Working in Uganda

While on our mission trip, we have completed many projects! 

Building a veranda around the new baby and top class (preschool and kindergarten) buildings-

Check out one of the local mason workers that was leading the project. He doesn't have any shoes on! Talk about tough!

Planting bushes in the courtyard-

Oopsies! Forgot my gloves!
(At least it was night and I couldn't see how messy we were.)

Adding fascia boards on the buildings, so that gutters may be added-

Nick got the brilliant idea of painting the boards, one evening, before they were hung. Too bad they  had never done it that way and went for the extra (unpainted) boards first.... But, in the end, all the boards were used and all of them were painted one way or another.  

Putting in two 5,000 liter tanks in to catch the rain water from the gutters-

Just after the "boys" tank was set up on the pad.

Passing out shoes and dresses to over 40 students-

Eleven girls, who were needing clothes the most, modeled the dresses very well.
I wish you could have seen their smiles as we dressed them! 

Distributing over 200 pairs of reading glasses to people in the community-

( I may have to learn how to add pictures later... unfortunately I was at another school handing out dresses when this was happening. Just imagine many parents and community members putting on reading glasses and looking at a beautiful book as if it were the first time.) 

We have supported all of the projects, but the credit should go to the hard working people of Uganda; without them, none of this would be made possible. Although they may not move quickly or do things on time (like in the US) – they definitely work very hard! 

I feel like I am forgetting something, but I will be sure to fill that in once I am able to pour over our thousands of pictures and really reflect on what God has been doing while we have been His hands and feet in Uganda. 

WOW! God has really blessed the work that has been done. I hope that He is blessing your work as well. 

Go Where There is No Path

One of my second grade students, from the 2011-2012 school year, shared a leadership quote from her dad that says, “Go where there is no path”. I couldn’t help but think of that as we traveled over 12 miles through “the bush” this week enjoying the countryside and wildlife.

Enjoy some of our pictures…

These women put our walks through the hills to shame.
They are carrying bags of charcoal on their heads!

Our shoes were already pretty wet becuase it had rained the night before, but none of us really wanted to walk through the streams. Be careful Liz!
 (David is viedo taping- just incase you fall in.) 

One of the many baboons we got to see and "play" with. He would jump and shake the branches and hit the tree limbs trying to scare us. Then we would jump around and encourage the behavior.

This is David... he is one of the local guys we met that kindly volunteered to lead us on this adventure!

Check out these houses! I just can't get over the way they build their homes!
 (and I love that so many people plant crops on the rest of the land they have - no growing or cutting the grass here)

We were still in the middle of nowhere when we saw a group of men making bricks. They were very welcoming and showed us all the hard work they put in to make bricks. We decided that we might look like this guy too, if we did the kind of work he does everyday!

Well, that is an abbreviated version of our adventure.
Hope you enjoyed it!

A Trip to the Clinic

Thanks to the Chardon Rotary group, there is a fund for the health of the students. While spending time with the children we started to notice that many of them had a common head fungus, so we decided to collect children from the four youngest classes and take a trip to the clinic.

We went classroom to classroom to collect the students that looked like they may need some treatment. Then we made one big line of 31 and headed into town.

The new clinic in Masindi has been built and sponsored by a group from South Carolina. They will stay for three years and then hand everything over to the people of Masindi. Currently, there are three Americans helping.

When we arrived, we had the children sit in three benches in the waiting area.  The nurses weighed each student and took their temperature. Then they would move to the benches outside the doctor’s office. I would take them one by one into a room to be checked by the doctor. He was very kind and worked well with the children. I have found that many of the men are very nurturing here- maybe even more than the women.

Once the students were checked we took their paper to the cashier and they moved to one more set of benches where they would wait for their medicine- topical or oral or both, depending on the severity of their infection.

The last little boy I took to the Dr. had boils on his legs. His treatment was done by nurses in another room. He was about 5 years old and cried and cried – I felt terrible. Finally, when they finished I had him get on my back so I could carry him home.

Here the women carry their young children on their backs with a wrap around their waist. When I invited the little boy on my back he didn’t wrap his arms around my neck like children would in the states. He settled in and we took the mile walk back to school together. It’s an experience I won’t forget- and now I can be thankful ,when I take our future children to the doctor, that there aren’t thirty-one children along.

Quick Update From Uganda

Hey Everyone!

I'm sorry we haven't posted anything in some time. There is just so much going on and we want to make sure we take it all in, so look forward to more posts in the next two weeks as we wrap things up here and head home.

It's hard to believe our time is coming to an end already! I wish we had a few more weeks instead of a few more days. We know that it will be a little while till we can get back here again, so I think that is making it harder!

In the last week, we have...

-          been a few feet away from Chimpanzees 

-          “played” with a group of baboons

-          attended a traditional wedding ceremony called an introduction

-          attended a wedding (in a church) and reception

-          done some cement work

-          taken school pictures of over 500 students

-          planned a field day for later this week

-          planted bushes in the courtyard

-          visited friends in two villages

-          attended three church services

-          taken a boat ride down the Nile River

-          hiked to the top of waterfalls

-          taken a game drive with lots of wild animals

-          BEEN ABUNDANTLY BLESSED

.. and now we are going for a short stay at a hotel to have a night of R&R and a bit of downtime before we savor our last week here.

Check back for more details and pictures soon!
Till then… be blessed!

A Rock Foundation Education

It has been one (quick) week and we have been enjoying many things about Masindi and Rock Foundation School. We have also been working at the school, appreciating worship at church and visiting many friends. Over the next few days/ posts I will try to share some of these things with you and pray that you may find a place in your heart for God’s people here in Uganda.

Education means so much to me. Education also means a lot to the people here- maybe even more than in the United States. All students arrive at school between 7:30 and 8:00am. The preschool and kindergarten classes leave around noon. The early primary students are out at 4:00pm and the late primary grades and secondary students end class around 6:00pm. The secondary students, who are boarding students, will go back to school in the evening to study and “make corrections” (homework) till about 10pm.  Could you imagine these hours in the United States? That is just the beginning…

Take a look through these pictures and I will tell you a little bit more about Rock Foundation.

The students sit very close together at benches in the classroom. They are required to have a pencil and a notebook to write in, as well as a uniform and shoes.

Every day, all of the students in Uganda (who are given meals at their school and do not have to leave or hope for food at home) eat the same thing. If there are two meals served at their school, they are given porridge(cooked watered down cornmeal) in the morning and posho (cooked thick cornmeal) and beans at lunch. Sometimes the beans have cabbage or dodo (a green vegetable) to supplement.  If you didn’t catch the first words in this paragraph, go ahead and look again. Yes. Every. Day. The students eat the same thing every day! Not only do they eat the same thing- over 500 of them wait patiently in line and bring their own dishes and eat with their hands in whatever spot they can find. Talk about not being a picky-eater! 

At a special ceremony on Saturday, we learned about “prefects”. Very similar to student council, these are positions that students apply, interview and are voted for. Some of the positions include a prefect for: safety/ security, library, church, academics, sports, and “head boy” or “head girl” for each class. 

The ceremony was held in the church with lots of dancing and singing! I love celebrations here! (I can’t wait for the wedding next weekend)

Even one of the teachers gave a special performance! 

They take the positions very seriously and Christine (the director) really challenged them to be their best, but not think more of themselves than others.

Wow. There is so much more I could say… but I will stop here. If you have any questions or comments- I would love to hear them!!

Until next time- know you have been blessed and you can be a blessing!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

It is now 1:20am, local time, and I am trying to press the rewind button in my mind so that I may share with you some of the wonderful things we have experienced in the past two days. So here (in some order) are a few of my favorite things as I have been blessed with them in Uganda.

1.       Long Walks

I love long walks at home with Nick or his mom, some of our local friends or my mom. In Uganda, we walk as a team with between zero and 30 precious children. I love to hear them say “Muzungu! Muzungu! How are you? How are you?” and run to follow you or hold your hand. On our long walk into town we also met another Muzungu (white person) who has been assigned to Uganda through the Peace Corp. Her name is Emily and I ask that you remember her in your thoughts and prayers through the next few years. She is sure to bless others and be blessed.

2.       Gardening

I love gardening at home, so when the director, Christine, said that she had a garden for us to visit I was VERY interested! After a wonderful visit to the “other Rock Foundation School”, we got to see Christine’s garden. Passion fruit, papayas, pineapple, mangos, ground nuts, cassava, tangerines, pumpkins, and more! What a garden! And if that wasn’t enough- check out the view…

3.       Having quality time with children

On our first day we went around to most of the primary classrooms. Now, we have visited every classroom and the students are warming up to us quickly. When we went to clean up a few of the bricks that were left behind from a project, the little children were right there to help carry the pieces. When the older students had a break, they introduced themselves to us and shared their love and thankfulness for Rock Foundation School. When we had some “down time” after classes, we got out bubbles and had a blast! Christine’s daughter taught me a new game that we called “statue” and I enjoyed sitting with both of her kids during tea time to read a Boxcar Children book.

4.       Time to talk with and about God

God is good all the time (and all the time God is good) and I love the time we get to spend talking about Him with others and the time I have in solitude with Him in the evenings. I will try to create a post of food for thought (and the soul) when I have the time to really absorb all that God is giving throughout our minutes and hours and days. Sometimes it is a short conversation. Last night it was a 12am-5am “quiet time”. Tonight we walked to the church to join them for part of their all night prayer and worship service held every Friday on the school property. At first it was VERY overwhelming, but really that should not be a surprise because we have an overwhelming God.

5.       Healthy food

Mmmm… Rice, beans, mangos, cabbage, rice, beans, pineapple, chipotti, matokee, rice and beans (I told you I love rice and beans). My mom and I have decided that we must help the cooks and learn their tips and tricks for beans. Thinking about it is making my mouth water right now! For anyone who thought any of us may lose weight in Africa… think again. We are being spoiled by fresh, delicious meals every day! (Oh… and I forgot to mention… for those of you who really like meat... we were gifted with a few chickens since we got here.  One didn’t make it with us for 24 hours. The other two Mom and I are going to “re-gift” to the wedding we will attend next week!)

Well I hope you were able to enjoy some of my favorite things (Ugandan style). If anyone has any questions or requests, I would love to hear from you and make this a blessed experience for all of us!

Until next time- be blessed and be a blessing!

We Welcome You to Uganda

We have heard “We welcome you to Uganda” or “You are very welcome here” countless times in the last 24 hours. The hospitality of the Ugandan people should be commended and is nothing short of inspirational -in a life changing way. Although we traveled for more than 24 hours, we can somehow feel “at home” with our brothers and sisters here in Uganda. With a few short introductions and reconnections with old friends, I was quickly reminded why I feel homesick for this place at times.

In our first 24 hours, we found a wonderful hotel called Banana Village where we stayed in bandas for our first night. In the morning we stopped to visit our favorite carving place on our way to one of the WATOTO villages. (For those of you who are not familiar with WATOTO, I would encourage you to read about them on their website: www.watoto.com)  They have changed the paradigm most have for the word orphanage. To help raise funds to cover the costs, children visit the United States in small groups for 6 months at a time.)

A year and half ago, Nick and I were blessed to host a young man and two boys from WATOTO. We were grateful for the opportunity to cook for them, do their laundry, give them a bed to sleep in, and a place to call home for three days.  We also traveled to many of their concerts to show our support of them. This morning, Yasin welcomed us into his home in Subi Village. The moment I saw him from afar tears quickly came to my eyes and then faster a smile to my face. He has grown and still looks so happy! He showed us the room he shares with 3 of his “brothers”, the table he shares with his house mother and 7 “brothers” and the village he calls home. I couldn’t thank his host mother enough for dedicating her life to raising the motherless and fatherless as if they were her own. Uganda is a country full of wonderful people and I am so glad that these children have not be adopted outside of the country, but can remain and be taken care of by such wonderful people. It made me more excited to get to Masindi and see the children we will love on for the next three weeks.

 We arrived in Masindi for a late lunch around 4pm. After lunch, I tried to learn a few of the games the primary 1 and primary 2 children were playing. Then I taught them how to sing “Ring Around the Rosy” and we sang it over and over, faster and faster, until it was time to visit the rest of the primary students in their classrooms. They welcomed us by grade and sang a few songs for us. We told them how excited we are to spend the next three weeks with them and then wished them a good night of rest as they headed home- almost 12 hours after they had arrived for school.

For supper I had a huge serving of joy in the form of rice and beans. If you do not know how fond I am of rice and beans, it shouldn’t take the next three weeks for you to figure it out. The after dinner conversation with the director of the school was better than any dessert someone could serve. Her heart for children and education is one I will continue to aspire for and I hope for many more opportunities to hear her heart and work beside her these three weeks.  

Now, at 11:30pm (4:30pm for those of you in OH) a little over 24 hours from when we landed, I need to thank you for your prayers, ask that you continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers, and thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy this journey with us, as you too are very welcome in Uganda! 

I'm Baaack ... before we go...

So it has been awhile and I would love to catch up, but instead I am going to take a hint from my dear friend Cliff and spare you the details... (and try to work on my photography skills in the future)

June started with lots of reading and relaxing! I am currently on my 5th book and 9th magazine. 

Then our calendar started to fill with baseball games and fun times with friends. Here are some of the fireworks we saw after the Mount Union Alumni event at the Akron Aeros game.  . 

The weekend after my birthday (June 15th), we had a family reunion to welcome my cousin (and his family of 6) home from serving our country while in South Korea for the last few years.

Then my husband's family had a get together to remind us of their support and well wishes for our mission trip to Uganda (July 9-30).

On June 30th, my husband and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. Each year we get our wedding attire back out and take a few snapshots at home. This year we asked friends of ours at Major Memories to take pictures for us at a local park. They turned out great!

And last, but not least (!), I squeezed some classroom time in this week so I don't have to rush to get everything together when we return!

So, I'm back to blog... but leaving soon for our Mission Trip to Masindi, Uganda. I hope you are ready to join us for another trip of a lifetime! We are sure to be blessed as we yearn to be a blessing.

Thanks for joining us!!
May God continue to bless you!