Up and out early today, we got picked up at 6:30 so we can eat breakfast and help with chores with our families. I had a bit of a stomach issue last night and this morning (welcome to Africa).

I was at my house with my girls while they swept, scrubbed & cleaned everything (no mops). The girls had to wash their own clothes by hand in buckets on the ground, unbelievable how hard they work!! One of the girls asked if I washed my clothes with my hands and I was embarrassed to say no, I had a machine. We ate breakfast after chores. Popcorn, rolls, African tea (yum) and there was some leftover beef and cassava from dinner the night before. It looked like a feast. The popcorn here is so tasty. I taught the 2 oldest girls Monica and Loy, how to use my camera, they had fun taking photos. Seems all the kids and the adults are intrigued by our cameras. I stayed at the house until 9:45 because Heather and I had a class to teach at 10:30.

Our class was Feminine Hygiene (puberty and all that goes with it). We walked in the room and there were at least 100 girls and moms waiting for us. Good thing we had a published study to read and teach from. We had an interpreter Judith (one of the moms), she was awesome! Lord who would have thought I would be teaching on this subject let alone to a room full of African ladies. It was well received and they had lots of questions moms and girls. There were a couple of cultural questions that we couldn’t answer but Judith and Victoria Gay took over on them. After we were finished we were thanked by hand clapping and one of the teen girls Ruth stood up and said the most beautiful things to us. We felt so humbled.

After the class some of the girls hung around and brought their finished potholder projects to show us. I promised to take their pictures when they were done. We let the girls loose with a couple of our cameras. We felt like movie stars, everyone wanted their pictures taken with us. We had so much fun! We must have taken at least 100 pictures with them and some of the moms. All this, and it was just noon.




At 1:00 we went back to our houses for lunch. Victoria Gay made this awesome bread to go with our posho and beans. I brought tic tac toe, jump ropes and the peg triangle games. I also had Brent’s laptop, we looked at the photos we had taken and even had the photos the girls had taken in the morning loaded in the computer, they got a kick out of them. I almost forgot, this morning the girls sang and danced for me complete with drums made from their trash buckets and flip flops for drum sticks.

We were invited to the assistant pastor Douglas’ house for dinner. It was in the bush. WOW! Just getting there was an experience. The road was so narrow the bush was scraping both sides of the car. We passed tiny villages along the way complete with naked little boys running around. Like we were in National Geographic, so real but almost surreal. Douglas and his wife Grace have 6 children, all their names start with "D." Douglas has been at Otino-Waa since the beginning, he wears many hats, beekeeper, assistant pastor, transportation director he is an invaluable employee and a very gracious host.

Dinner was very interesting, many items I’ve never even dreamed of. I sampled everything except the meat (I didn’t eat any meat in Africa). The food was wonderful, very different. They live in a house that Douglas has built himself and all the furnishing he built. We were only in the living room. Douglas is very proud of his home. The kitchen is a hut outside Grace cooked over charcoal. Grace is a very gregarious lady very warm and welcoming. The yard is large with a nice garden and pigs, a calf and chickens running free. We were entertained by his son of about 10 or 12 years old he sang a song and so did Douglas’ 18 year old nephew he sang and danced for us.

“Lord…these people are so friendly and open to us. What a blessing to be loved by everyone you meet. This is going to be hard to leave. Maybe by Your will we can come back. You are so awesome.”
Love You Lord
Amen

“Lord You’re amazing! This trip is amazing!”

The day was pretty much as usual. Alex was back with us. He got to introduce the watch incentive to his students in 2 classes. The students have to get 100% on their time telling test to get a watch. Heather and Alex were grading papers tonight. They will get their watches on Monday during class.

Juliet and Heather introduced the digital cameras we brought to the teachers. They looked like they were having fun. They were like kids playing with a new toy. We had them go outside and take photos of the flowers in the garden. What a sight to see, 15 or so adults with cameras roaming the grounds taking random photos.

We take so much for granted. America is a spoiled nation. If you could see all the people walking or riding bicycles it is unbelievable, and they walk for miles. The kids walk to to school in school uniforms and they have no shoes. There are too many people with out shoes. Running water is a huge luxury. You will see many people (kids too) walking with 5 gallon jugs on their heads. They have to walk to a spring for water. Moms carry babies on their backs in some sort of sling that wraps around the front and the baby sits on the mom’s lower back.

This country is so poor financially, but everyone smiles, everyone has a nice thing to say. You are always greeted by “Your Welcome” and a smile and handshake. The Love of God is very present in Uganda.

Heather and I taught First Aid to the moms. Then we gave them each a box of band-aids and a tube of triple antibiotic ointment for their houses. We also showed the moms how to make the braided pot holders. I hope they will be able to get some scrap fabric to make more and sell them in the gift shop for extra money.

Some of the moms make clothes to sell in the gift shop. Heather and Juliet got their dresses made by one of the moms (Anna). She had enough of Juliet’s fabric to make 2 extra skirts, one will go to Ashley. I picked up my dress in town last night so now we all have African dresses to wear to church on Sunday.

Tonight we had a teacher appreciation dinner for the staff. The menu was: Turkey turnovers, mashed potatoes, cole slaw. Pasta fagoli and for dessert we had rice pudding (I taught the staff how to make it today) and cake that the staff decorated under Heathers guidance (she did some cake decorating lessons).

The highlight of the day was the show put on by the children. They had a choir (the younger children) sing 3 songs, 1 was in their native language the others in English. They had dance moves to go with their songs. What angels they were. The next act was the older choir they did 2 or 3 songs. Then came the the dancers! The boys had on shorts and the top half of their bodies were painted with some tribal decorations. The girls had on native shirts and tops. They danced to drums and one girl lead the dance with a whistle. The first dance was from a neighboring tribe , the second dance was a mating dance from their native tribe.

“Lord these children were so proud of their heritage and it showed” Some of the quietest kid we’ve gotten to know came ALIVE!
“Lord,
This is an awesome place. I know Heather wants to come back. I would love to come back. If it is your will You will let us know. We waited 10 or 12 years to come here and it was worth the wait. Lord, please help Bob feel better, he is so weak and tired and the fevers don’t seem to go away. Thank You for Carol that she seems to be handling things for both of them. Continue to give her strength and wisdom. Alex seems to be struggling with his stomach issues please bless him also”
Thank You
Amen

“Lord…A bit of a challenging day for me, not so much the mission, but the family dynamics. Please forgive me for my loss of patience”

Busy day of course. Alex was sick today so we dropped him off at Bob and Carol’s house so he could rest. He and Bob can keep each other company. Juliet taught his classes. Heather and I gave the moms some nail polish and they had fun painting fingers and toes. Brent took the moms out to the pits to talk about the new composting policy at Otino-Waa.

I taught the kitchen staff at the coffee house how to make Pasta Fagoli. Of course we had to improvise. Brent worked on vehicles and the herb garden. Juliet taught a computer class for the teachers.

I brought ring toss to my house to play. The girls seemed to have fun with it. The girls are so sweet. One seems very troubled, she doesn’t seem happy at all. I wonder what her story is.

We went to an Indian Restaurant for dinner. Both Alex and Bob met us there, they both were feeling up to it. I thought the food was great. It was also a car wash - the name of the place is Washing Bay Restaurant.

When we got back to the hotel Brent and I washed a load of clothes in the bathtub (not fun)!!

“Lord
Thank You again for our time to serve. It has been an amazing week so far. Continue to guide us.”
Amen

“Oh Lord…I am tired!! Doing Your work can be so exhausting!”

We got picked up at 7:00 by Bob (he was feeling good enough to work for 4 or 5 hours today). Praise God!
Everyone had a busy day from teaching, garden prep work, fixing vehicles, bible study for the moms and jewelry making. In our spare time we sorted through some of the 5000 packets of seeds we brought. We taught math, time telling, computers, bible, hygiene, first aid and mechanics. Oh and don’t forget the hour we each spent with our families. Today I shared one of my favorite things with the girls, my kaleidoscope. They loved it! I left it there overnight so they can each spend some time playing with it.

“Thank You Lord for colors!”

We went to kids meeting at 5:00 were we gave each child and mom a bookmark and a fortune cookie with scripture either on it or in it. I felt so humbled.

“Thank You for that!”

I almost forgot one huge detail about today. Brent and I interviewed about 13 children for Path Ministries. It was heart wrenching because one of the things we had to ask was about what happened to their parents.

“Lord…Thank You for the bible study I led today. The moms are wonderful angels. May You continue to bless them.”

July 28th

It's 730 pm in the hotel.. I fell asleep last night pretty hard! So many more details to talk about..
We have taught the Mom's some simple jewelery with beads and fishing string and some wire clasps I had bought in the states. They really enjoyed it and are asking for more, but I ran out! I felt sooo bad!. so we're gonna paint their nails and possibly teach them the potholders that We taught the vocational students. One of our Big projects is an herb garden, Brent got 500 misc seed packets donated to him, various flowers, veggies and herbs. Today we were able to lay out the design, pull up some dirt with compost in the beds. Tomorrow we'll lay the brick and hopefully get to start planting some seeds!! A lot of what we brought, no one has even heard of before. So far the orphans have taken well to us. I'm very happy here and Love Uganda! Today it rained A LOT. So the dirt was very wet and muddy and RED! so we tracked mud everywhere! Mom and I also winged a "first aid" class today, seemed like it went well we basically read out of a boy scouts manual. Seemed like it went well.. we had questions at the end so that's always good! We also touched on personal hygiene. They don't use deodorant @ least the orphans don't. They are encouraged to use baking soda, but most don't. At the lunch today my girls were so quiet, I just can't break them! I don't know how to open them up. I bring games, airplanes, pictures but nothing seems to work much. I guess they are just shy girls. Brent has been working with the secondary boys and the drivers, teaching mechanics and such. They seem to be very excited about that! They have already fixed problems with the vans. Alex has been doing a lot of computer training, teaching how to type correctly. Mom and I have been teaming up a lot and teaching the girls some fun things and a lot to do with safety, sanitation, and hygiene. Ju has been taking a lot of photos of our trip. Today we all worked in the garden. my hands are so sore. Patrick is the head of landscaping, He's super nice, 20, and prob knows the most as far as his own culture and even American culture.. we are teaching each other language. Mom and Brent started doing interviews today with some of the newer kids to encourage getting sponsors for them. They are asked about their parents and what happened to them. I guess it was really hard to do.
I see that uganda isn't a 'desirable' country, its 3rd world, they are poor, living in huts, no water or electricity. Yet.. they Smile! They walk miles and miles for water, that may not even be clean.. but they Smile! I just love it here.
I've grown close to the kitchen staff, they used to live here, but now they have moved on and they now work and get paid here. Salaries are nothing here. People make close to nothing, but then again their cost of living is also lower too. We made roses yesterday it was awesome, they were so encouraging to each other and kept wanting to do better! They bake their own cakes and mix their own icing. I didn't realize they had the resources to do cakes, but I'm glad I could help in that regards! I like teaching a few of them at a time, they really seem to be grasping the concept and are enjoying it.
Ok it's almost 9 and I'm crashing!

Early pickup by Dickens. We had a class on composting @7:30. It was actually the weekly staff meeting where Brent and Juliet introduced the concept of composting to the staff. Alex taught an Art class - he taught lines. Juliet, Alex, Heather and I worked on math and reading with a primary grade. The teacher is Grace, she is wonderful. Alex and Juliet taught computers. Heather and I taught the secondary girls how to make our potholder project. The girls seemed to love it, so did Carol. (Later in the day the girls came to our afternoon class still working on them) Heather and I taught a class on food hygiene and safety. The girls didn’t seem interested, they had been doing what they do all their lives.

Brent stayed busy with auto mechanics for the boys; they really loved that and couldn’t wait for “hands on” part of the program. Brent also worked with the grounds manager, Patrick to clear the area for the herb vegetable garden to be started tomorrow.

Juliet and I went to the Debate Club in the afternoon held at the church. It poured so hard they had to set up the PA system so they can be heard (tin roof).

After we left Otino-Waa, Carol took us to Lira (the town we were staying in), so Heather, Juliet and I could buy fabric for dresses. We all bought fabric and I even had the shop girl make my dress for me…all for $20.00. Heather and Juliet will bring their fabric back to Otino-Waa so the moms there can make their dresses. Very fun! By the way my dress will be ready tomorrow! We had a short meeting with Carol about tomorrow’s plans and had dinner at the hotel. Brent was not feeling so well so he went to sleep right after his shower.

“Dear Lord,
Thank You so much for this blessing in our lives. I pray these 2 weeks will humble all of us. Lord help Brent feel better soon; he has a lot on his plate tomorrow. Thanks You for these beautiful children and the staff that helps to raise them. They are all your angels. I ask for your words tomorrow as I lead the bible study for the moms of the children. Please speak through me as I attempt to minister to them. I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me”
Amen

July 27th

8 pm

yesterday was our first day at Otino-Waa. we basically just got a tour and saw how everything was ran and went over our schedules. The orphanage is Beyond Amazing. there is 3 1/2 circles of houses, circle 1 holds the secondary kids (junior/ high school age). Circle 2 is the primary kids (elementary) The students are tested in at their own level. Most of them came from no education, obviously orphaned, most parents died in the war or AIDS. There was also Vocational students that learn basically a trade. Its all very organized and they have paid teachers ( they only make $200/ week!) EVERYONE has been so nice and welcoming! They always greet us with "you are welcome". Its very intense, only cause America isn't like that at all. Everyone smiles and says hi. On the streets people stare but then wave and say hi. Most people have welcomed us with hugs and handshakes. They even have a Ugandan handshake and hug. very simple and nice!
The orphanage has a cafe that's open to the public that sells cinnamon rolls, muffins, coffee, ice cream and some hot foods. Gifts, such as hand woven baskets, clothes, jewelery, books, and misc African trinkets. The money goes toward Otino-Waa and the children. the staffing is pretty well organized and knowledgable. Its pretty overwhelming how welcoming and awesome everyone has been and all they do for the children!
They don't live in luxury by any means. They have a roof, but no screens or inside kitchens. The stoves are made by the women out of clay. They make toast or porridge for breakfast. its always Posho and Beans for lunch. Posho is basically ground Mais. Its not bad just kind of blah. coming from home and having a choice for every meal is hard. We're all assigned to a house to eat lunch with. My house's mom is Florence, very sweet! I have a hard time understanding her though, she's been a mom from the beginning. Each mom has 8 kids. either all girls or all boys. My girls range from 8-13, very sweet, but very Shy! They barely speak when i talk to them. Today i taught them tic tac toe. They really enjoyed it. I finally got them to open up a little.
Yesterday it came out that i decorate cakes so I'll be teaching the kitchen some things. they sell cakes there for 35,000 schillings, which is about 17 bucks, which i guess is good for Uganda. One girl I worked with is Mirrium, she was really responsive and willing to learn. She replicated the cake I had made yesterday. She's a sweetie!

Our first day at Otino-Waa

Our first day at Otino-Waa. We had a great breakfast at the hotel, omelets made to order, potatoes, pineapple and papaya YUM some sausage that Brent and Alex ate. Fell in love with African tea.
We went to Otino-Waa, met and had a meeting up in the tower with Carol (director of Path Ministries), Josephine (assistant administrator for Otini-Waa), Pastor Dickens (head administrator for Otino-Waa) and Humphrey (administrator over the secondary school). We went over the schedule. Seems like we will be quite busy for the next 8 days.

We had lunch with the families we will be with the rest of the visit. Each of us has our own family we will have lunch with. My house is house 17 in circle 2. I have 8 girls between the ages of 10-14, beautiful girls but very shy. Tomorrow I will bring some paper and pen to write their names down and I’ll bring some sort of icebreaker for us. Maybe introduce my Kaleidoscope or a treat.

Our tour of the grounds was long and I got hot and sweaty.
Heather showed the café staff some cake decorating tips. Alex started teaching keyboarding to a computer class. We went to a huge composting facility met a great German man named Ralf.

The Ugandan people are so kind; always a smile always greet with “Your Welcome”.
We had dinner at Bob and Carol’s new house. Some Pumpkin soup homemade bread and fresh pineapple sauce. It was great.

“Lord…Thank You for this opportunity to serve You here. Please bless Bob with his health.”
Amen

We are finally in Africa!

Praise God we all were able to sleep on our flight from London to Entebbe, 2 hours here and there really add up! Arrived at Entebbe @ 7:30am. Went through the visa lines no problem, even paid for Caleb’s visa. “Thanks Lord…all of our bags made it!” After we rounded up all 16 bags checked and 10 pieces carryon we waited until 9:30 in a line to get checked out of the airport. Apparently there is some sort of African summit meeting starting today so security was very tight. We had a small delay with our bags especially the cameras and watches we brought for the orphans.

Bob and Carol and driver John were waiting outside for us. We loaded up the bus and headed for Kampala we could exchange money and we had lunch at an open air food court. Bob seems to be suffering from Malaria, so he is moving slow and not feeling well at all. What a trooper to come all the way to the airport to meet Caleb and us! “God…please touch him with your healing hands”Again security is very tight to get into the shopping center to get lunch and go to the bank. After lunch we headed on our way to Lira (4-6 hours). Bob rode in the bus with Brent and the kids; I rode in the SUV with Carol. We had a great visit.

Amazing Africa…from big city crowds to very small villages (with huts) along the way. Lots of bicycles and foot traffic, and they drive on the left side of the road. Carol and I stopped along the way at roadside markets. We bought a huge bunch of bananas for $1.00, 12 gorgeous pineapples for $4.00, even some boiled g-nuts (peanuts) to feed some monkeys on the side of the road. We all stopped at Karuma Falls on the Victoria Nile River. Amazing the current is way faster than I imagined.

We ended up in Lira about 5:00pm, all of us very tired from 3 days of travel. We checked into our hotel. We have 3 rooms (nice) had dinner, tried goat (I don’t like it) Brent and Alex seem fearless with the food. We sorted through all the bags for Otino-Waa tomorrow. Took showers and are headed to bed at 10:00pm.

“Thank You Lord! This is an awesome experience, and it hasn’t even started yet!”

July 25

July 25, Sunday night

We arrived in Entebbe around 730 this morning. Flight was good! We flew in over Lake Victoria! It was Beautiful. It's so green and pretty, reminds me of Jamaica a lot! If it wasn't for my trip there, I don't think I would have expected this. the weather is a bit humid and muggy, but nice and breezy. It took us 2 hours to get out of the airport cause of security and with all the bags we had to scan through.. it took Forever!The guys working there didn't know what half the stuff was. Neosporin and the the toools we brought were checked thoroughly. But. We made it!

Bob, Carol and our driver were there to greet us! they are so nice. Its amazing to meet such sweet people with big hearts. They came here for some conference years ago and them stumbled upon an orphanage and everything they have done since is just incredible. I'll come back to that later..

we headed to Kampala to exchange money and eat. The driving is just like Jamaica. crazy with no rhyme or reason and super close to the other cars, bicycles and motorcycles, (Bota Bota). They fit a lot of people on those things! we saw a guy driving, 3 ladies and they Each had a baby in lap. There are so many children and babies here. its insane. Everyone is outside, working, talking, cooking, selling stuff. People have been so friendly so far. We ate at a Kampala food court and shopped a bit. Securtiy is really really tight around here cause they have a bunch of African presidents for a conference. I've never seen so many guns!

The journey was 4-5 hours of some crazy driving. Our driver didn't speak much English, but I of course talked his ear off. We saw Monkeys! yes Monkeys! just on the side of the road, they were so cute! Mom was riding with Carol and they fed them ground nuts! We also saw some waterfalls. its surreal.

We got to our hotel, checked in, the rooms were better then i thought. we have 3 rooms so no one was squished. we sleep in mosquito nets over our beds and sprayed for bugs. we had dinner and finally showered for the first time since Friday!! We've been traveling for almost 48 hours.. tomorrow we officially start our Adventure!

At Heathrow Airport. Lots of interesting people to watch. Heather and I went and had afternoon tea at a restaurant at the airport…WONDERFUL! They served tea, 3 finger sandwiches (egg salad, cucumber & smoked salmon), carrot cake and the most awesome scone. Brent took the kids to another restaurant to eat. We are all so tired hopefully we will all get some sleep on the next flight.

“Lord…this is my prayer for today REST so we can do your will when we arrive in Uganda.
Thank You for safe travel so far! Continue to make a path for us”
Amen

July 24th 2010

Been in London Heathrow now for a couple hours. Alex and I went for a cruise to some shops and got a coffee. Our flight was nice, I slept almost the whole way. I'd say 7 1/2 out of the 9. There was entertainment on the screen in front of us but mine didn't work! Oh well, more sleep for me! No one really slept but me but I can sleep anywhere! London people are cool so far. there is a diverse crowd here for sure. Super excited to get to Entebbe and start our adventure. I'm trying my hardest to not have an expectations. Just let it all happen and take it all in. We have a 9 hour layover but thankfully this airport is like a mall of goodies. The lady at the coffee bar looked at me like I was crazy when I ordered my coffee iced. but it turned out Amazing.... Waiting around with all this luggage is no fun! Hopefully we come back with less..

7 PM

Just had tea with Mom. It was Delicious! We had 3 tea sandwiches, salmon, cucumber and egg salad, a scone, some kind of cheese spread, which was Amazing! and a carrot cake. I got tea And champagne. it was a fun experience. Flight leaves soon. YAY

Travel Begins

Today we finished up the packing. Thanks again Matt! Heather and David came and dropped off Heather’s bags and went to lunch. Barb will be here to help get all of our gear to the airport. Matt will take us in our van (he leaves tomorrow to go home, he will stay at our house).


At 4:00pm British Airways check in, we are surprised by Daniel. He was in town for a conference and emailed Heather to set up the surprise. We visited at Sky Harbor for at least 1 hour before saying goodbye to Daniel and Matt then headed for the gate.
The flight from Phoenix to London was LONG! They fed us twice on the flight. Heather slept almost the whole flight only waking long enough to eat. Caleb and Brent slept ok, Juliet slept some, Alex and I hardly at all. Needless to say I feel like a Zombie!

Matt and Caleb arrived from Oregon (Matt is Carol and Bob’s son; Caleb is their grandson). Caleb is traveling with us so he can spend 5 weeks with his grandparents. They stayed the night in our guest room. We went to Big Fat Greek Restaurant for dinner. The Whole Gang! Brent, myself, Heather, Ashley, Alex, Juliet, Matt and Caleb.

"Lord,
Thank You that we are able to take Caleb with us. I pray Blessings on our travel. Pray for Caleb and his dad to be at peace with this travel arrangement.”

Matt worked very hard to help us pack all our bags. We have 15-50 pound bags to check. Plus everyone has 2 carry-ons.

“Thank You Lord for Matt and his diligence in helping us pack”
Amen