The Last Post....

We have been saying goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. We have goodbye fatigue.  A major step was the FH staff this morning.

I do want to say that I think that that the organization is getting excellent value with the staff. I am writing up an introduction to all of them, with full names, trainings, roles and family info, but it's not ready yet ... but there is no question that the people here (Moses, Molex, David, Julius, Miriam, Sarah, David, Stephen) are doing good work and are worth the money spent. I especially want to acknowledge a few - Irene, Sam and Edith - who are actually volunteers!

One thing we hear over and over is that they want us to keep coming. I'm still processing all of that ... it's a lot for us to come here, especially when you compare it to the scale of what things cost here. But I have taken a few key people aside to look them in the eyes and grill them on this. they are emphatic that it is worth it ... the face to face relationship aspect of this work is key.

Anyways, that's it'. I am writing this in the bus on the highway to there, in between the massive speed bumps (yes, on the highway) in each village. We are about to debrief at Jinja and then the FH Kampala office, after which we as a team will start scattering. Edith I and Jessica go on to a further adventure in the suburbs of Kampala that I'm sure we ill tell all of you about when we get home.

God is good all of the time. All of the time. He is good. For that is His nature. See you all back home.

Goodbye Day ...

This is going to be a brief post. I am emotionally exhausted. But it was a very good day, even though it was the day of goodbye.

We actually started out with a demonstration of an FH program that we had not seen before ... foot irrigation pumps. These are used, especially in the dry season, to irrigate fields, taking water from swampy areas and moving it to higher fields.

In Canada we have step machines; in Uganda they have pumps.

This is a relatively new FH program (three years); the machines are given to groups of 10 families who share and manage them.

They showed us how they irrigate a maize patch. At one point a water fight actually broke out between the women doing the irrigation.

And now the closing ceremonies started. I would have to say it might be a somewhat smaller affair than what I had seen from previous years, primarily the school kids and the adults associated with them. But it did not lack in emotional impact.

The children first danced and did a play. We see a lot of evidence of the education system using education (for example reading texts we have seen) to teach and reinforce social messages. We got it full force today ... a powerful recitation against child marriage and child malnutrition, a dance showing the benefits of girls staying in school, another play encouraging men to speak out against other men over-drinking and perpetrating family violence and exploitation.

We then got a number of songs from the school choir expressing their sorrow at us leaving, in two cases individually by name. Once again young Edward, the cutest little choirster on the face of the Earth, did mine. All extremely touching.

The church choir (officially the Marare Sounds Of Peace Choir) sang. Initially they came in sing one song. In that set they sang four. Later they came back for another song ... no, make that three. In the second set they were joined by their two male members, so they were a full four parts plus soloist. They are marvelous to listen to, especially for a choirster like myself. I am listening to one of my videos of them as I write now.

Then were the speeches ... several ... parents association, school management committee, headmistress, FH staff, culminating in a speech from the bishop's representative, Rev. Wantala. He works in the diocese office as their youth specialist and is an excellent speaker (later we chatted with him at lunch)

Finally came the high point ... we were presented with traditional clothes ... long cream robes for the men, beautiful colorful sashed dresses with high peaked shoulders for the women.   My battery was near death and I didn't get a picture of us in these...

Actually, no, the high point was lunch ... we were ushered into one of the classrooms and showered with food.

We waddled out for an informal time of visiting with the children and adults and playing before we left. Now it started to feel like goodbye. It was hard to walk away.

As I walked to the bus I had the funniest experience. A little girl walked up to me and said, "Do you know Rocky?" I kind of mumbled, not really understanding ... and she said, "Do you know Brenda?" .. this was the Pon's sponsor child! We got a picture...

And we left, my camera battery utterly dead from all the pictures I took. But whether it is us or other in the team, Northgate will be back. And in the meantime we leave them in Christ's capable hands.

Marare People Profiles

I just want to mention a couple of people who have caught my attention as leaders ... unfortunately I have less information on them than I would like ...



Sarah Rose

Rose is the choir leader. She is also an VSLA member and member of the Adult Functional Literacy group. She is definitely an influential person in this community.

Joshua

Joshua is the Lay Reader in the church. I stand to be corrected on this, but I believe the role of lay reader is one who can lead a service in the absence of a ordained minister. This parish has a dozen actual churches and one ordained minister (the Rev. Charles, who we met) who makes the rounds; Joshua takes care of it the rest of the time. He is clearly an articulate and well-spoken man who also served as the father's representative at the meeting with the mothers we described in yesterday's post. (For the life of me I can't find a picture of him in my 1000 .... I'm somewhat devastated by this ..)


(finally one aside on the weather. It has been very warm, although not oppressively so. Although we are one degree from the Equator, Uganda is on a high plateau and so is not as hot as you might think it would be.

It is, however, quite humid. Combined with the dust (not clouds of it, but somewhat more than we are used to) and you do feel kind of grotty much of the time. We have taken to showing morning and night.
We have had rain most days, although only once was it a lot or long lasting. The rest of the time it has helped cool things off.)

Coming To The End Here...

Tomorrow we will have the closing ceremony ... I'm trying to prepare myself for an emotionally draining day.

(actually tonight's blog posting is a joint effort between Rob and Allan .... just so you know ... )

I will now bring us up to yesterday.  There is no way to get through everything we have seen ... even if we had posted daily, or even twice daily.   So there will be plenty to hear at the sharing evening.

First thing in the morning .... lo and behold after the team talked about the new electricity in the village and having many questions about it, Kenneth, a local electrician was introduced to us  by Moses.   I'm profiling him below.

In the morning the team made two home visits. Sandy who Jenny Ruim sponsors and Rachel who Arnold and Shirley Urbonas sponsor.

During the afternoon we were honored to visit the home of an amazingly active and outgoing lady. Susan, along with her precious children, Joshua and Violet, welcomed us all with huge smile. 

One of the first students to the sewing program, Susan proudly shared the clothing she's made. She also shared with us the crocheting she's completed.   Susan is selling these in the community (and now beyond ... opportunity will be given to buy clothes from her as part of the fundraising for next year's team.)

(Rob speaking ... I'm reading back on my post of a few days ago and I hope that I have not been creating too grand an image by describing Deborah's situation.  Therefore I am drawing attention here to Susan's.  Susan's home is also very much a success story ... but of the more gradual and subtle success that perhaps is more typical)

Despite being instrumental with making bricks for the community, Susan's home is a humble construction of mud and sticks.

At first it might look like stereotypical poverty.  Look again.  Susan proudly points out three things;

• the new metal  roof that she was able to save for
• the pile of bricks she's made for her future kitchen addition.
• her pedal sewing machine.

Susan fills her spare time with weaving bowls out of dried grass; she showed us three of her latest creations. As gratitude for our visit, Susan gave the team some of the bananas she's grown on her property. Unfortunately the team wasn't able to meet her husband as he drives a boda-boda during the day.

A few of the team members were able to visit a small group of mothers from the community. Some of the positives and challenges they share were:

Susan - there were no roads with proper access. Thankfulness abounded for the transformation of how women are perceived in the community and how empowered they feel.
Alice - happy for our partnership who was able to partake in the diary project, as well as helping with the school garden.
Rachel - very thankful for the Adult Literacy group as she has learned to read and write. She says she's still dreaming and very grateful.
Ellen - has seen the school move from temporary shelters to the permanent buildings which has encouraged parents to no longer send their children to other schools.
Marare People Profiles #2 - Kenneth

Kenneth is a young (24) man who is a proud product of Marare.

After taking four years of secondary school (it sounds like there is an option to do an abbreviated verson of the normal 6 year secondary program) he entered into a electrician training program. After two years he started work in his field. At first he was working with the power authority as a lineman, and also worked in western Uganda and even Congo for an electrical contractor, but he wanted to come closer to home.  Work was a bit hard to find, but he persisted, working his contacts, and eventually was taken on by a local electrical contracting firm.

He is not married, but it sounds like that is coming. He currently gets around by boda-bodas (motorcycle taxis) but hopes to buy a motorcycle of his own soon.

We had a good chat about various technical matters.  Perhaps I will talk about electricity in Uganda ... the good, the bad and the ugly ... at the sharing evening.
Final bit ... For the geography nuts out there...here are a few co-ordinates for your Google Maps pleasure ...

St. James Marare School 1.051880, 34.166573

New St James Marare church (under construction) 1.053035, 34.166958

Deborah's House 1.049116, 34.163656

Susan's House 1.052736, 34.168823

Farmer Abraham's House 1.051039, 34.167782

Just a short post tonight and then I'm off to bed ... so much to tell you all, but I'm going to hand off to Al and Diniz for the next posting and then we will share the job around.

Marare People Profiles

I'm hoping we can add in a short profile of people who live in this village ... to let you know a bit of who they are. There is a temptation to think of them as "the villagers", an undifferentiated mass, but this is about people ... so to start off let me introduce....

Nakoni and Jennifer

Nakoni is an enthusiastic man with a powerful voice. We first met him at the opening ceremonies when he stood up, faced the crowd and addressed them with great spirit and vigour. Of course we didn't understand a word, as he was speaking Lugisu, but I felt the desire to go along with whatever he was saying!

Two days later we met him again. He happily brought over his wife Jennifer to introduce her ... there was obvious affection between them.

Jennifer then introduced us to two of her grandchildren.

 Later as we walked into the village toward's Deborah's house (see yesterday) Nakoni grabbed me and insisted on showing me his home.  There was no escape.

Nakoni is a farmer, with a cow and goats. Nakoni was very sick about two years ago, and he was taken to the hospital by the members of the church community. He worstened, and actually was in a coma. But the community prayed for him, and he has fully recovered.

An Appeal To The Civil Engineers, Civil Engineering Technologies and Builders Out There

As we go through the village, we see buildings out of construction largely out of the local brick.   (a whole other subject explaining how that is made).  Sarah, one of the FH staff, pointed something out and asked me a question I was professionally unable to answer ... I'm hoping that my civil brethren out there can help ...

When the build evidently they use the local clay mud as mortar for the lower courses, using cement only for the upper ones; you can see the contrast in the building below:

 Sarah asked if there was a good reason for this, whether it had any advantages (other than reducing cost) or whether it was a bad idea.  The buildings are covered with mud and wattle after, and then in many cases (see Deborah's house) painted.  I don't know what seismic zone we are in; can anyone see what the rating of Mbale, Uganda is?

Day Four .... (or so)

We are falling a little behind, and I apologize for that. Objective here is to post at least every other day...posting every day may not be realistic. The days are long (but great) and we don't end until nine or so by the time we debrief as a team. So I have not had time to post. Tonight I will get something out or die trying.

 

So many things we have seen ... where to begin? I'm going to talk primarily about day four, with some things that fit into it from later days.... On day four the first part of the day was essentially an extended guided walk through the outskirts / farming areas on the outskirts of the village.

 

(you need to modify what you think of as "rural" vs. "urban" here ... the boundaries are quite blurry, and I would have to say that much of Marare really consists of scattered, but not far apart, houses interspersed with small fields. "Town limits" is not a really meaningful concept under such circumstances).

 

 For the farmers in the group (everyone else can skip ahead) along this way we see saw the principal crops, or at least the ones being grown this time of year. We saw:

• bananas. Being a large plant or even a low bush these are often grown fairly widely spaced in fields with other crops around them. There are evidently a number of different varieties with different characteristics, many not particularly sweet. We are often served matoke, which are starchy bananas not unlike potatoes.
• corn ("maize") in abundance ... probably the most common crop. It is eaten a variety of ways; we were often given corn cobs roasted over the open cooking fires; we also saw a porridge made from corn.
• groundnuts ... these appear to be a small peanut, which are eaten roasted or boiled. When roasted they look like what we call a Spanish peanut with a red skin.
• sweet potatoes. These are actually white and quite sweet.
• beans - these are rotated with or interspersed in other crops; obviously a good protein source for people, plus nitrogen fixing to improve the soil.
• millet - this small grain is extensively used to make flat breads and I believe porridges.
• sorghum - also used for a porridge
• "pumpkins" - a squash sort of like but not quite the same as our pumpkins, boiled or roasted in chunks.
• coffee. I have actually only seen individual coffee plants, and don't think I have seen it being grown as a crop, but I am told that a lot of coffee is grown around here and hope to buy some to bring home.
• various fruit ... mangoes, passionfruit, oranges .... we got given one that was something like a jackfruit, covered in spines ... delicious.

 

THUS ENDS THE AGRICULTURE TOUR ... we welcome back readers rejoining us here.

 

 After a time we came to Deborah's house. I believe that what we saw here was, at least from some important points of view, what success looks like.

 

 

Deborah has quite a nice house, especially from the outside where it it fully painted with decorative brick highlights. Deborah is obviously a real go-getter. Inside it is ready to go for power, with wiring and lights and even a TV. Not sure when the power is arriving but probably soon .. you see it expanding through the village.

 

 

   

Deborah is the intersection of two FH programs, both intended to promote self-sufficiency.

  

First of all she has for some time been part of the Village Savings and Loan Association program, belonging to one of the twenty-something VSLAs in the area. A VSLA is basically a tiny credit union. A self-administering group of 12 to 30 forms and pools their money, adding more savings as they are able on a weekly basis. This money is then lent out as it comes in to members of the VSLA at interest for things they need to do; money is paid back by end of their fiscal year, and the profits divided (there is also a separate part of the fund that is available to loan to members without interest for emergency needs). It is aparent that Deborah has been able to save significant amounts of money though her VSLA.

 

The other program is the dairy cow program. In this a cow, already in calf, is provided to a group of five families. The group decides who gets it first, and that family takes care of it. Once it gives birth the calf, if it is a heifer, is raised, bred and sent to one of the other families in the group and the cycle continues until they all have milk cows.

 

In the meantime the families that have cows, while they have the responsibility of feeding and caring for the animal, are more than compensated for this by the milk provided ... some for their own family, some for sale. In addition they get the manure, actually a big benefit for improving field fertility and yields.

 

 

As the pictures of the house can attest, the results of these have been fantastic for Deborah. And it is heartwarming to see how obviously happy and proud she is to tell us about it, and her cow, and the VSLA. She beams ... a one woman ad for FH. At another time we pass by Deborah on a path in the village, her head held high, purpose in her step, very much an empowered woman.

 

 

After this we walk on to meet Abraham. He is an older man, a small farmer farming about 3/4 of a hectare and supporting his family. He too has a cow through the dairy cow project. Abrahams's circumstances are signficantly more humble than Deborah's ... certainly his house, which he however is very proud to show us, is much more modest ... but it obvious that the dairy cow project is making a difference in his life. He doesn't speak in economic terms ... he speaks about having a sense of purpose. Again, his pride shines through.

 

We have seen a number of the dairy cows in the community, with their orange numbered FH tags, even though this is quite a recent program. A posting on the FH bulletin board indicates more good things to come.

 

 

(BTW the dairy cow project is supported directly through the FH Christmas Catalog; have a look in the there when it comes out, and consider supporting it. I'm sure that Deborah and Abraham would be the first to encourage you to do this.)

 

One more thing that I can't not mention (I'll skip the detailed description of the infrastructure put into the new St. James' church in preparation for it being wired, although I will produce something on request for any of the electricians, technologists, fellow EEs or just handypersons out there) was the meal. Early in the day we joined some of the (largely)women and men and were showed and took part a bit in doing traditional food preparation ... quite a laborious process.

 

 

 Imagine our surprise when we cam back later that day and were served the food that was prepared! Sweet potatoes, matoke (non-sweet bananas), boiled groundnuts, chicken, millet bread, and other things. I was good, but the big thing was realizing the amount of labour that went into making such a meal. Think of the stories you have heard about your great grandmother ... still reality here.

Day Three .. To the Village!

We got up this morning (to the sounds of roosters, dogs and the Muslim call to prayer), had breakfast, and got to the FH Office (the office is probably less than a half a mile away, but the FH staff insist on sending a taxi-bus for us. As an aside, they seem really eager to ensure we are safe and comfortable. Some of us worry that we are a burden to them; they insist that we are not, and that they are so happy to have us that they just want to do things for us. They work long hours when we are here, but according to Miriam they really view it as more of a break in their normal routine, a welcome time with guests.). Today we met most of the remainder of the staff: David, Sarah, Steven, Amos, Julius and Livingston.

 

  

We had a prayer, singing and devotional time, and Moses again told us some important things to remember. 

 

 

We drove towards the village in a normal Ugandan minibus (capacity: 14!). I'm really glad that we have Allan and Diniz with us; one of the many blessings of having these veterans is that they are able to point out the many changes and improvements along the way, that the rest of us would overlook. Right off the bat we had one pointed out; the highway going towards the village was paved! After a bit we turned off the main highway onto a decent enough dirt road and continued. Diniz and Allan got more excited as we went along seeing familiar (to them) things, culminating in the sign for the school ("St. James School. Motto: Never Give Up!"). We turned and came up to the (fenced) school yard. By this point it was obvious even to me that we were there ... because the children were running towards us. Many, many, many children, most in their green school uniforms.

 

  

Every other team before has described this moment, but you just have to experience it to fully appreciate it. You get out of the van, and you are mobbed. Hundreds of the most beautiful children, all of them wanting to shake your hand, many of them then holding on for dear life. The little girls grab your hand and curtsey deeply to you. You try to walk with the rest of the group, but you don't want to leave anyone out, so you move slower and slower towards the goal, eventually immobilized by the many around you who just want to be with you. 

 

 

In this fashion I managed to get well behind the rest of the team, not even noticing. And at this point I was approached by someone else ... an august-looking and well-dressed older man who I realized I had seen in pictures from previous teams. This was Charles the headmaster. Charles, with a big smile, hugged me warmly and then said something that I think encapsulated the core of what we are doing here:

 

  

"Thank you for loving me so much that you came all this way to see me!"

 

  

Charles then grasped my hand and walked with me to the school.

 

  

Now came the highlight event; the opening ceremonies. We the team were sat on chairs at the front of the school room facing the community, and the speeches began - headmaster (retiring), acting headmistress who is taking over from him, parent-school association, managing committee (I think this would be the equivalent of the board), pastor of the church, teachers, student body representatives, FH, and others. The speeches were either in Lugisu translated into English or English translated into Lugisu.

 

  

And of course the children sang .. a choir with powerful voices and any number of excellent soloists, some very young. They sang a number of songs welcoming us, one of them naming us one by one. 

 

 

 

This, by the way, is Edward, the youngest and most endearing soloist.

(the amazing part was that later we realized that not all of the children were there; many were away singing at a music competition. So this wasn't even the whole choir. Wow!)

 

  

But perhaps the best part of the ceremony was the new team members we gained. A number of children came up to us while we sat, quite boldly in some cases, and soon were sitting on various laps.

 

 

 

One little girl of about four in a white dress perched herself on Vanessa, next to me. She spent the whole time checking her out ... Vanessa's pony tail particularly fascinated her. 

 

 

 

As part of the opening ceremonies, we were all given names. It's a symbolic thing, emphasizing our bond to this community; but it is also practical, giving us handles that are easy to pronounce and remember for the people here. You do tend to forget, as many (especially the chidren) speak English and have familiar biblical or traditional English names (Esther, Emmanuel, Sarah, Edward, Charles just to name a few) that on the whole they are more comfortable in Lugisu. Here are our names with their meanings

 

• Jessica - Nekesa (means "harvest" - it's maize harvest time here)
• Marisa - Mukanwa (mean "beloved")
• Vicky - Muteesi (means "initiator" or "sender" - in reference to her sending multiple members of her family here now and previously)
• Allan - Mulekali (teacher)
• Diniz - Mulisa - (stunningly handsome one)
• Edith -Nakawoya (means "humble" or "inviting and easily approachable")
• Vanessa - Mutonyi (means "beautiful")
•  Arnold - Shisa (means "merciful" - reference to be a lab tech and doing health-saving testing)
•  Rob - Muyiyi - (means "creator" or "builder", in reference to being an engineer)

 

After the ceremony we were toured around the school and nearby church. Some highlights:

• the school is now three buildings; remember that when we first partnered with Marare this was zero. I believe that building three was completely local initiative.....
• the picture below shows the enrollment numbers for each level (primary 1 to 7). Note the numbers (that's a lot of kids) and especially the very encouraging gender balance; if anything more girls than boys, up to the top level, so apparently the girls are being encouraged to and supported in attending.

• we talked with one of the new teachers, Emmanuel. At first I tried to think of a way to delicately ask him how old he was; he did not seem old enough to teach. But soon we understood why. Emmanuel is a recent high school graduate who is going into education in the university in October (three year program). In the meantime he is volunteer teaching English and Social Studies! I have to say that that it's hard not to admire that level of dedication.
• we got some insight into agriculture in this farming area. Common field crops are corn (maize), cassava, beans and bananas, with rotation of crops (or sometimes just crops growing together). There are multiple (I believe up to four) crops per year grow.
• The new St. James church is approaching completion. It is an impressive brick building built with locally-made bricks, I would say double the size of the current building. Most of the inside walls are plastered, and the biggest thing remaining to be built is the floor (rammed earth I understand). It is even set up to have electricity - the pole with the line to it already set up outside, awaiting the final connection! This building is entirely a local initiative.

 

(here's an idea for church building committees everywhere. The village is evidently divided into sections, and each one has responsibility for completing one section of the inside of the church. It must be quite "motivating" to be able to visibly see that your section is falling behind that of your neighbors!)

 

   

We left via a second road out of the village (Diniz and Allan: "Hey! This is a new road! When did they build this?"). We finally got back to the FH office at three (we were due at noon, but this is Africa, not schedule-uptight North America, so it was all good). We took a short break and then went back to the school for games.

 

   

There was volleyball and netball (a game similar to basketball), with the whole thing culminating in a huge human-chain tug-of-war. I actually managed to miss most of the games as I was dragged into a classroom by a group of children who wanted me to teach them songs. I now have some video of a group of children one degree north of the Equator singing "Jingle Bells." I also got them to teach me songs, and even have them written out in their own hands.

 

  

The people may be late but the sun is always on schedule in Africa, and we left a little before sundown. We went back to the FH office for supper and then back home for a sleep. Overall a fantastic day.

 

   

Post Script - small update ... I just had to dispatch an unwanted visitor. I first I thought I might keep him, and even tentatively named him "Jimmy" ... he was so tiny and kind of cute ... but even at a quarter of an inch long a cockroach is still a cockroach.

Update ...We are in Mbale

Another brief post ... hopefully something fuller tomorrow, but tired now.

We a great day today.  The highlight was seeing Christine and (extended) family at her home, where she fed us lunch and we got to meet ... well, everyone - Sam her husband and Solomon her son of course, sisters, mom, etc., etc...!  She and Shalom are well ... Shalom is significantly taller (Christine isn't ;-)

After that it was a long drive to Mbale, although the road is now paved and so is pretty good (other than the speed bumps in every village, many the size of a respectable foothill).    We met some of the FH staff for supper (Molex, Miriam, Irene and a new staffer Sam, who is a recent social work grad), and are now at the hotel.

I suspect that most of my postings from now on will be centered around Marare and the work there, so I'm going to just post some random things I've observed so far not directly related to Marare that some may find of interest....these are my (Rob's) personal observations and feel free to ask other team members about their perspective.

I was less shocked at the admittedly short glimpse at the poverty in Kampala than I thought I would be.  Don't get me wrong, it was worse than anything I've seen, but much of it was not orders of magnitude worst than things I've seen in Southern Europe. 

What did strike me, which I think gave me  hope, was the sheer volume of small businesses I saw along the road - stores, beauty salons, pharmacies, restaurants and bars,  metal fabrication, etc., etc., etc.  Whatever else you can say, entrepreneurship is alive and well in Kampala.    Some interesting things:

• outdoor furniture stores ... lots of bed frames and also even soft furniture such as sofas.  Soon after we passed some of these it started to rain torrentially ... did they get the sofas in in time, and where would they put them anyways?
• many, many stores with overtly Christian names.  My favourites: "Leviticus Real Estate" and "Amazing Grace Collection Agency"
• yup, I saw it ... outdoor coffin sales.

Almost all the signage we have seen is in English ... in some senses I feel more at home here that when I was in Croatia or Italy ... at least I can read the signs here.
 I will say that the poverty in the villages, or at least the face they present to the highway, was more evident.  I'm glad I saw Kampala first as a transition.  In the countryside dirtier, more garbage (what we saw of Kampala was not significantly worse than most other large cities I have seen), buildings much more run down.

We saw tea, rice and sugar cane growing.  I'm told they also grow coffee here around Mbale and I did see a building that was the coffee co-operative (processing I assume)

The countryside remains lush, lush, lush.


It is thundering and the crickets are chirping.   Good night to the rest of the world from Uganda.

WE MADE IT (Yup, all nine!)

This is just a quick post to say we made it just fine.  We had quite a good flight, and were met by Moses.  We are now having lunch at Christine's house with her extended family, on our way to Mbale ....

All is well, God is good, keep praying and I will update ....

TRAVELLING LIKE MZUNGUS

It's the night before, and I'm just posting briefly to try out the computer we are taking with us ....


Our living room is in disarray, filled with 3/4 packed suitcases, and we are frantically checking our lists. We are not "travelling light" ... rather, I'd have to say that we are travelling like typical North American "mzungus", as I'm told we will be called in Uganda ... thank goodness for a 2 checked bag plus 1 carry-on limit.

Anyways, tomorrow we go; please pray for us as we go off on our adventure.


DID YOU KNOW?


Evidently (from everything I've read) "mzungu" is the universal Ugandan term for North Americans ... quite an accomplishment to have a widely-used term in a country with so many different languages. But what does it really mean?


(Again from what I've read), it appears to mean something along the lines of "one who wanders, or travels". It also seems to have connotations of "one who wanders aimlessly, or restlessly, or as if they were lost."   Hmmmmmm.....

2015 - The Making Of A Teasm

Monday, July 6, 2015 11 days to go….

I have been thinking for a while that it was high time to kick off the blogging for our trip … so here goes.

To be honest it still doesn’t quite seem real to me. In 11 days I will step on a plane from everything that is familiar, and some 20 hours later I will step off a plane into … well, I really don’t know. I keep reading things. I talk to people. I think that I have some intellectual inkling of what I will see and hear … the roar of the boda bodas … the chaos of Kampala … the different languages … fruit and tea and (best of all) coffee growing on trees … roadside coffin sales … the mob of people meeting us at Marare … cell phone towers in places that don’t even have electricity … children everywhere … dust … but I don’t think it will really impact me until it surrounds me.

So I’m probably not going to write anything about what we are going to see until we are there. It won’t age well. Instead before we go I want to talk a little about what we’ve done to get here … “the making of our team”. It may sound a little heavy on fundraising, because quite frankly that’s a lot of what we have done … but also because it has actually been the primary thing that God has used to form us into a team.

We first met in January of this year … a group of nine from four families, each knowing the others to varying degrees (some very little…). Right off the bat we heard the challenge .. raise how much by when? … and we went to work. 

We immediately dove into the deep end, starting with the most complex event, the Silent Auction and Dessert Evening, organizing it in six week. We’ve written elsewhere about what a success this was, and a very concrete wake-up to some of us as to how God was going to bless and take care of us, so I don’t need to repeat that. But we also very much saw each other in action. Going out of our comfort zones to approach donors (with great success). Organizing team meetings. Going over (tons and tons of) details. Hauling stuff. Decorating. Preparing food. All that stuff. And we did it together, remarkably well for a group with such limited familiarity with each other. It was a huge step to forming us into a team.

After a not-so-long break we went fundraising in May full tilt. This started with a fundraising team experience in which we faced a bit of adversity together. The first Saturday of our BBQ at Wallish didn’t start that well … with the Yellowhead actually closed between Edmonton and there (how often does that happen?) it took some of us well over an hour to actually get there. But it worked out OK. 

The second Saturday seemed to start out even worse … but in a very real way it was the greatest for forming us as a team. We got there in the howling wind and rain … we were close to just calling it a day. But as we sat there we realized that the Wallish staff were actually looking forward having BBQ lunch, and we decided to go ahead. We set up in the cold (thank goodness for the team members who brought coffee!), unable to even set up a tarp to shield us due to the strength of the wind. We persevered … and the people (and, in time, even the sun) came out. And we knew that we could work together, and even enjoy it, under less than ideal conditions. A good thing to know! (and thanks to Wallish Greenhouses!)

But if that wasn’t enough we had a third fundraising weekend in May … selling parking in the Comfort Heating lot for the Rainmaker Rodeo. Fortunately this was a much easier thing, with much better weather to boot. (and thanks to Comfort Heating) But at the end of it we were tired; but we also knew we could depend on each other to persevere. 

After this we went (deservedly, I would say) for something a little more relaxed. In some other years the Run/Walk for Marare has been quite an elaborate event, but this year we decided to make it low key; a simple event just for anyone to drop in. But that was OK; because it became another reminder that our team was part of a bigger team; the whole group of those who have gone to Marare before and have the village in their hearts.

In all our other events we saw members from former teams conspicuously showing their support; and we definitely saw it again at the run … organizing the venue and course at Goldbar Park (very nice), serving food, and then coming out to run and walk and just plain support us. A great feeling of being supported in community.

Anyways, just a few highlights … there were other things we did too, plus the excellent training sessions with Gary at our meetings (every two weeks!). But in the end one result; we have been formed, by the experiences that God has provided us, into a team.

So I don’t know what I will find when I get off that plane … but I know that I will face it with God, and with my team.

DID YOU KNOW?

And finally a bit of Ugandan trivia … why do they call the motorcycle taxis boda bodas? I mean, it rolls off the tongue delightfully, but why that name?

Well, here is the answer from Wikipedia….

“The name originated from a need to transport people across the ‘no-mans-land’ between the border posts without the paperwork involved with using motor vehicles crossing the international border. This started in the southern border crossing town of Busia (Kenya/Uganda), where there is over half a mile between the gates … . The bicycle owners would shout out boda-boda (border-to-border) to potential customers”