Back in Kampala and trying to catch up on this blog

Tues. Feb. 5th

We started with a pretty easy plan for the day, but we have already been taught here multiple times, to go with the flow. We had all been invited to Father Bruno’s church for Mass and baptisms and we all very much wished we could go. The guys working on the solar equipment at the clinic are really feeling the pressure of this week speeding by, so they went on up to Ikamiro after leaving the rest of us as representatives of our group in Muko to attend Mass. Rick and Linda could only get appointments with government heath officials in Kabale today, so they stayed back in the town for the meetings. They also shopped for extra items for distribution day.

We all took as much extra donated items of clothing and flip flops that we could on the plane as luggage, but we also had a generous amount of donated cash--U.S. dollars that would go very far here and give a small boost to the local economy. With all of us so busy with the many projects on this trip Rick and Linda’s willingness to work a shopping trip into their agenda for the day was really Gift. They were able to hire an extra driver with a truck and managed to find several huge, 250# bags of dry beans plus additional clothing for the village distribution.

Christopher taught us the East African carry as a way to move the enormous polybags of beans. It’s a way of grabbing the forearms of the other man under the load, rather than just grabbing the tightly packed bag itself with your hands. Granted, it was much easier to lift the bags this way but it still required at least two to three men and getting men and bag through the narrow doors of the buildings and bus, plus over all the seats to the open area in the back was a brutal task. Beans leaked from every seam of the may-pop bags adding a nice rolling, slippery aspect to each step of the carry.

It seemed once again that everyone turned out for the Mass and baptism at father Bruno’s church. The blue roof had an extra gleam to it as we walked up the hill to gathering throng so excited to see us again. Mass started about 10 and father Bruno assured us we could plan on it going no later than 2:30 including lunch with him and other leaders of the church.

Once again we were swept away with the service, lots of wonderful music and dancing. They introduced each of us and gave of gifts of carvings and huge baskets of fruits vegetables and raw eggs. We knew in advance that we would be asked to be God parents for all the babies this day. Since we were not all at the service, we each had two or three babies to stand with and lay hands upon at different points of the sacrament. Father Bruno coached us through each step with his usual grace and humor.

At 3:30 the service was still going strong and we needed to abandon all hope of getting more done with S.O.S. and the orphan program for this day. We had not yet had lunch and the bananas among the baskets of fruit we looking pretty tempting. Storm clouds and rain came swooping in over the hills at about this time and the storm built itself into a furry. It rained and even hailed as hard as I’ve ever seen it rain for at least an hour and strong winds soaked the church goers sitting any were near the window openings into the church. The singing and dancing continued through it all until a surge of sustained rain and hail made the sound on the new metal roof actually painful. We all huddle with our fingers in our ears waiting for a break in the tempest. Huge stokes of lightning lit the dark interior scene of the church, startling each one of us with its apparent closeness.

By 4PM the storm had ended. There was no rainbow but the roof had held, and there was a pot-o-gold in the form of lunch waiting for us in one of the homes down the hill. Though we were hungry, we were also worried about time and knew the team at the clinic would be coming down the hill soon on the bus to pick us up. We attempted to beg off of lunch and Father Bruno was hearing none of it. So down the hill we slogged, though the saturated red clay.

As we were picking our way down the hill, between the still flowing rivulets and wash outs, Richard game driving up in his truck. He had just left to see how the others at the clinic had weathered the storm and to inform them to keep working if they wanted to, because we would be so delayed with lunch. Just up from the where the road construction crew had been crushing volcanic cinder rock into gravel for the new road, there had been a wash out from the hill side above down onto the road. Richard could not get past to get to the rest of our people, and there was know way the bus could come down. Richard organized a work crew of local men, and with the same hoes they use to cut clay for bricks and dig potatoes for dinner, they set in to clearing road of it’s blockage of mud.

Distracted with worry, we sat to try to enjoy the beautiful lunch that Sister Paula had prepared. Truly it was a site to behold on the table, only to be outdone by its taste. Almost as soon as I sat, the two-way radio in my jacket pocket began to crackle. It was the bus of our crew form the clinic telling us they were almost to Muko and they really wanted to head back to the city right away. They had not yet reached the blockage in the road and I had to give them the bad news that they were about to encounter what could be a significant delay. Armed with the news they added extra caution to their slippery trip so they wouldn’t run into the mud slide coming around one of the tight mountain corners.

The small army of men cleared just enough mud to make an opening for the 4 wheel drive bus to slither through—we thank God for Christopher and his skill in driving multiple times every day. They arrived in Muko just as Father Bruno began pushing us into staying to enjoy an amazing desert of cake and fruit. We wolfed it down and said our good byes for the day, thanking sister for an amazing job on the food.

Once on the bus we made our way down the rutted slippery clay of the road, toward Kabale. We never knew if we would encounter another wash out along the rapidly darkening trip home. There could have been one around each bend of this twisting mountain road. I kept one eye on the step hill side above us, making sure nothing seemed to be moving. With the steep ravine to the valley below the road, this bus would roll along way if we were to be caught in a slide, and this was no ordinary rain, all the ground was saturated to capacity

It was a slow and careful trip to Kabale, where we met up again with the Rick and Linda. In addition to the success in bean shopping, they had very informative meetings with the health officials of the region. I can’t go into detail here, but from what they shared at dinner, there is much to be done yet to get the new clinic staffed and operational. The officials they met were all very positive about the clinic, but the staffing would need to be arranged by them and they have budgets just like everyone in the world. We will all pray and remain positive and hopeful for the new clinic, but apparently it takes more than just a building and a solar powered vaccine refrigerator before they start sending the vaccines and the staff to administer the medicine. Politics, bureaucracy and more politics, we will have to engage the locals to keep this moving. It can’t all be done on this trip.

Feb. 6th

We decided to move our meeting with the Save Our Situation, (SOS) leaders from Muko, up to one of the rooms in the new clinic so we can all be working in the same general area. We worked through a lot of the details for our relationship with SOS—such things as organizational structure and board of directors. We also came up with a name for the orphans program under the SOS umbrella structure--Muko H.O.P.E. (Help Orphans Prosper and Endure), so simple yet exactly right.

We also got to meet the first 5 orphans and care takers later in the day. Rick and Linda checked them over and recorded weight and height information while Lucy recorded the basic story of the orphan’s life. I took some photos for the file etc.

I don’t remember the source he sited but John had mentioned reading that Uganda was listed as one of the worst places in the world to be a child. When you hear some of the back stories of these little survivors, you will have no doubt. The culture here is to have many babies, (the average number of pregnancies is nine). This is because infant mortality here is very high and as they grow they become more and more help to the family’s agricultural-based life.

It’s not just HIV/AIDS and war that create these orphans. Many parents are victims of other diseases, and social issues. We have heard more than one story of the mothers being “mad” with mental illness, alcoholism or both. They usually become pregnant from rape during nights living on the street. These mothers just leave their babies sitting in the village while they go off for days or sometime never come back. Other stories involve divorces and remarriage to another man and the mother just abandons the child of the previous marriage. Many of our care givers are just good samaritans from the village who have picked these babies up and just began caring for them, usually with no resource even for their own survival.

After the registration process and photo’s we gathered with all the orphans and care givers, Generous went through and explained each item in the back packs before giving them out. You should have seen the smiles. Some of us demonstrated the yo-yos and a couple of the orphans gave them a test run. Lots of practice we told them.

Storm clouds began brewing again in the afternoon and we made it up the hill to the school in Ikamiro just and the clouds cut loose again. Rain with lightning and thunder means solar panel work on the clinic roof must stop, so David Kelly was able to join us in the class room.

We first met with Julius the head master or superintendent of the school. Sue filled his desk with school supplies for the kids and he was very excited. The din of rain on the metal roof above us served to postpone Julius’s prepared speech to us until another day, but as the rain slackened we moved to one of the class rooms as students poured in from other classrooms in the compound.

David Kelly spoke to the gathered group as our resident university professor, some looking in from the iron-barred window openings along both sides of the class building.
He told them a bit about the U.S.A. and then opened it up to questions. The extra brave ones asked many good questions our country—the type of terrain that could be found, our climate and politics.

No gathering is complete here without a welcoming performance of singing and dancing by the students. It was really fun to experience this. We made our way back to the bus or van, (I know I’ve described it as both in this blog). Gathered those working on the wiring in the clinic and made our way back to Muko to drop of the SOS folks. We unloaded the massive bags of beans and loaded the massive baskets of fruit for the trip. Some of the ladies in our team attempted to bring the baskets to the bus by balancing them on their heads as the locals do. It was great entertainment for the ever-present crowd that follows us where ever we walk.

All previous attempts to update this blog had apparently failed and when we arrived at the hotel I learned the internet connection in their office was up and running. It was a rickety ride on their dial-up service with multiple lost connections but I pulled off an update before joining the rest of the group for dinner. God only knows when you will get to read these words.

After dinner Lucy lead us through a mini Ash Wednesday service in one of the hotel meeting rooms—complete with red clay to mark our foreheads--A very welcome event for our small band, operating in what often seems like another planet from our own.

Feb. 7th

We had an extra early 7 AM departure from the hotel this morning as we wanted to give John, Charles and David extra time for work on the panels. All three solar panels are mounted and running. This is a major accomplishment given the daily afternoon rain delays, cutting the clinic team’s time to do the work. All but one light in the clinic glowed with electric power—a first time event for this village. Hopefully we can make it more of a village event some evening before we leave for the night.

Our first meeting of the morning was with the women’s group who work together making baskets and beads to sell, to help support the cost of their HIV medication. Lucy and Generous lead the group through detailed discussions about organizational structure and election of leaders etc. Much was accomplished toward getting them set up with a fair trade organization, but much more needs to happen as well. The women set out all the baskets and jewelry they had made since Sue’s last visit—some really beautiful things.

After the meeting with the basket weavers, we climbed the hill for distribution day. All the beans, clothes and about 30 new farming hoes, (heavy garden hoes), were awaiting distribution to a large and growing crowd. Before the distribution, in true Ugandan style, we were treated to hours of speeches, songs, dances and plays. It was just amazing again. The SOS leaders sat us like royalty up on the porch of the Catholic Church; they had used wood poles to erect a make-shift staging curtain on the uneven, stony grass before us. It was most uncomfortable to be treated with such honor. So, we did the only thing we could, we all climbed down off our “thrones” and just started dancing with the dancers. It made the crowd laugh a lot, and then the town leaders and SOS joined us in the jump up dance. What a blast.

It’s been a week of being treated like a rock star but we take every opportunity to point out that we represent many people back at our respective churches in Midland, all the works and this relationship begin and end with God’s love and the care we need to have for each other.

We have to constantly remind ourselves that the ceremony, food and hand crafted gifts are just that, the gifts of God’s love that they can give back, to our congregations, through us. I’ll be doing my best to make sure everyone has a chance to see the photos and footage of their out pouring of welcome, thanks and gratitude.

Running a couple hours late in the program, we stopped for a lunch break, but not before one of the most amazing plays was presented to our assembled portion of the team. Story telling through plays is one of the traditions of this culture and when the simple curtains opened again there was a young teenage boy and girl standing there playing roles of Richard and Generous. A new legend has begun for these people--The story of Richard and Generous, getting their education and leaving the village for work in the city.

Before I tell you the basic story of the play, let me describe the context or lens through which we were viewing it. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned, anytime we set foot in the village we are surrounded by the curious faces of both the young and old. When ever someone feels like they have an opportunity, they strike up a conversation with one of use to tell us of their individual need or that of another group they know. It’s usually about sponsorship of some kind, medical help, education in the U.S., new tools to carve with, etc. No one can blame them, these folks are desperate for help in so many ways and they see us as an opportunity for relief and a better future. As we have said, they are just trying to survive but the need is endless and overwhelming. At least now with the establishment of the umbrella organization, SOS we have a place to refer their requests to be prioritized with the needs of the village. Think of it as a village United Way.

It was after about a week of these requests that the play of Richard and Generous was presented. They acted out the whole story of Richard contacting Sue and John with a letter and all the events up to today. The crowd all laughed every time the teen actors called each other darling and sweetheart as they followed the script. They even had additional actors play the part of each member of the team as the play moved into present events.

What stopped the hearts of all of us on the team was when the play moved into the future and they had young people representing individual orphans from our Muko H.O.P.E organization--Orphans that had lived and grown to become educated, with opportunities to go to universities and advanced trade schools. Each orphan had a name, a successful job and they were proudly returning to Muko/Ikamiro to be doctors and educators, to sponsor students to go to university or to donate money for supporting new orphans or other development programs like libraries and better schools.

The leadership of this village had developed a story of vision and self sustainability. A story of many more, like Richard and Generous--They were communicating this story and vision to the whole village and it was one of the most emotionally profound and wonderful things I had witnessed all week.

I got such a lump in my throat I could hardly take it. This is not just about an endless pipeline of money, food and clothing donations to them. It will take years and even generations to build a self sustaining foundation, but through all of you supporting this mission, you are a part of God’s work in making a seismic shift in the reality of life for the people of this little village, floating higher and higher with each step we take together in the ocean of need we have seen here in Africa.

Through this play and these people, God’s own hand was showing us what his plan is and what we are starting for him in partnership with this village. You could have knocked me over with a feather. It was the most astounding and beautiful thing I have ever witnessed.
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As if to close the deal, after lunch we learned that more orphans had arrived with their care givers from the surrounding hills. At the beginning of the week we thought we might only be able to set up a pilot program with nine of the fifteen orphans we had hoped for, we were now up to thirteen.

They waited outside on the grass near the house Richard and Generous rent and stay in while they are here. We used their front room as the place where we would register the orphans and take their photo.

The first little boy they brought in had taken off running when Generous called his name. He had never seen white people before and this whole process had triggered every survival instinct he had. One of the volunteers caught him and carried him, holding the small boy with all his might. He cried hysterically and fought like a wildcat as he yelled no, no. Only God knows what this little guy has been through in his short life.

Dr. Rick sat down on the sofa in the room as the boy was brought over. He smiled and talked in a calming voice, distracting the boy from his fear by showing him is watch and putting it on the boy wrist. He then showed him the stethoscope and how he put it in his ears to listen to his heart. In no time he had calmed the boy and had him sitting next to him on the sofa. With tear streaked cheeks the boy looked at me a short distance across the room and returned my thumbs-up sign with a wide smile as Rick let him listen to his own heart.

I saw this same boy several times that afternoon. He is no more than four, and his little face caught my eye among the crowd of people, hardly noticeable below the adults towering over him and each time he smiled and gave me the thumbs-up sign. “Things already getting betta.”

We had much to share together that night during worship and reflection. We each prayed and thanked God for the team member to the right of us. One of our group wept at the pain of homesickness we are all feeling. Much has been done and much more will need to happen after we are gone, but it’s time to finish up what we are about here and start the process of making our way back to our own loved ones.