I love days like today! We have been staying in Agape Children’s Village since Monday and it has been exactly what my heart needed. I have been waiting since the day I returned home from Africa last summer for this. The children shouting “muzungu” and all running to hug you and fighting to hold your hand, the praise and worship in the evening and the dance parties on porches at night, the non stop laughter. (for instance: as I type this Cooper is in the shower singing at the top of his lungs!!)

Duck Duck Goose, Mama Vickie in the middle

Today was the perfect day. I walked up to the school this morning … I’ve been wanting to go sit in and watch the “baby class” (age3-6 … God Bless Teacher Josephine!!) just to see how a typical day goes here. When I got up there, they were just getting ready to go for an hour break. 30 minutes to go play outside and 30 minutes to eat lunch … if you brought your cup for porridge that is! I asked her if I could come back at 11 when they would resume lessons. She asked me if I was ready to teach and lead part of the class … I probably looked at her like she was crazy but told her I would be back. I quickly ran back down to the house and asked Mama Vickie if she would come back up with me and help. She agreed and we taught the children to play duck duck goose, sang some fun songs (hokey pokey, telephone to Jesus, head shoulders knees and toes, Father Abraham, bubble gum song, Jesus loves me, etc). It was so fun to see the excitement on their faces and to hear them laughing and having a good time. It was also nice to take a burden off of Teacher Josephine; she is sick with malaria and was clearly not feeling well enough to teach all those children.

Next I headed down to Mama Grace’s House, House 2 to hang out with some of the children. I brought some coloring pages and crayons with me (Thank you Hannah, they love the pictures and they actually DO know the Disney characters!!) At first it was just Paul, Gideon, and me. Paul is 5 years old and Gideon maybe 2. We colored for a while and I even taught Paul how to write his name. Mama Grace was so proud!! Eventually there were about 10 children gathered around the table coloring their hearts out. And they were all so excited to show me the finished product!!

Paul with his pictures!

By this point, I was beat. And it was only 2:30 … YIKES! So I went to go hang out with the boys. Jason and Sonny were playing speed, a card game … with 1000 Shillings on the line! And Josh had his iPod out playing his favorite Bob Marley. I LOVE hearing the Ugandans singing along to American songs … so funny! Then we sat and shelled beans for about 2 hours. Or as a Ugandan might say … removing their jacket. It was actually really fun and oddly relaxing and we’ve been invited to come eat as a reward for our work Haha! Once again, they are always trying to feed us.

We also walked down and found a mango tree and knocked some fresh mangos off the tree to eat. And by some I mean a whole basket full and by we, I mean one of the little boys came with us, climbed the tree until he disappeared and shook the mangos off the tree! And we did ask permission from the owner of the tree first. Not even Trader Joes can beat mangos straight off the mango tree.

Josh, Sonny, and Cooper

Then for dinner Cooper made baked spaghetti, by headlamp, because the power went out. All the kids stood outside the kitchen window talking to him while he cooked. It was so sweet.

I love days where you have so much fun doing the simplest things. I’ve laughed more today than I have in a long time.  I wish everyone could experience a day in Uganda and learn to appreciate the simple things in life. It’s the small things that make my day every day that I’m here. I love you all and I miss you all so much but I sure wish everyone could come see me here instead of me coming back home!!

Taking the beans out of their jackets. Haha

Look at all those beans!!

Finished Product

Rebecca Kinney

The School

After dropping the scholarship students off at their schools we (the three amigos and Lillian) met up with Pastor Michael and Mama Cossy to go and visit New Hope Christian Academy – a school that Pastor Michael is assisting to get up and running.

We drove for about 2 hours down a bumpy and dusty dirt road. Trust me when I say, you’ve never experienced a bumpy car ride until you have driven on this type of road in Uganda in a van packed full of supplies and people. As we drove, we passed village after village of mud hut houses with grass roofs and half built brick buildings. We saw adults and children alike walking to the nearest water pump carrying jerry cans of water back to their homes. We saw children walking to and from school, people riding their bikes and walking to the places they need to go. We stopped in town for a quick pit stop:

sodas, popcorn, and the last indoor restroom in sight. Then we drove about another 20 minutes until we arrived in Apach to visit the school.

New Classrooms

The school is still in the very early stages, about 115 students meeting in 3 little mud hut classrooms. A brick school building is in the process of being built but is currently at a standstill because more funding is needed to complete the project. When we got there the kids were in their classrooms listening to their teachers. Of course once we arrived attention was lost and a bell was rung and some came out to see what we were doing. After a quick tour of the school and meeting those that were in charge we began interacting with the children.

One of the quickest and best ways to entertain the children and let them warm up to you a little bit is to take their pictures and let them see it on the screen. Almost immediately the children fall in to fits of laughter looking at images of themselves. Many of these kids are most likely seeing a picture of themselves for the first time. After a while of picture taking and failing to think of a game we could easily explain to a group of children this large who didn’t understand us I remembered I had friendship bracelets in my book bag and thought this might be something nice to give the children.

Kids

Before I left to come to Uganda I had tons of friendship bracelets donated to me to give out to children. I can’t give every child I see food or money but at least I can give them something that might make them happy even for a few minutes. We had all the kids make a big circle and Josh, Jason, Lillian, and I tied a bracelet on each child’s wrist.

We made our way out to Apach to visit New Hope Christian Academy not only to see the progress being made and to visit the children but also to provide lunch and water for all of the students. On a typical day the children are responsible for bringing their own lunch from home. If they don’t have any food or can’t afford it then they don’t eat. When we got there lunch was being prepared and we brought boxes of water. The women finished cooking just as the downpour of rain began. We all huddled inside the classrooms to wait for the rain to slow; the children patiently waiting for lunch to be served (it was already about 2:30 by this time). Once lunch was served we began giving out bottles of water and we started realizing not all the children had food. It came to our attention that there weren’t enough plates for all the children to eat at the same time. However, not once did we hear a word of complaint from any of them. They just continued waiting until someone finished and they received their own food.

Friendship Bracelets

The plan and hope for the future of this school is that there will one day be enough funding to turn this school into a boarding school and children will be able to receive scholarships to further their education.

Rebecca Kinney

Sunday was an emotional day for me. As you all know, Embrace Uganda and a myriad of supporters sponsor over 20 children in secondary school from Agape Children’s Village monthly through school fees and requirements. Each month, a child’s education is lengthened by the money that their sponsor sends in. I want to take this moment to thank every single sponsor through Embrace Uganda that helps to make this possible. From the bottom of my heart, I am forever grateful for your generosity. Sunday and the week that led up to it was an eye opening experience for me. I was able to see directly where the money goes and how the sponsorship works. Every dollar is being used towards a child’s education.

The week that led up to Sunday was a week in which, Lillian (Sponsorship coordinator) and we the Three Amigos (Becca, Josh, and I) worked around the clock to gather all the school requirements that the children needed. We had a meeting with the kids on Thursday to get each of their requirement lists and to go over their responsibilities in regards to the sponsorship program. That Friday, we bagged all of the items into individual bags and placed the child’s name on it. These bags included deodorant (a luxury), toothpaste and brush, bathing soap, washing soap, notebooks, paper, ruler, pencils, pens, socks, shoe brush, sugar, toilet paper, broom, textbooks, jerrican and more.

All of these items are either things that the children will personally use or items that the school asks them to bring so that they can be used in the classroom (just like Kindergarten).
These 20+ children are in boarding school, meaning that they go to class and sleep overnight at the school each week. They stay there 3 months and then head home for a holiday break. So Sunday came, which I should interject at this time to say is the worst day of the week to send a child back to school under such conditions. Sunday came and we were up at 7am finalizing bags, loading them in the truck, grabbing breakfast, putting on our Sunday clothes for Church, AND packing for a three day trip for our next project. HECTIC! If you can imagine about 13 people running around the house all with different tasks in mind, that’s what it looked like in the Okwakol household Sunday morning. We arrived to Sunday school a tad bit late but all packed and ready to go. Thanks to the people at Rena College, they were able to provide transportation for us to transport the children from the children’s village to school that Sunday. So the bus picked the Three Amigos and Lillian up at church and off we went to pick up the children. We arrived at the village and what-a-sight. All the children were packed and ready to go in their nicest clothes.

It sent me back to memories of the first day of school. The smiles on their faces and the anticipation brought joy to my heart. The bus was at maximum capacity once we packed all the children’s belongings and the children into it.

Cozy yet? I sure was. But… off in the distance was one child. A girl of about 14 years that had tears in her eyes. After speaking to her and one of the house mothers, the child had been brought to the village mid way through the year due to a family crisis. Her name was not on the scholarship list. She was sad that all the other children were headed to school, yet she was not. I share her story to let anyone reading this know that there are plenty of other children out there that are in need of a sponsors. You could be just that person. Your money will allow a child to attend school, get meals, and the requirements they are in need of. Fortunately, this specific girl’s case is currently being worked out. To God be the Glory.

I felt like a parent sending their child off to school for the first time. As all of the packing was going on, tears began to sit at my eye lids. They were tears of happiness and thankfulness, but the last thing I wanted to do was to let them see me crying. It’s just really an honor to see Embrace Uganda’s work first hand. Again, thank you.

So off we went on the 3 hour drive to their school. A crammed and bumpy ride it was, but not one child complained of no space. They were just happy to be going to school. We arrived at the school about 9pm that night.

We unloaded the belongings and helped them carry their things to their respective buildings. It was tough to say goodbye. We only got to spend a little time with them, but in that time I had felt like they all were my own. And now they are probably resting for another day of school which usually starts up about 4am and ends about 10pm that night. It’s a long day of schooling for all of them and I know they are so grateful to get an education. You all should know that this is so awesome what we are doing and we CANNOT STOP HERE! This is just the beginning of sponsorships, but like Pastor Michael said today… “one village at a time”. Soon every child in Uganda will be able to go to school without a worry in the world of how the next term of school fees will be paid or if the teacher will send them home for not having the necessary items. This is my prayer for the future of Embrace Uganda and this is my hope for the children of Uganda. With God on our side (which he will always be), this WILL come to full fruition.

On behalf of all the children at Agape Children’s Village, I say THANK YOU.

*Me entertaining the kids later on in the bus ride. Singing some Jersey Boys “Oh what a night”
Jason Cooper

The first time I visited Uganda I lost my heart to the precious children I met. After spending a month it was time for me to return home. I asked about 60 orphan girls attending Dorcus Vocational School a question . . . “If I could do anything for you what would it be?” I was not prepared for the answer . . . “We just want someone to know our name. Do you think you could have American students write to us.” The #1 thing the orphans we serve ask for, is that someone just know their name!! Imagine being 13 years old and not having someone love you!

We invite you to Embrace a Child and offer them a chance for life! It only costs $100 a month to cover all their expenses!!! Housing, food, school fees, school uniforms, supplies, transportation (think how much we spend per month for our children)! These are bright young people who can make a HUGE difference in their country with a good education. These are children for whom boarding school is a choice that can literally save their lives.

All of our Embrace Uganda scholarship students are required to do community service as part of their scholarship award. Grades are reviewed at the end of each term and our on-the-ground partners help students who are struggling.

Your family can work together or partner with another family to raise the funds, but just as important you can pray for your student, write letters, and send small care packages. Think of it as a “different kind of adoption”. There are three donation options . . . The cost difference is what we save on PayPal and wiring fees. Once you “adopt” a child we will send you more information about how to stay in touch as well as send you updates.

Please will you Embrace a Child today . . .Click Here to go to the Embrace A Child page.

Blessings,
Paige Hamp

Jambo! This is Swahili for Hello, yet it seems to have more meaning here in Uganda. The local language is Rutooro, but some understand and speak Swahili. God is everywhere; in the joy of the children, in the instant friendships, in the grace of servant hood, and the zest for worship, prayer and life in general. Kaihura is evidence of the truth that money generally doesn’t bring you happiness. They have little here but happiness is abundant. We tend to take a lot for granted living in the “Developed” West, but spend some time where a toilet is a non-flushing outhouse latrine, and a shower is a bucket of warm water heated over a wood fired stove, rice and beans is a staple, and a portion of meat is the size of your thumb and life seems to take on a whole new perspective. You realize there is much we could easily do without back home.

For many, they only have two changes of clothes, weekday clothes and Sunday clothes. For people who wash by hand in a bucket, the Sunday clothes are always immaculate the weekday clothes are also for those who are working or going to school. However, travel off the main road of the Trading Centre, the village centre, and visit some of the local farmers’ homes and the clothes have seen better days. Many holes, stains, and often underwear is lacking.

Health is a major concern here, there is a clinic in the village, yet it only has so much supplies, which is really amazing since around 1060 AIDS patients are treated; 380 are under 18, of the remaining adults 70% are women, and around 900 patients are treated by the clinic on a monthly basis. There is however no dentistry unless there is a missionary clinic so people often live with rotten teeth. One patient at our clinic had two pre-molar teeth growing side by side. Malaria is still common; our missionary couple here has had Malaria 5 times between the two of them. However, among the people supported by Bringing Hope to the Family the number of cases has dropped drastically, due to the distribution of mosquito nets to the farms and villages. The preliminary goal [for Bringing Hope to the Family] is 10,000 nets and so far 300 have been distributed this month. A sad figure we heard was that there is a funeral almost every weekend [in the area], and often more than one. One of the boys from the orphanage, Robert 15, was hit by a car about a week before we got here. He broke multiple bones and was taken to the nearest hospital 43 km away for preliminary treatment, and then had to be transferred to Kampala for further treatment, 6 hours away over bumpy, and sometimes dusty, roads and the van broke down on the way. Praise God he is on the path to recovery, yet this seems to really put the need for prayer into perspective. Life is fragile in Uganda.

In contrast, in many ways life is simpler [...] Monthly overhead is primarily for food, clothing, and health issues when they can be dealt with. Few rent and the majority own their homes outright [although many homes in the villages may be simple, constructed of timber, sticks, and mud mortar]. The counting of the ballots for the primary of next year’s presidential election took place under a large tree with a lot of shade on the grounds of the local primary school. A common mode of local transportation is the Boda-Boda a motorcycle for hire, and interestingly many who would not ride on one in the States are more than happy to take “Mr. Toads Wild Ride” (to quote Kathleen N., one of our team members) here. There are fairly frequent motor coach services between the towns, however they are often crowded with no seats available, and crashes occasionally occur. As I stepped out of the shower on Saturday morning I heard on the radio during the English language news that there had been a bus crash on one of the roads from Kampala; 7 dead and many wounded.

We sent one of our Dentists, Marcello, back to Kampala on Saturday to catch a flight to the US, on a city bus, but God was with him and his fellow passengers, and fortunately he returned safely to the US with no incidents.

What are some of the highlights of Kaihura? On the secular side “Land-surfing” has to top the list. This won’t be explained, come to Kaihura to experience it. It’s especially fun during the rainy season. Make sure you ask for Captain AJ and his sloop Toy-O- Ta. Getting serious, the Lord is everywhere. When Faith and her team at Bringing Hope prepare Sunday Lunch, or food for two conferences and a Mzungu team as well as all the staff of the ministry […], it is not all that different from when Jesus fed the thousands. They do so much with so little.

There have been tears of sorrow and tears of pain, but above all there’s been many tears of laughter. The pain is from the stories of what daily life is like for many Ugandans, and what many have had to endure, the joy is ongoing and all around in fellowship, stories, songs, dances and adventures.

What does one take away from a trip like this? “God is good all the time….All the……”
To sum it up; Ugandans and especially the people of Kyenjojo district, Kaihura, and Bringing Hope To The Family, they have in one word…. Faith!!!!

MUKAMA ABAHE EMIGISA (May God Bless You)

Francis Bradford

Since I haven’t had a chance to blog for a few days, let me back up…

THURSDAY: Paul and Teri did a marriage conference in Kaihura which was supposed to be “day one” of a two-day conference. But attendance was affected by a little thing called local elections, which are apparently not really set in concrete. TIA (“this is Africa”). So the conference that was supposed to begin at 10 am (and we knew from last year this would definitely NOT be the case), finally got off to a timely start after lunch, and we were very pleased with the afternoon. Because of the elections, we are going to repeat “day one” on Monday and present “day two” on Tuesday.

Jackie and company are conducting a full blown AWANA training with the two wonderful gals from Kampala and various staff members here (including the incomparable Sam, who pretty much takes the cake daily with the antics involving him, Amos and Laine). Practice games are conducted on Faith’s front lawn, providing much entertainment for the local children.

Francis, nursing an ankle twisted the previous day in a local volleyball game, spent the day helping the gals who cook all of our meals. “Did you guys know that as soon as they’ve cleaned up from one meal, they start preparation for the next meal?!”

Kathleen, Kristen and Laine went out with BHTF staff to hang mosquito nets in some of the remote outlying areas. This involves going into some pretty rugged terrain and spending time with each family. One of the families had recently lost a little girl to malaria, and the mama was profoundly grateful to have her remaining children now protected at night.

Ann and Marcello, assisted by the stalwart Christine and Karin, ran another long day of dental clinic. Almost everyone they see needs a tooth pulled because treatments that you or I would receive in America to save a tooth are not available here, so if anything goes wrong, the tooth simply has to go.

Papa Will and David are returning from the Pastors’ Conference in Koreng, and Mama Sandy did what she normally does every day: answer questions, cheerlead, answer questions, solve problems, and answer questions,

Here is what I wrote in my journal Thursday night: “As we are sitting here in candlelite (the electricity has been out for hours), the children from Home Again are praising God with their sweet voices. It is “thin space” here between our world and the spiritual realm.”

FRIDAY: Jackie and company did more AWANA training, Laine and Francis worked at Phil’s shop to create cabinets for the orphanage. Ann, Marcello, Christine and Karin pulled teeth all day long again. Kathleen (a designer in “real life”) reorganized Pastor Arthur’s “executive” office. Kristen, Sandy and Teri made the 45-minute trek into the nearest town (Fortportal) for food, and were absolutely delighted with the serendipity of becoming stopped on the road by a large group of baboons. Paul saw some patients at the clinic, and Teri did some marital counseling. Will and David finally rejoined the team.

SATURDAY: We said very emotional goodbyes to Marcello, who had to return to California early to finish the research for his PhD. We miss him so much already! Paul and Teri travelled to Fort Portal to teach a marriage conference sponsored by Pastor Stephen, and after a typical African start (read: “two hours later”), we were thrilled with the results. Around 100 people came (more were expected but evidently the government decided it would be okay to extend the balloting process today, as well…we really have a tough time understanding how all this actually works). Many people gave heartfelt feedback about how the conference will change the way they conduct their marriages, which is more gratifying than we can express. I am ashamed to say that the lady writing this blog entry is getting a little elderly and forgot to find out what everyone else did on Saturday…

SUNDAY: Church from 10 to 2 (you heard me right). Papa Dr. Pastor Will gave the message after an amazing time of worship (African style) and many, many introductions and recognitions. Lunch was provided at the orphanage (Home Again).

Jackie conducted the very first AWANA program in the history of Kaihura on the grounds of Home Again and exactly 100 children participated! GO JACKIE!! Since she doesn’t speak Rutoro, she worked with the Cubbies (the toddlers) who only understand the language of a loving touch and smile. The voices of 100 children outdoors playing AWANA games in Rotoro is a priceless experience.

Laine became the official coach of the Kaihura Volleyball Club team (consisting mainly of Sam and Amos). The team was pulled together just a couple of months ago, as Volleyball is apparently fairly new here, and the guys in the area pretty much play “slap ball” (as Sam put it). Laine coached them on the spot during a competition with the neighboring village today, and they totally dominated! GO LAINE! Because the neighboring village arrived in fancy jersies, Teri has promised to make sure the Kaihura team is properly outfitted soon.

Kathleen, Sandy, Kristen and Christine recreated “Spa Mystique”, which was a spontaneous creation during their mission trip together to Brazil last year. Spa Mystique (Uganda) was a HUMUNGOUS hit. We treated the female staff members of Bringing Hope to the Family (around 35) to an afternoon at the spa, beginning with cucumber water upon arrival (they had a tough time with that one). The dining room at Faith’s house was transformed. A double mattress was put on the table, candles lit, and Enya playing softly over the iPod. The women were first treated to a foot wash by Kathleen (no small task, let me tell you; feet get really dirty in this red earth, and thanks to Karin making 35 trips up and down the stairs to the water reservoir, each woman got fresh water), followed by a luxurious foot and lower leg massage and prayer. The next station involved sitting in a chair and having a back/neck/head massage (Ann and Joyce RULE), and then the coup de gras: a world-class facial, courtesy of Sandy and Christine. We’re talking the real deal. Lay flat on the mattress, cucumbers to the eyes, avocado masque, unbelievable arm/hand/neck massage, and finally a facial massage that rivaled anything I’ve ever experienced at any hoity-toity spa! It was an incredible gift to give these women who serve so faithfully, and while they weren’t sure what we were going to do to them when they first entered the room, we had to practically wake them up to get them off the bed and make room for the next person! We finished by giving each other the same treatments, and it was a bonding experience that none of us will soon forget. It actually felt kind of sacramental.

All in all, our first week in Kaihura has been as amazing as we knew it would be…and much more. Please pray for the next couple of days, as Will and David teach another Pastors’ Conference, and Paul and Teri teach another Marriage Conference. Pray for the people going out during those two days to hang more mosquito nets. Pray for the guys building the much needed cabinets at the orphanage. And we thank you!

Your Most Contented Blogger,

Teri Reisser

Greetings from Africa,

Will and David just returned from Koreng were we taught a pastors conference for three days. Koreng is about 5 hours east of Kampala. We took this journey with Pastor Michael from Kampala. Here is kind of a day by day breakdown. Remember in this culture that time is a little different in Africa. For example, we were supposed to start around 9:00 am each morning, but we ended up starting around 11:00. We stayed in Kumi which is about a 30 minute commute into Koreng each day. The first two days of the conference we divided the pastors up into two groups. Will and I took one group and Pastor Michael took the other. We taught a Bible overview from Genesis to Revelation and Michael taught on the Holy Spirit. The next day we just switched groups. The third day Will and I taught on the Biblical qualities of a leader. I thought you might want to know what we ate for lunch out in the bush each day. It consisted of rice and bull (like pot roast) which we ate traditionally with our hands (little messy!!). The conference consisted of around 30 to 40 pastors, so it was an intimate setting. The local pastors were very attentive, took lots of notes and had great questions during the Q & A. At the end of the conference we passed out four neck ties to each pastor, along with a Bible for each. They were so grateful and you could tell by their smiles. The travel back to Kampala after the teachings was quite an adventure. We first started with a few of the men and ladies from the conference riding in the van with us, which we dropped off at different points along the way. Pastor Michael is from Koreng, so we had multiple stops along the road to visit with relatives in villages and the city. I told you in the beginning it is about a five hour drive, well again this is Africa and the trip back took about 8 hours. The following day we got up and drove five hours to Kaihura were we met up with the rest of the team. I hope this gives you a small glimpse of our journey to Koreng. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers.

God Bless,

Dave & Will

P.S. Please ask about the Governor and the turkey when we get home!!!!

Some of you are aware that my husband and son, David participated in some humanitarian work in Uganda this summer. We have developed a deep fondness for the people of Uganda as a result.

Pennies for Uganda is my contribution towards a grassroots effort to support work being done at an orphanage in Uganda, Agape Children’s Village, that is serving almost a hundred joyful children that have no place to go. The home is losing funding. They need money and soon. Every penny counts – hence the name.

Would you prayerfully consider whether the Lord would have you be a part of this endeavor? I realize there are many needs and my burden is not necessarily yours. I respect and understand that. But – if you would like to help just by getting the word out – we’ve made it easy. Simply add the Pennies for Uganda button to your website somewhere and include the hyperlink www.wayoflifecoaching.com/penniesforuganda/ that will point them to the Uganda webpage – everything is explained with a link to the Embrace Uganda website for further info. Basically it acts as a portal to the EU ministry.

Thanks for considering and I would be very interested in knowing why you would or would not do this as it will help me to know how to approach others.

Appreciate it!

Cheryl Scanlan

The group is gathering in the dining room at Faith’s house for what smells like a delicious rice and beans lunch. We have spent the morning seeing the agricultural project at Kyongera with the incomparable Anthony (the guru of “how to be self-sustaining on an acre of land in Uganda”). Our brains are currently working overtime thinking about how to help them get water for irrigation at the project. Currently, the 14 boys who live there (who somehow sleep in six beds) must hand carry water from a site a quarter mile away to irrigate the several acres on which they are growing pineapples, tomatoes, eggplants, bananas, etc. This project has the potential to not only feed the entire Bringing Hope to the Family staff and orphans (which would save a lot of money currently spent on groceries), but become a source of revenue for the ministry as well.

While we were looking at the agricultural project, Jackie (who is definitely the child magnet of the group) zeroed in on a very little boy whose finger was badly swollen. She asked the child’s daddy if Paul could look at it, and the child was whisked away to reappear five minutes later dressed up in his “Sunday best.” Paul decided that the finger looked infected, and the child and dad went to the clinic. This afternoon, Faith and Richard (the clinic director and medical officer) will lance the finger to extract the pus, with Paul assisting (actually, he’s a little terrified, as this is a procedure he would normally refer directly to a pediatric hand specialist because of the complexities involved).

On Monday, Teri (accompanied by Kathleen of the million-volt smile) taught an afternoon seminar on counseling women after an abortion to a staff of 22 at the Kampala Youth For Christ/Crisis Pregnancy Center. Although abortion is illegal in Uganda, the staff assured us that this training is, sadly, relevant to their work in Kampala.

Yesterday we made the long and DUSTY drive from Kampala to Kaihura (including 30 miles of torturous roadwork that would make the most fearless adventurer end up in the fetal position). After a warm reception at the ministry compound and our first village meal, we all stumbled into our various beds and fell asleep to the sounds of a torrential downpour. (In Uganda, it is considered to be a good omen when a visitor comes with rain.)

The rest of the day will be spent in various activities. Patients are already lined up at the dental clinic, and Marcello and Ann (assisted by Karin and Christine) will be extremely busy with this work for several days. Teri and Paul are preparing for the marriage seminars with the Asaabes. Jackie and some Bringing Hope to the Family staff will be receiving training from the two women from AWANA who came with us from Kampala to help Jackie start this program in the Kyenjojo area. Laine and Francis (a lawyer and a chef—go figure) are backfilling a retaining wall at the vocational school. David and Will are teaching a pastors’ conference in Koreng. Kristen and Kathleen are tackling The Sorting of the Suitcases. Our work has begun in earnest!

More later, internet connection permitting…

Four hours later: Kathleen, Kristen and Teri are sweating profusely from going through more than three dozen suitcases and sorting all of the various things brought by the team. You think this sounds like a cushy job? Try going through a bazillion school packs and checking to make sure they are all equal (because dozens of great-hearted people put these together), and removing glue and scissors! It’s been a long afternoon, but we have hundreds of ties, school packs, toiletry packs, children’s clothing, etc. with which to bless the people of this area. It feels good…very, very good. Now they’re asking us to clear the area we’ve been working in so dinner can be served. …

Your faithful blogger,

Teri Reisser