time flies...sometimes

it's hard for me to believe that i will be homeward bound in three weeks....i have so much to do before i head back to tennessee. i really want to scream YIKES at the top of my lungs, but i don't think that will help me too much....maybe just give me a sore throat. the past month has been AMAZING in such a positive way. i have dug deep and found i can do more than i thought i could, and do it with more compassion and conviction and JOY than from day 1 of Desana Uganda. YAY ME! George said that God had to pass me through some difficult times to make me stronger, and yep, here i am....not exactly Wonder Woman, but definitely not the same person who began this journey back in January.

i am really happy with our current projects....working with the House of Hope and Naguru Remand Center and the Citizen's Trust Academy....and don't let me forget the Water Project in Kiganda. I think we have all grown together, the kids and me....!! i enjoy every minute i spend with them and just know that wonderful things are on the horizon, afterall, this has been a journey of faith. I had no clue where to start on day i, just a knowledge that i would figure it out when i got here. oh, i'm still learning, each and every day.....but what an amazing experience it has been. i can't imagine 2 months or so without seeing my young friends....but how great it will be to see my family and friends back home!!!

we are planning the first annual Halloween party at the House of Hope! today i told the kids about bobbing for mangos and sack races and the egg toss game and wheel barrow races. they weren't real sure when i told them we would cook hot dogs over a campfire...i think they thought bob and wooofie were going to be the main course. they were excited about the candy and maybe eating cakes with their hands behind their backs. it is going to be so much fun, can't wait. we were able to buy clothes for each child this week, 2 shirts, boxers, shorts and track pants..they were thrilled. next week they will all get shoes and sox. when i told patrick i had bought the clothes at oweno market, he said...."now, you really know where to shop!' yes, and i am really good at bargaining..just ask peter and robbie!!!

i have loved the kids at naguru from the day i met them. most are simply victims of circumstances. if you are 12 and an orphan or homeless, you do what you have to do to survive. most of these kids have never had guidance or stability or love...most are good kids. they are stonger and more spiritual than most adults. we provide food mostly, and hygiene products, some medicine and blankets and matresses, sometimes transport to their villages when they are released....and bibles, lots and lots of bibles. next year our dental mission, Abrazos Con Alas (Hugs With Wings) will provide dental care to the residents. God is opening doors for us all over the world!!

i love the little ones at the citizens trust academy in kibuli. they are always so happy to see me and always sing and jump up and down and climb all over me, especially the baby class kids....little david thinks he owns me and now alex and he are 'negotiating' for my lap! hmm....i need a bigger lap! everyone there is so nice and i always feel at home. i am so pleased with our relationship.....another divine connection that i'm hoping will develop and grow over the years. they are so special and caring.....the children and staff are wonderful.

we have other projects as i mentioned....the water project in kiganda, we buy sewing machines for a lfe skills training class in mubende, the medical equipment for mubende district, scholarships, trips to kisenyi, lots of things really. time and money are not wasted. God has plans for Desana Uganda and despite any and all obstacles that come our way....we are looking forward! YAY GOD!

y'all know i have had my share of difficulties...best not to go into them though, no reason to...this is all about growing and making friends and sharing God's provisions with the people who need it most....the children of poverty. when i say i love these kids, i mean I LOVE THESE KIDS! today some little ones said "hi sweetie" when they saw me. i guess i always greet kids with those words and now they were greeting me with them. i have arrived. how very fortunate i am to know these children and this country. it is not always easy...actually it can be so difficult, but oh so rewarding. yes, time flies...what seemed like forever has gone by so quickly and i am wondering how i will say 'see you later' to my world here. i do so look forward to seeing my tennessee family and friends...Halloween candy and decorations, boot shopping in texas with kaleigh, thanksgiving dinner (lucky me, one of my sons is a chef), a dental mission in peru, Christmas in nashville, new year's eve at perfecting faith ministries and lots of laughing and shopping and eating mexican food...someone pass the salsa verde por favor!

i also know that the 2 or so months i am in nashville will fly by...why does time go by so quickly when good things are happening? we are always looking forward to things and are sad when they are over. the great thing is when you always have something amazing to look forward to. yep, time flies.....unless you are sitting in a kampala traffic jam, then it is at a standstill. love y'all.

yay it's thursday!

yesterday andrew and i went to the post office to pick up a "parcel" which i had kindly been asked "to retrieve". on the way i told andrew that "i really hate your post office!' he said: "you live here now, so it is your post office too." YIKES...hadn't thought about that.....BUT as it turned out, everything went really smoothly and there were 2 parcels to retrieve.....the really nice customs lady didn't make us pay any processing fees or custom's taxes or anything. she just said: "keep doing the work you are doing!" all right...maybe i need to rethink MY post office. we shopped all day for the safe house and naguru..came home and i opened the parcels to discover one completely crushed bag of mini powdered sugar donuts which we ate regardless. andrew hadn't ever had them before, but ate his share....i of course ate myself sick.....but it was worth it.

all sorts of tear gas in kampala yesterday....policeman killed...police out in full force....nothing near me, thankfully. lack of power is an issue again. seems i have electricity for 3 or 4 hours a day, usually early , early morning. i guess i have gotten used to it, though i dearly wish uganda would stop selling it's electricity to the congo...they never run out.

today was safe house day, my favorite day of the week! we brought hard boiled eggs and bread and andrew made fresh juice and popcorn AND i shared my lil debbie chocolate thingies with them. someone tell the lil debbie bakers that these kids even licked the cellophane wrapppers.....loved them. we also brought medicines and first aid supplies and sandals and clippers! and bananas for the orphanage. we prayed and praised and some of the kids gave their testimonies....absolutely awesome. 10 year old kids who have been on their own for 4 years. one boy told that his mother said if she ever saw him again she would cut off his head, another said his family told him he was invisible as a ghost. i cry every time i hear these stories. we always tell them how wonderful they are, how special and unique and strong and how much God loves them. i always tell them about how they have friends in america who look at their pictures and pray for them. it really makes them so happy to know that. they are proud to have american friends and LOVE it when i tell them that their pics are on the internet. they pray for their american friends....which i find so awesome. God is alive and is a huge part of these kids lives. i don't like calling them street kids....today i told them that when i look at them i see doctors and lawyers and nurses and ministers and musicians. they clapped and cheered. the thing is, that's really what i see....they have the potential, just need the opportunity.

i can't wait for next thursday, already have some things in mind......did i tell you about mercy? no one knows exactly how old she is, about 12. she has a twin sister, somewhere. she is from kenya. i don't know how she came to kampala...she was gang raped and is now infected with AIDS. did you hear me when i said she is about 12? the first week, she would barely look at me, she was way too shy, you see she carries emotional, psycological and physical scars of her life....but NOW, she comes up to me and takes my arms and wraps them around herself....and i think i am one of the luckiest people on the planet because mercy is starting to trust me and feels the love in my arms. totally awesome and thank you Jesus for placing this child, your child, in my life.

this morning i realized that every morning i have to rinse the dust off my bar of soap before i use it. how crazy is that? the ever present thick layer of red dust. it's everywhere, i have even seen cars using their dry windshield wipers to swipe the dust off their windshields.it's been so hot....so hot. the only relief is the a/c in the car.....and it is heavenly.

i can't remember if i mentioned that we are going into the egg business here at From the Heart House. working on readying the room for whom i call 'chicken man' because i can't remember his name. he will live, eat and sleep with 1000 baby layers once we raise the funds to buy them! oh, i didn't mean he will eat the baby chicks, i meant he will eat with the baby chicks....hahah...we have 3 chicken houses on the property. some of the boys from the safe house will come to work and learn this business and will be able to sell and trade eggs. this will really be interesting! i think i saw foghorn smile through the fence the other day..he is living at the neighnors..they love him. i still hear him all day and night....bet he will soon wish he was back here. that'll teach ya foghorn!

kathy

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TIU - This is Uganda

as long as i've been in uganda, i have never gotten used to the way the governmental bureaus and departments are run. it always surprises me in the most unpleasant way. i guess that i am almost always hoping that some things will run smoothly, efficiently, quickly and without added costs, but it never happens that way.

george and i decided that it might be wise to extend my current visa for another 45 days so that i could go home to tennessee the end of october and enjoy kaleigh's birthday, visit friends in texas (ok, this isn't home), overeat at thanksgiving, possibly travel to peru (ok, that's not home either) and thoroughly enjoy a nashville christmas with family and friends and welcome in the new year at the totally awesome perfecting faith ministries ny's eve service. it seemed simple. wrong, wrong, wrong.

day 1....andrew took me to immigration headquarters/internal affairs and i explained my intentions to the lady at the visa window. her - what are you doing here? me - i'm volunteering. her - you are working without a work permit? you could be deported. me - well, that doesn't make much sense, i'm working for free to help your street children. why would you deport me? her - it's the law! me - under my breath - well, that makes perfect sense, after all, tiu! her - come back with a letter from your employer stating why you should remain in uganda. me - i am my employer. her - (dirty look) bring the letter to the next window. off we go to the house where andrew writes, prints and signs a letter with the required information and back we go to immigration headquarters. i'm hopeful because we have done what she had requested and it is only early afternoon. i hand the letter to the woman at the next window, she looks at it. her - you can't extend your visa.....this letter is useless. who told you to write this letter? go through the green gate, down the hill and wait under the tent. seriously, i'm thinking, under the tent! after a few minutes, a gentleman calls me into an office where a meeting of the ngo board is in session. me - i already have a registered ngo, i need a work permit. him - here are the forms, we must approve your application and we only meet on thursdays. me- you need all of this information? sir, are you serious? you want my college transcripts? i haven't been in school since the days transcripts were chiseled on stone tablets. you want a letter of good conduct? from whom? him - it's the law! now i'm panicing because there are two pages of impossible requirements and i have only 2 weeks...YIKES!!!!! ok andrew, let's go to interpol and see if i can get a letter of good conduct....no friends, i was not going to ask the post office for one!!! off we go to interpol....no high tech covert ops were ever run out of this place....a compound of crumbling buildings and people sorta lounging in the heat under shade trees. a very pleasant woman working the outdoors information desk listened to me patiently. her - don't panic. go to the american embassy, ask for a letter, they will do a backgtound search, pay some fees, get fingerprinted, blah, blah, blah....you should have it in a week or so. me- a week? nothing here gets processed in a week! her - smile. me - ok andrew. lets go to the embassy. andrew - no, it's 3pm, they are closed for the day. me - closed? 3pm? oh yea, tiu.

we get to my house and i tell myself, eat a goo goo, you will feel better, chcolate always helps. i open facebook and tell my friend, freddie, from citizens trust academy in kibuli, about my dreadful day. him - why didn't you get a special pass? me - what's that? him - a pass to allow you to stay 3 months while you apply for a work permit. me - why didn't anyone tell me about this pass. him - you know. me - yea, i know, tiu. him - my wife can help you, she is an attorney. me - yay, thanks friend!

day 2....we pick up freddie's wife, elver, and we go back to immigration headquarters...but a new room. andrew has to write a different letter, i have to complete another form AND pay $200...no receipt of course, AND surrender my passport. i'm not liking this at all. but elver is confident. her - don't worry you will have it today. let's go run our errands and i will call you when i have it. this makes sense to all of us. oh well, no phone call by the end of the day, no special pass, no $200 and no passport.

day 3....around noon andrew calls to say he hasn't heard anything yet and i decide i can't sit and wait any longer....me - let's just go. at least we will be moving! finally he gets the call that my special pass is completed and i can pick up my passport.....thank you Jesus!! off again to immigration headquarters where elver is patiently waiting for me to arrive. she has a pretty smile on her face so i know all is well. her - you must begin completing the requirements for your work permit, but since you already have an ngo, the requirements are not as extensive. me - do i still need a letter of good conduct? her - yes! ok, well, i see another trip to the tbi in november, and oh yes, the fee for the permit is $250.

so there, 3 days spent in immigration headquarters hell, $200 for a special pass, another $250 for a permit, not to mention the cost for obtaining the required data and information. hmmm...all for the privledge of volunteering for free! it makes perfect sense to me...things are really starting to make sense, afterall, tiu!!!

and the beat goes on......

i love music. i would rather listen to my ipod during a 12 hour flight than watch half a dozen of hollywood's finest flicks. i listen to all genres...christian and gospel, classic rock, whatever, but mostly i love country. no surprise considering i live in and love all things about music city - nashville, tennessee, usa. when you ask ugandans if they enjoy country music, most say yes, but i am always shocked when they tell me their favorite artists are jim reeves, don williams and kenny rogers. no no no, i say, current, popular artists like keith urban, the band perry, lady a.....what about them? do you like them? always the answer is "who"? i don't know why, but this annoys me immensely...how can you like country muisc and not love to hear kenny chesney or carrie underwood? i think maybe there is a secret government plot to keep the population back in the 'olden' days....admittedly, that was and is great music....but come on, there's only so much i can do here.
hey, speaking of getting annoyed, guess where i went this week! yep, posta uganda! andrew went to pick up a box of first aid supplies that george sent (including gummy bears for me...my first aid) and we were pleasantly surprised that no one tried to charge taxes or fees. YAY! the box looked as if it had been kicked 10,000 miles by FIFA players, but the contents were in great shape. andrew ws given a letter addressed to cathy hook. it stated that since no one had attempted to retrieve a box which had been shipped in march, it was going to be destroyed. wait a minute, this was THE BOX of several blogs! ok andrew, let's go have some fun!!! the supervisor seemed mildly interested as i explained we had been there at least 5 times to get this parcel and each time had left without it.....that the twerp behind the counter had on one occasion, thrown the box against a wall, called me a liar, wanted to 'negotiate' a fee and had even raised an eyebrow at the armed guard. she even seemed somewhat sympathetic. now, a person who has regular access to pb cups and goo goos whould have walked away with her hrad held high, i could not! when she reduced the fees from 124,000 shillings to 50,000, i said yes, yes ,yes! $20 was a bargain for a box of 6 month old stale candy. i am weak when it comes to reese's and i am occasionally haunted by the taste of a gooey goo goo. what can i say?

you never know.....

it occured to me that you just never know when you meet someone if you will stay connected over the years or if you will just say 'nice to meet you' and never see that person again. i do know that God connects us with people for a reason, but we rearely know why immediately. i met marcelo lagos 2 years ago in ollantaytambo, peru. he was (and is still) a young dental student from southern chile....land of the penguins!! i didn't know he would become one of my best friends, would travel to uganda and would take on the monumental task of organizing a potentially HUGE dental project here in conjunction with a university in spain and odontogists sin fronteras in latin america! marcelo worked here for two weeks, meeting with the minister of health and recording tons of data to forward to the university.....he must have said yasama, bunila and wakaluma a thousand times or more....he worked in naguru, an orphanage, a school and even in kisenyi slum. i can't thank him enough for his perserverance, and dedication and love for the children of the world. i miss his way of saying 'HELLOOOO friend' every morning and ending each song line he sang with o-o-o! hasta año proximo mi amigo! te extraño mucho!

SUCCESS?

last week i had a facebook discussion with a young, bright, hard working man living in Qatar about success. his definition of success and my definition of success were 180 degrees apart. perhaps it was because he is young, african, and looking toward the future and i am, well, sorta old, american and content to live in the present. he believes that success is when you set goals, work hard and achieve those goals.....! well, you know that makes perfect sense. i have looked in the dictionary, and it appears he is spot on. hmm, well, i said, he is bright. i have little doubt that he will be successful in the near future..in the music industry...and who knows, maybe he will take the nashville music scene by storm!

i think, as for me, i measure success on a smaller scale. because, any more, i don't have any large scale goals...no big plans for the future. sounds so so corny, but the future, for me, is now. as some of you may have seen on facebook yesterday, we made a 14 year old kenyan boy, residing in naguru, very happy by telling him we would provide transport back to nairobi next week. that in itself, to me, made for a very successful day because an amazing child was infectiously cheerful because he will be going home! maybe at some point success is not that you achieve your goals in the future but that you are delighted when you achieve something that wasn't planned or expected in the present. don't know, just know that mohammed is going home to his brothers. because he is an orphan. once again, i say thank you Jesus for allowing us to be a part of so many children's lives. and as living proof that our Lord has plans for us each and every moment of each and every day, i was already planning a trip to nairobi next week. how did i know i would be called there? i didn't...but isn't God awesome?

this is kisenyi.....

i think that i really didn't know what to expect when patrick asked me if i wanted to go to kisenyi slum and clean and bandage wounds and feed people. i had heard about kisenyi, that it was the worse slum in kampala...but i didn't think it could be much worse than the slums of trujillo, peru where we assisted in opening alternative schools and held our first dental mission a few years ago. and truthfully, it wasn't worse.....it was different. it was so crowded and there were so many homeless kids and everyone seemed to stare at me. i'm not usually bothered by that, except that a man approached and asked why more people like me weren't doing more to help people like him. i wanted to say...people like me? do you mean white people, american people, women...what do you mean? but humbly i had to admit it was a cry for help by someone who was angry, and hungry, and sick and probably tired and alone. why don't more people help? well..starting with the UGANDAN government? i tried to explain we were only a few in our group, that our resources were limited...all that...but it sounded like a pathetic excuse and i stopped talking. he showed me his rash and i gave him a tube of neosporin and he thanked and hugged me and we had our pic taken together. and i thought.....dear Lord..show me the way to help these people who cannot help themselves and i held back the tears.

one amazing week!!!

some weeks and slow and kind of boring, others are good and you feel like you have accomplished some important work, and others are GREAT! this was one of the GREAT and exciting weeks! thank you Jesus! we felt as if we accomplished so much and had such a wonderful time doing it. well a wonderful time, EXCEPT for taking demon dogs to the vets for the last of their puppy shots. they looked so cute sitting quietly in the rear of the van as we shut the tailgate and pulled out of the driveway....didn't last long!! before we were a half mile down the road, both had jumped into the passenger area and vomited and well, you know....done 'other things' as well. between the heat, the smells and the pups tracking through all the puddles of messes, it was not a pleasant trip. we had to wait at least an hour at the vet's. it is, without a doubt, a very unusual set up for a vet. the waiting room is also the examining room. small dogs are examined on a wooden round table in the middle of the room (someone removes the plastic plant first) and larger dogs are treated in the middle of the floor. bob and woofie were treated on the floor...bob first...on goes the muzzle and GOOD THING! during every injection, there was a symphony of sounds as if he was being skinned alive! there were whimpers and groans and muffled howls, yelps and whining....omg..it was horrible! woofie next...muzzle...injections...not a sound! yay woofie. wow, thank goodness that's done...then you have to go into the vet's office as he hand writes the bill and calculates the cost and you pay him cash. he is happy to see me again, he remembers that i have been in the states and is looking forward to me bringing the pups again. seiously, looking forward to bob? hahaha....Ugandan politeness. someone has helped to clean the messes out of the van...he suggests next time we do not feed the dogs....and we give him a tip and the ordeal is over. this 'event' took at least four hours...and we are all exhausted!

times flies............

this past week has flown by.....each day we have been busy working and/or playing. actually i consider most of the work we do, great fun! i think this means that I LOVE MY WORK! i think erin and demetra and kaleigh are becoming africanized a bit...this, in general, means they are used to the electricity going out, hot water being a real luxury and eating cold leftover beans and rice for dinner. kaleigh has been a trooper and never complains about not having tv or having to spend hours in the van or my puppies aka demon dogs, tearing her clothes to shreds or coffee pot showers. now there have been a few complaints about slowwwww internet, room temp cokes and mucho mosquitos, but all in all everyone had adjusted well. demetra even likes matooke and erin loves samosas and george has been a great camera man....kaleigh, well, she keeps everyone laughing. we have all worked to develop british accents, well not george. i don't really know why....but sometimes we have laughed so much that kaleigh has fallen off the sofa!

GOING POSTAL....AGAIN!

we (george, demetra, kaleigh, erin and i) arrived in kampala early tuesday morning after a really long journey through chicago, istanbul and kigali). every piece of our luggage arrived yesterday! yay! never have 5 people been so happy to see clean underwear and tubes of deodorant! the house looks great....the yard and flowers are gorgeous, the pups have received a new name..."demon dogs"! they are so so bad....huge, and capable of destroying just about anything in the blink of an eye. we are seriously considering an exorcism....haha.

Yuzhakova

our trip is rapidly drawing to an end. we have stayed on the go the entire time....renewing our passion and love for the russian orphans. elena is, as always, an inspiration. zhenya is awesome...can't even fathom how many orphans he knows in this area, it must be thousands! yet he always has time to share a hug and a chat with each and every one, and lets them all know they are loved and important!
yesterday we journeyed to petrokamensk hospital...sort of a transition home for children recently removed from their families due to living conditions, abuse, hunger, etc. it is a sad, sad place. children do not really understand why they have been taken away from their families and put into this institution. there are a few old beds, rickety cribs, a few toys, and meals of porridge and bread, or watery soup and noodles and an occasional piece of fish. elena and zhenya always bring the children fruit and juice and treats..sometimes clothes and toys. anya is there now..she is the daughter or valya...a young woman who has been in the desana orphanage program for several years. last year valya and anya were attacked (by one of valya's friend's boyfriend) with an axe. both survived though anya carries emotional and physical scars....she was in the hospital for a month. she was recently discovered to be living in horrible conditions....dity, hungry, etc so was taken from valya and put in the russian orphanage system. now valya is no where to be found and the fate of this adorable child is uncertain. i had to hold back tears looking at her sweet, sweet face and all thinking about all she has been through in 4 short years. this "job" of mine has it's highs and lows...laughter and tears....keeping me humble and emptying my heart.

my weekend!

what a weekend! i don’t know how many miles we traveled through the russian countryside, but it was many hours with our wonderful friends; elena, zhenya and natasha! saturday morning we headed to the children’s village orphanage in zaimka (a small village about 100 miles north of nizhni tagil) for our annual summer bbq. the local customs folks provided transportation and a driver in their wonderful passenger van.....FREE of charge. we were stuffed to the gills with boxes and bags and crates of fruit, vegetables, hot dogs and bread, cokes, pastries, candy, ball caps, shoes, toys, etc. when we arrived at the orphanage we were welcomed enthusiastically by the staff and the children. the best thing was that ALEXEY ran to greet us and gave me HUGE hugs! how wonderful to see him again after 4 years! he is grown and handsome and will soon be graduating and learning how to be a house painter. due to some learning disabilities, he will not be eligible to attend a university.

orphanage #1

george and i left our condo in nashville, tennessee about 9am on wednesday the 6th outward bound for nizhny tagil, russia and some long overdo visits to orphanages, a shelter and several hospitals scattered across the russian countryside in the ural mountains. we finally reached nizhny tagil on friday morning at 8am....both exhausted and ready to start visiting the children we hadn’t seen in 4 years! elena antropyanskaya hibbler, our good friend and russian project director, arranged for us to say in her friend’s apartment so we have all the comforts of home in this far away land. it’s going to take some time to adjust to the fact that although the sun goes down somewhere around 11pm, but it never really gets dark. tuesday is the russian independence day....last time we were here, it snowed on independence day...surely hope that doesn’t happen this year!!!!

my 'vacation'!

i've been back in the USA for a month now....hard to believe, the time has gone by so quickly. i've enjoyed visits with friends and family, my faithful 'Holly dog', ballgames, movies, awesome church services at Perfecting Faith Ministries, mall shopping, a Sidewalk Prophets' concert, MEXICAN FOOD, and even a week in the hospital! no, i really didn't enjoy that and perhaps i will cut back on the south of the border comida! the other day, someone asked me if i was enjoying my vacation! i thought that was an odd question because in my mind vacations involve room service, tours, maps and brochures and new sights. i had not recalled any of these things in the past month. but then again, i don't know....need to think about this.

home is where the heart is!

i have been back in the US for a week now. it is absolutely awesome spending time with family members, friends, my church family and my dogs! even though i have two absolutley adorable ugandan pups, the saying goes that 'old friends' are the best friends goes for dogs too. i absolutely love turning on the faucet and feeling HOT water....!!!! sometime i will explain the term 'coffee pot shower' to y'all, or maybe i will just leave it to your imaginations. and mexican food...heaven on a plate. how much is too much? i don't know because i haven't reached that point yet! i was awestruck in kroger's the other day just looking at the frozen food aisleS....yes aisleS....so much frozen food! i had compleely forgotten how a journey down a frozen food aisle is like a trip around the world...mexican, italian, thai, chinese....not to mention the ore-ida section, ice creams and yogurts, cakes, mac & cheese.....all colors, all sizes, all calling my name! i resisted as best i could because my tummy is no longer accustomed to a cheese stuffed crust pizza followed by a klondike bar. after 3 months of rice and beans, i need to slowly ease back into my bad eating habits!

count down.......

It's almost impossible to think i have been in kampala for 3 months and that in 4 days i will be heading back to nashville (via nairobi, brussels, and newark). people said that the time would fly by and i doubted them...especially when i would go days without power or i longed for a hot shower or some hatch green chile salsa or just wanted to watch an hour of senseless tv. it's been an amazing three months..every day an adventure and every moment a miracle in the making. i think africa is not for everyone...yes , i know that sounds silly...but it's true. uganda can't be visited, it must be experienced...there has to be a predetermined acceptance that what you are about to see, to hear, to smell and to taste is unlike anything you have known before.... wow, i sound like rod serling on twilight zone.....

are you kidding me?

sometimes, i am told, people have the same recurring bad dream.....over and over. kind of like 'groundhog day' but minus bill murray and pauxatawny phil. (as you can probably tell, i did not google the correct spelling!).....since tony reid is here and i am heading back to the good ole God Bless America, USA, we all decided a trip to kiganda was in order. it was time to check on the progress of the piping, water tank, faucets, showers, etc now that an abundantly flowing well is capable of providing all the water needs. as you know, if you have followed this blog at all, we have had problems in the past with our van breaking down 3 out of 3 times we have driven it to kiganda. today, because it has a tire that prefers being flat, and i am sort of hesitant, because our track record is abysmal, we rdecided to pay the $40 and get a rental car. we left kampala at 9am, ready for our uneventful journey. we reached highway secondary school about 10:45 and as we were pulling into the driveway, tony and i looked at each other and said "what's that noise"? andrew said that it was a normal car sound....ok, i am not a mechanic, but that didn't seem 'normal'.

Easter day beach party!

i had never spent easter away from my natural family.....forever easter has been a day of celebrating the resurrection of our Lord, a huge family dinner and maybe a game of bocce or softball or croquet. this year was a first.....oh, i still celebrated the resurrection of our Lord, but here when you say "hallelujah, the Lord has risen", no one says "the Lord has risen indeed". or, maybe i just didn't say it to the right people! i did not spend the day with my natural family, but i was honored to spend the day with my african family....including andrew and illona, patrick, 30 kids from the safe house and of course, TONY.....though not african....part of my adopted family! we didn't have a huge dinner, instead we had sandwiches, chips, cookies, fruit juice and (thanks to george) the most delicious pink and blue peeps! the kids loved them....just knew they would! we didn't play bocce, or softball or croquet, but we did play a long, rousing game of duck, duck, goose introduced by tony. i seriously had to bow out early because i knew as the oldest, and definitely slowest, person sitting in the circle, i would get "goosed" way too often.....well i know THAT didn't sound right, but you gey my drift! andrew and illona didn't play so we paid andrew back by burying him in the sand....he was a good sport, but i'm reasonably certain he did not appreciate my wonderful idea.....the kids liked it though, and after he was buried we danced around him in a circle and i was reminded of that scene in Lord of the Flies, though not sure why.

tony's here !!!!

tony reid, missionary, from perfecting faith international in the nashville, tennessee area, arrived late thursday evening to spend a few months at from the heart house ministering to the children at the prisons and orphanages and the safe house. we, unfortunately were late picking him up from the airport because we had only allowed 4 hours to get to the airport....it is an hour and a half drive! traffic in kampala was ridiculous and entrance into the airport is tedious because passengers have to exit the vehicle and walk through a security check and then walk to the vehicle which has parked further up the road. hmmm, guess if i was toting explosives i would not be the passenger, but perhaps the driver!!!! tony was waiting for us with a huge smile. it was GREAT to see him and speak american english with someone who actually understood me. peter, my friend, says that no one actually understands me...everyone just smiles and nods because all they really hear is: "na-na-na--yip-yip-yip-wah-wah-wah"! i thought for sure he was teasing me until the other day when i asked a taxi driver if he was old enough to drive because he looked to be only 12.....and he smiled and nodded at me....well, maybe there is some truth in what peter said.

bandana day at raising up hope!

every time we go to the raising up hope safe house we try to bring a little something special....just a little something "fun"....we really didn't know what a big hit our bandanas would be! andrew and illona made juice in the morning, so we had a jerry can filled with fresh passion fruit/orange juice. then we decided to buy ready made lunches, so the kids got to eat chicken or beef with matooke and groundnut sauce and rice. this is their favorite meal and they always lick their containers! speaking of containers, the house did not have any plates and not enough cups, only bowls which served as both plates and cups.....this made eating a meal rather complicated as u can imagine. we bought enough plates and cups for everyone....funny how you don't appreciate a cup or a plate until you only have a bowl...they don't have silverware yet, maybe that will be our next investment.
my friend kathi had sent a box of clothing from goodwill, so after the meal we dove into the box to see what would fit who. patrick decided to put a blue floral skirt on...don't know why, but it was hilarious. i love the way he will be just as silly as can be to make the kids laugh....he is an amazing man of God. pastor william was there too and everyone danced and prayed and praised God...i think andrew and illona sneaked out so they didn't have to participate in what i call the "around and around up and down dance". i can't even describe 30 of us doing this dance in a 10 x 12 room in the intense heat! it is quite a workout! it is incredibly fun and there is always amazing drum music!

naguru :) + :(

andrew and i go to naguru on friday afternoons. we always bring as much as we can afford...our budget is about $200/week. yesterday we spent $375....but it was worth every penny. we went to the nakumatt and bought an air pump for the footballs, bread and sugar for everyone, and as an added treat for the girls, we included butter, vaseline and nail polish. we simply could not find sealed bags of popped corn so went on to the game store...none there either, so settled for cheetos for everyone. we had already bought pineapples, so by the heat of the day the van was smelling a bit like some fermented pineapple beer george and i had smelled in a dug out log in the jungle one day last year!!! we also had a bag of toothbrushes and some ibuprophen. the director had told andrew in the morning that there were 104 currently in residence, but when we arrived we learned there were 130! hmmm, seems like he would have known. it was funny when we got there because andrew heard someone yell in luganda: "the pineapple people are here!"

praise God!

generally we don't go to the Raising Up Hope safe house on wednesday, but we needed to reschedule our day because we wanted to see john. he had been injured in a soccer game and had been taken to the clinic for wound care instructions and to get antibiotics. both andrew and i were worried about him (you can read about him in my previous blog).
we went shopping on the way....exhausted our budget in less than an hour. our first stop was the commodities market where we always buy posho and beans. what a horrible shock...posho is now 120,000 ugx for a 50kg bag....it was 60,000 less than 2 months ago. (posho is a maize flour, the staple of all ugandan orphanages, prisons, boarding schools, etc...very much like our grits only much finer..kind of somewhere in between grits and cornstarch...it is served with beans on top...). my friend, ssenyonga john, who directs the highway secondary school in kiganda says it is 130,000 ugx there. he just bought 3 months worth because he fears a famine is inevitable. anyway, we bought 5 bags of posho and two bags of beans which was another 250,00ugx.

john

john is a 12 year old boy who lives at the Raising Up Hope Safe House. the first thing you notice when you observe john, is his enthusiasm and cheerfulness. he is bright, and loving, he is energetic and caring, he has an infectious smile, and he is one of the uncounted, ignored and vulnerable street children of kampala. i love john....i love him with all my heart.
the first time i met john, he was a bit aloof...not knowing whether to trust me, not knowing whether i wanted to befriend him for a selfish purpose. i think now he understands...and though he may not love me, i can tell from his huge hugs and hand holding moments, that he likes me and that is absolutely perfect, i could not ask for more.

hot bananas!

today is saturday and i MUST do paperwork, i have been avoiding it all week. i would rather stand in the burning sun, surrounded by biting gnats in the middle of nowhere than spend an hour at a desk sorting out receipts and trying to make sense of my own notes. well, there is a reason why i can't make sense of my notes....mostly because they are written while i am riding, and if you are familiar with the roads in kampala, you understand that the potholes are large enough to swallow a vw!

yesterday we went to naguru 'remand center'. i think we are developing a really good relationship with the staff.....they supplied paperwork to verify that sweet deniz had been returned to her parents in west uganda. YAY.....the child had been found wandering the streets of kampala after someone had promised her an education....well, you can imagine that scenario. she left her village thinking she would improve her life, and instead found herself in a children's prison with no means to return home. we're so glad we could help. we were told her parents were so happy to see her they couldn't stop crying for joy. i love a happy ending! little 6 year old collin was transferred to a facility for young children....thank goodness. i'm thinking this is a facility we just might have to visit soon.

yay it's thursday!

yesterday andrew and i went to the post office to pick up a "parcel" which i had kindly been asked "to retrieve". on the way i told andrew that "i really hate your post office!' he said: "you live here now, so it is your post office too." YIKES...hadn't thought about that.....BUT as it turned out, everything went really smoothly and there were 2 parcels to retrieve.....the really nice customs lady didn't make us pay any processing fees or custom's taxes or anything. she just said: "keep doing the work you are doing!" all right...maybe i need to rethink MY post office. we shopped all day for the safe house and naguru..came home and i opened the parcels to discover one completely crushed bag of mini powdered sugar donuts which we ate regardless. andrew hadn't ever had them before, but ate his share....i of course ate myself sick.....but it was worth it.
all sorts of tear gas in kampala yesterday....policeman killed...police out in full force....nothing near me, thankfully. lack of power is an issue again. seems i have electricity for 3 or 4 hours a day, usually early , early morning. i guess i have gotten used to it, though i dearly wish uganda would stop selling it's electricity to the congo...they never run out.

keepin' busy

patrick and peter came over on saturday to work on the video and have a late lunch. i've met most of my ugandan friends on facebook, even my partner, andrew. i'm just amazed how God uses the internet to connect people to further His work on earth. there really aren't any coincidences, simply connections perfectly planned by Him. i also love how From The Heart House is becoming a gathering place to exchange ideas to help some children, and to enjoy fellowship, food and prayer. we are all anxiously awaiting tony's arrival.....can't wait to have our Perfecting Faith Ministries missionary here in kampala. can you hear me tony?
we had a lot of food. peter said he ate like a goat, grazing all day. patrick put salsa on everything but the oatmeal cookies...even took some food home to the kids at the safe house. we spent many hours writing the script for the video, even though it is not that long. patrick gave further testimony about his life on the streets when he was orphaned at age 15. we also searched through iphotos for the 'right ones' and peter had to laugh at me in my gomezi...we had to remove the word kampiringisa from the script all together because i simply cannot pronounce it on the first attempt....we used 'children's prison', which may be better because it is not specific. the safe house boys are much more specific when they give their testimonies...they tell their experiemnces there. it will all be on THE VIDEO, which hopefully will be completed in a couple weeks.

naguru - 16 March 2012

fridays are always interesting....running around to get everything we promised the kids at the nuguru children's prison..it is more politically correct to call it the remand center, but, "i calls em as i seez em." who said that anyway? well we went to western union to pick up money from desanagiving....the bank clerk said "you have a very interesting test question. i need to ask you what bothers you most." "easy, i told him....your postal service, or the lack of service at your post office." he apologized as most ugandans are exceedingly polite....i told him about a few of my visits there and that i was headung there next. he apologized again. couldn't quite figure out why he felt responsible, maybe because but he was a nice man and had not come across that answer to a test question before.

going postal

yes, i know i have already complained in great detail about the kampala post office, but i keep expecting my experiences there to get better instead of worse. why oh why oh why? yesterday i received a call from the polite lady at the kampala post office advising me that i have a PARCEL and must retrieve it promptly. no problemo...because i know my friend, kathi gilleland, has sent me 9 pounds of junk food, which is sure to include chocolate!

so...this morning my favorite taxi driver, wycliff, picks me up at 10 and says "where to"? (our van is in for repairs AGAIN, but that is another story) when i say "the post office, i have a PARCEL there!" he gets this kind of weird look on his face, like oh no, not again. we had to stop at the bank in case they decided they needed to charge me a $50 tax to receive my box and then off through the explosive detection gate, into the first reception area, out the front, along the side, up the stairs to the PARCEL department. i hand my paperwork to the woman behind the desk and she types and types and types and calls for assistance. this postal employee says "your PARCEL is not ready, you can retrieve it on friday." i reply "no, there must be some mistake, you called me yesterday and said to come get my PARCEL promptly, so here i am, prompt." "there is no mistake" he says, "your PARCEL has not been processed."

kampiringisa is haunting me

i've been thinking about kampiringisa a lot these past few days....it creeps into my thoughts when i least expect it...it chases away my happy thoughts and fills my mind with dark, depressing images of children living as no child should be forced to live. andrew says we will not go back, that evil resides there.....i don't know. i think he can't bear the heartache and maybe, just maybe, it is an embarassment to him that this place exists in his beautiful country and no one does anything about it.
kampiringisa is officially a remand home, a detention center...at least that is what the sign indicates and that is what the staff says. but, when you ask what happens when the children of naguru are found guilty of a serious crime, you are told "they come here to kampiringisa"....sounds like a prison to me. when you ask what the age range is of the children who are residents here, you are told "12-18". this week we talked to children who had been in residence there at age 6. sounds more and more like a children's prison.

safe house picnic day....!

yesterday started as one of those days that absolutely HAS to get better....no power in my house, no power in illona and andrew's house, the van in the shop for $650 of repairs, a rental car fee, the chicken needing to be cooked for the picnic had leaked in the trunk of the rental car creating a major stink and a horde of flies....meaning we had to pull out and scrub the carpeting, andrew kept getting lost on the way to peter's house (peter is a documentary film director) and all before 10 am!
but, as always....the worst day can turn into the BEST DAY EVER in a matter of moments. we arrived at the safe house to be greeted by hugs and smiles from 30 kids, all anxiously awaiting a picnic, though no one knew what a picnic is! we realized there were many new faces. it seemed that some of the kids who leave the house during hte day to look for food and money on the streets had decided to stay at the house for the picnic. what a blessing!

a trip to the kampala post office

i'm told there's only one post office in kampala...seems odd when you realize that the population of kampala must exceed 5 million. i know my first reaction was "boy, it's going to be really busy." wrong.....no one goes there because it is sheer torture! waiting for a package, oh, excuse me, a parcel to arrive? yes, well, don't call them or attempt to check on your parcel because you will be told: "we'll call you when it arrives, it could take 4 or 5 weeks." amazingly, a very pleasant person does call you and insists that you pick up your parcel prompty (there isn't any mail delivery...ugandans simply do not get mail). hmm..drive to the post office and wait at the closed gate while a guard checks your vehicle for explosives, asks why you are there (uh-huh....it's hard not to give a smart alecky answer) and makes you complete a guest register book. (what year is this and when was the last time you did this anywhere other than a fun place like a state park or a funeral?) you are told you have 30 minutes....well surely that will be plenty of time. WRONG! you enter a reception area, wait in line and someone asks why you are there.

A New Addition!

it's been a busy couple of days after a wonderfully quiet weekend...we bought fruit (bananas and mangos) and took it to the EXTREMELY energetic 30+ kids at the Love and Care Ministry. they were so excited to see us again....every time i snapped a photo they laughed uncontrollably..don't know if it was the flash, but they were WILD. i got shot 1000 times with a green plastic laser pistol which caused more chaos as i pretended to be stricken and in pain...haha...love these little kids.
one has the most awful scarring on his arm, which is also badly enlarged and misshapen. apparently he was the helpless victim of a horrible stepmother and a witch doctor (for real). he was intentionally cut in many places and some type poison was inserted into the flesh of his arm.....of course WHY was my question, but no one knows....andrew said perhaps to kill him. fortunately he is safe with people who now care for him...away from the evil step mom!

Naguru - 2 March 2012

today is friday, our day to visit naguru remand home for children ages 10 to 18...children awaiting trial for crimes they supposedly have commited. we think some of the children are younger than 10 and we think perhaps the circumstances created by extreme poverty were, at least partially responsible for crimes such as theft.....for who can fault a homless or orphaned child for stealing something to eat? we know that children are only supposed to be there for 3 months, but we also know that they can be there for a year. we always bring food, because these children are hungry all the time. they eat posho and beans....that's it! today we brought bread and milk and sugar to put in their posho porridge and mangos.....and as a special treat for the girls, bright colors of nail polish. they had also asked for slippers, but we just didn't have enough money!

greetings from uganda

i never thought i would write a blog. actually, i tried to define the word to my friend today, and discovered i wasn't really sure what it meant. those who know me well, know i am not computer savvy and not tech minded. those just aren't my strong suits. i like to travel, i like people, i love kids and i love following God's plan for me. guess that's how i found myself living on gayaza road, luteete, kampala, uganda.....sometimes a relatively quiet neighborhood, sometimes noisy with tear gas blasts and sirens, i'm told this is referred to as 'washington road', home of local politicians.
it took a lot of work, time and money to register Desana Uganda. we're so glad we did, as the government has been ousting larger, richer and more powerful american charities for not being licensed in the country of uganda. andrew semwogerere, my partner, and director of DU, has been invaluable. fortunately, he knows when to keep quiet (when i'm whining about lack of power or hot water) and when to speak up (when someone is trying to overcharge us or is hindering us when we are working to help the kids). God connected us through a facebook friend that neither of us has ever met. thank you sarah...one day we will meet you.

From the Heart House Update

Dear Friends,
Thank you to everyone for your moral, physical and spiritual support. From The Heart House is emerging in the community despite the many, often frustrating, challenges.
We are blessed to have a van in our possession! It enables us to reach the areas to take our ministry, to transport food and other tangible items and to visit other ngo's which are doing similar work in the community.
The House is slowly, but surely, taking shape. The main source of frustration is electricity, or should I say lack of it? Grid power may only be available a few hours a day and sometimes not at all for several days. We bought an inverter for back up power, then a new battery for it......but it (as most things in Uganda) continues to give us problems. Water has to be trucked in and is pumped into a large concrete tank. When we are without power, we cannot pump that water to the elevated gravity tank and then the problem of no water in the house becomes an issue. I never thought I would say this, but we are blessed to have 2 outdoor toilets on the property!!! There isn't hot water available in the house, there is a constant stream of ants marching across the counters and tiny "mos-quee- tos" are ever present, along with many small pinkish green lizards. We purchased a stove and a refrigerator, but I am constantly discarding food that was only half cooked on the stove or spoiled in the refrigerator.