happy birthday to me!

i'm pretty lucky... i get to spend another birthday on this planet and i get to spend my birthday in uganda. when i was a child, i hated having a january birthday because it was too cold in connecticut to do anything much other than shovel snow or be home sick with a nasty winter cold. NOT the case this year, it is hot and i have celebrated by eating an entire bag of gummy savers....not a half a bag, because that would not be different than usual, but an entire bag for which i will pay later. thanks george and thanks kathi for the birthday box. it arrived on time and without any hitches or dirty looks from the postal employees! yay! tomorrow i will go to RUHU to have a birthday party. soldier, robbie and umar will come along to sing and dance and peter will take pics and we all will eat cake, candy and crisps and drink fanta. a kid's party is not a party unless teeming with junk food and empty calories. the kids are all leaving for boarding school on the 3rd so this will double as a farewell celebration! oh, i must not forget napkins.....haha, that is a joke!! peter's mom is supposed to come over in the evening and teach me to make chapatis....NO, i do not know how to make them!! she sent directions but she said to use 5 pounds of flour! i said NO, i want to make like 5 or 6...not 30! ok, seriously i do not know how many chapatis you can make with 5 pounds of flour but it has to be more than a half dozen! i did make kabalagalas last week and they were quite good. i think next time i will put a tiny bit of cinnamon in the dough..should be good. peter dunked his in ketchup which was disgusting. my dear american friends, kabalagalas are banana pancakes....yeww! but then again i have seen him dunk french fries in peanut butter, so........hahaha

we went to fort portal yesterday...what a long day as i think it is 290km one way if you do not get lost looking for a remote village! we sure spent a lot of time in the van. we stopped in mubende along the way and visited with the district chairman for a few moments...will go back and see him again in a month or so when we visit the project there where we donate sewing machines so teenage girls can learn sewing as a life skill. the purpose of our journey was to find bruce's mother so she could sign the necessary papers so he can go to boarding school. bruce is somewhere between 12 and 14, when we asked we were told 12, 13 or 14. he is an adorable child.....polite and happy and eager to learn. he's just as cute and cuddly as a young man can be, and he wants to be a pilot. his eyes twinkle when he says that! i love all the kids, but he is the one who holds my heart. bruce came to kampala on his own 4 years ago. he hid under the seats in a bus, away from an abusive father, looking for something better. he had had no contact with his family in that time. we finally found the woman who had sometimes raised his mother. she smiled when she saw him but did not grab hold of him or cover him with kisses. i cried because he deserved that. well...he has deserved so much, but.....you know, this is uganda where children are disposable. she took us to his mother's house which was a 30 minute drive. when the mother saw him there was no look of recognition even though he looks just like her. she looked at us as if to say "why are you bringing this child here?' peter and allan explained that bruce was her son as he stood quietly back. she did nothing. i couldn't stand it. i grabbed her and wrapped her arms around him and screamed uncontrollably in english "HUG HIM HE'S YOUR SON! YOU HAVEN'T SEEN HIM IN 4 YEARS. WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" peter told me not to cry again because he knows me well enough to know that is my reaction when i see a child so disappointed by not receiving something he had so much expected and awaited. no one asked how he was or if he was healthy or happy or anything. he met his 3 year old sister and gave his 8 year old sister (whom he knew) his coke. no one showered him with love or affection. they thanked us for telling them he would be receiving an education and they signed the necessary papers. we were only there 45 minutes or so. allan and peter said the mother has some 'mental problems'. i said she should not be allowed to bring more children into the world. but you know, 'i calls em as i sees em'!!!! we went into the city and had a horrible meal and found what might be the nastiest restroom in the country. i told the owner he needed to cleanthe toilets but she just lectured me for being impolite....yep, i needed that...just another ugandan woman making me want to open another can of whoop a$$!

it's been a really difficult month...so many problems......trying to get my work permit because of course you have to pay to volunteer for free and you have to jump through hoops and pay under the table to 'expedite' the process.....plus trying to get the accountant to complete our 2012 report so we can file a 2012 work report and prepare a 2013 work plan and renew our ngo status. all costing mountains of money which i do not have. yesterday was the first time i had to turn down a request for food at naguru children's prison....they had no food and desana had no money....yes, my friends, it has been a difficult month. i talked to patrick at raising up hope and he said he knows victory is on the horizon because i have stayed with this through so much. he says i am still being tested and i know he is correct. i have a difficult time surrendering control to God. i have an even more difficult time paying to 'expedite' processes when children are hungry....the word 'volunteer' must not be in the uganda dictionary and doing your job without a little extra money is also not common. pray for me and pray for the children.....i know the others will be judged when and how He sees fit and it is not my concern (this is the stuff i have a hard time with)! blessings to you all...i miss you!