/lows") of the day, as Hannah calls it. Although it was a long day, it felt very productive and good. We had a lot of fun with kids, as well as great conversations with the people we met, and were able to see G-d's work at hand in many ways. That's all for now, but I'll be writing again soon as I have been "promoted" to a more regular blogger now, since Hannah will be creating more beautiful murals here at Musana. Thanks for reading!

 

~Samantha

 

P.S. our feast included Ugandan steak (beef jerky). Please try to contain any jealousy.

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The sights, Sounds, Smells and Heart of Uganda.

We are up and Sarah is making us eggs. While we wait we are feasting on Sol Café's Banana bread…which is totally fantastic! They had six loafs for sale Trivia night and we bought up two! And so delighted we did. We have parceled them out carefully so they have lasted! They are so, so good! 

 

The other night as I was blogging I intended to write about the sights, sounds, smells and feels of Uganda. I decided to do this as we were sitting on hard wooden benches, four to a row (crammed in) waiting for the choir performance to begin. The benches have no backs to them and the seat portions are very narrow. Within minutes I found myself very fidgety. The benches were hard. Did I mention they were hard. So let me put this in perspective. Ugandan students sit on these benches all day long to study on. They are filled to the brim with little people trying to learn. They have no real space to call their own. Yesterday when the kids were taking exams they moved them to the dining area (an outside covered pavilion. This is great except when the other kids are let out of class for break, lunch, etc. they have to continue to focus amidst the noise. I was impressed with their concentration skills. What I am trying to convey is this is how it is done in Uganda and the kids are so thankful for the opportunity to get an education they listen well and do not squirm. However after a little more than an hour on the benches all of us were done. We were so sore! We had rearranged our bodies into every possible position, but after a while it just didn't make a difference. So for feelings the things here are hard. They are hot and they are buggy. And yet walking and sitting in community is great. The willingness to lend a helping hand is something we could all learn from. 

 

The sights have changed over the past five years. Iganga seems a lot more westernized though the poverty is still overwhelming. Cows in the road, roaming across soccer fields, open markets with every other vendor selling exactly the same thing. The obvious discrepancies between Uganda prices and Mzungu prices. Bicycles bursting from the seams carrying goods. Boda bodas with whole families and the driver on board. The technology has gotten better – almost everyone has a cell phone and more and more of the kids are connected to the Internet. Musana has been a huge blessing for me. The love that prevails and the hearts for the kids has just been great to see. I will go home and know that they are being fully cared for. The kids are being raised up to be the next generation of Ugandans in such a way that brings pride to their country. I won't worry about their welfare when I leave and return home.  Through all we have done to get to where we are one thing has never waivered. The joy in the faces of the people has always been there. The sights 

 

The smells are overwhelming. I guess part of this is because in the US I really don't allow myself to experience the every day smells of the world. I go from air-conditioned house to air conditioned home. Heaven forbid I should role down my window and take in the smells of the surrounding area. Here there is always the smell of charcoal as people are preparing their meals on outdoor fires. Along with that is the smell of smoke. The smell of body odor is prevalent (I'm sure after a long day we are equally adding to that smell). The smell of manure rings in the air.

 

And the sounds… horns honking. Constantly. Warning each other to get back in their own lane after passing a car, to warn pedestrians they are coming, to tell boda boda drivers they are bigger and the boda boda better get out of the way. You can barely drive five feet without the sound of a horn honking. You also hear the children yelling, "Mzungu, bye" as we drive by. They run to the side of the road and wave frantically and yell until you wave back. It is a sweet sound. 

 

So today we started the day watching the nursery students participating in their field day. It was a BIG deal. The parents were invited and tents were set and at the end of the day prizes were handed out to the winners. At the start there was a band from a secondary school with instruments just like we have in a band; trumpets, saxophones, etc. They started the day by playing the National Anthem. Once they finished their part they all headed to the volleyball courts and spent the rest of the time playing.We decided Ugandan kids aren't near as competitive as American kids and not one single parent yelled at anyone. All anyone did was cheer. Every time a student finished and won an event the teacher would pick them up and swing them around in happiness. Watching these little guys run and have fun was so joyous. They had games that included picking up straws and putting them on chairs that were about 20 yards away. Then they would have to run back and get another one until all the straws were moved from one location to another. Another game was running back and forth to get duplo pieces and putting them together to build a stack.  Then they stripped the boys down to their skivvies and they had to run to the chairs and see who could get dressed the fastest in their school uniform. They all did this in record time. One competition was to see who could write their name the clearest with the best formation of letters. While the nursery kids were playing all the students at Musana were proudly watching them perform. Across the fence by the road leading to the guesthouse the neighborhood kids were stacked three deep (some even in the trees) to watch the festivities. When it was all said and done the winning team was given a goat (who seemed to really be enjoying himself) that they were going to roast and feed to the kids tonight!! Poor little goat!!

 

In closing, we can't believe we only have one more week in this country. Our schedule is full and we have yet to slack in any way, shape or form. We still have the dining room to finish, the hospital to paint, the signs to finish, the women's ministry to revisit and hopefully a district volleyball game to cheer at. I am overwhelmed thinking of all we have to cram in into the next seven days. But each day brings us more connected to Musana and the blessings they have to offer.

 

I hope you all have a great weekend. We start our day off tomorrow worshipping at Kokombo. We are then going to spend some time with Wilson and Agnes. We will then go from their to Idudi where we will meet with Pastor Andrew and give him his seed and medicine. When we finish there we will return home and put back on our paint clothes and get back to work… 

 

We love you and miss you all. The picture is of Evelyn and Mama Jonah's new baby girl! She is beautiful.

 

Sue

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Jesus made time for kids and His job was to save the world

Hello Everyone! It's Hannah here J

Today was, like every other day, AMAZING. However today was especially special for me. While the whole team was here at Musana, Jen, Liz, Emily, and I were asked to do a mural on the outside of the nursery kid's building. Apparently, the staff at Musana was quite nervous to see how good our painting skills were. However, they were pleased with our skills and even asked if I would like to do more after the team had left. I think they got nervous all over again as I set out to paint the front of their small clinic by myself. I love painting. It is my favorite medium and my number one peaceful activity. They ended up loving it and asked me to paint the entire outside of the dining hall. I have always dreamed of getting to go crazy painting an entire building. God is really good. He knew that I love Africa, kids, and painting, and I was able to live inside those three loves today. I started painting around 10 this morning and didn't stop until 3. The kids at Musana LOVE to watch people paint. They also enjoy finger painting on the walls you just finished. Usually, that would really bother me. However, God was really faithful and sweet and gave me the patience and joy I needed to have fun with the kids while I painted. Jesus made time for kids and His job was to save the world. I thought I should too, considering my job was just painting a wall. So when the kids snuck up and drew on the walls when they thought I wasn't looking, I was able to smile. I let some of the older kids who looked interested help me paint some birds and flowers. I was reminded that when you make time to love people throughout your day, your heart is calmed and healed and loved in return. I would have missed out on building relationships with beautiful people today if I had been too concerned with my task at hand. Sue, Samantha, and Musana's interns went to watch the students' volleyball game during the day, and Musana won! Samantha said she was so impressed by the way Ishmael, the volleyball coach, interacted with his team. She said he was always patient, encouraging, and uplifting. The staff here at Musana is seriously the best. Sue and Samantha also got the chance to visit our beloved friend and bus driver Kymba's grandkids at their primary school. After the day's events, Sue and Samantha returned to Musana along with some very happy volleyball players. Samantha then helped me add detail to the mural after which she and Sue painted some more motivational signs that will be placed all throughout the campus. Afterwards, we had a nice visit with Andrea, her husband Haril, Leah, and the Interns. Sarah then made us all "burritos" with chipati, rice, and guacamole for dinner, and we finished the day off around a campfire with s'mores. I always love to look at the stars here in Uganda during our campfires. They are so much brighter in the night sky. We are all happy and healthy here in Uganda and are loving every second of our time here. Thanks for reading and we will see you in a about a week!

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Music, Art and Trivia

Today we got up all prepared to head out to watch the choir perform. Kyemba was not only on time he was 30 minutes early. So we packed up the car and got as far as the front gate when we realized the choir was still here and had not even loaded up their instruments yet. So we all got out of the van and proceeded to do our thing. I'm not sure what the interns did but the three of us immediately settled in to paint the signs that Musana has posted in front of their dining area. Instead of painting the letters in different colors we decided to paint the backgrounds all different colors and then paint the words in white. Overnight the backgrounds had dried (with a few bugs and twigs permanently attached) so today we set about writing the words. I may have no art skills but my penmanship always got me A's in school! I decided to start with the longest since we've only been able to remove two of the signs from the ground. The others we are going to writing on two feet off the ground. That in itself will be a challenge. So we did that for a while and when we were sure the choir had gotten loaded and taken off we climbed back into the bus and headed for the same school where the netball and soccer tournaments had taken place. That school and one other school were in the competition and the second school really had some talent. All the schools were a huge blessing to listen to and Musana far outdid their performance on Sunday. Kids were sitting in the windows and the doorway was jammed from the children trying to get a glimpse of what was taking place. The costumes were great and the dancing was out of this world. I'm telling you the hip action is phenomenal. Both the boys and girls can move their hips in ways I can't even begin to imagine. The theme this year was early marriage, pregnancy and nutrition. Each school had to do a poem, dance and skit related to the theme. We stayed for most of the competition only leaving when the judges pulled each school into a private setting and didn't allow any audience. I'm not sure why that was done but we decided it was a good time to head back to Musana and finish up our painting.

 

As we were painting we heard drumming coming from the distance. The noise got louder and we started to hear muffled sounds that became clearer the closer they got. As they entered the school gate we realized the students were yelling, "We're number 1". It was so awesome. They had practiced hard and certainly deserved the award. They were all so excited and all the school children here dropped everything and ran to the bus to greet them. I love the enthusiasm and support they show for each other. It was great to see the camaraderie among the kids. Hannah leaned over at one point and said she felt the competition was a little unfair. The other schools had limited instruments. Everyone in the musana choir had an instrument and played. Andrea assures me by the time they get to District all the schools will be equally matched. I was just so proud of the kids and so excited for their accomplishment. Tomorrow we will head out to watch the volleyball team compete. It will be the first time to see them play in a match, though if they play any where near as good as they practice a win is inevitable! 

 

Tonight was trivia night, which meant a good dinner at Sol Café. On our way we had a flat tire. Kyemba wouldn't even let us out of the van as he jacked the car up and changed the tire. I will say we attracted a little attention, but once again he proved what a sweet and gentle man he is. I led Trivia tonight so for once I knew all the answers. There were three teams, the categories were soccer, mosquitos and general. Yvonne missed the one Canada question (not without a little haggling) and in the end Andrea, Jamie, Leah, Hannah, Yvonne and Dezi won. Dezi, of course, added the most knowledge!! She rocked the night away. We also got to try their new banana bread and it was awesome. All of you on our team that left early, you really missed a treat! 

 

So tomorrow we are heading out to see the Jamie and Josh at their school. Kyemba is so excited that we are doing this. Then we are on to the competition and then back to Musana to paint. They have asked us (meaning Hannah) to paint the walls surrounding the kid's dining area. They also have quotes they would like added so the three of us will be kept busy. We also still have plans to paint a mural in the hospital. Saturday we hope to visit Phil's kids again and then on Sunday spend the day at Kokombo worshipping and working with Wilson. The days are just flying by. Each day our relationships are developing into lasting friendships and we are seeing more and more of the personalities on the ground. Each day gets better than the one before. 

 

Please continue to pray for health and wisdom as we move forward. Tonight in trivia I learned that there are over 100 trillion mosquitos in the world and each one bites over five humans a day. I think they have all gotten together and decided I should be there target. Never have I been bitten so many times in so many places! 

I am attaching a picture of Hannah's mural on the clinic wall. It is awesome!! And a picture from the competition.

 

May God bless you all.  Sue

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Creativity

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2015

 

Today was a good, calm day. We had a chance to sleep in a bit before breakfast, and later went down to Florence's office to get the paint supplies. I would say that we did a lot, but really the artistic abilities fell on Hannah. She began working on painting a mural for Musana's clinic while Sue and I went with our boda boda driver, Richard, to buy more paint, brushes, and sodas. We looked like locals carrying our paint cans and bags while riding effortlessly on a boda. Meanwhile, Hannah had begun creating a masterpiece on the wall of the clinic, which she finished later that day. Sue and I set out on our art project, meaning we had to straighten out and repaint several motivational/signs around the cafeteria. We were able to get the signs repainted with a couple of coats, so that we can finish the writing tomorrow. Sue and I helped tutor some of the students for about an hour, working on their spelling. In case you are wondering where Hannah was during all of this, she was being Hannah and creating beautiful art! Around 5 o'clock it began to rain, so we put away the paints and headed back up. 

 

During the day we had several fun moments with our friends here at Musana. At one point, Denis came up to Sue, Edward, and I with a scale and made all of us weigh ourselves…apparently Ugandans don't aim for small numbers like Americans tend to do, so Denis and Edward's compliments weren't as flattering as they hoped. Since Hannah wasn't there, we convinced Denis to bring the scale to her so that she could share in the fun. Don't worry, Sue explained to Denis and Edward that they shouldn't pull out the scale for Mzungus next time. There was a small moment where I got a small cut from the metal signs, quite a bit of blood gushed out, and got my wound cleaned up by sweet Florence in the clinic. Unfortunately I have a tendency to feel lightheaded at my own blood, so I took a short rest in the clinic before getting back to work. Before you ask Mom, I am up to date on my shots, was fine within fifteen minutes, and have been taking care of the cut since. Thankfully G-d gave us a cloudy sky and cool breeze while work. Throughout our painting, several students would hang around to watch us paint or, in Hannah's case, try to paint themselves whenever she wasn't looking. Overall it was a very fun day filled with paint, joy, some rain, and G-d's beauty in Hannah's creativity and the children's enjoyment of the variety of colors to put on each other. 

 

Since I haven't had a chance to blog since the first night of our trip, I'll add a small update from my perspective here. G-d has been really good to our team and is very present here in Uganda. The people are amazing and so loving to us, whether we are friends or strangers to them. We have had some incredible opportunities to serve and to continue/build relationships we have established here. I feel extremely blessed that G-d chose to call me here to such a beautiful country. It has been amazing getting to experience Him through these wonderful people and witness their passion and devotion to G-d. I'm excited for whatever He has next! 

 

~Samantha

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The Team Departs

Today started with the team packing up and getting ready to go. Kyemba came by in a regular size van and packed the trunk to the max. Suitcases were hanging out the rear, but fear not, he tied the trunk down and assured us that nothing would fall out. He is a master at this skill so I am not concerned that they all to the airport in one piece. The remainder of the luggage ended up tied to the roof. In typical Ugandan style the team crammed into the van and off they went, but not before a few tearful goodbyes. Leah and Yvonne came by later and were very sad to see that they had already left. They were hoping for a few hugs before you all left. Instead the two of them went down to the women's ministry room and started pairing fabric for new bags. It was great fun watching Leah trying new "weird" patterns and hearing Yvonne say that Theresa (the older sister in China) wouldn't like it. Then they would look at it again and both nod in approvement! Big sister may rule, but then again big sister is not present to make the decisions! I saw a little bit of glee. Hannah and Sam made some pairing decisions too and are anxious to hear if their choices are the number one seller in China!!!!

 

Afterwards the three of us hopped on two boda bodas with brooms, squeegees, buckets and soap and headed to Musana's new hospital. We are truly becoming Ugandan. Our intention was to continue cleaning the building but it appeared someone had beat us to the punch. There wasn't much point in cleaning any more as the windows were open, the red dirt was flying in and construction was still taking place. The top floor where the red clay was has all been removed but there is now a thick layer of dirt in all the rooms we cleaned. We decided except for the dust (which is inevitable) the whole building looked really pretty good. We will see what the status is before we go back and then will clean again if necessary. So we called the lead boda boda driver back (Richard), they returned for us and we returned to Musana where we ate a quick snack. Then we assisted Jamie in tutoring the kids in spelling and reading before school was dismissed. What a joy it was to see when they got something right. They were so excited! 

 

I then went and sat with the school cook and helped her and another woman sort through beans pulling the good from the bad. I actually found this quite refreshing after a day of running from one activity to another. It is quite therapeutic and I had a chance to talk with her and get to know her a little better. We then found out that Musana's Netball team was having a friendly match against another school so we went to the back forty and with all the Musana students cheered them on. It was awesome to see the students supporting their team and jumping up and down and yelling every time they scored. Rashida came by and her school uniform had a huge tear down the seam so I asked her to go change and bring it to me. I then proceeded to stitch it back together for her. Sadly, Musana lost todays match, but they were playing the best team in the area. This team really hustled and jumped and scraped for every ball. They weren't afraid to throw their bodies to the ground for a ball. Still Musana never gave up and their fans never stopped cheering. It was fun to watch. There is nothing better than faithful fans!

 

We are all moved into our new digs. Hannah and Sam are now sharing the room that Judy and I shared and I now have a room all to myself. We are in a two-bedroom suite (I use that word very loosely). We have two suitcases filled with snacks (we body searched the leaving team members to ensure they weren't trying to sneak any out) and are very happy. We did mourn our fellow team members for a while today and then got caught up in the activities of Musana. We are so thankful we are still here and have more time to spend with the teachers and staff. They are an amazing crew. We will spend the next ten days working with nursery kids, tutoring, doing some artwork at Sol Café, painting another mural and loving on the kids and staff. 

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