Week 4

Its been a long time since I've been able to write a blog. This past week I have been doing a lot.

Last Week:

Wednesday I got to go to the ranch again for two nights this time. So that morning was just getting ready and making arrangements for the drive up there. When we got there some of the boys were playing volleyball after school so we joined them. That was a lot of fun to play and I'm excited to get back home and play some pool volleyball and sand volleyball after playing that. Then we had dinner with the boys at the school, rice and beans, yum!... That night we got settled into our cottage and went to bed early because there's no electricity there.

Thursday morning we woke up to a cockroach crawling on the outside of the mosquito net, luckily we have those things. Then I got to sit in on one of their math classes for their Senior 6 class which is our Senior year of high school. When that was over I caught the end of Character Development class as well. Then we had tea time. After that we sat in on the Senior 5 math class which is Junior year. After that we got to do some of the math with the boys for a little bit. At lunch I got to share with some of the boys that want to do engineering at a University when they graduate and what the programs were like in America. Then we got an official tour of the Ranch and all the programs that go on there. When we stopped by the primary school they were practicing for their music/dance regional competition as they had just won their community/area competition I believe of 4 schools. It was good to see one of their songs before we had to continue with the tour. When stopping by the secondary school we got to sit in on the small group meetings that they were having at the time and meet and talk with one of the groups. After the tour we watched the boys play a soccer game between schools for a little while and then joined them for dinner, posho (sp?) and beans. Posho is like a corn meal time thing. That night we joined the schools and ranch workers for a time of fellowship. They did 2 hours of worship and by the time they were ready to do the talk it was getting a little late and we were exhausted so we headed to bed.

Friday morning we met up with one of the guys working with ACM, Africa Children's Ministry, and took a 40 minute bike ride out to a primary school for their break time to try and teach them American Football, which is quite difficult to do... Then on our bike ride back we stopped at the guys house who took us there and he gave us some pineapple to eat right out of the ground and it was soooo good. The bike ride was pretty intense, considering they weren't the greatest of bikes to say the most and the roads were dirt and fully of bumps and holes. Then we had lunch with Wayne who oversees ACM and got to talk with him about the work he's doing and I got to get advice and ideas for working over in the future. For the way back to Kampala we got a ride back to the main rode and then from their we took a taxi. They sure do know how to pack a taxi. The ride back I was in a row for 3 and we had 4 adults, 2 kids, and the lady next to me was holding a baby on top of the two backpacks that I had with me, and I rode like this for an hour. Then we took another taxi and then a boda to get back, which was a good experience of public transportation. That night we just relaxed and had dinner at an Indian food restaurant.

On Saturday Morning we got up to do Community Service again with the homes. Picking up trash and cleaning some of their trench/gutters out. One guy while we were working kept asking who we were working for and who we were getting paid from and telling us what we really should be doing and what the area really needed. I tried to explain that these kids and myself and the other mzungus were just giving up our time to help clean up the community that one of the homes were in, but he wasn't believing that or quite getting the concept and was getting really frustrated and walked off... He was possibly looking for a job as he kept asking who was paying us. I took a much needed nap that afternoon. Then that night I visited another one of the homes. It was a boys home so we ended up playing some soccer as usual. Then as we were there one of the girls homes requested that we have dinner at their place so we went there afterwards and an older guy from our group played some guitar songs for them and then sang some songs for us and did a couple dances. We had some more rice and beans, but got to have avocado as well.

Sunday morning I prepared for the talk that I was going to give to the older kids from the homes that got moved up to that afternoon from Monday. The talk started at 4 and ended up going 4 hours as there were a couple speakers and Ugandans like to talk! The talk was like a career workshop inspiring the kids for the future and giving and advice and encouragement for challenges that they'll face. I gave my testimony in the beginning and then closed the meeting with some advice and some points that I had to give along with some verses to keep in mind. All in all the talk went very well and I think the kids got a lot out of it from the different speakers.

Monday I slept in and then went to the staff meeting that they had. After that I had to make preparations for my Mother and Sister that were coming the last week that I am here. Then that night I visited the last Youth home of the 6. It was a girls home and they have the most energy and are probably the most joyful of all the homes. It was like a party as soon as I got there till I left. We had worship and then they did some dances for us and then we shared and talked with each other and then I got a tour and gave them a ball that I had gotten for every home which made it even more like a party. Then we had a little free dancing again afterwards and then I had to leave.

Tuesday I woke up early to drive an hour to go get my sister and mother from the airport. From there we drove 3 hours to Jinja. We got into our hotel at the Crested Crane which brings back memories from the last time I was here! We took a nap and then had lunch. Then we went into town to get some supplies, went to visit the source of the Nile. Which is where the Nile starts at Lake Victoria and took a little boat ride out onto the river and lake. Then we went to see some falls that were on the Nile which was awesome to see and are amazing. Then for dinner we went to Two Friends which brings back more memories from my last trip here! Tomorrow we are visiting the Village and staying the night there, which is an orphanage with a school and about 230 kids there that Uganda Orphans Fund takes care of that I came with last time I was here but the Village hadn't been built yet. Its going to be a busy last week with my Mother and Sister but I'm excited for the adventure and to share it with them and to come back to Chico soon!