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.
then we headed to the safe house. along the way we bought 2 huge bags of charcoal for cooking,eggplants, tomatoes, cabbages, avocados, 10kg of sugar, bread, juice, cooking oil and sandals. we already had a box of t-shirts in the van so it was full. YES, our van finally came out of the repair shop for the tune of 2million ugx.....i keep talking in ugx's...sorry.. that is about $850 which would have bought a lot of posho :(
the kids were CRAZY when we got there! patrick said that the previous night they had prayed and prayed for food, because there wasn't any. he knew we were bringing some, but had no idea how much! the kids thanked us and hugged us and thanked God for answering their prayers. everyone unloaded the van and asked what was for lunch. LUNCH? oh no, we didn't bring any because we had forgotten and had already spent so much money. we checked john's wound and told everyone to sit tight, that we would go find some. we found a take away place on wakaliga road and bought chicken, beef and fish dinners complete with rice, greens and matoke....for around 200,000ugx ($85). the kids could not believe the meal they were going to have. everyone cleaned their tins and said thank you a hundred times. what a feast for them...it was so much fun to watch them eat...their bellies were full and their hearts were sooooo happy! these kids are awesome.
it was then time for praise and worship! fortunately andrew missed me dancing to a praise song in which you run around the room in circles alternating crouching down and raising up while you are running. it was not a pretty sight but he kids thought it was great. they don't listen or understand when i tell them i am too old!
afterwards we went into the backyard and handed out he sandals we had bought for the bigger kids. everyone received a new t-shirt courtesy of jostens in shelbyville, tennessee....thanks windell williams (kaleigh's grandfather). i have NEVER seen kids so happy to get a t-shirt, especially one form the senior class of 2011. it just goes to prove what i say all the time....IT DOESN'T TAKE MUCH TO MAKE A KID WHO HAS NOTHING HAPPY! thank you Jesus for sharing these children with us...we learn from them everyday.
we then took photos of the absolutely awesome necklaces and bracelets the kids make from magazines. i think george will be posting those pics on our website soon. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this jewelry will go to the safe house. i had not seen the bracelets before, i love love love them....you will too.
as always, it is difficult to leave the safe house....hugs abound...and they are learning to say: "see you later!" i don't really know if that is a good thing, but it's what i always say to them...never "goodbye".
andrew surprised me with a visit to his mom's house. always love to go there because she and all the children are so happy so see me. they all showed me their classwork and sang songs for me......"down to da reeeee-ver"...so cute. they are all so well behaved and bright!
i took photos all the way home of interesting (well, to me) sights in kampala...the HUGE UN convoy...must have been 100+ vehicles. andrew thought maybe they were heading to somalia, a cattle hauling truck with majorly horned livestock and men sitting on the roof (oh, PLEASE hang on up there), and a group of people singing and dancing and shaking leaves on their way to a circumcision ceremony...yes,i was glad i had not been invited!
it was such a great day...no power here...but i am totally used to that now. when u don't have any electronic entertainment equipment, you hardly notice. dinner was a cucumber sandwich and a ding-dong. thanks so much to george for always packing my care boxes with hostess and lil debbies. life without electricity is much more bearable when you are eating a ding-dong. yay george!
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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.then we headed to the safe house. along the way we bought 2 huge bags of charcoal for cooking,eggplants, tomatoes, cabbages, avocados, 10kg of sugar, bread, juice, cooking oil and sandals. we already had a box of t-shirts in the van so it was full. YES, our van finally came out of the repair shop for the tune of 2million ugx.....i keep talking in ugx's...sorry.. that is about $850 which would have bought a lot of posho :(
the kids were CRAZY when we got there! patrick said that the previous night they had prayed and prayed for food, because there wasn't any. he knew we were bringing some, but had no idea how much! the kids thanked us and hugged us and thanked God for answering their prayers. everyone unloaded the van and asked what was for lunch. LUNCH? oh no, we didn't bring any because we had forgotten and had already spent so much money. we checked john's wound and told everyone to sit tight, that we would go find some. we found a take away place on wakaliga road and bought chicken, beef and fish dinners complete with rice, greens and matoke....for around 200,000ugx ($85). the kids could not believe the meal they were going to have. everyone cleaned their tins and said thank you a hundred times. what a feast for them...it was so much fun to watch them eat...their bellies were full and their hearts were sooooo happy! these kids are awesome.it was then time for praise and worship! fortunately andrew missed me dancing to a praise song in which you run around the room in circles alternating crouching down and raising up while you are running. it was not a pretty sight but he kids thought it was great. they don't listen or understand when i tell them i am too old!
afterwards we went into the backyard and handed out he sandals we had bought for the bigger kids. everyone received a new t-shirt courtesy of jostens in shelbyville, tennessee....thanks windell williams (kaleigh's grandfather). i have NEVER seen kids so happy to get a t-shirt, especially one form the senior class of 2011. it just goes to prove what i say all the time....IT DOESN'T TAKE MUCH TO MAKE A KID WHO HAS NOTHING HAPPY! thank you Jesus for sharing these children with us...we learn from them everyday.
we then took photos of the absolutely awesome necklaces and bracelets the kids make from magazines. i think george will be posting those pics on our website soon. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of this jewelry will go to the safe house. i had not seen the bracelets before, i love love love them....you will too.as always, it is difficult to leave the safe house....hugs abound...and they are learning to say: "see you later!" i don't really know if that is a good thing, but it's what i always say to them...never "goodbye".
andrew surprised me with a visit to his mom's house. always love to go there because she and all the children are so happy so see me. they all showed me their classwork and sang songs for me......"down to da reeeee-ver"...so cute. they are all so well behaved and bright!
i took photos all the way home of interesting (well, to me) sights in kampala...the HUGE UN convoy...must have been 100+ vehicles. andrew thought maybe they were heading to somalia, a cattle hauling truck with majorly horned livestock and men sitting on the roof (oh, PLEASE hang on up there), and a group of people singing and dancing and shaking leaves on their way to a circumcision ceremony...yes,i was glad i had not been invited!it was such a great day...no power here...but i am totally used to that now. when u don't have any electronic entertainment equipment, you hardly notice. dinner was a cucumber sandwich and a ding-dong. thanks so much to george for always packing my care boxes with hostess and lil debbies. life without electricity is much more bearable when you are eating a ding-dong. yay george!
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