Update on EVERYTHING!!

African Sunrise!!

Our team minus Mama Sally

It is wonderful to be home!! Uganda truly feels like home to me. I arrived in Uganda on June 22nd. Thanks to Tylenol PM, I slept like a champ on the plane and didn't suffer too much jet lag upon arrival. We stayed in Kampala (the big city) our first night. We woke up the next morning and left for Gulu :). The trip to Gulu is less than 200 miles, but takes a good 4 hours. The roads are nothing like what we are used to in America...although they improve every time I come.

Riding a Boda Boda with chickens on it. Only in Africa.

My roommate Maddie!!!!!!! So much fun!!

We settled in our rooms at JO JO's PALACE (far from a palace) and I made some calls and met up with some of my friends. YAY!!!! The team wanted to get straight to work at the school (Gulu Hope) so we spent the next few days mixing cement, playing with the kids, moving dirt, laying bricks, playing with the kids, planting plants and flowers, playing with the kids, and making flower beds. We got real dirty everyday...the result of very hard work.

Seeing my friend Jimmy for the first time!! :)

This was our reward after a few days of hard work!!

You can kind of see the flower beds.

We wanted the team to experience village life in Uganda so we met up with Tony who took us to his father's village, Mede. There is so much history in Uganda and I can't explain it all here, but the people of northern Uganda were displaced into camps for the past 25 or so years. Those camps were considered "protected" during the war. I have been to camps on previous trips and the living conditions were inhumane, to say the least. The government is now telling people they must leave the camps. Many people do not know where their original villages are because they were so young when they were displaced and they no longer have family to tell them where to go. Many people just set up life right outside of the camp. This is the case with Mede. Everyone that lives in Mede now recently left the IDP camp that neighbors the village. Needless to say, the people of Mede have experienced severe trauma and are living in extreme poverty. We had the opportunity to do life with these people for 24 hours. We met with the headmaster of the school (hello...I'm a teacher) and he introduced us to so many people. We played, danced, sang songs, and interacted with our new friends. The people were very intimidated by us at first. We were the first group of Munu's (white people/rich people) to visit their village. That didn't last long. We were friends in no time. The school which is also the community church didn't have a roof which was a real problem when the sky opened and it started pouring rain. We were soaked to say the least. It was so much fun, but really gave us a heart wrenching picture of what life on a daily basis would be like living in Mede. We showed the Jesus film which is a very popular way to share about Jesus here in Africa. It was the first movie they had ever seen...obviously. Electricity isn't really commonplace in this part of the world. Then...we showed the LION KING. I think I enjoyed watching the kids watch the movie more than the movie itself. :) We camped in tents and FROZE (hard to believe but true). We hung around until about noon and then drove back to Gulu to do some more work on the school.

Mede Electricity

Kids doing my hair after the storm.

Gulu Hope--Things are really progressing with the school. For those of you who don't know, Gulu Hope is a vocational training school for people who were displaced. We are doing bible studies, teaching english, teaching sewing, and making bamboo bicycles. The sewing students are making school uniforms and we are blessing kids in the area who cannot afford uniforms and making arrangements for them to go to school. We have one building that is completely finished (as of 2 days ago) and another building that is waiting on a roof. Things are progressing...African time. We have pretty much adopted the village where our school is (Areaga) and have been making many improvements in the lives of the people there. There was a really bad storm that hit in May that ruined so much of the village, so we had some minor set-backs, but things are improving!!!

Me, Deo, and Sally. Gulu Hope staff!! :)

As for me personally, I really do feel at home. It was wonderful having the team here (Katie, Ana, Maddie, Robert, and Sally....I MISS YOU already). They left today for a quick safari and then fly back to Texas on Thursday. I stayed in Gulu to keep working on the school. Today, I tried to buy a bike. I didn't realize that bikes on the streets of Gulu would be more expensive than bikes at Wal-Mart. How is that possible? I thought a bike would be a good way to get some exercise and I can stop whenever I want to visit with people along the way. It is only about 2 Kilometers from my palace (ha) to the school. My other mission today was to buy long haired goats. Really!! I priced a few and am going to make the big purchase in a few days after I construct a pen or something. :)

I am sitting on the porch of the palace right now. I wish everyone could see what I see.

I am across from the market along a busy, dirt road.

People are walking by and saying hi. One of the kids from Areaga just stopped by and sat with me for a few minutes. He got teary eyed when he told me that he had to leave school today because he hasn't paid his school fees. He is in the 9th grade (I think) he calls is secondary 1. He is about 15. His name is ODOCONTERO Tonny. I told him that I would write a little something and see if someone is in a position to help him with his school fees. Each term for secondary school is $$35. If anyone is interested, please contact me.

Other than working at the school and buying goats, I have been trying to find some free entertainment in the area. I have made a few friends and found a POOL. I am really looking forward to the upcoming month. Flying solo in Uganda is not an easy thing to do, but I am going to make it a month to remember!!!

Thank you for the prayers and support. It really means a lot to me. :)