Pre trip... 32 Days to take off...

Marare is located in the Mbale district, which is in the southwest corner of Uganda. The closest geographical idea I can give you about Uganda is that it is half the land size of just southeastern Ontario, and the same closest shape, but holds 32Million people.  Probably better just to look at the picture inserted here:

The Mbale district is highlighted in a green and red circle... and ...

... as you can see, it`s about as far away from the Congo as you can get, and comfortably far away from Sudan. I mention both of these countries for my families sake because these two countries have a history of being unstable.

Unfortunatly for them, Somalia is close by, although when you look at this map you see Kenya on the east, but on the other side is Somalia, so when I land in Nairobi I will be even further from the Congo and Sudan but closer to Somalia.

Regardless, life is a risk so why not take it.

The two official languages of Uganda are English {Yippee} and Swahili. Swahili was instituted by Idi Amin back in the 70's, because quite a few people North of Lake Kyoga speak it, but it is very rare to find it spoken anywhere else. This is because The Congolese and Sudanese people speak it to the north. Where Northgate Baptist is going, Lugando is the primary spoken language and about 3-10Million people speak it fluently. I will be brushing up on my Lugando pretty soon. Just so that I understand basic words in the event of a.. something or other.

Most people in the Marare district of Uganda live in mud huts, or more appropriately called Rondavel's. You can find out more about them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rondavel .

The children in Marare suffer from malaria, ulcers, malnutrition, pneumonia and diarrhea. The nearest clinic for people to attend is about 5km away, which, in our culture may not be far, the roads getting there can make this trip almost impossible during the rainy season when the roads are wiped out.

Gender equality is another problem in this district, as kids, more specifically, female children are discriminated against highly.

There are 514 households in the Mbale district, and 1,214 children under the age of 18 living in this region.

The agriculture in the Mbale district isn't quite what we're used to here either, where access to clean safe water isn't always available. While Marare has great fertile soil, floods often threaten secure food production and the consumption, storage and preservation.

Bible Verse of the Day:

John 21:17

A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.