A Visit to Kibaale

This morning Jeff drove up and picked us up to take us to Kibaale...the location that they have called home for the past three years. We're enjoying a few here with them before heading back up to Mpigi.

Sean & Jamie Davis, another couple from our church, also call this place home...so it's good to be here!

Another benefit of being here is quicker internet! So....Here's some pics of some of our friends in Mpigi....

New Pics on Tracey's Facebook

Sorry we can't post here...makes for a pretty boring blog, I know....but some new pics are on Tracey's Facebook for those of you who are interested.

We had a good day yesterday.

We took public transit into Kampala to do some grocery shopping. Wanted to do this at least once with the kids as it is often an 'experience' to be crammed into a van with numerous people and/or various animals. Our ride ended up pretty tame....18 of us in the van at one time...nowhere near the 22 people and 3 chickens that is Scott's personal record!

Had lunch with Jeff & Shannon at a nice restaurant that is unfortunately located in a parkade and then got a ride back to Mpigi with them.

That's all for now....

Construction Work

Those of you who know me know how handy I (Scott) am with my hands. Both Beckham and Paisley were having trouble staying in their beds (and mosquito nets) throughout the night...which equals me having trouble getting a good sleep. The bunk beds, which don't have a ladder on them, were pretty 'mobile' and squeaky too.

Enter Scott the handy man.

I don't want to bore you with the details......just a few quick points:

-Two six foot 1x4 pieces of wood purchased in Mpigi town

-One pen to measure the wood flush to the bed frame (didn't end up flush)

-Some duct tape (which was actually packaged and called Duck Tape!)

-One hand saw compliments of Pat Kenyon

-One hammer

-Eight nails

End result? Two new 'bed guards' on the lower beds to keep Beck & Pais where they should be and the bed frames that no longer move.

Or in other words: Problem solved.

I don't want to brag...It was nothing really.....no big deal....just another day in Uganda working with my hands.

Now off to deal with a plumbing issue...

Supplies needed: One screwdriver

Signing off,

Scott 'tool-time' Dickie

Ants, Opulence, and Amos

The Ants came marching in, and in and in!!! And then they crawl on you and bite you. One would think that something so little could not cause much of a problem, yet these little critters are becoming the bane of my existence!!! Doom (Insect killer) works for when they come en mass, but for those little one’s that escape and find your skin you must just endure the little bites and pray you don’t lose your sanity!!! The other night as we got into bed we discovered a couple hundred had made their way en route to a dead bug that we discovered under our bed!! I’m sure all the Doom we sprayed may destroy our lungs, but I will take the risk rather than share my bedJ

Opulence – This one was brought up this morning by Scott who is wrestling with the discrepancy between how we are living here, and those living so near to us. What would true solidarity look like for us here, if the truest act of love is indeed living in solidarity with others?? We can tell ourselves many things about this that make us feel better, such as “but look, we are really roughing it compared to our North American life”, or “at least we are here doing ‘something’”, but are we just deceiving ourselves?? It is a fine line that we will likely always struggle with, and to be honest, I am thankful really for the struggle and for a husband that seems to always push further than I might on my own. Scott wrestles with this from a theological and practical lifestyle point of view…..and both of us think about it from a parenting point of view: How much do we push them? How much do we make it comfortable for them so they like Uganda? How much is too much like home? Tough questions…but we feel like we’re striking an OK balance so far.

Amos is the grounds keeper here at the 10 Acres. Early this morning he was out raking the grass, which the kids then picked up behind him. He was barely done before we heard a knock at our door…he wanted to help us with our laundry. Had he seen our poor results from the first time around? Or just feeling sorry for us poor Mzungus? We had been planning to do laundry today and had actually been gathering up towels and clothes that needed washing so we headed outside and acquired MANY new tips to help us along. First; we should soak our clothes overnight before washing them, Second; When the wash water gets dirty you move all the tubs down the line and only need new water for the final rinse – this was revolutionary to us in our water use. Third,; there is a strategy to ringing things out (very different from the haphazard way we had been using; Fourth; Hang your clothes inside out so that if they fall off the line they don’t get dirty again; and Fifth; he asked if we could do laundry every second day (apparently it was a lot to washJ). Amos did not come wanting to be paid…..he simply came to help. We have a lot to learn!

June 7: Monday's Musings

After a fun weekend with the 52 kids playing soccer, teaching them American Football, reading books and just hanging out, we arrived at today: Monday. The weekend was great….but it left the two younger kids over-tired which led to a bit of a rough Sunday evening….it is not all utopia in Uganda…just pretty close!

This was our first day in Uganda on ‘our own’, meaning Jeff & Shannon (and their three kids…and our kids playmates) were back in Kibaale and the 52 children here were at school for the day. We wondered what our kids would do with this time and would not have been surprised if they were asking us “What can we do? When will the kids be home?” etc…throughout the day. Once again we’ve been pleasantly surprised. We began our day with a bit of school work (our dumbed down version of homeschooling), then headed out for a walk around the property to deliver cards, pictures and quilts that people from home gave us to hand out. All was received with incredible gratitude (the moms LOVED the pictures Cheryl!!).

We then hopped on 3 Boda Boda’s (motorcycles) and headed to town for the first time. To say the kids loved it would be an understatement. Beckham, who last night had told us he wasn’t going with us because he was afraid he would fall off, rode the whole way waving to everyone we passed by (never one to shy away from some attention). We had a coke, picked up a few groceries, the boys got smacked on the bum by a man passing by in the market, and then we were back home, just in time for a Ugandan downpour.

Enter our Water Engineer/Conservationist: Owen Dickie. Scott and I were up helping Mama Rose rescue the clothing out of the rain and putting it away (and having lessons in Lungandan, which Mama seems determined that I am going to speak ). When we returned we found our kids, headed up by their big brother, collecting water off the roof. Since arriving Owen has been heard to say things like “Mom, it’s going to be strange going home and seeing people waste water” and “Paisley/Beckham is letting the water run too long”. During our brief but intense rainfall the three of them ended up collecting 35 litres of water that they plan to use to bath in later today or tomorrow. It’s impossible to determine what lessons the kids will pick up from being here—and the importance of water, which is the primary challenge/concern of life for billions of people—was not one that would have been on Scott’s or my ‘radar’. But these are the things we delight in as parents - the learning that leads to taking responsibility. We can see that Owen is taking everything in, processing it and trying to find a place for it in his life. He is SO happy here and is the one to try everything -this morning the mama’s gave him some Jack Fruit to try which he loved.

Myself, I am enjoying a quiet day. I spent most of it thus far sitting and talking with Aunt Harriet and the mom’s, feeding my family and now writing…..Life is good….I feel blessed. Thank you God!

At last a quiet moment to sit and write - where to begin...?? Three days into our time in Uganda and I feel like I've lived here forever. It is so very comfortable to be here, which I attribute to the incredible hospitality and love of the people here.

We have just finished dinner - rice, corn and cucumber!! At this point we don't have a refrigerator which makes keeping meat difficult, but amazingly the kids are not complaining - they simply grab a spoon and dig into the peanut butter when they get hungry!! Having Lydie (our friend from France who lived with us a few years back) here to help with the cooking is truly a blessing - much less responsibility for me and I'm happy to be the dish washer!

Our kids have been the biggest surprise - I have barely seen them!! They rush through meals in order to get back outside to play with the kids. Owen has played I don't know how many hours of soccer in the past three days - he should be in the shape of his life come football season this Fall. Beckham, well he makes his rounds - soccer with the big boys, games with the younger kids, joining into games with the older girls (I'm not sure invites were given), really he is in his glory here!!! For those of you who have been here, Beck is often found hanging out with Cissy....they are very cute!!! Paisley is having a blast as well - she is shy to speak with the older kids who try desperately to make conversation with her, but she has found 3 young boys who she loves to play with - she taught them 'Ring around the Rosie' today, they tickle each other with grass, and basically have a blast together!! Those who know these kids will not be surprised that these buddies of hers are Martyn, Wasswa, and Kato!!

The Ugandan children are such a joy....I am sure I could sit with them and never tire of their company. Today my friend Rebecca came to me with a piece of sugar cane for Paisley and I to share. I figured this had been found on the property, but asked anyways where she had gotten it from. My heart melted when her friend spoke for her saying that she had bought it with money she had been given by her grandmother. These children do not get money often, nor is she likely to being seeing her again anytime soon. I have much to learn about generosity from these children. My heart is full when I am here. Tonight we will go to the girls home to hear them sing and dance - they love to perform!!

A highlight for me is spending time with Pastor Geoffrey and his wife Rose. Geoffrey wanders up for coffee and cookies most days and I SO love to sit and talk about books, God and life in Uganda with him. Today he shared with us that his family has been struggling with a lot of sickness. He had just spent last night at the clinic with his eldest son who is very ill with Malaria and was admitted to receive IV Malaria medication. As well, shortly before we arrived his wife Rose ended up with complications from medications she was given for Malaria and almost died. I had a short visit with her today and she is doing much better. One of the things I most look forward to this summer is developing my friendship with her.

For the young boys who are interested, we found a LARGE spider in our home today which Beckham packed up and took outside to show off. He returned awhile later with a millipede and many other critters he had caught. Owen on the other hand is our gecko/chameleon guy, for which I am thankful as I'm not really excited when they are walking around my feet while I am cooking dinner. I did learn tonight that they drop their tails to divert their predators........Owen was the predator and stood holding a flapping tail, it was lovely!!!

We are so VERY THANKFUL for this time in our lives and all who have helped to make it possible. Loud singing has just begun to drift through our window which calls to me so I must go join in for the post-dinner singing/dancing.........

June 4: We Made It!

It’s 6:45 in the morning as I write (though this won’t be posted until later). The sun has just come up, the 52 children are spread out over the property picking up the leaves that have fallen off the trees during the night, roosters are telling us it is time to get up, an assortment of insects are completing their symphony that goes on throughout the night, and here I sit with a cup of coffee from our French press. Those of you who have been here know how awesome the mornings are in Uganda.

After lots of flights, layovers, and security checks….we made it to Uganda! The kids did totally amazing! Their great attitudes, your prayers for us, and some Melatonin (sp?) all combined to make the trip here as good as we could have hoped for….thanks for remembering us!

We were picked up by Jeff & Shannon Dyck (missionaries here in Uganda that are from our Church) at 7:30pm on Wednesday evening and began the two hour drive to the 10 acres. We got in about 10:15pm because of heavy traffic and quickly unpacked our 10 bags of luggage. As we unpacked, Beckham walked around the little guesthouse that we will call home for the next two months and asked me, “Is there just one level on this home?” The adjustments to a new culture began quite soon!

We all had great sleeps and enjoyed our first day in Uganda on Thursday. One bonus for us was that our 52 kids (in the three Children’s Homes on the property) were off school for a holiday so it was a day filled with introductions and lots of playing!

The highlight for Tracey and I so far has been watching our kids engage here. You never know how the change of culture etc…. will affect your children….but it was incredible to watch each of them jump in with both feet—initiating games, starting conversations, playing soccer, joining the Ugandan children’s crafts—we are so proud of them! The four Dyck kids—Joel, Avin, Finn, & Mazzy helped with that transition a lot too….thanks!

Our internet is not working in Mpigi at present…..thus the lack of posts. We’re in Kampala today and hopefully will be able to solve the problem.

For those of you haven’t seen it yet…..here’s a few pics of our house in Uganda and some of the kids on day one.

(editors note: sorry....tried to upload pics and couldn't do it here at Mpigi....will keep attempting to over the next day)

And for you praying-types….here’s some specific requests:

-Beckham has an infection (that started the day before we left) that needs to be dealt with. We have just started him on antibiotics…please pray for a quick restoration of health.

-Paisley is struggling to adjust to the time change (the boys have had no problem) so she’s been up a couple of hours each night between 3am-5am….please pray for her internal clock to adjust!

-For open hearts and minds to soak this all in, to learn the lessons we are meant to learn, and to serve here in whatever way God designs.