Two Blog posts in two days!

Uganda Feb 8th

There was definitely a sense of relief in the air tonight among the team. The tasks we all had, though not complete, are well within doing in our remaining time. They will be done providing we don’t have some unexpected set backs, so we are even anticipating them too.

We began the morning with all the guys hitting the grungy, dilapidated and trash blown shopping part of Kabale looking for various electrical parts for the clinic. Men of all ages tend to congregating in groups, watching us with serious expressions as they mumble something to their assembled audience. There seems to be a toughness they try to maintain within these groups—all standing around waiting for something—a fight to break out across the street, the offer of a few schillings to help load or unload a truck. They just wait.

If you smile and say hello or how are you, many are taken off guard and their underlying friendliness gets the best of them. They will smile and return your greeting with exuberance then grow instantly bashful as the non verbal norms of his group envelop him with their eye’s and his face turns to a stony wall again.

If you have the time while waiting around yourself, for a part or directions to the next shop that might have a certain bolt, you can engage the whole group there by just bravely breaking though the stares with conversation, talking to them about what our group is about. They all warm up pretty quickly then and welcome us to Uganda. Some will joke and say they are moving to Muko or Ikamiro to benefit from our programs with SOS.

You can’t really go into each shop, as they are small and filled with a miraculous inventory stacked in no particular order in dusty, damp and over stacked boxes—the higher ones melting into the lower ones. There is only room for the shop owner to walk around the small floor if he is careful.

We found most of what we needed, or at least knew where to try next, as soon as the next place might open. Hours posted on the doors are often more of a guideline. The bike shop was open and we wanted to purchase a bicycle for the SOS personnel and volunteers to use in their travels. Heavy duty bicycles are everywhere around here, and used for transporting weights and volumes of goods beyond anything you could ever imagine. I’ve seen everything from huge stacks of lumber to bags of potatoes taller than the man pushing the bike, somehow lashed to the standard seat and/or frame as stable as a brick building. Everyone we talked to recommend the Loadmaster brand, but this dealer said they were no longer made. He recommended his version, a Phoenix, make in China. It looked sturdy enough so the deal was made, with an add-on for “adjusting” the bike--Tightening everything up and making sure it was all working properly. It was an added investment well worth the extra half hour. We used the time to continue our quest for the electrical part still at large.

Rick and Linda had more appointments with local health officials about the clinic. The clinic solar team set off with the bike and extra parts, (They reported later that they got it all, almost finished but they lost an hour trying to find a short in a circuit only to find the problem was in one the brand new wall switches they had installed earlier).

The plan was that the bus would bring the Muko folks for our planned SOS meeting back to Kabale, so a bank account could be open and appropriate signatures could be notarized. They eventually made it back to Kabale, but the delivery of the bike caused a lot of excitement and need for delay.

The SOS folks were thrilled with the bike; in fact Tito, our chief volunteer and mobilizer jumped on the bike immediately and took off putting it through its paces in a flurry of dust. Richard and Generous established the ground rules right way and set up a system where volunteers would sign the bike in and out.

The SOS leaders made it back to Kabale on our bus, including our new friend Blessing, our soon to be assistant director for SOS and specifically the social worker for the orphan program. He lives in Kabale and had set off on his bike to meet us in Muko, about a 2-hour ride by bus mostly up hill. He had made it half way there when we unknowingly called him on his cell phone to tell him that the meeting had been moved back to Kabale. He peddled back and in time for the original appointment! Needless to say he was tired but still enthusiastic about the job—that combined with his experience we know he was the right man for the job. We made the offer and he accepted right away.

SOS and the Muko H.O.P.E. orphan program finally feel like an up and running entity.

Everyone involved in the trip to the bank found their way back to our White Horse hotel in Kabale. We took over part of their dinning room for a quick SOS board meeting that included Father Bruno and Reverend Julius.

It was exciting to go around the table and debrief each other about our many accomplishments for the day. We’ve done so much in such a short time and it is almost all complete.

It was also a nice evening of reflection and worship, followed by a night cap for a few of us to celebrate the accomplishments with SOS.