Eating Grasshoppers, Crossing the Nile, and Looooooong Bus Rides!

 Well I thought it was about time for me to update again.. It is just so crazy busy. It is currently almost 10pm my time and I would love to sleep... but I would love for you to know what is going on too! **WARNING: THIS MAY BE LOOOOONG

***You are welcome to skip through and just look at pictures if you'd like... : )  I do not blame you.

Let's see... I left off after my weekend out in the village.

MONDAY: There is currently a team here that is comprised of men and women from all over the U.S. A man from Arizona, Pastor Dwight (whose family has adopted numerous children from numerous countries including Uganda, China, and Korea), puts together teams from all over to come and serve short-term trips here. The women of the current group met Abby and I at the Women's Program Monday morning. They bought LOADS of jewelry, shared testimonies, and one lady even taught the women a new type of jewelry they could make and she planned to leave the necessary tools with the women as a donation to start them off! It was a blessing for our Ladies! Did I just say that? "OUR" ladies? Yes, they are my ladies already! I am so proud of them.

Abby and I were invited to lunch with that group at the American restaurant Java's. Yum! Quesadillas and chips (fries) as well as sodas and mochas! And VERY clean toilets that included and actual commode, toilet paper, and sinks with soap to wash your hands. Those details are so fancy to me now...  On the way over I met a girl who is currently serving for a 2 year period. She knows the Russellville area, and went through Beautiful Feet Bootcamp (I considered this..) after going through the Perspectives course I just took! Very cool sharing with her. She is teaching.

Here are some pictures of me eating cooked grasshoppers we picked up for Dwight's Team!

yummy!! Cooked grashoppers!

Uncle Alex who was in town. He lives at Bombo with the boys out in the village.

yea!

Here I go!

After the yummy lunch we headed to the Street Boys Program where Pastor Dwight's team took charge. I actually had nothing to do but sit and love on boys. It was kind of strange. There was a nurse to take care of medical, Dwight taught the lesson, the team did the games, everything was taken care of. MANY pairs of jeans and t-shirts were brought and each boy received 2 new items each! So wonderful!

Boys playing a game at the futbol field. Notice the Muslim temple in the background..

Boys with new shirts and jeans at the Street Boys Program.

Boys enjoying music and dancing before the devoational.

Next we headed to one of the boys homes. It is funded by Dwight's Church and is located inside the city. About 45 boys live in the home and each of them received a brand new LLBean backpack, 2 pairs of jeans, and many little snacks and candies. They were pumped!

Nile River

TUESDAY: Yesterday was NOT the day I expected at all. I was going with Uncle Eddy (whom you will see in pictures below) to resettle two of the street boys with their families. It is best for them to live with families that take care of them instead of living on the streets, so one of our main goals is to do this. Eddy came and picked me up at the house about 8:30 and I was planning on returning for lunch. BOY was I wrong! We took a boda-boda to pick up the two boys from the slum. Faizo [FY-zoh] and Ashilaf [ASH-ee-lauff] met us outside the area we have the program. We walked about 20 minutes to the bus area where bus taxis are crowded in like sardines! We took a 2.5 hour drive east of Kampala (we crossed the Nile River!!) to a town called Jinja, where we would hope to resettle Faizo.


Once we arrived, Faizo said there was a place where he left his clothes with someone before he came to Kampala and he wanted to get them before he went home. So we ended up at a Child's Restoration Organization where he had no clothing, but the social worker told us he had run away from home 3 years ago, they have tried to resettle him with his very old grandmother several times (because both parents are not longer living and he has no siblings) but he has always run away from his home. They told us it would be another 2 hour drive maybe to where his village was.

We decided to get the boys a nice meal before we left the city so we stopped and ate. At this time I interviewed the boys about why they left home (abuse or wanting to get to the city) and why they wanted to go back home (to go to school) and how they felt (happy to be going back to school). 

Sooooo... we finished eating, used the restroom (hahahaha!!!! hole in the ground with no toilet paper) walked through the market area where many men recognized Faizo and one gave him some free sugar (he had mentioned he wanted to buy sugar and bread to take home to his grandmother). We loaded another bus, and was ready for the road again!

Ashilaf, Uncle Eddy, and Faizo

Now, there is something you must know about these rides. They are on HORRIBLE roads... with potholes everywhere! and the driver is determined not to hit a single pothole! That means driving on the left side of the road... the right side... the dirt side of the road...completely off of the road... or straddling the broken pavement and dirt sidewalk. Whatever it takes! haha. So we went another 1.5 to 2 hours and hopped off. A boda boda driver knew Faizo and took us straight to his home.

After about 30 minutes of discussion with the very frail grandmother, two uncles, an auntie, Uncle Eddy, and the boda boda driver, we finally left Faizo with his family.

Now, we had found out at the Restoration Organization that the second boy, Ashilaf, was from Embale, which would be another 4-6 hour drive at this point. It was 4 in the afternoon. We had to make a choice. The options were 1. take him back but arrive home at 1am (extremely unsafe) 2. take him back and stay the night (not really an option) or 3. bring him back to the streets and try to resettle him another day (heartbreaking!) Well, we had to go with #3. So, after several hours of bus riding, we arrive back to Kampala around 7:30, gave him some money for food, told him we would take him again later this week, and then returned to the VH where I stay.

It absolutely broke my heart to promise that boy a home with a family that evening, but send him back on the streets. I hated it! But I had to keep reminding myself that maybe the Lord knew he just needed a day that wasn't on the streets, and where he could get 3 warm meals. He had love, entertainment, and food yesterday... but no home. The Lord know what is going on, but I have no idea, and it makes me sick.

Beautiful scenery we passed on the way back to Kampala.

Uncle Eddy and I will be returning to pick up Ashilaf tomorrow (Thursday) morning and take the longer journey (5-6 hours) to his home and hopefully he will have a family to sleep with tomorrow evening. Please pray for Ashilaf and his family. That the resettling will go well, as in they will take him and not reject him, which is a possibility.

WEDNESDAY: This morning I led the Women's Bible study on taking rest in the Lord by allowing our will to become his. I used common passage from Matthew 11 (come unto me, all who are weary) and also the Psalm 3:4 (delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart)... I hope it was good for atleast one of the women there.

Then I went for lunch with Abby and a LOVELY lady named Heidi who teaches over here. She is from England and is the sweetest thing. I enjoyed a chicken salad sandwich, chips (french fries), and a HUGE brownie sundae! We enjoyed this rather expensive meal at Java's... the restaurant I mentioned earlier. So yummy!

Then I finished the day at the street program, and then with Abby teaching me some admin stuff she would like me to complete.

I taught my housekeeper, Nakato, how to make a chicken salad tonight! Well, it was chicken and egg salad.... so delicious! and our bodyguard, Kamala, enjoyed it as well! They rarely eat foods that are cold, but they enjoyed it much!