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?

we really did have a good work week, despite my sugar high! we delivered 200kgs of beans to naguru. the staff there is so great. always appreciative and thankful for whatever we bring, last week it was mattresses and bedding for the sick bay. they tell us that they don't know what they would do without us coming to their rescue when they are in dire straits....it's so good to feel like what you do is making a difference, even if just a small one. we brought a van full of supplies to the house of hope....posho and rice and toothbrushes and veggies and a charcoal stove and charcoal and a huge saucepan and lunch and juice! the kids told us that for once we were on time! i think either it was true or they were really hungry. they ate so fast which was a good thing because we received a phone call from daniels zziwa telling us the container of medical supplies and equipment which had left nashville on 3 may had just arrived and could we please come to the industrial park! thank you JESUS!

the container had already been unloaded and its contents loaded onto 2 huge trucks and a pick up which were about to head to mubende district. its contents to be divided amongst several clinics, including one in kiganda. and a hospital. there were also several dozen boxes of bibles, clothes, hygiene products, pens, etc for from the heart house to be distributed to some of our local projects in kampala! we are so grateful to Project Cure for donating all these items and to the Paul Mitchell Company for paying all the shipping costs....all in all, almost $400,000 worth of goods and services!!
peter and i are working on a new short documentary about kisenyi. well, actually, peter is doing all the work and i am just keeping him stuffed with pb & j sammies. if anyone is new to my blogs, kisenyi is the poorest, most dangerous slum in kampala...but what we want people to see are the faces of the desperate and hungry and homeless....to really see the people, especially the children. when i look at the pics and videos, i cry because i know many of the children personally.....wish us luck because this is a labor of love for both of us.
also, we've been working with the buswale team to complete our music video...."we won't fall". we are all in it, even marcelo from chile and the kids from the house of hope! it will be awesome and i think all y'all will be singing it before long...well, maybe not marcelo's part, that's in spanish..haha. hey, speaking of music, isn't that how i started this blog? hmmm, think i'll listen to a little sara evans and billy currington....AND, i think there's a goo goo in the kitchen calling my name..."cathy hook...where are you?" hahaha......and the beat goes on....