soooo much to learn....

I guess I should maybe backtrack a little here and explain why we have chosen to spend a few days back with the Mbale team. During our first whirlwind visit here, we learned a GREAT deal about how much we don’t know and about how much we need to be under/alongside some people who have experience on the field and can help us in decision making, etc. The Mbale Mission Team is truly an answer to prayer. I am not 100% sure what our long-term relationship looks like with them, but I know that there is much that we are excited about (as is our church’s leadership team) as far as their church planting “system” goes. What’s crazy is that they have been praying for other churches to come alongside them as they seek to plant churches across this country and seek to claim this country for God. Their goal is to have at least one church planted in every district of Uganda (I think there are 81 districts). The disctrict in which we are looking to possibly get involved is right in the middle of an area of Uganda where they have no churches. It’s like we were meant to be together! J

Anyway, Matt, Amy, and I (along with our leadership team) determined that it would be extremely beneficial for us to spend more time with the team here in Mbale and just soak up every bit of information that we possibly could about missions, about planting churches, about their projects, about the culture. And boy have we ever been doing that…

NOV 20

Today was yet another day PACKED full of information! My brain is completely fried. I would have it no other way, but wow…I’m tired.

The day started out with the women’s prayer breakfast at 6:30 at a nearby hotel. All of the women on the Mbale Mission Team meet once a week to spend an hour in prayer. One of the things I have learned beyond a shadow of the doubt is that if I were to decide to do long-term missions, I would absolutely have to do it with a team. There’s just no way that I could do it alone. You have to have some people around you who are coming from the same framework you’re coming from who can support you, encourage you, pray for you, and just have fun with you. The Mbale Mission team spends a lot of time together and are an amazing support system for each other. You just have to have it…and they would all agree with that statement.

After the prayer meeting, the women have breakfast together and then we headed up to MTI for more training! This morning we were given a timeline of the Mbale Mission Team’s history and how all of the programs came to be. Very interesting stuff. It’s amazing how LONG-term their vision is for this place. They have committed that they will go as far and as long as God calls them. They say that they don’t want to limit God with their dreams.

After lunch, we learned about the structure of the Mbale Mission Team and how they function as a group. It’s interesting how they are such a huge ministry and are functioning so well in many areas, but they are still in DESPERATE need – need of money but also a real need for people! Because of the ever-expanding ministry, they are in constant need of more people and more support. As we were discussing all of the various ministries, I asked if they have much going on as far as youth or children’s ministry goes. I know that a HUGE part of the population in this country is under the age of 20, so the need to reach the youth of this country is huge. Interestingly, they don’t have much going on for the youth in all of their programs, and they said that it is definitely toward the top of their priority list. They are in need of someone to come over and begin some sort of youth program within their ministry…hmmmm…

We also had a very condensed version of their “African Friends and Money Matters” training. It is crazy, crazy how polar opposite our ideas of money are from Africans. A few examples:

1. Money is to be spent before friends or relatives ask to borrow it.
2. If something is not actively being used, it is considered available.
3. Budgeting, in a formal sense, is not an accepted way of handling personal finances.
4. A network of friend is a network of resources.
5. A loan is eligible to be repaid when the creditor's need becomes greater than the debtor's need.

And the list goes on from there...the handout received listed 62 different observations about African cultural values and provides a counter Western value. Very interesting stuff...and stuff we have already been experiencing as truth here. It’s been good to actually live and interact with people for a few weeks before this training, because it’s helping us to really see and experience the truths of these statements.

After training, Matt, Amy, and I spent some time working on our presentation for our MTI Research. When I got back to the Tylers, I had an amazing treat awaiting me – a sandwich. I can’t remember the last time I had a sandwich. It’s one of the food items that I didn’t realize I’d miss until I didn’t have it. So I piled that thing crazy high with lettuce (which we never have), tomato, cheese (which we also never have), avocado…and savored every single bite.

I spent most of the rest of the night working on our presentation for tomorrow night. I kinda feel like I’m back in college and working on some big group project, but it really was cool to obtain a lot of information on our own as opposed to being “lectured” on it.

My brain is literally worn out.

a bit of a shock to the system...

NOV 19

Today was a challenging, exciting, inspiring, overwhelming…and in the end, a hard day. My entire view of Africa and those who live here has been shaken to the core. I have to share something that may make some people sad…maybe even a little upset. But I’m sharing what I am starting to believe more and more while being here…and it’s something that I’ve now heard straight from the mouth of Americans who have lived in this area for almost 30 years. It’s hard to argue with that.

I have somewhat been subscribing to this idea of “I Need Africa More Than Africa Needs Me”. Some westerners (which used to include myself) may believe that although Africans may not have the material possessions that we have, they have the things that really matter – joy, peace, faith, selflessness, community. And we may start to think that in reality, we need the things that they have more than they need the things that we have. Today I learned that my perspective of what they “have” is not entirely accurate.

We have basically been bombarded with information today from the Mbale team. First of all, Matt, Amy, and I have been asked to do a bit of a research project ourselves about the Messiah Theological Institute here, and we will be giving a presentation to the Mbale team at the end of our time here. So we started working some on that project almost immediately upon our arrival to MTI this morning.

Later this afternoon I sat through a cultural orientation which Shawn Tyler and Philip Sharo gave us. Philip has been here 11 years and Shawn has been here 28 years…they know their stuff. It completely knocked my socks off. There is entirely too much information for me to include here, but the thing that has really altered my thinking about Africans as a whole is that when we look at them, we really only see their external actions. But behind every action is a value and behind every value is a truth. Many mission teams come in and simply try to change the actions but never change the core truths of a society. That’s why they say that in Africa, Christianity is a mile wide and an inch thick. There are many who claim to be Christians, but there is very little depth to their faith and their beliefs (…sound familiar?).

Anyway, to know the reasons behind the way people act, we must first determine what they value and eventually get down to what they believe is true. And the values and truths of Africans are very different than the values and truths of Americans, particularly American Christians. At their very core, we learned that the basic truth under which Africans operate is that life is cyclical. It’s way too long to explain here, but what it boils down to is that they believe that what happens on earth is determined by the spiritual powers of the “living dead”…or basically spirits of people who have died. This is why witchcraft is such a huge issue in Africa and it has a major impact on what they value and on how they live. It’s a long explanation as to how these connect, but because of this core truth, a couple of their major core values are respect and the “appearance” of relationship. They live by this idea of “give respect and get something back”. So their actions are driven by this idea…this is why you see such amazing hospitality, welcoming words, people kneeling, people appearing to live at peace with each other, people appearing to love and care for one another. To us Americans, it appears that they are living such godly, selfless lives (and of course some of them genuinely are), but it’s because we are looking at them through our grid of values and truth. For many Africans, these actions are driven by the belief that when you respect others, you will get something back or you will be blessed.

I asked if Philip and Shawn were basically saying that what we see is a façade and in reality, there are selfish motives behind these things that appear so good and godly from the outside. The sad answer to this question was “yes”. And there are two reasons why I tend to believe this is true:

1. This is coming from people who have been here for almost 30 years.

2. It has been hard for me to understand how Africans could truly be displaying the fruits of the spirit in such abundance when in actuality, many of these people don’t actually HAVE the Holy Spirit, don’t know anything about God, haven’t surrendered their lives to them, and don’t have any sort of personal relationship with Him.

So Philip made this very poignant statement: “How could you expect to come into a country where there is VERY little God but expect to see TRUE joy, peace, and selflessness? You cannot truly have those things apart from God. So what you see is the appearance of joy and peace and selflessness, but the reality is that often, it is only the APPEARANCE of these things, and in the end, they are marked by selfish motivations.”

It makes sense…I may struggle with having what appears to me is the joy and patience and selflessness of the people here. But the reality is that I know Jesus and I know the freedom and the LIFE that comes from being in relationship with Him. Many, MANY, people in this country do not have that. They are simply living in a culture that tells them to live at peace with people, respect people so that you can get something in return, and make sure that whatever you do, you protect the appearance of your relationship with others.

NOW I MUST CLARIFY SOMETHING HERE: I don’t want it to sound as if I’m saying all Africans are just selfish and none of their external actions are pure. Many of them have true joy and love that comes from the Spirit. Many of them have a deep and vibrant faith. And many of them are truly genuine people in love with the Lord. I’m just saying we can’t look at them from our American “grid” and take everything at face value. Maybe our African brothers and sisters are in much greater need than we have realized (…or maybe it’s just more than what I realized). Maybe they need what we have (and by that, I mean Jesus) much more than we need what they have. By no means does this mean that we are superior…it simply means that they need Jesus.

It’s been a somewhat sad realization for me…like someone just popped my little happy balloon. But it is the tough reality. And one that I’m very thankful to be learning.

During the late afternoon, we attended the youth gathering which Shawn facilitates each week at the Mbale Church. When they say “youth” here, it can mean anyone from 13 years old to 28 years old. So apparently, I’m still a “youth” here! J Shawn had Matt, Amy, and I sit in front and told the kids to ask us anything and everything that they want to ask. And as Matt said, they weren’t exactly throwing us softballs. They asked about marriage and dating and sex and they asked about the problems that youth in America are facing and what advice we would give them as youth of Uganda…really great questions.

We had dinner tonight with two of the Ugandan missionaries that work with the Mbale team – James and Noeli Luchivya. Noeli prepared an amazing meal for us then they walked us through their “steps” program on the process of planting a church in Uganda. They basically have this organization that is an umbrella under which all of the church plants fall called the New Testament Churches of Christ. And basically when someone wants to plant a church under that umbrella, they have a distinct list of steps that must be followed before they consider it an established church. It includes multiple seminars and teachings on the basics of faith and what it means to be a follower of Christ and also involves the preacher/teacher of that congregation having biblical training at MTI. The process is a really great one, and makes sure that all of the churches are unified in their core beliefs.

James and Noeli are amazing…they are an awesome picture of two people who have been trained up and discipled by this mission team and are now going out and making disciples all over this country. They are basically in charge of the entire rural development program now. Awesome story.

I’m learning more and more about how much I don’t know...

rarely a dull moment...

This little girl's name is Mary. She is the daughter of one of the teachers at the Kibbuse school named Madam Olivia. I love her.

I'm playing a little catch-up on the ol' blog, so bear with me here...

NOV 17

Today turned into quite the interesting day...

We took two truckfuls of people to Kikumoro for a Bible study training seminar. And when I say "truckfuls", I mean like 7 people in the cab made for 5 people and 11-12 people sitting in the bed of the truck. It was basically a seminar training people on the basics of how to lead a small group Bible study. It was a good training, but what was NOT so good was when it got to be noon, then 1:00, then 2:00, then 3:00...and no lunch. The seminar ended and we soon found out that the seminar leaders had requested us to have lunch at 1:00 but the hosts didn't even go to buy the food until 1:00. So we were served "lunch" when the seminar ended at 4:00.

Matt, Amy, and I were taken into the church reverend's home for lunch and after eating, Bob and Brenda left to take the first truckload of people back. We stayed in the house to talk with people a little more and eventually decided to go back out because we knew the truck would soon be back for the second load. And when we walked outside, we saw no one - no teachers, no students...no one from Kibbuse. We couldn't imagine where any of them would've gone.

So we walked into town, found no one, walked back to the church and waited...and waited...and waited. No one. And of course our cell phone were getting no coverage in that area so we couldn't call anyone. We had waited for a good couple of hours with no sign of anyone from our village. I'm not gonna lie...I started getting a little worried. Especially when it started getting dark. We decided to walk back into town to try and find a phone. While standing in the middle of town trying to get through to someone, we turned and saw that blessed red truck coming down the street with a bed full of people. We were quite happy to see them, needless to say.

But the excitement of the evening wasn't over.

It had rained hard that afternoon, so the roads were awful. The first stuck car we came across forced us to go completely off the side of the road to where we were almost completely on our side. Matt said if we'd driven another 6 inches, we would've tipped over. It forced everyone in the back to jump out of the truck.

Toward the last half of the drive, we found ourselves face-to-face with a big truck that had gotten stuck. Once again, everyone had to jump out and we had to try numerous "routes" of getting around that thing. We were halfway in the ditch with the other half in the grass and bushes (on a steep hill at that).

Needless to say, there were plenty of cheers and applause when we got on the other side of that truck. Something I've noticed: with all of the uncomfortable, annoying, frustrating, and difficult situations we've found ourselves in, you never hear any of the Ugandans complain or gripe. They typically just laugh their way through it all. Amazing the way it changes a situation.

NOV 18

We had to get up early this morning, because it's off to Mbale we go!...one end of the country to the other.

We left Nyamarwa at around 7:30 AM and headed to a nearby town with Bob and James. On the way, we stopped to pick up this little boy who James was taking to the hospital in Kampala. Apparently this little boy has been having eye problems (bad vision, itching, watering) for the past year or two and none of the local physicians have been able to figure out what's wrong. I fell in love with this little boy almost immediately. I don't think we got a word out of him the entire day, but we did catch a couple of smiles. He was perfectly well behaved and had the sweetest eyes. I'm anxious to hear what the doctors said.

We arrived at Mityana (Bob's stopping place) and the rest of us boarded a taxi to Kampala. Taxis here are not like taxis in the states. Taxis are like these mini vans that are supposed to seat around 15 but we crowded at least 17 in. They're known to be quite a wild ride, but our driver took it easy on us.

When we got to Kampala, all chaos ensued. It was worse than the first day when we came. It was just this massive mangled mess of vehicles, bicycles, motorcycles, and people all over the streets. There was no order whatsoever. And we got stuck in a jam where literally people were just turning off their cars in the middle of the street waiting to move. It was hot, loud, and I was ready to get out of there.

We eventually made it to our car rental place where we had a car and a driver ready to take us the rest of the way to Mbale. We dropped the little boy and Rev James off at the doctor, grabbed a DELICIOUS lunch at Java's (had some good ol' American food...) and then took off on the 3 hour voyage to Mbale.

We arrived at our hotel in Mbale right around the time it was getting dark. We were ecstatic to find that our hotel has hot water...I'm about to take the longest hot shower of my life....

oh...the kids

NOVEMBER 15

At breakfast, Bob asked if I would be willing to share a brief message/testimony at church this morning. So I had just a few minutes to gather my thoughts and then we headed off to the little evangelical church in the village. It is held in a little mud hut and their drums and some of their benches were borrowed from the Kibbuse school. I love the church services here. I love their simplicity and to be honest, I find their slight disorganization refreshing. They don’t have to have everything perfectly planned out and coordinated. They don’t even start or end at an exact time…definitely a completely different experience that what we’re used to back in the states.

I spoke about John 10:10 and how even though I had grown up in the church and had a great family, my enemy had worked to steal my peace and joy and fulfillment and it wasn’t until I went to college that I learned about the life to the full that Jesus offers. I talked about how the biggest thing that turned my life around was when I started spending DAILY time in the Word and talking with God. So that was my challenge and encouragement to them.

The offering was once again quite entertaining. Those who didn’t have money brought fruit and various produce to be auctioned off and the biggest surprise was when a little boy walked right up the aisle with a little baby goat. There were cheers and applause because apparently it had been well over a year since anyone had offered a goat. It ended up being auctioned off to Chief for 16,000 shillings.

Tonight we were able to make contact with people back home and were able to be skyped in to church and hear a good 2/3 of Bobby’s sermon about their trip here (our connection was pretty bad…). It was an awesome sermon, and it’s obvious that the trip had a big impact on Bobby and the men that were here. You just can’t come here and not be changed…I really do think it’s impossible.

I was also SO excited to talk to Jill, John Mark, and Riley Robinson for a bit on Skype. Again the reception was really bad, but at least I got to see their faces and hear their voices…made my heart happy. I really do miss everyone back home!

NOVEMBER 16

Matt, Amy, and I were asked to share a little at chapel, so we all shared a verse or two that has meant a lot to us personally. I talked about Prov. 16:9 and Rom. 8:28 and how God has often led me to places outside of all my own plans but that in all things He has been working for my very for my very best.

Amy and I went with Madam Olivia and Mary Grace to see their knitting machine and watch them in action. That is definitely one interesting contraption! I went with Madam Olivia and Madam Hope to the Niyamarwa Primary School down the street to take some pictures of kids modeling in the school sweaters that they have made. Brenda asked me to work on a flyer that they could use to promote their knitting business, so we needed a few pictures for the flyer.

I tell you what...the kids around here just about have me ruined. They have completely stolen my heart. There were probably at least 150 kids outside singing and dancing and laughing and playing when we walked up (pictured above). Their principal called them over and all those kids just came charging at us. I took pictures of them and they would all just about smother me trying to see the pictures. I LOVE the noise they make when they see the pictures...it's adorable.

We got some pictures of kids modeling the sweaters, signed the guest book (which, by the way, we are asked to do anywhere we've gone, whether it be a home or a school...everyone has a guest book).

Matt, Amy, Timothy and I spent a good hour or two playing cards, I took an ice cold shower, and then we just hung out for a bit after dinner and headed to bed early. We have an early morning tomorrow!

a little taste of home!

NOVEMBER 13

Today was cooking day! Matt, Amy and I have been planning to cook a Mexican food meal for everyone and today our new friend, Mandy, from Karagusa is coming to spend the evening with us, so we decided that there would be no better night than tonight!

This morning, Brenda and I cooked a chocolate cake (from scratch, of course…no Betty Crocker cake-in-a-box here…), and I learned that cooking from scratch in Uganda is different than cooking from scratch in the U.S., to say the least. You have to be much more creative and resourceful in your cooking here. Cooking MEXICAN food from scratch proved to be even more of a challenge. So when I say we made refried beans from scratch, for example, I mean like we started by peeling the beans that had come straight from the garden. And our “chips” were chapate bread cut into triangles and baked until they were crispy. Thankfully, we were able to make what I believe is the most important part of any Mexican food meal – guacamole – because avocados are quite popular here. We also made pico de gallo, Mexican rice, and Brenda made this amazing mango relish. We had large round pieces of chapate bread so that people could make soft tacos…I must say, it was delish…and it was kinda nice to get a little taste of home. We called it our Mefrican dinner.

It was the first time Reverend James and Timothy had ever had Mexican food, and they loved it! We just had a great evening together, filled with a lot of laughter. At the end of the night, Timothy said, “I will remember this night for forever.” Adorable.

NOVEMBER 14

Last night, Matt, Amy, and I invited anyone who wanted to join us for a walk to one of the nearby hills to watch the sunrise. We really only expected 4 or 5 people to actually get up that early, but at 5:30 AM we went to the meeting place and literally every student (including Rev James and Madam Hope and Olivia) showed up! We were quite impressed.

Besides the absolutely incredible sky full of stars, it was PITCH black on our walk there and up the hill but slowly it started getting lighter and lighter and a haze started appearing in the between the hills…it was beautiful. Eventually the sun rose and it was amazing. We had a great time singing and praying and laughing on the hill…such a great morning.

Most of my morning was spent putting together a movie of pictures and video of the students and the teachers to show them tonight. It cracks us up how much Ugandans LOVE to have their picture taken…as soon as you snap the pic, you have a crowd of people around you wanting to see it – even people who aren’t in the picture! So we thought they would love to see a video of themselves.

Amy and I went out this afternoon and started making hemp/thread bracelets…and after the first half hour or so, a few students joined us and then some of the village children. We made bracelets for 4 and a half hours! They loved them.

After diner, we showed the students (and a few of the teachers) the video we’d put together. It started with about 5 guys out there, and pretty soon everyone on campus had come outside to watch it. I had to put my computer up high so they could all see it. After watching it, they all asked to see it a second time. They were just laughing and laughing both times through! I leaned over to Matt and Amy at one point and said it was one of the cutest things I’d ever seen. They just looked like one big happy family all crowded around this little screen and having so much fun together. The students here are really starting to capture my heart.

I realized today that I have officially met the half way mark for my time here. I can’t believe it. I’m already dreading leaving here. When we were making bracelets with the kids this afternoon I told Amy, “Man am I gonna ever wish for moments like this whenever I get home!”. I’m afraid that I’m going to really start falling in love with the students here at about the same time that I’m going to have to leave.

Ahhhh…November 29, slow down!

Uganda Diaries - Part VIII

When I was younger and used to visit my grandparents in the summer, I would write letters to my parents detailing literally every single thing I did - including everything I ate for breakfast and the details of every book I read. I realized that my Uganda blog posts are turning into the same thing, so I've decided to tone it down on the play-by-play of every single day and just talk about the highlights.

Nov 11

This afternoon, Amy, Matt, and I took all of the kids t-shirts that people from Harpeth had donated and we went out to the open field behind the school to hand them out. We went out and there was only one kid on a swing. Then within probably 10 minutes, we had well over 50 kids (and a few moms) crowding around us trying to get a shirt. Most of these little kids were literally wearing tatters, so it was such a blessing to watch them put on a whole article of clothing. The kids were ecstatic. They were jumping around and shrieking and laughing in their new shirts. After we handed out all the shirts we had, we brought out a couple of tennis ball and almost all the kids were on one side of the field while Matt, Amy, and I stood on the other end and threw the tennis balls in the air while they all tried to catch them, racing around and tackling each other, laughing their heads off the whole time. Amazing.

Later this afternoon, Brenda and Bob asked the 3 of us to attend their faculty/staff meeting. It lasted a good couple of hours and the two topics on which we probably spent the most time were:

1. how the students always take all the food before the teachers get any
2. what they were going to do about how the hoes always end up missing

...neither of them things that you'd hear discussed at a school staff meeting in the U.S.

Amy taught me how to play backgammon tonight...we needed a little "escape". Matt, Amy, and I had a really good talk tonight and spent some time praying. As amazing as our experience has been here, there are things that have been hard and have been frustrating and we just needed some time to put things into perspective and pray that God would just use us as He sees fit, remove our selfishness, and give us His heart for the people...

Nov 12

I was asked to speak this morning at chapel about the importance of studying the Bible, which of course was not something I could turn down. So I got to speak to the students and the staff about what the Bible has meant to me, how it has changed my life, and how vital it is that they be in the Word. After I was finished speaking, one of the teachers stood up and thanked me then said that he has wanted to be a better student of the Word and has a lot of questions and wondered if I would be willing to discuss them with him. How could I say no to that?! Amy and I talked with him some after chapel and he said that he’s been wanting to get saved but just has a lot of questions. He also said that he’s been failing at following the Bible. Unfortunately, he had to hurry to get to class but I’m really hoping that Matt, Amy, and I can have a chance to meet with him again.

This morning, Amy and I started a project with one of the students, Ida. They recently bought mosquito nets for the beds in the dorms and we had to do a lot of cutting and tying and hanging of nets. It’s quite a project and we barely put a dent in it today.

Tonight after dinner, Matt, Amy and I went for a walk out in the field behind the school. It was PITCH black. We of course had flashlights but every once in a while, we would turn our lights off and it was crazy how dark it was out there. What’s even crazier is that there are a few families who live along the edge of that field in tiny mud huts with no electricity or water, so we could hear the sound of little children’s voices but obviously couldn’t see them.

It’s kinda crazy to think about how those little kids really don’t know anything outside of what they’ve always had. We tend to feel so sorry for them because they don’t have lights and TV and warm showers, but fact is, they don’t really know what it’s like to live in that kind of ease. All they know is that they’ve always had. Fact is, we probably feel a lot more sorry for them than they do for themselves. Of course, it doesn’t diminish their poverty and doesn’t change the fact that they are in physical need. I don’t really know what that’s supposed to mean…just an observation.

you never know...

NOVEMBER 9

This morning Amy and I set out to do some good ol’ fashioned hand-washing-in-a-tub laundry…our first experience doing that. We felt a little ridiculous having to ask (and re-ask) how exactly to do it. I mean…it’s soap, water, fabric softener, and a line with clothespins…how complicated could it be, right? Either way, we felt quite accomplished after finishing our loads.

After lunch we had a meeting with Bob and Brenda to lay out a game plan for the rest of our time here. It really is amazing how much there is to do here. They are terribly under-staffed and are just in desperate need of man-power. But we basically laid out a list of things that needed to get done and did a little dividing up of responsibilities.

One of my main responsibilities is going to be researching some ways that the school could start some income-generating activities – specifically their “knitting business” that they recently started. Another of my responsibilities is to encourage and talk to the girls about the importance of studying the Bible. I’m trying to help set the stage for what they’re wanting to start at the school next term – small group Bible studies. Exciting stuff! If there’s anything we’ve learned, it’s that there is a HUGE need for discipleship in this country. There are so many people who believe in and even love God, but so few actually know or study the Bible. So I’m excited to help in kicking off these Bible studies. The rest of the day was really just spent doing things around the compound.

Side note: there was a near tarantula-sized spider hanging out in my room when I got in tonight. Pretty sure I’ll never get used to those.

NOVEMBER 10

I love that you never know what each day is going to hold here. I ended up traveling with Bob, Matt, Madame Olivia and “Chief” (both teachers at Kibbuse) to Karagusa where they had some errands to run. Brenda wanted me to have a chance to talk to Olivia about the knitting business that they’re trying to use to generate some income. I was asked to kinda take a look at what they’re doing and offer suggestions for improvement and help determine whether or not it’s even profitable to keep it running. I got to talk to Olivia quite a bit on the ride over and then got to walk with her to a couple of the schools to whom they had sold some sweaters for the students. It’s crazy how very different businesses run in rural Uganda as opposed to the U.S. When people don’t use the internet and don’t use any sort of banking system, it really changes everything. Running a successful business is really difficult here.

On the way to Karagusa the truck started making crazy noises, so they ended up taking it to a little shop in the village where they had to work on it for 3 hoursssss….

So while we were waiting on the car, Matt, Olivia and I walked to a local school where Olivia wanted to do some advertising for their sweater business. On our walk we met up with this girl, named Mandy, from America who is in the Peace Corps and has been living here since February. She is single, in her mid-twenties, and committed to living 27 months by herself in a house with no running water or electricity in a remote Ugandan village. I honestly have no idea how she does it. But she was just awesome and I’m really hoping that Amy and I might be able to hang out with her some…give her some fellow Mizungu company, which she rarely gets.

Matt, Chief, and I also went to the market while waiting on the car to be repaired. We had bought a box of crackers as our lunch and I started handing them out to some of the village children. When I would give one of them a cracker, they would kneel in front of me and bow. I didn’t know what they were doing, but Chief said that they were showing their appreciation and respect by bowing. It was both adorable and really uncomfortable. Gah, I love the kids here.

I had a couple of encounters with what the natives call “mad-men”. They would come up to just yelling and saying things that made no sense…a little unnerving.

We went back to the car repair place and hung out in the gas station for a while then hung out in the back alley (I know…shady) and eventually they finished with the car and we headed back to Nyamarwa. On the way back, I learned the Ugandan National Anthem from Olivia and Chief which was very exciting. I had so much fun getting to know Olivia better today…she is SUCH a joy!

I immediately took a (freezing cold) shower and then we had dinner. The local food is really growing on me…I mean, I’m not gonna lie – I am already excited about having some Blue Coast Burrito when I get home, but I’m really developing a taste for the food here.

I can’t believe I have already been in Uganda for 10 days…which means 1/3 of my time here has already passed. I’m already getting sad about November 29.