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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Our last adventure here in Uganda...

20 July 2015

 

Let me begin by saying HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Todd!  God blessed me beyond measure with reconnecting us in His perfect timing. Love you!!! 

I cannot believe that we are packing up tonight and leaving Uganda tomorrow. I know that I will be changed forever from the time I've spent here. Every morning we were sweetly greeted by Sarah, volunteer caretaker.  She has such a joyful heart and is a great cook, as well. 

This morning Kyemba arrived at 8:00 to drive us to Lake Victoria, with the 3 current Musana interns. The trip was very dusty and bumpy but more importantly, beautiful! We drove through villages that looked quite similar to Iganga and countryside that reminded me of Texas, lantana bushes, bougainvillea, piney woods and red dirt. Words don't do the scenery justice.  We made a quick stop for a restroom break just before the lake. I was told it was the nicest in the area…let me just say I would not want to see the others by that description! We all survived and loaded the Jesus boat without incident. More breathtaking scenery. Once ashore, boda bodas were gathered and the fun began. 

We arrived at a sweet village church, receiving the warmest of welcomes from the community.  We met the lead Pastor Charles and his wife, Sarah, his extended family and another local Pastor who was a muslim and converted to Christianity. After the choir performed for us, both adult and children, we listened to a sermon about being the salt of the earth. Jesus is the perfect teacher as he taught lessons that everyone could understand during his time on earth. He is still teaching them 2000+ years later. He loves us all and wants us to open our hearts to Him for a personal relationship, regardless of where on this beautiful planet we live.

Please pray for our new friends that live on islands in Uganda as well as all Ugandans to be strengthened by His love.

Love,

Julie

Worship and the Reality that Mzungu’s really CAN’T dance!

First off, I want to wish my sweet, sweet husband Happy Birthday! I am so glad you are finally a speed limit. Today we started our day at Kokombo going to church there with Pastor Wilson. I love Pastor Wilson and his heart. He is truly a male version of Mother Theresa. The women's choir performed for us and they have the most beautiful voices. Of course this is coming from the woman who can't carry a tune in a bucket. But they are such a joy to listen to. Every song comes with dancing and hip movements which no white person can begin to do. Then Wilson treated us to a sermon, in his usual animated style, and he reminded me so much of Scott. The hands were flowing and his voice raised and lowered as his expressions changed. Agnes, who works with Wilson, translated for us Mzungu's. One of the choir singers had a little girl who was three-ish. All the time the mama was dancing the little girl kept coming up and trying to hug on her. The mother just kept on dancing. After the service Wilson took all the books we had brought and dedicated them to his library. He was so thankful to be able to add to the books he already has. Then he prayed over the books. Wilson just glowed over Judy's thoughtfulness in providing him new books for his people to read and learn from.

 

Then the team, minus Tamara and myself, climbed the mountain (or should I say steep hill). They came back and said it was really overgrown this year and each member brought back a bunch of sticker burrs. Must have felt a lot like hiking in Texas! Tamara and I in the meantime met with Wilson and Agnes regarding the feeding program. We sat in the shade not exercising at all except our mouths. Both of us were quite content. During the time we were there two new children came in to add to the program. They patiently sat waiting for Wilson while we talked and finally I noticed they were there and asked Wilson to please take care of them. He and Agnes immediately jumped into action and did all that they needed to do to ensure they will be cared for appropriately. Agnes acts as the secretary and takes incredible notes on each child tracking their progress. Each child has its own individual file with pictures from the first day they came into the program to the day they are released.

 

Upon returning from their hike we went to Stephen Waiswa's house for a musical presentation from Rhythm Africa. The performance was incredible. The movements and endurance was overwhelming. The hip movements were phenomenal. I would have thrown out my hips in no time at all. They can shimmy and move their hips in such fast motion. I tried to demonstrate my dancing skills and all they did was laugh. I am always happy to entertain! There was one young boy that I remembered from last year. He was so cute and so enthusiastic! He moved his body until I was physically exhausted. The energy was something I am still amazed at!

 

Tomorrow we are headed to the Island. We are leaving at 8:30 and Kyemba has already assured us that the potholes can lead us to China. I love the drive and I love the boat ride. I hope the team enjoys it as much as I do. May God bless you all!

-Sue

The day we spent with our Ugandan family...

Guess what today is?!? It's my baby sister's birthday. Mary, I am so glad Mom tried once more for the perfect child. Happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy happy 28th birthday baby seeeester. I Love you. 

Setting the alarm last night for our 6:30am run was both scary and exciting. Today we were set to run the farthest so far in this training, and the thought of doing it here in the red dirt was almost too much to sleep through. Liz and I were up and at 'em, and hit the ground running. 8 miles is far in Texas, and I swear is even farther here in Uganda. It is a lot higher altitude and is more like trail running. The experience is so hard to put into words. The Lord sure does have an extra soft spot for this place. My 3 favorites from this morning's training were running with my sweet and amazing friend Liz (she's a rock star), seeing one of the biggest turkeys I've ever seen, and the sweet little toddler walking with her mother, carrying her own teeny tiny jerry cans. That, and being done!

After breakfast, we headed to Hope Africa. Hope Africa is a children's home here in Iganga, where a few of us have sponsored kids. Driving onto the compound is like driving home. All the kiddos are so excited to see you, and the waves and smiles just melt your heart. My sweet sponsored son, Moses, is very very tall, much like my son Camron is, and Brandon is becoming. He sticks out among all the other kids. As soon as we stopped, I yelled his name and went running to him. I figured he knew we were coming, but it was a big 'ol surprise! He just kept saying, "I did not know you were coming" over and over again. I hugged on that boy just as I hug on Camron and Brandon. He has the sweetest heart and is such a strong and compassionate young man. I then moved to shaking hands and hugging on all of the other kiddos, until I was given the biggest hug. I looked down and noticed is was sweet Massiat! Massiat is the Page's sponsored daughter, who I was able to connect with last time I was here. It was one of the highlights of my day to introduce those two. They were able to spend some sweet time together. We all had a great time connecting with new kids and reconnecting with our family there. Mama Jessica had such a big smile to see all of us again. It is such a sweet day to see all of our kids, but also a sad reminder for those of us who have kids that are no longer there. We have grown deep bonds with these kids, and it's very hard when we don't see them. Even though our time was short, we all very grateful for the time we did have there.

We then moved on down the street to Kyemba's house. He had invited us all over for lunch. We were welcomed with running and excitement from his family. When his wife, 

Namaganga, decides to prepare a meal, she REALLY prepares a meal. They even broke out a big 'ol shade tent, like something you would see at a wedding. Kyeamba went around and introduced us to his family, as Namaganga finished up our spread. Their family is the perfect picture of radical hospitality. He not only fed our team of 10, had his whole family come into town for us, they fed all the neighborhood kids first, before we had our first bite! There is a Joshua, twins Jack and Jamie, and now a new addition of Sue in Kyeamba's family. There was so much joy at their house, it was contagious. 

We made it back to Musana's guest house for another yummy dinner prepared by Sara. After dinner we were able to go back down to Musana for another movie night, this time for "The Little Rascals". Honestly, I was not really looking forward to it. We woke up early, ran, had a pretty emotional day, and I was just kind of done. But, in Uganda, you just power through. You know what happens at those kind of moments? God shows you something sweet. We got to movie night a little later than last time, and it was already dark. You couldn't see much in there, but one of the sweet girls came up to me to show me her seat that she was giving up. I sat down and she sat right nestled against me on the arm rest. I found out it was a little girl names Jessica. She leaned up agains me and held my hand the whole movie. It was so precious. It was the first time I had really been close to any of the kids here @ Musana. Sweet Jessica even leaned over a couple of times to scratch my back and play with my hair, one of my love languages. :)

Hi to Blake and my boys. I miss you.

Blessings, Jen

A Day for Accomplishments:

 Today, we went down to work on the library, all of us.  As we accomplished our  task in the library kids started to show up.  We taught a few of the older kids the method Judy and Julie created so the older kids could teach the younger kids.  After reading to the kids a little we headed to the Worship center where the school choir was going to preform.  I sat down in an empty row and a few kids sat around me.  After a good twenty minutes the choir was ready to preform.  (the choir has a competition the 23rd and they wanted us to watch their dress rehearsal.)  The entire thing was surrounded on the fact that young marriages and young pregnancies should NOT take place.  They were amazing, all the songs they sang were ones they wrote and they danced and did poetry.  It was so good, they danced and sang so beautifully.  During a short intermission some kids were dancing, Sue decides that next intermission we were gonna dance for them!  I was not too happy about that, but some how Tamara got out of it! I just wanna know how that even happened.  Well, once we got up on the stage I had no clue what to do, so I just wiggled my hips then the kids started to come up and dance with us.  Once the intermission was over we sat back down, then the choir finished.  The choir has made quit an accomplishment today and I know they'll do great in their competition.  After the choir preformance we headed back to the room so that the mural group could change into our paint clothes.  After we changed we went down and put the few finishing touches on the mural.  The group consisted of me, Liz and Hannah for today.  We finished up leaves and the kids in the tree, we finally accomplished the mural!  When we finished we planned on going to the market.  While we were waiting to here from Kyemba we sat in the breezeway connecting our rooms and some of the boys that live at Musana came over, Tony, Grace, Ezekiel<(goes to Musana, mom works at Musana), Betty<(i honestly do not know much about Betty).  Tony wanted to take pictures on my phone so I let him take a few because honestly it isn't very smart to give the kids your phone but me being me I did.  I got my phone back and then Tony and Ezekiel decide that they want to tickle me!  I finally got them to stop tickling me by tickling them.  Once we heard that Kyemba was on his way we walked to the gate to meet Kyemba to get in the van, and we headed to the market. 

(IF YOU CANNOT HANDLE GRUESOME TYPE STUFF I WOULD RECOMMEND NOT READING BELOW THIS!!!)

Right as we drove into the market, it was like BANG! Meat, every where, normally I am pretty okay with meat but I'm talking like 10 carts in a row full of meat... with tails.  Some intestines here and there, it was pretty gross.  I could only look for so long, just reminds you not to eat most of the meat here because it sits out pretty much all day long.  

(OKAY CARRY ON WITH READING! I PROMISE NO MORE NATSY)

Once Kyemba parked and we went into the inner market it was good.  The inner market was mainly fruits, vegetables, kitchen utensils and brooms.   Once we got out we checked out the few fabric shops that were open.  Few shops were open because today was ED, a muslim holiday symbolizing the end of Ramadan.  After a few group members made their fabric purchases we got back in the van and headed back to Musana.  When we finished eating me, Judy and Hannah got to talk with Haril for a little bit and it was so sweet!  After we finished talking we headed down to the fire one of the interns, Jamie, had made.  It was good until the smoke gets all in your eyes and you gotta move, but it was fun to sit and just be there.  Not many people can say they've had a Ugandan camp fire?! :)  I got up and came to the room, I smell very smokey. ;)  Now, I'm here typing out this blog for you people to read, I say it like that cause i have no clue who all reads this but.. HI PEOPLE!! :)   (: And that is how my day went, hope you enjoyed reading our adventures this week, I can't believe we are gonna leave in a few days, its crazy!  Well anyways, BYE PEOPLE!! :)

Have mercy! ~ Emily Marquez

(for those of you that don't know "have mercy!" is a quote from the TV show Full House, I just felt like putting that quote there) (: 

The Barefoot Olympics

Tonight was Trivia Night at the Sol Cafe, so it's a late evening for us.  More on Trivia Night later.  

The morning had us working in the library a bit more, (It's beginning to sound like it's a major job, which it is, but we only have an hour or two at a time to work on it at a time,  so it seems like we're always "working on the library").  I personally am excited about how it looks after pulling off shelf after shelf of books that are either pieces and parts of books, or in the completely wrong section (adult fiction books in the math section, easy to read books in the science section, etc,).  We even had to sweep tiny shards of glass off the floor from a window that had broken last week.  We've marked the books by reading level and sorted the textbooks that are stored in the library.  We all realize, however, that the first time the kids use the books, it will all be chaos again.  

The Musana kids were competing in a soccer and netball tournament today, which we were fortunate to be able to attend and lend a cheering hand.  Netball is similar to basketball, except that the players do not dribble, they pass the ball around a smaller court, and they score by getting the ball into a circle around the "net" and with one hand, try to get the ball up into the "net" (there is no net, just a circle of metal on top of a pole).  There are rules about shifting their stance as they shoot, and the other team cannot block the ball from the goal as they shoot.  The blocking is done as the ball is moved down the court.  Think ultimate frisbee meets basketball.  It's played mainly by the girls and the Musana girls won both of their games.    

The boys soccer (football here) team dominated in the first game and won 2-0.  They had a little more competition from their next opponent, but still won 1-0.  The field was enormous, sloped down on one side, had holes to avoid, and they played in their bare feet.  There were no parents yelling that the ref was an idiot, or bringing little orange slices for the boys.  

It was a lot of fun watching them play and watching the other students were were there from other schools.  The host school had a number of younger kids watching the games, but they were more interested in watching us Mzungus (white people).  The school had a number of deaf students, two of which made friends with our driver, Kyemba.  He showed his sign language skills again with the five-year-olds and made their day. 

Thursday is always Trivia Night at the Sol, so off we went to dinner in downtown Iganga.  Hannah and Sam were the question writers.  Our group divided up into two teams, and with the other people who played in the restaurant, my team came in third.  Who knew that India was the largest producer of bananas in the world, or that a cockroach farted every 15 minutes???

We're pretty wiped out from our day in the sun at the games and are not going to take long trying to fall asleep. We continued to see the fruit of Musana's labors today in the coaching, kids' behavior and sportsmanship.  

Blessings, 

Judy

From sunrise to sunset

The morning began early, at 6am, for a hike to watch the sunrise from Pride Rock. We walked through the village until the highway. As we were walking, the Lord brought to my attention the crowing of roosters. That heartfelt cry is like his cry for us. Just a bit past the highway we stumbled upon this giant chunk of some type of granite, out of nowhere. We made it to pride rock, watched the amazing sunrise, and took a zillion pictures. We then had Vicki lead us into a sweet devotion, that applied to stumbling during our hike as well as walking on smooth pavement. We are all in need of Jesus, "Through the calm and through the storm."

 

We came back to Musana for breakfast and split off for our assigned projects. The artists (and Jen) started a mural on the Nursery building wall while the bookworms (and Sue) went to work in the library.  Hannah had drawn out a sketch of a beautiful landscape that our Musana friends loved.  They got to work, one stroke at a time, which several hours later produced an amazing, sweet God inspired painting. They have a still a few details to finish tomorrow. 

 

Meanwhile, us nerds hit the books. Musana has been blessed with a room full of books however we wanted to help out in organizing them.  Judy and I were giddy as we ran across many of our favorites. Vicki shared her love of Bear Snores On, Sue stumbled upon Owen and Tamara relived her girls' past reads. We made great progress in a few hours but will need to spend just a bit longer to finish up.

 

We were graciously served lunch and got to eat with the teachers during their hour long and duty free lunch. After a quick potty break, the adventurous afternoon began…WE RODE ON BODA BODAS! Yes, through the streets of Uganda! What a memory I will cherish! We went to visit a Musana women's project that makes tie dyed fabric and is added to the many crafts sold for sustainability. We were welcomed with singing, clapping and dancing. Edward, a Musana social worker, introduced everyone. Then the work began! They showed us how the process is started, all the steps in between and we were shocked with the end result. Simply beautiful!

 

We all had unique perspectives by the time we returned. Through my eyes, I witnessed tender love given to the babies of these strong, hard working, resourceful women. I don't know if I've ever seen such beautiful love as I've seen here in Uganda. It is indescribable. How blessed I am to have been brought here to witness love like this!

 

May G-d bless you and keep you!

 

Love,

Julie