Wednesday, April 30, 2014:  Greetings from Uganda! It was time for a change of pace, and we were able to sleep in a little later than past days.  Today our group would be attending several meetings in the Kabale area, so Rashid made the trip out to Muko and brought Generous, Josiah, Alexander, Moses, Tito and Mackline back to the Jopfan Hotel.  Justus and Stephen who work with our Ag program would be joining us also.  During the wait, we explored the Jopfan’s gardens, looking at the plants there that are so different than what we see back home.  And Karen learned a very important lesson…..don’t walk around outside with a piece of toast when there’s an eagle in the area.  While looking for Gordon and Judith (her chickens), Karen was dive bombed by an eagle, which stole her toast, and she lived to tell the tale! After all the excitement, it was time for our group to split up, so as to be more efficient and cover   more ground.  Karen, Diana, Lisa, Generous, Josiah and Alexander set off on foot for their first meeting, while the rest of the group boarded the van and set off for Kabale University, where we would be dropping off Mackline for her first day of classes.  She is enrolled as our first vocational student and will be studying Records Management.  So exciting to see her start the next chapter in her life!

The group with Elizabeth, Dave, David, Barbara, Justus, Stephen, Tito and Moses set off for a meeting with Dr. Wilson Bamwerinde, who works with the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.  Along the way we saw the usual hustle and bustle of the streets of Kabale, red dust coating plants, buildings and people alike, and hillsides stripped to bedrock for timber and gravel.  Our meeting took place at a lovely pavilion overlooking Lake Bunyonyi.  We discussed the HANDS program and its successes and failures, particularly the recent Irish potato effort which had a less than stellar result.  We were looking for feedback on what may have gone wrong, what we can do differently and where we can improve in future efforts.  Dr. Bamwerinde was very personable and knowledgeable, and gave us an enormous amount of information and insight into agricultural practices and attitudes in Uganda.  We’ve set up another meeting with him next week, at which time he’ll be showing his ongoing efforts in agricultural education, the Center for Rural Development.  We also discussed the MEP (Muko Empowerment Program) handicraft program and Muko HOPE program.

Generous, Josiah, Karen, Lisa, and Diana met with two separate educational officials regarding curriculum, schools and their inspections. We learned about some topics to discuss with our orphans to help them with success in school and improvement in hygiene. We met Francis at Kabale University who enrolled as our first orphan to attend university. He will begin classes in August and intends to study Public Administration. The team celebrated this historical day! It might interest you to know that to sign a student up for university classes at Kabale, we had to go to one of two banks to pay the fees, obtain a receipt, and deliver the receipt back to the university.

After taking care of Mackline and Francis, we went to three vocational schools to gather information about what skills could be learned, what prerequisites were necessary, and costs to attend. The meetings were extremely helpful in preparing our Life Pathways planning which is developing as a plan for our orphans as they grow older.

At the end of the day our group was reunited and walked over to the White Horse Inn for dinner.  We enjoyed a nice meal and fellowship, talking about our day and making plans for tomorrow.  Thursday and Friday will be spent with the orphans, distributing gifts from sponsors, talking with the kids, playing games, and strengthening our relationships with them, bringing special hellos from their American moms and dads.  Things are going very well!  Please continue to keep us in your prayers…..

Wednesday, April 30, 2014:  Greetings from Uganda! It was time for a change of pace, and we were able to sleep in a little later than past days.  Today our group would be attending several meetings in the Kabale area, so Rashid made the trip out to Muko and brought Generous, Josiah, Alexander, Moses, Tito and Mackline back to the Jopfan Hotel.  Justus and Stephen who work with our Ag program would be joining us also.  During the wait, we explored the Jopfan’s gardens, looking at the plants there that are so different than what we see back home.  And Karen learned a very important lesson…..don’t walk around outside with a piece of toast when there’s an eagle in the area.  While looking for Gordon and Judith (her chickens), Karen was dive bombed by an eagle, which stole her toast, and she lived to tell the tale! After all the excitement, it was time for our group to split up, so as to be more efficient and cover  more ground.  Karen, Diana, Lisa, Generous, Josiah and Alexander set off on foot for their first meeting, while the rest of the group boarded the van and set off for Kabale University, where we would be dropping off Mackline for her first day of classes.  She is enrolled as our first vocational student and will be studying Records Management.  So exciting to see her start the next chapter in her life!

The group with Elizabeth, Dave, David, Barbara, Justus, Stephen, Tito and Moses set off for a meeting with Dr. Wilson Bamwerinde, who works with the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.  Along the way we saw the usual hustle and bustle of the streets of Kabale, red dust coating plants, buildings and people alike, and hillsides stripped to bedrock for timber and gravel.  Our meeting took place at a lovely pavilion overlooking Lake Bunyonyi.  We discussed the HANDS program and its successes and failures, particularly the recent Irish potato effort which had a less than stellar result.  We were looking for feedback on what may have gone wrong, what we can do differently and where we can improve in future efforts.  Dr. Bamwerinde was very personable and knowledgeable, and gave us an enormous amount of information and insight into agricultural practices and attitudes in Uganda.  We’ve set up another meeting with him next week, at which time he’ll be showing his ongoing efforts in agricultural education, the Center for Rural Development.  We also discussed the MEP (Muko Empowerment Program) handicraft program and Muko HOPE program.

Generous, Josiah, Karen, Lisa, and Diana met with two separate educational officials regarding curriculum, schools and their inspections. We learned about some topics to discuss with our orphans to help them with success in school and improvement in hygiene. We met Francis at Kabale University who enrolled as our first orphan to attend university. He will begin classes in August and intends to study Public Administration. The team celebrated this historical day! It might interest you to know that to sign a student up for university classes at Kabale, we had to go to one of two banks to pay the fees, obtain a receipt, and deliver the receipt back to the university.  After taking care of Mackline and Francis, we went to three vocational schools to gather information about what skills could be learned, what prerequisites were necessary, and costs to attend. The meetings were extremely helpful in preparing our Life Pathways planning which is developing as a plan for our orphans as they grow older.

At the end of the day our group was reunited and walked over to the White Horse Inn for dinner.  We enjoyed a nice meal and fellowship, talking about our day and making plans for tomorrow.  Thursday and Friday will be spent with the orphans, distributing gifts from sponsors, talking with the kids, playing games, and strengthening our relationships with them, bringing special hellos from their American moms and dads.  Things are going very well!  Please continue to keep us in your prayers…..

Updated blog:
Andrew and David just after they met- just had to get a picture. This is our first picture in the blog and now that we know how, there will be more in our future blogs. Stay tuned for Karen and the chickens

Tuesday, April 29^th - Greetings from Uganda! We started off our day in the dark as we woke up without electricity, and lukewarm water which is not an uncommon occurrence.  Fortunately The Jopfan has a generator for these frequent outages and turned it on at 6 am, so after breakfast we were on our way to the village.  As we left we were treated to a glimpse of a family of crested cranes, Uganda’s national bird.  Dodging the cows wandering around the streets of Kabale, we passed many people carrying all sorts of things on their heads….bundles of wood, large containers of water, and stalks of matooke.  The valleys were filled with lakes of mist, but as usual the sun was out by the time we reached the village.  We were greeted by the sounds of violins, with some of the boys already practicing in the back room.  We quickly got to work on various projects.  Dave and David continued to work on improving our internet access at the center, but so far results have been inconsistent and frustrating.  Diana and Generous worked on building the Quickbooks accounting system that will be used after our departure, and training Generous in its use. Plans were made and measurements were taken for new shelving to be built at the center.  It was interesting to watch our staff and others as Dave and Dave used power tools.  Most had never seen a power drill operated by batteries or a circular saw.  Generous, Karen, Lisa, Elizabeth, Diana and Barbara met with Mackline, one of the young ladies in the MukoHOPE program.  Mackline was recently accepted by Kabale University to study records management. She is our first student to pursue studies in a vocational program, and ACT will be assisting her in continuing her education. Mackline will report to the university tomorrow! We’re very excited about this!

Later in the morning, some of the ladies of the MEP program came to the center to meet with us and to discuss the new baskets and jewelry they’ve been working on. They’ve been working very hard to improve their craft and are turning out some beautiful things.  They demonstrated how they dyed the raffia used in the baskets, which is boiled with either natural herbs or artificial dyes, depending on the desired color.  We also passed out donated reading glasses to the ladies, who were very excited and appreciative, clapping, singing and dancing their thanks!  Karen gave us a Pathways update after accompanying Josiah to Mulore School to drop off some of the children in P6 and P7 who were going back to school early for remedial work and test preparation. Karen had the opportunity to meet with Norman, the Director of Mulore. Norman suggested we advise our children to have a plan and a back-up plan, even if they attend university. They need to prepare for a competitive environment with an education and a skill. The Mulore School has made some extraordinary progress with two new dormitories for both boys and girls and a facility in progress to raise pigs for food and profit.  Since we are returning to Mulore on Saturday to visit the 24 orphans who went back to school early the whole team will be able to see the new facilities.  With the purchase of DVD’s that are European format, we were able to use the television and play DVD’s in the afternoon.  It was quite a sight to see over 30 young children and many mothers watching Alvin and the Chipmunks.  The rest of the afternoon was spent beginning work on the new shelves, and continuing work on Quickbooks.  Karen conducted violin classes.

With our work for the day complete, we headed back to Kabale around 4:30, actually arriving back at the Jopfan in the daylight for the first time this trip.  We had time to relax before dinner, enjoying the sunshine and great conversation with our friend, Stephen Kamugisha.  We’re very thankful for another great day!

Monday, April 28^th: Greetings from Uganda Friends and Family!  What a successful day we’ve had!  We got a good night’s sleep last night and were rested and ready to go this morning.  Our mood was much improved with the establishment of a strong internet access at the inn using the computer taken over for the Empowerment Center.  This access will make it much easier to upload blogs on a daily basis and stay in touch with you folks back home and with our families.  After breakfast we loaded the suitcases full of gifts from the sponsors, tools, musical equipment and pillow case dresses for the hour-long drive out to the village.  The road was full of trucks packed full of furniture, matooke, and more people than you’d believe possible. Along the way we saw a tea plantation that had been in the process of being planted the last time ACT sent a team to Uganda. It was lush and flourishing….it’s fun to see progress.  Upon reaching the village we unloaded the suitcases and organized all the dresses and gifts for distribution, which will happen in a few days.  Dave and David worked on getting internet set up at the center, and were at least partially successful with 2g access easily attainable on the back porch, although there was no success obtaining internet access in the office.  The existing computers were made functional with the installation of a new battery and charger in one computer, and a charger in the second computer making it work for the first time in months.  The third computer has been deemed unfixable with a broken hard drive

The main focus of the day was our planning meeting, which was a full-day affair.  We opened with prayer and the exchanging of gifts between the staff and the team…shirts, photos, jewelry and bottle openers.  We then set to work reviewing the schedule for the next 2 weeks, day by day.  The music program was discussed.  We now have 13 violins in Uganda, with plans to bring more in the future along with a violas, cellos, and a string bass.  The plan is to work toward a group that will be playing together by September, and we will be looking to hire someone here in Uganda that will be able to work with the students.  Schedules were set for the distribution of the pillow case dresses and the gifts from the MukoHOPE sponsors.  We very much appreciate all of you who worked on these dresses and sent gifts to the children….thank you! Those of us on the team with orphans in the program are very excited at the prospect of visiting our children in their homes and meeting their guardians; this will happen sometime next week.  The MEP program was reviewed; this program now involves around 30 women in the village who are working hard and continuing to improve their skills.  They are introducing new types of baskets and adding vivid new colors to their repertoire.  They’re also making some beautiful beaded jewelry.  We look forward to introducing you to some of their work when we return!   Pictures were taken of the staff, the center and the garden in the back, which has grown substantially since we last visited!

Eventually we broke for lunch and walked down the hill to the Heritage Campground on the shore of beautiful Lake Bunyonyi.  We had a nice lunch and then were given a tour of the grounds and facilities.  They’ve offered us shelf space to showcase items produced by the MEP program, and we have an agreement to begin selling handcraft items in June 2014.  Upon returning to the village, Dave Viele made arrangements with a contractor to do work on the exterior of the center, completing the re-plastering of the two remaining exterior walls.  Upon a review of the center, it was obvious that the exterior of the building has incurred a substantial amount of water damage to the stucco on the east side due to the lack of gutters.  The stucco on the lower half of the wall will be removed and plastered.  To solve this problem permanently, gutters will be installed with work beginning in the morning. The work day ended with much-anticipated violin lessons. It was wonderful hearing the sounds of the violins sounding through the center, as Karen worked with Francis, Haward, Boaz and Benson, reviewing and preparing to move forward.  Tomorrow will be an early day, but we’re looking forward to it already!

 

 

Late Sunday Evening here in Uganda and we now have 3g+ internet at our hotel, which will now allow us to post every evening. We are all happy with the internet.  It is the small things in life that bring happiness to travelers!

Greetings from Uganda!  Saturday morning it was time for us to pack up and set out for Kabale in southern Uganda.  Once again our luggage was piled high on our van, and off we went, picking up our friends Generous and Boaz along the way.  We crawled thru bumper to bumper traffic on our way out of Kampala, surrounded by a swirl of constant action, with traffic lanes mere suggestions. As we left Kampala we saw fields of papyrus, plantations of matooke, and taxi vans with names on the back like “Choose Jesus Today” and “Never Give Up”. Every now and then a random police checkpoint would stop us to check our license, and you could see pretty much anything for sale on the side of the road. We stopped at the Equator for lunch, shopping and pictures. With rain threatening, we made a stop for a tarp to cover the luggage, and it was a good thing we did!

The further south we drove, the worse the road became, with long stretches of road only half paved, and some places still under construction.  11 hours after leaving Kampala we finally reached Kabale, arriving well after dark at the Jopfan, where we’ll be for the next 2 weeks.  The staff welcomed us warmly and had dinner waiting for us, which was much appreciated.  We settled in for the night, and are very much looking forward to seeing our friends the next day at Muko!

Sunday we were off to an early start at 7:45 on a typically misty morning, making the winding 45 kilometer drive to the village. We soon broke through the mist as we climbed and were treated to the sight of the beautiful green hills and patchwork fields of Muko sub-county.  We were greeted so joyously and warmly by Josiah, Alexander, and a number of ACT volunteers, Francis, and Haward.  Karen, David and Elizabeth were overjoyed to see old friends again, and Diana, Lisa, Dave Molzahn and Barbara were quickly introduced to everyone and made to feel welcome. We enjoyed seeing the new building built behind the center where the potatoes grown through the HANDS program will be stored, and how the garden in back of the ACT center had grown.  We had a quick look at the new baskets being produced by the MEP program….beautiful!  Dave Molzahn was particularly thrilled to meet his sponsored orphan, Andrew, and his grandfather and uncle.

The plan for the day was to have each member of the team visit a different church in each of the seven parishes included in the Muko sub-county, accompanied by the ACT staff and volunteers.  Rashid ferried each group to their various churches, most of which had never been visited by a “muzungu” (white person”), and were not familiar with the ACT program.  Churches visited included different Catholic and Anglican churches up to an hour away from the center.  Those of us with orphans were sent to churches they attended and able to spend some time with them. And we definitely drew a crowd wherever we went! Each one of us had so many special stories to talk about…..Funny stories of bidding on donated produce (ask Karen about her chickens!), commiserating about the rough roads, sharing the awe we felt at the joyous worship, dancing and singing, and the beauty of the countryside. It was a very, very long day, but so worth it to have made some giant steps in the process of developing relationships with the people of the area.

Our drive back to Kabale, accompanied by our new chickens (!), was followed by dinner at 7:45, devotionals and planning for the next day. We’re so thankful for the opportunities we were given today, and look forward to what God has in store for us tomorrow!

 

Greetings from Uganda! You may notice that you're receiving two updates today, Thursday's and Friday's.  If you are reading this blog you may already know we had technical difficulties with our other blog, so we created a new one and appear to be good to go now! We hope to upload updates daily basis, dependent on internet availability.

Our Friday morning began bright and EARLY, with breakfast at 6:00 am. By 6:30 we were on our way to the weekly market.  Our mission, to purchase baskets, jewelry, and stuffed animals that aren't available in the village of Muko.  When we reach Muko we will pick up baskets and jewelry made by the ladies of the village. All these beautiful handicrafts will be brought back to the United States in the empty luggage space previously occupied by tools and sponsor gifts, and sold in our Midland store, Uniquely Uganda, and various craft shows around the state.  All profits generated by the MEP program go right back into ACT to benefit the people of Muko. Dodging the early morning traffic crowding the dusty streets of Kampala, we reached the market as vendors were still setting up.  Blankets and tarps covered the packed dirt, and canopies sheltered us from the bright sun, as we wandered among piles and piles of baskets, beaded jewelry, bright fabrics, wooden carvings and items made of horn, making our selections and bargaining for the best prices. After hauling our treasures back to the Adonai House, Elizabeth, Diana, Karen, Lisa and Barbara stayed at the inn working on various things (including the blog), while Dave and David battled the boda bodas and traffic of Kampala in search of a printer and circular saw. More importantly they concluded negotiations for the expansion of solar power capability at the ACT center in Muko. A side note.....the population of greater Kampala triples during the day from 1.2 million to 3.6 million, so you can just imagine the congestion and chaos!

Later in the afternoon, the group reviewed the plans for the upcoming days, and Diana was blessed with a very special visitor, her brother's adopted daughter, Suzan and her son Malcolm, who live here in Kampala. Dinner was followed with some relaxation while Karen and Elizabeth rehearsed for the ecumenical service in Muko next week.  A little bit of rain, a lot of sunshine, and even more smiles and laughter.....all in all a very good day.  Tomorrow we'll be on the road by 9:00 in the morning (Ugandan time) for our 8 hour van ride to Kabale. The journey continues!

Greetings from Uganda dear Family and Friends!  It’s a beautiful, warm and sunny day and we all feel so blessed to be here in Kampala, ready to serve and work alongside our friends as God leads us. Our team consists of Dave Molzahn, Elizabeth Neithamer, and Lisa Corso from Midland, Barbara Corso from Fort Collins, CO, and Diana Stubig, and David and Karen Viele from Holt, MI.  Karen Glenn had planned to join our team, but at the last minute found she was unable to make the trip.  Our journey began 2 days ago, as the Midland component of the team left Midland on the Memorial Presbyterian church van, picking up the rest of the team on the way to the Detroit airport. We hauled with us a full complement of 2 or 3 suitcases apiece filled with music and stands for our growing music program, tools to use at the ACT Center, and gifts for our MukoHOPE orphans from their sponsors.  We also each hand-carried a violin to be used by our young violinists.  Last year they were so excited to begin playing the violin, and we look forward to continue working with them!  We left Detroit Tuesday evening, flying overnight to Amsterdam, then continuing on to Entebbe, Uganda, with a brief stop in Kigali, Rwanda.  Wonder of wonders, all our flights were on time and all of our luggage managed to make the trip in one piece! It was wonderful to be greeted by Generous Turinawe and her family, making us feel like we’d come home J. With the luggage piled high on top of our van, and violins on our laps, off we went to the Adonai House, our home in Kampala for the next couple of days.  After 23 hours total travel time it was a welcome relief to arrive in Uganda, and we’re very grateful for safe travel.

Thursday began with breakfast and planning out on the veranda, enjoying the beautiful morning. Our driver for this trip will be Rashid Kibuuka. We’ll miss our friend Christopher, but look forward to getting to know our new friend, Rashid! We’re still adjusting to the time difference. FYI, Uganda is 7 hours AHEAD of Eastern Standard Time.  After breakfast we set off with our to-do list, stopping first to exchange dollars for schillings, which took some time to complete the negotiations.  The bank started out at 1:2318 and we ended up at 1:2495.  Then on to purchase minutes for our Ugandan cell phones and the new computer being delivered to the office.  Impressions of Kampala……red volcanic dust everywhere, boda bodas (motorcycle taxis) zooming in and out of traffic with total disregard for their own safety (or anyone else’s!), busy and constant activity at all hours of the day and night, cars driving on the left (British-style) instead of the right, bright colors, exotic plants, and guards at every place of business.  After taking care of house-keeping details, we were treated to a delicious lunch of chicken, rice, beans, carrots, bananas, etc. at Generous’s house. After lunch, Karen, Diana and Generous visited Dr. Maria Park Kim, who runs a two year university level music school and a newly developed youth orchestra. We took a tour and met a volunteer cello teacher who attended a Middle School in Kalamazoo, Michigan and studied with one of our Marshall Music clients! Dr. Kim will be presenting a concert on May 11^th, but unfortunately, we will still be in Kabale. Afterwards, videos both educational and entertaining were purchased for use at the ACT center. After dinner, Generous brought Frederick over to meet with Dave and discuss the solar power at the Empowerment Centre. A delicious dinner of Nile perch at the Adonai House was the perfect ending to the day.

During our 3 weeks in Uganda we will continue with the music program, visit and work with the orphans, visit schools in the area, develop relationships and work on different pathways the children may follow in the future.  We will evaluate and work to develop the handicraft (MEP) program.  We will visit and assess various agriculture sites, and also visit the Ikamiro clinic, continuing to develop plans for further growth.  Improvements will be made at the ACT center, building shelves, and improving security, lighting and Internet capability. We know that that God will be with us every step of the way, and we ask for your prayers as we step forward in faith.