Saturday, July 21, 2012







End of July 2012 Travel Team Blog


Saturday, July 21, 2012

Reflections from Uganda…

This is our second to last day in Uganda. We leave tomorrow (Sunday) evening at 11:30pm! Tomorrow morning will be spent with some of us going to church with Richard and Generous again, some going with Curt to preach to the street children ministry and some of us just hanging out for some much, much needed R&R. We will finish packing all 22, 50-lb suitcases full of baskets that we are allowed. This was told to us by 3, yes, 3 different Delta agents. There was a bit of variation of what they said but we are praying we don’t have to spend an hour arguing like we did in Detroit coming here. Oh my, can’t the airlines get their messages straight???

Today, the team, without Dale and Sue, went to Jinja to see the Nile headwaters which has become a bit of a disappointment in that the Bujagali Falls (rapids on the Nile) are now gone due to the building of a dam for hydro-electricity. They planned a stop on the way to Jinja to connect with a young woman and her new baby who has been sponsored through another program by a friend of Karen Viele’s.

Sue and Dale got up this morning and looked at six huge, empty suitcases, even after shopping at the Kampala market yesterday and in the village over the last two weeks for baskets and jewelry and could not bear to not fill them to bring back the maximum number of baskets. Generous walked here from her home and after she and Sue made a walking trip to Barclay’s Bank to discuss the variance in exchange rates with our wires, the three of us called the woman who we buy the most baskets from to see if she could hire a boda boda (motorbike with her riding on the back) to come into Kampala from her village to sell us more baskets! She did and we met her at the empty market compound (the market is only held on Fridays) and went through the storage locker and managed to purchase another 100 baskets! Dale and Sue came back to the hotel to finish packing and weighing all the suitcases. Phew! Now, everyone please pray fervently for KLM/Delta to honor all the information they have shared with us for checking in!

We had Charles Tuhaise, Lydia Komugisha (our new Board Chair), Generous and Richard, Martin – the villager who is going to complete our building renovation and travelled all the way to Kampala to meet with Dave about details, our team and a young German husband and wife who are staying here that we have adopted, for dinner here at the Adonai House – our hotel. We had a wonderful, wonderful meal and great fellowship. After dinner, Karen led us ALL in a rousing bunch of songs playing the handbells while she accompanied us on her violin. It was great fun! What joy her music has brought us on this journey and what a delight Dave has been with all of us, teasing us and entertaining us. Curt brought out his light-up thumbs and we all played catch with them. (I’ll have to explain later!)

Last night, Sydney and Karen were very sick to their stomachs, likely food-poisoning, and Katie and Dave stayed with them while the rest of us met Honorable Minister Henry Banyansaki at the Ndere Cultural Arts Center. He treated us to a buffet dinner which was so generous, although out of the 12 or so chafing dishes, about 3 had food left in them! Then we sat at tables on a tiered outdoor theatre to watch a wonderful program of dance and music performed by local instruments. The troupe danced different dances from each region of the country. It was marvelous. The final dance was these young women who danced while they balanced 9 clay pots stacked one on top of the other on their heads. Their whole bodies were moving except their heads – amazing!

The Ugandans are so talented…so warm…so gracious. I am always so sad to say goodbye to our friends. Our goal this year is to try, once again, to bring Generous and hopefully Lydia too to the U.S. We drove by the U.S. Embassy today and I prayed a small prayer for them to finally allow Generous a visa to enter our country. Dale and I sat with Generous and Lydia today for several hours to discuss a long list of things about our programs and hopes and dreams. It was fun but overwhelming how big this effort has become. We come home with lots of new ideas, lots of confirmation about how well things are progressing here and anticipation for what God has in store for all of us down the road.

We are all weary, ready to be home, yet not ready to say good-bye – full of mixed emotions. We thank you each for your prayers and thoughts and support by reading this blog. Any of you who are not yet involved in ACT, please consider becoming involved. We have so much yet to accomplish!

We will see you soon. We love you all.

His,
Sue

Thursday, July 19, 2012


Wednesday and Thursday, July 18 and 19

Dear friends,
I am typing this addition to the blog as we drive from Kabale back to Kampala – an eight-hour journey. We have just passed Mbarara for those of you who have been here. Mbarara is about 1/3 third of the way. We are on some paved highway now so I can type.

I was simply too exhausted to write the blog last evening – please forgive me. We had a wonderful last day in the village spending time with the staff. We packed up all the baskets that we got from the women – many, many baskets. Alexander’s office now looks empty. We filled six suitcases so far. We labeled each basket with duct tape and wrote the name of the woman who made it on the bottom. I also spent time with Alexander learning more information about each of our women in MEP and their families. We will be putting this on the website and on tags for those who purchase the baskets. The women are so very happy about MEP and proud to be associated with the program. Their weaving skills have greatly improved.

I had the opportunity to just sit and talk with Josiah and Alexander about the programs. I usually don’t have the time to do this on a trip. It was wonderful! We talked about Muko HOPE. We have found sponsors for the last three kids on this trip! Now all 70 orphans are officially sponsored. The Roeders are taking one, Sydney’s aunt is taking another and Karen Viele’s relative is taking the third. We are so happy to finally have a relationship to celebrate for these kids. As some of you know, the three are older than the other orphans – 17 – 20 years old and still in high school. They have been enrolled in the program since 2008 but never got selected and grew up waiting. They are all so appreciative and working very diligently at school to improve their lives.  I asked the staff how many more orphans they could manage than the 70 before we added staff to help. They said 200! That is, if we can get all the Muko HOPE kids in two schools instead of nine different schools. We are working on that trying to identify the right schools to partner with. By the beginning of the next school year (January or early February 2013), we hope to bring another group of 10 or 20 orphans into the program. Please be praying as to whether you would like to become a sponsor. It is a very important role and I know from experience and from other sponsors, we feel very blessed while taking care of these vulnerable and unfortunate children. They always know their sponsors’ names when we come and say that love them and pray for them. This is about relationship not a one-way hand-out. Through Muko HOPE, we are truly transforming the lives of Muko Sub County.

While we worked at the office, Dale accompanied Tito to some garden sites to do soil testing.  At one place, they climbed a hugh hill and when arriving at the top, Tito said, “the garden is just over the next mountain and then down into the valley.” Dale laughted and said, “no way!” These young men as our staff are so spry.

We said our sad farewell to Muko and the villagers and drove back to Kabale town. I got the chance to go over to Hornby School with Karen and Dave and we both said good-bye to our orphans: Grace and Miracle. It was a wonderful moment. I had gotten the opportunity to see Dishan, Miracle’s brother and John’s and my other orphan, a couple of times at his school. We arrived back at the hotel to meet Wilson Mbabazi, the attorney on the ACT Muko board. He is such an asset to us in our NGO. He had suggested that we all go to the Overland Resort on the shore of Lake Bunyonyi for dinner and a boat ride on the lake! I had never done anything like this on a team before. I invited the staff, Josiah, Alexander and Tito and Generous, Charles and Lydia as well. We ordered our dinner and then rode in two very long and narrow boats over to an island called Bushara. The Ugandans from the village typically don't know how to swim so they all wore life jackets and we assured them we were all really strong swimmers and would save them if we went over! 

On the way, we could see Muko from the distance on the lake. Also, we learned of a tiny island called, Punishment Island. It was about 5 acres of very flat land not far out of the water with one tree standing in the middle. This was a place where girls who got pregnant out of wedlock, whether by choice or by rape, where taken and left to die. Fortunately for these young women, the Batwa Tribe, a pygmy tribe, would come to save many of them. This practice was stopped in the 1800’s. It was sobering for us.

Bushara Island is owned by the Anglican Diocese of Kigezi and is a retreat and meeting center. It was lovely. The staff all got the chance to ride on a swingset for the first time ever. It was great fun watching Sydney and Katie showing them how to pump their legs to make the swings go higher and higher. We climbed back down the island and rode the boats back for dinner. After dinner was a huge highlight of our trip here. We all shared what we most thanked God for on this journey and our work together. I will be typing this list up and adding it to the website but for short, there were lots of tears and joy expressed for our friendships and work we do “bega hibega” (shoulder-to-shoulder). It was very, very special. We talked of transforming each others’ lives. Karen suggested after an hour of sharing that we all dance! We all stood and danced and it was a perfect ending to a perfect day.

We said good-byes to Josiah, Alexander and Tito who had to go back to the village and sent them on their way with a Katie’s donated digital camera and the new modem for Internet access in a few weeks when the tower is completed in Muko. This will greatly change their work lives – that they don’t have to drive all the way to Kabale to connect with Generous or us. Praise God!

Wilson came this morning with his daughter, Grace to send us off. We left Kabale at about 10am after getting more fuel in both vehicles and exchanging more US dollars for Shillings. So far, the trip is uneventful which is a very good thing in Uganda on the roads.


We arrived safely in Kampala and just had dinner. There is real brewed coffee, wireless, etc. Back to civilization! But we all miss the village. Tomorrow we shop at the Kampala market starting at 6:45am for baskets and jewelry and other handcrafts. From there we will go to downtown Kampala to an un-navigable street to buy the fabrics to bring home. Good night for now and God bless!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012



Tuesday, July 17, 2012

“Sheka” like you mean it! Sheka means laugh/smile for a photo. Lazara and the rest of us got a bit silly (not a first, believe you me) while visiting with Alexander and Generous at the ACT temporary offices. It was near the end of the day and we had finished our activities and were waiting for Karen and Dave to return from Grace Kihembo’s home and Dale and Tito to return from visiting one of the gardens.  Alexander, our 25-year-old Muko Empowerment Manager, is a doll. The girls were trying to get him to smile really big for a picture. At the same time, they were all eating fresh sugar cane which Lazara, with her Cuban background, wielded a machete to peel and cut up.

I am typing this as we take the winding 45-minute ride back to Kabale for the evening. It is 6:05pm and the sun is setting over the mountains. We are all a little quiet with sadness that our last day in the village is tomorrow. For now, we are meeting Rev. James Karibwije, the Registrar for Kabale University, for dinner tonight. We will talk with him again about prioritizing our Muko HOPE orphans into the work-study program at the University. In one year’s time, we will have two of them ready to move on to University, assuming they pass the entrance exams. One is Boaz, Kapina and Mike Williamen’s orphan and the other is Francis, Janice Smith’s orphan. Please keep them in prayer for their studies this next year.

We arrived in the village about 10am and there waiting for us was Ben Tumuheirwe, the founder of Juna Amagara Ministries. They, very much like ACT, started with a partnership between Ben who is from Bifundi SubCounty (next to Muko SubCounty) and the Glen Ellyn Presbyterian Church in Illinois. We have gotten to know them and I am convinced that at some point we will be in partnership with them for at least a project or program. It was good to see Ben and we will visit him again in Kampala on Saturday with his wife Lillian at their home.

It’s Karen! I offered to relieve Sue of the responsibility of finishing the blog tonight. Let me tell you about a couple of orphans with whom I have had the honor of working…..
There is… Andrew who has the biggest smile you ever saw. Every time I have arrived at Kigezi for their recorder class Andrew has met me at the gate. The orphans always offer to carry the violin, the music bag, or the suitcase full of their recorders.
There is… Frances, a refugee from the Rwanda genocide who doesn’t remember his survival when both parents were murdered. Frances speaks very good English and, at age 19, is very happy to have a Mom again.  Frances has helped us to understand how our kids feel because he is very talkative! Most of our kids are extremely shy and polite. They respond to most questions with a one word answer or a quiet “Yes”. For all our wonderful sponsors, you must know how much you mean to these darling kids. Katie and I made a little video of Frances that you may see in August when we present our trip events.
There are… Rachel, Onez, and Charity who just learned today that they have American parents. I wish you could have all seen their happy faces. These three were the last of our seventy orphans, now all sponsored.  Rachel, Onez, and Charity have been receiving the benefits of Muko Hope orphans with the knowledge that no one has yet chosen them so we are meeting our goal of coming home with all orphans supported with American families. Thank you to everyone who sends their support. The children especially love receiving pictures of you, your families and pets.
            Our music students are doing well. They have NO problem with rhythm! Most of our kids know how to play B, A, and G on their recorders. Josiah has been an eager learner and assistant – interpreting and playing along. He will help the orphans to continue their music studies when we return to the USA.
            Let me describe two African homes we have visited in Muko. One had lovely landscaping around a wooden rain trough, shaped like a canoe. Inside they hang decorations from the ceiling. They have newspapers on the walls at eye level, usually including one of Museveni. They have multiple rooms with dirt floors- separate bedrooms, living room, storage room and “kitchen” which holds pans and bowls for cooking. Sometimes we see things here that remind us of America in the 1700’s and1800’s like two men working a saw pit, and a young boy rolling a bicycle tire with a stick.  All sewing machines are the old treadle type operate with your feet, as there is insufficient or no electricity available.
            Sue, Dale, Dave, and Generous went up to the Ikamiro Clinic today to assess the need for housing for nurses and to gather information about moving the clinic up to a higher level of care. To get to the clinic, there is a challenging drive with extremely bumpy roads, deep ruts, and steep cliffs. Our driver, Christopher, feels his way through and everyone arrives in complete safety- a challenge of trust and faith!
            We hope everyone at home is well and staying cool in spite of the hot weather we hear you are still enduring. We are enjoying beautiful misty mornings, warm sunny days, and cool evenings. We send our love to you all!

Monday, July 16, 2012


Monday, July 16, 2012
The photos are of the boys at Kigezi School and the Ugandan Cranes - the official bird on the flag:
Oops - not enuff connection for photos.
 
We are coming to the end of the Agricultural Day (5:00pm). It has been very informational and we have the agreement of these experts in this area to help us with the establishment of our agricultural program for ACT. As I am typing, we are creating a strategic plan for agriculture for Muko including short-term, mid-term and long-term goals and activities. It’s exciting. It still needs a great deal of work to finish the plan but there experts were very helpful. Our overall goal is to improve agriculture in Muko and promote sustainable programming for agriculture for the residents of Muko Sub County. Dale, Sue, Curt and Dave attended the Ag meeting.

Later Dave and Curt left for town to purchase a modem and buy gigabytes of time for MTN network which will now allow us to get a signal in the village! MTN has two more weeks to complete a new tower which will cover Muko. This will be incredibly helpful to our staff – they won’t have to travel all the way to Kabale town to use the Internet and contact us. The initial modem is 130,000 Ugandan shillings (about $50 USD) and 50,000 UGX (about $20 USD) for 1 GB of time which may last about two months at a time. This is great, great progress in our programming between the U.S. and Uganda not to mention between Generous and her staff, eight hours away.

Karen, Sydney, Katie and Lazara went to the schools in Kabale today to provide more music lessons to the Muko HOPE kids. They went to five schools and taught the recorders. They did a video interview of one of the orphans. They picked up letters from some of the orphans to bring back home to the sponsors. They found most of the orphans that had had their instruments and the lessons book, had been practicing. 

It is early morning Tuesday (no service last night) and we are off for our second to last day in the village. Up to the clinic to discuss several things and then to the ACT Empowerment Center for update on building and way forward. Blessings to you!

Monday, July 16, 2012
The photos are of the boys at Kigezi School and the Ugandan Cranes - the official bird on the flag:
Oops - not enuff connection for photos.
 
We are coming to the end of the Agricultural Day (5:00pm). It has been very informational and we have the agreement of these experts in this area to help us with the establishment of our agricultural program for ACT. As I am typing, we are creating a strategic plan for agriculture for Muko including short-term, mid-term and long-term goals and activities. It’s exciting. It still needs a great deal of work to finish the plan but there experts were very helpful. Our overall goal is to improve agriculture in Muko and promote sustainable programming for agriculture for the residents of Muko Sub County. Dale, Sue, Curt and Dave attended the Ag meeting.

Later Dave and Curt left for town to purchase a modem and buy gigabytes of time for MTN network which will now allow us to get a signal in the village! MTN has two more weeks to complete a new tower which will cover Muko. This will be incredibly helpful to our staff – they won’t have to travel all the way to Kabale town to use the Internet and contact us. The initial modem is 130,000 Ugandan shillings (about $50 USD) and 50,000 UGX (about $20 USD) for 1 GB of time which may last about two months at a time. This is great, great progress in our programming between the U.S. and Uganda not to mention between Generous and her staff, eight hours away.

Karen, Sydney, Katie and Lazara went to the schools in Kabale today to provide more music lessons to the Muko HOPE kids. They went to five schools and taught the recorders. They did a video interview of one of the orphans. They picked up letters from some of the orphans to bring back home to the sponsors. They found most of the orphans that had had their instruments and the lessons book, had been practicing. 

It is early morning Tuesday (no service last night) and we are off for our second to last day in the village. Up to the clinic to discuss several things and then to the ACT Empowerment Center for update on building and way forward. Blessings to you!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Saturday and Sunday!


Saturday, July 14, 2012
 But first! two photos from Friday at the distribution of the Pillowcase dresses:

More adventures today. We had the ACT Muko Board Meeting today. It was supposed to start at 9am and end at 12:30pm or 1pm. It started at 10:30am and ended at 4:00pm. It was a good exchange on the topics discussed among the U.S. Team and the Ugandan board members.

Of utmost importance was the ACT Empowerment Center. We had a great deal of discussion about lessons learned, what next steps might be and waited for Dave to arrive back from Muko after having visited the site with the Team of Marion (the woman from the UK who builds schools all over the world). They will be bringing us a proposal with costs for completion of the building tomorrow. We also discussed schooling for the Muko HOPE kids and what future plans might look like.

Sue presented 30 minutes of board training covering the topics of the eight basic board responsibilities, the board member job description and the legal duties of nonprofit boards. The board members seemed to appreciate the new information. It is the first time for most of the board members to serve on a board. One of ACT MI board members suggested our MI board could benefit from it as well.

The highlight of the meeting was the changing of the guard – Charles handed over the Chairmanship to Lydia Komugisha. There was celebration for what Charles has contributed for four years being the first board chair of ACT Muko. Lydia gave a speech about her upcoming tenure and the excitement she has for ACT. We also formally said good-bye to Fr. Bruno Byomuhangi, with great, great sadness. He just cannot attend the meetings with his workload at the Diocese. We will miss him very much (munonga, munonga!)

The ACT U.S. Team spent 20 minutes practicing bells to play for the ecumenical service tomorrow in the village. We are joined on the bells by Charles, Lydia and Generous. Then, part of the team headed to the village to pick up some items left in the office that we needed and walk through the Muko market. We purchased three beautiful fabrics but will add to them in Kampala. Driving out of the village, we dodged piglets, cows, chickens and kids. Christopher is so amazing as a driver and a man. “Just a rock”, one of the team said.

Tomorrow, Sunday, we will be worshipping alongside our Ugandan friends at 5 different churches and in the afternoon at the ecumenical service. So far, everyone on the team is well, healthy, and surprised at how beautiful it is here – the weather, the sunshine (not a drop of rain yet). They are appreciating the warm showers, the decent hotel rooms, and the food.

We pray all of you are well. We really have no idea what is happening in the world but life will go on without us knowing…

Sunday, July 15, 2012



The day was full from sun-up to sun-down of worship and fellowship. As Sue shared with the congregation at the ecumenical service this afternoon, this was the MOST important thing we came to do!

We were informed this morning that Aine, the driver of the Turniwe van, had gotten very, very low on gas and they were in the village! So, we spent some time trying to find petrol for him in Kabale before leaving town for the village. There is a shortage of petrol in Kampala and it is beginning to affect Kabale as well. Fortunately, the ProRide van, with Christopher, runs on diesel.

Today was the first time the team got to go up the mountain in the village to the Ikamiro Church of Uganda, the clinic and the VIP latrine.  By the way, VIP does not stand for Very Important People, it stands for Ventilated Improved Pit! It is lovely by the way. Our money was well spent here. We did not have time to go into the clinic as the church was awaiting our arrival for the baptism of Joash Turinawe. Karen and Dave Viele were asked (while still in MI) if they would be Joash’s Godparents. They were thrilled. When we arrived in Uganda, Generous also asked who on the team would like to be Joshua’s Godparents, son of Mabel, Generous’ sister. Some of you may remember her daughter had a heart condition and died last year. This is her younger child. Karen and Dave stood in as Godparents for both of the children. It was a moving ceremony – all in Rukiga.

We then were welcomed by the congregation and thanked for all we have done for the village. Unfortunately, since we have six churches here in Muko who are partners in ACT, we need to make appearances at them all so we left before the main service started and went down the mountain being dropped off (we split up) at all the other partner churches. This was about 11:30. The last service ended at the Pentecostal church at about 2:45pm. The ecumenical service in the Muko market area, sponsored by ACT, was supposed to begin at 2:30pm. They had prepared a huge lunch for us so we sat and ate together and the service started at about 4:00pm. Such is Ugandan time. Many of the village schools and church choirs had prepared songs for us – one even did a drama and Boaz Twikirize, Kapina and Mike Williamsen’s orphan was a star in the drama. They we as a team played handbells for two songs. The villagers had never seen handbells. Another curiosity.

Curt did an outstanding job as pastor for the service. He used a bit of his slight-of-hand to make points about Jesus’ teaching. The crowd loved it! It was being translated to ensure everyone was understanding. At the end of the service, ACT Muko volunteers presented each MI partner church with a basket. What a good idea. We will proudly bring those back to our churches to be presented. The service ended at about 6:30pm and we are now back at the hotel – really tired waiting for our dinner which typically takes about 1.5 to 2 hours to prepare. Such is Ugandan time…

We wish all of you blessings! Thanks for reading along about our journey.


Saturday, July 14, 2012


Friday, July 13, 2012

Call Katie Brinklow shoeless. In the afternoon, we journeyed to the top of one of the mountains – really. Lake Bunyonyi was microscopic from where we were. We went to the home of Agnes, the auntie of Alex Byaruhanga, the Brinklow’s orphan. Agnes is 27 years old and unmarried. She is afraid of what might happen to Alex if she marries. You see, if she married, the man she married might reject Alex who would be homeless then. Alex’s father died and his mother remarried and the new husband rejected Alex so Agnes, the aunt stepped in to care for him.Agnes works in the field digging to earn money. Agnes says she is being harassed by neighbors who are upset because her nephew, Alex’s, school fees are being paid for through the Muko HOPE program.

Another woman who had been in the back of the van riding along with us turned out to be Oscar Atwine’s Mom so Lazara and Karen spent time with her greeting her and being joyful.

Dave, Charles and Curt spent the day in Kabale meeting with Marion, a woman from UK who runs an organization for African children. She has a builder who has worked all over the world building schools. They drove with she and her builder Chris, to Muko to evaluate our building. They also stopped and saw some of his work. They have trained plumber, carpenters, etc. that they work with. The quality of their work was similar to standards in the U.S. The latrine they saw was dug 50 feet. They actually were watching the bricklayers laying bricks. They understood our situation and what our choices might be to move ahead. They will meet with Marion, Chris, a plumber and engineers about how much it will cost to complete the building salvaging what has been so poorly done. They basically concurred with the assessment of the evaluator ACT Muko has already hired. The ACT Muko board will discuss this tomorrow during their meeting. One of the water taps in the village was broken open and continuously draining. Dave is taking a plumber to fix the tap for the village.

Sydney was in charge of the project of handing out 384 little pillowcase dresses. It started out pretty well handing out packets. The parents who had been segregated from the children began to intermingle and push and push toward us. It was mayhem. Karen played her violin to entertain the parents while we tried to set up for the distribution.

We got to ready to leave and as the team began to get in, the bus was completely full of Ugandans. We had to pull some of them out to get our team in. We drove to the top of the mountain to visit Froelidah who is being sponsored by Dale Anderson. She is the guardian of her younger siblings living alone. She walks two hours a day to and from school. Dale gave her some gifts and paid her school fees for the next term.

Karen, Dave and Sue went back to Kigezi school to teach a music lesson. Dave describes how the kids came out and grabbed his hands and remembered his name. We handed out recorders and books and she gave them a lesson on their recorders as well as showing them how to play the handbells. Because we met outside for the music lesson, Dave held out his arms and had the music charts duck-taped to arms and chest to facilitate the meeting.

We arrived back at the hotel for dinner and are just finishing our debrief. We deserve a good night’s sleep!

No pictures today, sorry! But we will try to post the shots we have of the girls in the dresses tomorrow! So cute!

Thursday, July 12, 2012


Thursday, July 12, 2012

“We are very happy to receive you..” were the lyrics of the songs the Ugandans are all singing each day to us. “Welcome vistas (their pronunciation of visitors)” What a warm, joyful people we encounter each day wherever we go. This was the first day we split up as a team. Curt stayed in Kabale to work on the Internet and ended up meeting a woman from UK. She may be very helpful to us with builders and construction in the future. Everyone else journeyed to Muko (about 40 minute drive). We have lovingly named all the speed bumps on the highway, “Christopher’s massages.”  As I write this, Katie and Sydney and I (Sue) are in the back of the van in the cargo going over a very bumpy road.

Before we left Kabale this morning, we picked up Lovina, our handcraft quality manager, who has taken it upon herself to enroll in a school to learn to read and write. She is physically disabled with no use of her legs which are drawn up under her. In her late twenties, she has never attended school before. She is our very best basket-maker and usually makes the lidded baskets. It has been with her meager salary from ACT that she could afford to enroll in school.

We took Lovina with us because today was MEP day – meeting with the women and men who make the handcrafts. It was a productive meeting. We discussed wages they earn for the handcrafts, the time they spend on making the different size baskets, and shared with them the new project ideas from MI. After the meeting and as a spur of the moment thing, Dale worked with the women to make some fabric coasters. They appreciated the work and learning. Sue worked in the office with Alexander sorting all the baskets and deciding which ones to bring back to the U.S. We marked each basket with the woman’s name who made it – something we have wanted to do with regularity. After helping Dale, Sydney and Katie went outside and played with village children for (as they are describing it) hours and hours and hours. More and more came along as school let out. The played Frisbee, ball, and Duck, Duck, Goose. They even enlisted Christopher, our driver in the game.

All the while Dave, Christopher, Charles Tuhaise and Josiah, our new Operations Manager measured the windows and doors in the ACT Empowerment Center. They drove all the way back to Kabale to find a supplier and order a sample which they will pick up tomorrow. Their goal is to get all the doors and windows ordered so that they can have them installed by next week and get our building secured. They then sent Christopher and Josiah back to Muko so he could bring us home.

Karen was busy all day giving music lessons at two of the schools. She managed to arrange getting the kids at far-away schools to come to the other schools for their lessons. Not only did she do recorder lessons but she used the bells with the kids as well.

We are waiting for our supper and recounting our day with each other. God is good.