Uganda Update Day 300026

Today we started the day by going to Phil's kids house to visit with the children one last time. When we arrived only the secondary kids were there as the primary children were still in school. We had a great time playing with them. Sam was in a group with Regina, Moses, Gabriel, Ruth and several other kids who started out hitting volleyball and ended up playing keep away. The kids were all so excited to have someone playing with them! The joy on their faces was great to see. Samuel, Peter Longoli and I sat around and talked for a while Hannah and a few of the kids threw an American football around. I will say they are better at soccer than football but they were all having so much fun and it was fun watching Hannah (future football star) teach them how to throw the ball. I got to see Scovia today and she looked good though she told me that Susan was sick with Malaria. Phil was in Kampala getting the truck fixed so we didn't get a chance to see him. But we thoroughly enjoyed the time with the kids. Moses wanted to be sure Jen that we told you he was praying for you and he loved you. Judy, Samuel wanted me to tell you that he loves you more than anyone in the whole world. Those two kids are amazing. I really will miss them all when we leave.

 

I then dropped the girls back at Musana so they could continue with "their" projects (Hannah with the dining room walls and Sam with the sign for Sol Café) and I got back into the car to head to Bulubandi. 

Arriving back at Musana I found Sam in the room sewing letters onto the sign for Sol Café. The final product is great and Patrick at the restaurant loves it. I immediately put on my paint clothes and joined Hannah at the wall. She is still creating remarkable things and relegating me to writing quotes. Today I wrote two – all the while talking to Isaac and several of the other kids. He is such a bright little boy. He kept asking me question after question about everything. He finally said, "I need to know your name". I told him my name was Suebee (Sue is too hard to pronounce) and he said I should have picked another name because that was hard to say. I responded by saying I didn't have a choice, my mother picked the name when I was born. I asked him how he got his name. He grinned really big, and told me his mama picked his too! After about two hours of painting and talking I called it a day and took my first real shower in two days. I can honestly say being clean never felt so good. Then Kyemba came back and off to Sol Café we went for Trivia night. I am proud to say I have a perfect record at that game. I am not so proud to say that my record is perfect in losing!! Andrea shared her story with us of how she came to be at Musana and all the struggles she went through in the first several years to get the school off the ground and running. It is an amazing story and reinforces that God was a part of this plan from the very beginning. It is unbelievable that as a young 20 year old she didn't give up but instead fought every battle and challenge that came her way. Today as she looks back she realizes that there are many things she would do differently in hindsight and is glad she had the guts to realize where they were making mistakes and had the courage to change directions. Acknowledging mistakes and the willingness to make changes is what has made Musana so successful over the years. That and the faith they have and the love they all share for the children and for each other.

 

So tomorrow is our last day here. Hard to believe this journey is almost over. It has been wonderful! I will miss the people, the countryside, Kyemba, all of Musana and chappati. I will not miss cold showers. I love you all.

 

Sue/Mom 

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Preparing to Say Goodbye...

Happy Anniversary to my seester and her husband! It was great to talk to you and hear your voice! I'm looking forward to when we can do that on a regular basis!

 

We got up early this morning (actually Hannah and Sam woke me up), our second day without water, and after a breakfast of Sarah's delicious eggs we headed back to the dining room to paint. We didn't pass go; we didn't collect our two hundred dollars.  We just collected our paint and got right to work. I finished the verse I started yesterday and wrote another one. Sam painted two new ones and Hannah created a new and wonderful design. Yesterday she was a little stressed that the job wouldn't get finished but after today I think she is feeling a little more confident. What she is designing is absolutely beautiful. The collection of creativity just blows me away. I am in my element just printing verses.

 

The kids still swarm us at every break they have. They are fascinated by the artwork. Even Gideon came down late this afternoon and painted the tires on his bicycle. Emma helped him (each side of the tires was a different color) though he told me this would just lead to the bicycle being stolen! But Gideon was having so much fun and was so proud of his work! Watching him paint was a very joyous experience! I will be amazed if my camera makes it back to the US in one piece. It now has touches of paint and is covered in orange dirt. The kids all try to grab it after each picture to see what they look like. Then as a group they all break into giggles. I have learned to be quick to take a picture and then to quickly lift the camera over their heads to display each picture! I love these faces! They are all beautiful.

 

The kids finished their exams today. Vicki, I spoke with both Solomon and Benjamin and told them you were interested in how they did. Both assured me they had done very well and both were happy that you had asked. It seems that every child I talked to feels good about their performance! That speaks so highly for the education they receive at Musana.

 

As I write this there is the constant sound of hammering in the background. Sam is in the kitchen hammering new fabric onto the sign for Sol Café. We have promised that it will be ready by tomorrow. With painting all day Sam is going to be up late sewing on the letters. She has taken full ownership of this project and she is serious about getting it done. I can't wait to see the final project. We asked Kyemba to go into town for us today to buy small nails. We probably need about 40; what we got was half a kilo! We now have enough nails to give every member of the Roman army their very own!! But we got them at the Ugandan price and not the Mzungu price so we are still ahead of the game! He also brought us chappati!! We were in heaven!

 

At the end of the day as the wind was blowing in and we were sure a storm was brewing I finished writing the first part of the Shema. There was a group of girls standing around me as I wrote the final word. I decided it was a good time to explain what the words meant. So I told them what we say every week in church that in God's smallest finger is enough power to transform the world. I then showed them how to say the Shema and had them say it with me. It was awesome seeing them raise their pinkie and repeat the words I had just written on the wall. I told them that every time they read those words they would know that God has the power to do anything. 

Tonight is our last dinner at Musana. I can't believe our time is almost over. It seems that we just got here and it is already time to go home. I have loved our time here. It has been the most productive trip I have ever been on both in terms of what we have accomplished and relationally. The projects have certainly helped to form relationships. And the relationships have led to other relationships. I am going to be so sad to head home and leave all these new friends behind. On the other hand, I am anxious to see my family and friends at home and share this trip. The pure joy we have experienced. 

 

Tomorrow we are heading to Phil's in the morning then I will bring Hannah and Sam back here to paint and I will head back to Bulubandi and Kokombo to finish some things I have started. I am hoping that these two stops don't take very long so I can get back and spend some time painting and with the kids. Tomorrow night is Trivia night at Sol Café. Hannah is putting together questions as I write. Those two young ladies have been incredible on this trip. They have done everything asked of them with pure willingness and have gone above the call of duty every single time. It has been a pleasure and an honor to serve alongside them. I am so proud to have taken this trip with them. I can't wait to see what the future holds for them.

 

Thank you all for your prayers and your thoughts. We couldn't have done this without you. God has blessed us every step of the way.

 

Sue/Mom

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Adventures with Sue

I am starting tomorrow's blog tonightbecause I want to make sure I don't forget the excitement we just had. This huge bug got into my room and was flying around the light. Hannah, who is afraid of bugs, came in to save me with her shirt in hand and her toothbrush in her mouth. Next thing I know she is flinging her shirt at the bug and running away. This continued for a number of minutes as I am under the mosquito net fully protected and Sam is saying she will help in any way but has taken out her contacts and can't see a thing. Hannah is flinging away and jumping at every move. Finally the bug lands on the floor and I scoop it up in her shirt. Her next words are, "Don't squish it, I like that shirt". So outside we go, open the shirt up, fling the bug away and run into the room quickly closing the door! It was a good release for all of us! Hannah was a hero and Sam provided good support! Now fully exhausted from the day, we are all going to bed! 

Ok, turns out the bug we were so afraid of Sarah fries and eats for breakfast! She eats our enemy! She has an entire cup full of them ready to eat. I am so glad to have Bill Miller right down the road!!! All I can say is bugs beware. Sarah is on the prowl! She actually came in our room with a whole pot of them tonight and offered a few to us. I am a little embarrassed to say we all politely turned her down! She just smiled and downed another one!

Sam here! Since Hannah and I stayed at Musana painting most of the day, I thought I would add a bit about that for the blog tonight. If it hasn't been mentioned in previous blogs, Hannah has been tasked with painting the entire dining hall…which is very big. So today she managed to get most of the longer walls done. She has separated it into about three sections: a sky full of hot air balloons, two elephants playing with kids, and a sea. The sea hasn't been finished yet, but she has really big plans for that scene! Once she's finished it, I'll write about it and hopefully include a picture. I spent the day helping Hannah by painting the columns between sections and later working on a sign for Musana. At Musana's restaurant, Sol Café, there is a fabric sign they use to hang and sell jewelry made by Musana's ministry. They have asked us to redo it, so today I worked on finishing the fabric letters for the sign and removing the old fabric. All that's left is to attach the new fabric and sew the letters on. Once I finished what I could for the sign, I went back to help Hannah (as best as I could). It was really fun to paint the walls, especially later in the day when school is over. At that point, most of the kids have either gone back home for the day or have gone to play and do other things. A few kids will hang around us while we paint, so Hannah and I let them help us make flowers on the columns and waves in the water. Some kids like to add some paint and then go back to watching us, but a few of the older kids were really into painting. I enjoyed watching them play around with different colors and patterns on the wall; they really had a knack for it! I hope that if it's not already, art becomes something that those kids keep as a hobby, because they seemed to truly enjoy it and took pride in what they made. All in all it was a long, really fun day! 

It was a good day and I feel I was able to wrap up a lot of loose ends. I am so thankful for this trip and the peace I have felt. I know we are serving exactly where we are meant to be. I thank God for his grace in leading us to this place and the joy he has given us on our journey! Kari, you are in my prayers and thoughts. You are beautiful and talented. You are capable of doing anything. I believe in you with all my heart. I can't wait to hear from you… 

May God Bless you all!

Sue/Sam

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Haiti Round 2: Day 1 & 2

Well, we made it and it is so good to back! Waking up at 2am to be at the airport on time was not ideal, but today, by the grace of God, I feel rested and refreshed. Flying into Port au Prince is always an experience. When looking out of the window at the city, you see nothing but rusted sheet metal roofs and lots of dirt. The airport was crowded  and slightly overwhelming, but our translators take such good care of us. From the airport, we hopped into the tap taps to head to the market to buy a few supplies....primarily water because it is extremely hot! In fact, as I'm writing this, I'm checking to see if the street lights are lit indicating the city power is on! When the street lights are on, our AC works in the room, but as of right now....it's not looking good... so we're preparing for another warm night.  

When we finally made it to the guest house, Francois and her daughters welcomed us with open arms. They are such a precious family. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in order to prepare for our first full day. 

Today (Monday), we started the day off at the museum so we could learn a little more about the history of Haiti. Wow.... the knowledge of where this country has come from is a game changer. After the museum, we went to the top of a mountain to a lookout area where we could see the entire city. It was beautiful!! The tiny houses lining the mountain and the crystal blue water along the coast were breathtaking to see. After we "ooh'd and ahh'd" and took a few pictures, we headed to the orphanage. This was what I was most excited about today. Since my last trip over a year ago, I've been looking forward to seeing two specific girls in the orphanage, Wilna and Kieshna. I searched everywhere for them only to find that their families had come for them and they were no longer in the orphanage. In that moment, I was experiencing such conflicting emotions. I was incredibly sad that they were gone, but so grateful that their families had found them. The rest of the kids were so excited to see us. They have an indescribable joy that is amazing to witness. We played jump rope and soccer most of the time, however there is nothing sweeter than sitting in the dirt with one of those precious kids in your lap. I want to bring them all home! 

We ended the day with a delicious meal prepared by Francois and her girls. After dinner, we spent time worshipping and talking about the days events. I can already see the Lord working in this team and I am so excited to see what He has in store for the next several days. Thank you all so much for your constant prayer. We are so grateful to be here! Stay tuned for more updates!

Kali

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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