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!!!