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.
we then headed off to postal uganda.....wow, they had 2 PARCELS for me....that was 11,000 shillings processing fee. what? i've never paid one of those before, that's a brand new tax for me. yay :( now, move on to customs......ut-oh.....mr customs man says there's no problem with kathi gilleland's PARCEL of junk food. yay :) but there is a problem with the box of free t-shirts donated by jostens in shelbyville. i will have to pay customs taxes because they are new shirts. "no sir, they are 2011 high school shirts, they are old, no one would buy them so they were donated to us to give to the children at the 'remand center'." "no madam. they are new in packaging, you will have to pay taxes." :( "oh, please, we are a ngo (charity), we will GIVE these away, please!" "alright madam, i am giving you a free pass, do you understand, one free pass. no fees today." :) thank you Jesus, thank you custom's man....maybe i have to rethink what bothers me most!!
andrew had already bought medicines and drugs to supplement the medicine chest at nuguru, basic antibiotics, malaria meds, etc so next on the agenda was to purchase 50 pineapples for the kids to enjoy because we ALWAYS bring fruit. when we got there, illona and i chatted with the girls about what they were lacking and how they didn't always receive the things we brought. WHAT....stomp, stomp, stomp, time for a chat with the warden and the house matron and a few others...who took all our questions personally and got a bit huffy under the collar. i finally told them "hey, listen up, we are here for the kids....people are donating things for the kids..we must have accountability or we cannot continue (ok, maybe that was a teeny white lie...sorry). everyone seemed apologetic, but who knows, maybe they won't let us in the gate next week.
we met the most adorable child, collin, age 6, who had just arrived. his father is in prison and his mother abandoned him. (turn my head to hide the tears) he was so cute and so brave and so scared and way too young to be in that place for the crime of being abandoned.....please this system is broken! they are going to go through the authorities to see if they can release him to an orphanage...."hey patrick at Rising up Hope" can you hear me? then talked with sweet denise, another crimeless victim....stuck there because her family didn't have the 120K shillings to pay her transport home....when we told them we would be happy to pay, denise lit up like the 4th of july.....great, yay! now what......distribute those t-shirts and pineapple pieces...collin loved it, saw him lick the bowl. i don't know if i want him to be there next week or if i want him to be gone....either way we will follow up....please Lord, keep him safe.we took orders for next week.....the boys asked uncle andrew for soccer balls...done! the girls want knickers and hygiene items and flip flops...done. do you know that no one here understands the term flip flop! how is that possible when everyone wears them? close your eyes and listen i say, listen while i walk....'flip flop flip flop'...get it? no, they didn't! maybe we americans are a culture who does not call one thing by its given name.....flip flops, cup of java, moo juice, see what i'm saying.
i missed the wooden bicycle yesterday...would have loved a pic of that! sure are interesting sights....sometimes i don't take photos because i don't want people to be embarassed, you know. andrew always parks by a butcher stall when we go to the market.....geez i tell him, the flies, the smell...it's too much for a vegetarian....hmm, think i'll eat a goo goo....yea, that's the ticket....love y'all.
{fbcomments}
No comments:
Post a Comment