time for a sugar high!

we had a terrible storm last evening....torrential rain and high winds and rolling thunder. the power has been off since then. i can see lights not very far away, so it must just be around our immediate area. i'm really used to living without power, gayaza road was a challenge for sure. now it seems to simply be a minor inconvenience...definitely a step in the right direction! hmmm, well, let me think about that a bit..is getting used to living electric free a step forward or is it a step backward? will need to discuss this with my facebook friend, daniel, which by the way is not his real name. i can't pronounce his real name, so a year ago he said it means daniel....perfect, but last evening he asked "why do you keep calling me daniel"? haha...one of us is daft, and i'm not sure which one that is. at any rate we have interesting discussions concerning food, God, horses, lots of things!

peter, carol, patrick, zhanna, yubu and i went to visit the ruhu kids last sunday at patrahill boarding school....we had a GREAT day! we brought them their usual thursday meal of fish or meat, matooke and rice and juice. patrick also brought sodas and cookies and bottled water...many snacks for them to enjoy. they all showed us their workbooks and we were SO excited about how well they are doing, especially since some of them have not had the opportunity to attend school in years. these kids are so bright and so eager to learn. some, i think, are homesick for the shelter and miss patrick so much. however, they are so very grateful for this opportunity to further their education. we all spoke to them about how proud we are, and how they have to be the best they can be and to look toward the future because God has given them so many challenges and now they are on the path to fulfilling His plan for them. we won't get to visit them until 17 march, which is a very long time!! they were wearing school uniforms and were SO cute...blue shorts and a short sleeved button up shirts, all looked so very handsome....they were proud of themselves too. they said the teachers call them "project" children, which really got my goat. i told them to turn it around...that they needed to make the choice to make that phrase a positive one so that when people say it, it means well behaved, and excellent students...exemplary children. just can't understand why adults would toss negativity at children who had been through so much pain in their lives....several said they had received beatings. Zhanna and i both cringed...beatings in the 21st century!! guess no one has told the school boards that beating a child teaches him that hitting is an acceptable way to solve a problem. we told peter that if a teacher in the USA or Russia strikes a child he can be arrested for assault. we told the children that they needed to behave and never do anything that would break a rule and result in a beating....easier said than done, i think.

patrick, zhanna and i went into kisenyi on tuesday to cleanse and treat wounds. patrick recruited brian, who had once been at the shelter, to return with us. if you look at the pics i posted from that day (19 feb), he is the boy in the olive drab tank top with the sad, sad face. it was so hot that zhanna started to feel sick and after some time had to return to the a/c in the van. we actually have a table now to put our meager boxes of supplies...mostly betadine, neosporin and bandages and tape. people kept stealing our water and most wanted pain killers whether they had an injury or not. we saw several really bad injuries such as the man with the broken leg from a police beating because he was sleeping on the street and a man whose leg was swollen to twice the size of the other. there is so much we can't do. all in all i believe the people appreciate the little help we can give. what a blessing it would be to have the funds to take all the serious injuries to the clinic, but right now that is out of the question. we are going back next week and will bring malaria meds and flu meds. i'm praying that the Lord has blessed us with a new volunteer...a nurse. i will meet him on sunday, so keep your fingers crossed. :)

well, today i was back in post office hell. they had been so good to me lately, hassle free. guess they decided it was time to test my fortitude! it started out well...'yes, your parcel is here. it's upstairs in the parcell room'......oh no i thought, that's where the MAN is, the one who's sole purpose is to give me a hard time! ok, he wasn't there 'this won't be so bad'. a new guy says..'i need a copy of your passport'. 'why', i ask, 'you didn't need one last week'? 'it's the rule'. i say that it wasn't a rule last week, and of course he says it was. 'was not!' 'was'! dang, i'm not getting anywhere here. "where do i get one?' "upstairs' he says, '3rd floor.' sure, ok, up i go but it is a hall of offices and i haven't a clue which one. along comes a man with a jerry can. 'may i help you?' he asks. "sure, thanks, i need a copy of my passport'. 'here in my office, what's your name?' hmm, i think, why do you need to know! we go in his office, i don't see a copy machine and all of a sudden he is trying to rent me a home in kabalagala. 'no, i say, i have a home, i need a copy'. 'where do you live", he asks. 'mutundwe, why?' 'that's too far' he says......ok, mr weird man, i need to go, i'm thinking. he finally led me to the copy machine down the hall after i promised to come back when my lease is up! yay, i get my copy....200ugx...good deal, back downstairs and the new guy at the desk says your package will cost 5900ugx. 'why' i ask, 'didn't have to pay last week'. 'yes you did'...'no, i didn't' and here we go again...ok, i pay the 5900 and the inspector slits my parcel open. i ask her to be careful because there are clothes in it. 'no' she says, 'it's candy'......i tell her there are clothes in there, but she doesn't want to bother looking through the rest of the parcel.....alrighty, she gives it back to me and i start out the door....the guard stops me and says 'i need your receipt'. i say that i don't have one...no one gave me one...that he has been there watching me all along, that he must know i paid and that i didn't get a receipt. i get the LOOK, the one that i recall from the day Erin Williams reeked havoc in that very same room! haha.....finally he allows me to leave without the receipt i never received and i knew right then and there that this was going to be one of THOSE DAYS. oh well, i have 3 new skirts, gummy savers and little debbies...time for a sugar high!!!

"did jeet?"

february is proving to be another challenging month....meetings, reports, plans, budgets....YIKES! anyone that knows me well knows that these are not my 'things'! GEEZ, anyone who can sit at a desk for longer than 30 minutes has my utmost respect and kudos, because i don't know how they can do it. i have a short attention span when it comes to reviewing documents or amending constitutions and i admire people whose mind doesn't drift to an old bon jovi song or what they need from the market. it wasn't this bad in my pre-chemo days....but then in my pre-chemo days i was mucking stalls and riding horses and throwing bales! hmm, guess there are some things i really do miss about the farm! (not the snakes, i don't miss the snakes!)

speaking of snakes, i have not seen ANY in uganda except in the snake park. and that is good because i am still working through my fear of snakes. i don't think i am alone in this phobia. Pastor Jones says fear of snakes represents fear of satan. makes sense, i guess. i have just constructed a wall of steel wool in a cabinet in my kitchen! i am hoping that will keep some of the mice out. i trapped both mickey and minnie last night......Ewwww! you know, i don't fear many things......fear exists when faith does not! right? i have ridden horses whose sole purpose was to have me on the ground spitting out teeth (and a few did just that!), have bicycled down a volcano in maui, ridden a camel in the sahara, ridden a motorcycle into the andes, run down the inca trail from the sun gate at macchu pichu, been hot air ballooning above turkey, and sailed the tradewinds in the south pacific just to highlight the most fun things!! but seriously, rodents make me cringe and send me into a panic! what is that all about? it makes no sense.....mice are even cute but i am terrified of them! ii know, i know...it's childish and insane....there are people who seem to fear nothing, like that guy named Bear who had that t.v. show...and there are people who seem to fear everything. little joan, who is in pre-school and lives next door, also fears mice. it's nice to have a compadre, even a mini one....haha

i am so proud of patrick and ruhu......all of the children are in school. thank you Jesus, it is so wonderful.....street kids working toward their futures. we were fortunate to be able to assist in transporting them last sunday. it was a zoo! kids, foot lockers, mattresses, etc......all were bouncing with energy and talking a mile a minute. can you imagine something this wonderful happening? He reigns!! when we got to the school, the teachers thought that yubu, my driver, was a student (he is 31). they kept yelling at him to put his things on the table with the other children's things. it was so so funny. poor yubu, the traffic police always stop him, i guess they also think he is 12!! peter and i are still laughing about this....even yubu thought it was funny and chuckles when we talk about it...hahaha the kids were so so happy. they asked me if we would come every week to visit at least 20 times. i tried to explain that it was not allowed, but i would be there as often as possible. then someone asked if i would bring rice and matooke and meat like i did on thursdays. i said no, also not allowed. we all got a little sad and prayed. i can't wait for visiting day! what an opportunity for them, what a blessing from our Father! i miss them already. it was odd, but a few of the boys who have never been really 'huggy' with me, wouldn't let go of my hand. of course i had to swallow and smile. i think we sometimes do not know how important we are in kids' lives. if we give just a smile or a hug, it's something they may cherish for a long time.....so hug those kids!!!

i am preparing my first mexican meal for guests! next monday patrick and pastor william are coming to discuss our similar frustrations, make some plans and to pray for and with me as i work through heaps of the previously mentioned responsibilities. (have i mentioned my most recent partner quit with only 2 weeks until paperwork is due at the NGO board?) patrick will eat anything with salsa. i couldn't find any, but made a batch and it is SPICY! i will even break open my only package of tortillas...think i will make chicken burritos, refrieds, spanish rice, guacamole and of course...SALSA. last time they mixed coke and juice....yuck..haha. i am blessed to share time with these friends...God has been good to me. sorry y'all can't make it for dinner.....!!! the other day i said to peter: "did jeet?" then i realized only american southerners understand that one! i love y'all and miss you....!!!

In The Midst

well, here i am back in uganda. my time in the USA went by so quickly and was so much fun. there is nothing quite like visiting and traveling and eating and laughing with family and friends......those memories often get me through the difficult days, the days that i must remind myself 'why i am here'. i've had a rough start....arrived here at 11pm on the 3rd of january and came down with the worse flu i have ever had on the morning of the 5th. dragged my fevered, collapsing, dizzy, coughing self to the ER where i received a 5 minute exam, a blood test for malaria, a bottle of what i think is tylenol and the world's foulest tasting cough medicine...all for 88,000 shillings...$35. plus, of course the $15 cab fare. seriously, i would have started taking cold pills and cough medicine on my own, but my housekeeper insisted she had packed them and they were at the new house. think so? nope, apparently she had gone through all my medications while i was gone and helped herself to all my over the counter meds like tylenol, nyquil, benedryl, etc! i've discovered a few other things missing, but that's a whole other story!

by noon on the 5th, i'm feeling just about as bad as a person can feel, but it's moving day! i only have 3 days to move and clean and paint the old house. when it comes to timing, mine is impeccable...haha. thankfully my great friends freddie, elver, peter, robbie, yubu and soldier loaded and unloaded the moving truck. mostly i just sat there looking pathetic as they would load whatever piece of furniture i was sitting/lying on. i told them i didn't care where they put the furniture in the new place, and to please just put my bed together so i could lie down and nap. i treated everyone to a local meal...elver and freddie ate that nasty dried smoked fish with the groundnut sauce and peter ate goat, so to me it wasn't much of a treat but they had all worked so hard and were so hungry i think they would have eaten anything.

peter and i went went to miracle center cathedral on sunday morning. i sure had missed pastor kayanje...he is an absolutely awesome man of God. peter kept falling asleep and i couldn't stop coughing. i felt sorry for the people around us, so we left a bit early. i came home and napped (again) while peter cleaned every piece of furniture and washed all the floors! i really have been blessed in the 'friend department'....in the housekeeper department, not so much..haha!

in the midst of me being totally immersed in myself and my problems, i didn't know little musifaru was lying in a clinic bed dying. i got the news on monday that he had passed away from malaria.....totally curable malaria...a 6 year old, sweet, loving child is gone....i tell everyone that 20,000 children die every day in africa from preventable and curable diseases and starvation...but this is different because this child has a name and a face i loved. this one held my hand and walked with me and ate from my plate. this one was not a statistic but a happy little boy who was another victim of extreme poverty. this one hurts.