Saturday, May 10, 2014:  Greetings from Uganda!  Today, our last full day at the center, is a bittersweet day for us here in Muko.   We rejoice and give thanks for all the love and support we’ve received, both from friends and family back home and from our Ugandan friends here, and for all we’ve accomplished over the last couple of weeks They say friends are the family you choose for yourself…..we have a large family indeed here in Uganda!  It was a typically foggy day as we left Kabale, but as usual, we were greeted by smiles and music as we arrived in Muko.  The first order of the day was to officially hire and welcome Haward as our new music teacher, who will continue working with our violin students after we leave.  He’s so talented, and Karen is looking forward to having the music program continue on a more regular basis in her absence.  We were very fortunate to be introduced to Innocent Murunguzi this morning.  Innocent is from Muko and was a beneficiary of Compassion Intl, which has made all the difference in his life.  He now works in Colorado.  How fortunate to meet him here!  We look forward to interacting more with him in the future.  Lisa, Barbara and Diana handed out the rest of the pillowcase dresses to girls from the sub-county, while Karen conducted music lessons and Elizabeth continued working on the computer, entering information on the orphans and the violin inventory.  Diana and Generous also continued training on Quickbooks, and Dave worked on shelving.

We all then migrated down to the shores of Lake Bunyonyi for a wonderful and enthusiastic lunch with our ACT team, staff, volunteers, and violin students.  It’s been an amazing experience for all of us.  Looking around the table we all saw the true expression of agape……Americans and Ugandans sitting next to each other, expressing our love and appreciation for each other, looking forward to the next time we’ll be blessed to see each other again.  We’re ready to head home, but we’re not ready to say goodbye……

We’ll be heading back to Kabale soon, then Kampala on Monday.  We’re handing over the computer to the ACT Uganda staff today, so this will be our last blog until we reach Kampala.  Please pray for safe travel to Kampala on Monday, and for our flight back to the United States Tuesday night.  Signing off now from Muko…..

 

Friday, May 09, 2014:  Greetings from Uganda!  Our plan was for the group to split up, going separate ways and covering more ground.  Lisa, David, Karen and Diana headed out to Muko for the annual general meeting, from which Baker would return with Moses and Tito.  He then picked up Dave, Elizabeth, and Barbara for a trip out to Lake Bunyonyi to visit various plots associated with the Center for Rural Development.  We were supposed to see Dr. Wilson again, but he was unable to join us.  Escorted by the “mobilizer” from the farmers’ cooperative we were visiting, we crossed the lake in a wooden boat, which seemed to serve as a water bus since we stopped a couple of times to pick up people as we went.  We were shown around plots at Murandi and Kashambya demonstrating efforts in preventing soil erosion, reversing soil exhaustion and evaluating the effectiveness of different forms of fertilization, etc.  Everywhere we went we were greeted with singing and dancing which we very much appreciated. After the tours we answered questions about ACT and spoke with the farmers.  We gathered some good information, but it wasn’t exactly what we expected. After a good lunch overlooking the lake we headed back to the hotel.

Meanwhile, out at the center the first annual meeting of ACT Uganda was held.   The meeting was scheduled to start at 9:00 it started at 10:30 with about 25 people and by 11; 30 there were about 80 attendees.  This is what Generous termed Uganda time.  The meeting was being held in the front yard of the center until the rain started.  If you can imagine 80+ persons sitting on a porch measuring 20x25 you have an idea of how crowded we were.  The meeting lasted 3 hours, with numerous accolades given to ACT USA for our support of Uganda and the orphans in particular.  At the end of the meeting the group was allowed to ask questions of us. One guardian stated that when her son receives letters from his sponsors she cannot read them, and she cannot read his report cards.  Her wish is that ACT conduct adult education classes, as she said she will be our first student.  Others continued to thank us and Generous, Josiah and Alexander for what they are doing for the community. 

Meanwhile, the contractor continued to work on the Empowerment Center, the ceiling in Michelle’s room will be finished tomorrow, and construction of the shower addition will begin on Monday.  We have established the best internet access possible by creating an outside location for the phone card by using a 16 foot cable.  With the cable staff can now sit inside the training room and have access to a strong 2g signal.  Before we leave we hope to establish when the 2g tower will be converted to 3g which would allow skyping from the USA.

Tomorrow is our last scheduled day in the village as we will wrap up our efforts and say goodbye to the villagers.

Thursday, May 08, 2014:  Greetings from Uganda!  On our way out of Kabale we stopped near our hotel to say good morning to a large colony of large fruit bats, hanging upside down in clusters (for warmth) in the trees near the Jopfan; just not something you see every day back home.  After purchasing some replacement drill bits and filling up with petrol we were on our way.  As usual, we were greeted by the sound of music upon our arrival.  The boys’ enthusiasm is contagious and we look forward to their music every day.  Karen got to work on violin lessons, Dave Molzahn turned his attention to shelving, and Elizabeth settled in with the computer, transcribing orphan interviews and consolidating information.  David, Diana, Lisa and Barbara immediately left for the Ikamiro clinic.  They were greeted by Rev. Julius and served a snack.  They then toured the clinic and the nurse’s clinic, and also delivered a baby scale and resuscitator donated by Holt Presbyterian of Holt, MI.  It was quite sight watching grown men playing with the weights and lever while Lisa was trying to set the scale to zero.  Lisa stayed behind to talk with the nurse to discuss their needs and issues.  She then rejoined the rest of the group who were discussing construction on the proposed nurses’ quarters.  The contractors were informed of what improvements were wanted.  Afterwards everyone walked to a nearby farm to observe the cultivation of mushrooms, from spores to finished product.  They then returned to Rev. Julius’s for lunch before returning to the center.

Back at the center, we worked right through lunch….time is short now and there’s still much to finish before we leave.  All afternoon there was bustling activity in every room!  The shelves are awesome, and many hands are helping get them built quickly.  After returning from the clinic, Diana and Dave set to work training Generous on the Quickbooks accounting program which will be used after we leave.  Barbara worked on training Leticia on Word so that she can help out around the office here at the center, and Karen continued with music lessons.  We have a group of four excellent players and two more that are showing great promise. A few more students are interested in playing and will probably study with our appointed teacher over the summer. Stay tuned for more on this soon! Out back in the garden, Tito, Benson and our driver, Baker, worked on pulling thousands of cabbage seedlings to be transplanted to a couple of different plots, including some land donated by Josiah.  The pile of seedlings strapped to the back of Josiah’s motorcycle for transport to the growing field was quite impressive!  Lisa worked with Alexander inventorying more baskets and packing them into suitcases for transport back to the States.  The suitcases were then strapped to the top of the van to be stored at the Jopfan until we leave for Kampala on Monday.  We returned to the Jopfan for our usual dinner and fellowship, feeling very blessed to be here and very aware of how little time we have left.

Wednesday, May 07, 2014:  Greetings from Uganda!  We were very happy this morning to greet our new driver, Baker!  Rashid is on his way to Kampala to receive medical treatment and we’ll all be praying for him.  We always have interesting drives to and from Muko.  For instance, yesterday we fielded questions from our Ugandan friends about whether or not a member of our team was still fertile, do we have a say in our children’s marriage decisions, and wildly varying guesses about our ages!  This morning we were excited to finally get a close-up view of the crested crane family that lives near the Jopfan.  They are truly magnificent birds!  On our way out of Kabale we stopped at the supermarket to pick up the makings for lunch, peanut butter and jelly/honey sandwiches and Pringles, very popular with the boys and staff at the center.  As often happens, the boys were already in the training room making some quite beautiful music on violin and guitar, always a great start to the day.  We quickly got to work on different projects.  The boys cleared out the room that will be Michelle’s in the Fall and construction will begin soon installing a ceiling.  Work continued on constructing shelves and clearing out the secure room, burning several years of accumulated rubbish, and it’s amazing how much more organized things are already looking.  Unfortunately, the shelving work came to a halt after the one and only drill bit broke while pre drilling holes for installing the shelving.  In another mishap, the housing for the circular saw was broken, fortunately Dave V was able to work on the saw and make it workable.  We will attempt to locate another drill bit in the morning so we can wrap up the construction of the shelving.  Teaching the Ugandans how to use power tools is a work in progress is all we can say as no one in the village as ever seen a power tool.  Violin lessons were conducted, computer work done, and records organized.

Karen and Elizabeth prepared sandwiches for lunch, and were amazed at how much food these boys could put away; every crumb, both sandwich and Pringle, was devoured.  After lunch Karen, David and Elizabeth, and our older violin students visited Muko High School.  They met with Headmaster Medard, who gave us a tour of the school and grounds, and investigated internet strength available from the school.  Meanwhile, Lisa had a delightful lunch, discussion and tour with Father John, the priest at Uganda Martyrs (the sister church to Blessed Sacrament in Midland).  Leaving the center around 5:00, we decided to take a little detour and headed away from Kabale, winding up the mountains toward Rwanda and into the Echuya Central Forest Preserve.  It’s so beautiful up there, amazing views of Lake Bunyonyi, forests untouched by logging, vast stands of bamboo, and baboons.  Yes, baboons!  Sitting by the side of the road, several bold baboons eyed us, hoping for an ear of corn or a banana.  They were probably disappointed as we only had ground cherries with us but we got some pretty great pictures!  From an overlook we were treated to a great view of Mt. Muhubura, a volcano on the border of Rwanda and Uganda.  From the overlook we were able to see Rwanda, Uganda the Republic of the Congo.  It was a short side trip, but we really enjoyed it.  We ended the day with quality time together at the White Horse Inn, debriefing, relaxing and enjoying each other’s company.  Here is a picture of one of the adult baboons outside our van window waiting to be fed.

Monday, May 5, 2014:  Greetings from Uganda!  Arriving at the ACT center, Karen and Diana began an inventory of all the music equipment, assigning each student a specific instrument and getting a better idea of exactly what we have and what we need.  Dave, David, Barbara, Generous, Justus, Stephen and the rest of the HANDS agricultural team would be at the cent in a meeting all day.  Josiah and Lisa set off on foot to visit Parkarasio, the MukoHOPE orphan she sponsors, in his home.  Being part of a team like this is a wonderful opportunity to spend time with our sponsored children and meet their guardians!  Dave Molzahn has been blessed to spend quite a bit of time this trip with his orphan, Andrew, and was able to visit him in his home today also.  Dave and Karen sponsor 2 orphans, but have visited their homes on past trips, so they stayed at the center for the HANDS meeting and music lessons.  Elizabeth also sponsors 2 orphans, and for her it became an all-day affair.  She and Alexander began by traveling across Lake Bunyonyi in a dugout wooden canoe with carved wooden paddles and stumps for seats, quite a different experience. The climb up an endless hill to Eudia’s home gave her a whole new appreciation for the walking these folks do every day!  After another trip in a dugout canoe, she climbed another endless hill to visit Moses, where she was gifted with Irish potatoes and avocados.  It was so rewarding for all of us to be able to spend this kind of time with our kids!

Back at the center, Diana and Lisa sorted, inventoried and packed baskets and other handcrafts from the MEP program to be taken with us back the United States. So many beautiful things coming back with us! Karen was happy to be able to conduct music lessons all day. She is leading classes at 2 different levels now, both beginning students and those who began last year and are more advanced. They’re excited to be studying and eager to learn more.  Today Karen was excited to be able to get 4 African songs down on paper, transcribing them as the students played.  Meanwhile, there was a marathon HANDS meeting going on.  

The HANDS meeting went on for the full day with discussion around the planting last season, the selection of plots to rent, and the realization that we need to contract for multiple years to build up the soil to help ensure a successful commercial farming venture.  We were educated on the various planting seasons of which there appear to be three, four or five depending on the arrival of the rains.  There was much discussion around crop rotation, which we could do with multiple year leases, and the location of the land to minimize transportation costs, as well as deciding on which type of potato should be planted on which plot and according to what season the planting is in.         

Upon returning to Jopfan we realized the charging cable for the laptop had neglected to pack itself for the ride back, bringing all computer activities to an abrupt and premature end! Frustrated as we were, we realize how fortunate we are to have as much internet access as we do.

 

 

 

Tuesday, May 06, 2014:  Well, today didn’t exactly start off as planned, and that just may be the understatement of the trip!  Our driver, Rashid, had been feeling unwell for the past several days, but had bravely carried on, getting us where we needed to go and taking good care of us as he has the past 2 weeks.  However this morning he woke up feeling much worse, to the point of being unable to even leave his bed.  Our friend Justus came to the rescue, finding a van and driver who could get us to Muko today and stay with us for the day.  We communicated with Rashid’s employer, Chipper Adams, who quickly came up with a plan B.  Within the hour an ambulance was dispatched from Kampala bringing a nurse and a new driver.  The ambulance will return to Kampala with Rashid, where he will receive medical attention.  Please keep him in your prayers…..

Arriving at the village a little later than we’d planned, the van quickly departed with the HANDS team, who would be spending the day visiting plots and doing research.  Lessons were begun with the violin students, and Dave, Alexander and Lisa began building shelves for the secure storage room at the center.  This will help keep things much more organized, and will be used to store the violins and music equipment. They quickly took shape, are nice and sturdy, and look wonderful! Generous and Elizabeth settled down to work on the computers, and Josiah, Karen and Diana left to visit Precious, the MukoHOPE orphan Diana and her husband have just agreed to sponsor.  We’re all very excited for them, and this means Precious will be able to start school with the rest of the students in a couple of weeks!  After returning, Karen and Diana prepared an “American lunch” of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fruit and potato chips (or crisps as they would say here) for everyone.  It was much appreciated and devoured quickly.

After lunch the music and shelf-building continued, Elizabeth went back to work on the computer, and Lisa and Diana worked on cleaning out the storage room.  Arriving back at the Jopfan four of the team members went down the hill to town for a walk.  Walking back along the golf course (use the term very liberally) we were able to photograph the elusive crested crane, which is the national bird of Uganda.  A photo is attached to this blog.

Barbara and Dave M spent the day touring around with the HANDS team. They visited four of the sites used for the first potato crop, two sites where HOPE seeds were planted, one site where potatoes were being grown using organic fertilizer and the NARO field research station. It was a long day packed into a vehicle packed with from 12 to 14 people.

At 7:45 pm Pro Ride arrived with an ambulance from Kampala to pick up our driver Rashid and deliver our new driver Baker. So we are all set for the rest of the trip.

 

 

 

Real quick tonight, the computer forgot to remind David V to bring its power cord to the hotel, as it was almost out of power.  Look for a double-blog tomorrow!  Attention MukoHOPE team, if you are reading this! Precious Arinda is sponsored by our team member and her husband, Diana and Roger Stubig! Rejoice!

Sunday, May 04, 2014:  Today was a special Sunday!  We started off with our usual drive to Muko.  It’s an hour each way, but it’s so beautiful we have yet to get tired of it.  Arriving at the ACT center we loaded up the violins and our older students, Henry, Boaz, Haward and Benson, then continued on to the Ikamiro Church of God. This church is located near our clinic overlooking Lake Bunyonyi.  We were greeted by Rev. Julius with tea, bananas and bread at his home.  The whole team was present for the beginning of the service, 3 very special baptisms.  The first was Josiah’s daughter, Angel.  Karen was honored to be asked to be god-parent for Angel.  Then Herbert’s son, Crispus was baptized, with Elizabeth and David standing as god-parents. David also served as god-parent for Dorcas, the daughter of one of our volunteers.  Following the baptisms, the team was recognized and introduced to the congregation, after which everyone but David, Karen and Elizabeth left to attend 3 other churches, all in the Muko area.  We all enjoyed our time with these often very different churches, which was an excellent lesson about how although we are all very different, we all worship the same God.  Some of the services included a lot of joyful and enthusiastic singing and dancing, others not as much.  Often people will bring produce or other items as an offering in lieu of money; these items are auctioned off at the end of the service.  Dave, Karen and Elizabeth had fun bidding against each other, to the delight of the congregation, and brought home beans, eggplant, passion fruit, and other produce, as did other members of our team.  Karen was asked to give the sermon at the church she attended and gave a beautiful message, using hymns and singing by Elizabeth to illustrate.  Lisa and Barbara were excited to attend Uganda Martyrs Catholic Church, sister church to Blessed Sacrament back in Midland.  Diana got to witness church politics in action, as church wardens were elected.  Some of us received lunch at the church after the service, others were served lunch back at the center, but eventually we were all fed.

Mid-afternoon it was time for church…..again!  ACT Uganda hosted an ecumenical service in what served as a soccer field a couple of days ago, under tents arranged facing each other across the grass.  Some people, including the ACT team and various ministers sat under the tents, others crowded the grass and a small hill.  It was a very different service from anything we’d experienced back home, part worship, part entertainment (dancing and singing), and part dance party!  Prayers were offered, and Karen and Elizabeth offered “special music”, “I Danced in the Morning”, with Karen playing the violin and Elizabeth singing.  Each minister spoke for a short time, with Generous concluding with reflections on the fact that we are all part of the body of Christ.  In fact the theme of the day was “unity in diversity”, and the whole day was a beautiful illustration of that.  God truly blessed us today!

The day ended with dinner out at the White Horse Inn, which is just a short walk away from the Jopfan. Tomorrow is the beginning of our last full week here in Kabale and Muko.  Time is flying!

Friday, May 2, 2014:  We’re almost halfway through our trip and are happy with all the work that is being accomplished here in Muko.  We’re getting used to sleeping under mosquito netting each night, and are happy to know that there is less malaria here in the Kabale area than in the rest of the country, according to Father John.  Of course since a low rate is still 3 cases a week.  On our way out of Kabale today we made a stop at the lumber yard to pay for materials for construction of shelving, Dave then returned later in the day to purchase the gutters  for the ACT center, and arrange for the materials preparation and delivery.  It wouldn’t have taken as long as it did, but it was like negotiating with the Teamsters!  Eventually we were on our way, spending our time loading pictures onto the laptop and chatting about the upcoming day.  Arriving at the center we quickly set up and began receiving our MukoHOPE children (ages 13 years old and up).  As with the younger children the day before, each child was greeted, presented with a gift from their sponsor, photographed, had their eyes tested, height and shoe size recorded, and was then interviewed.  We hope that all the information gathered will help their American sponsors to get to know their orphan better! All the gifts and letters were much appreciated.  Elizabeth was thrilled to be able to spend time with both of her orphans today, Moses and Eudia, and the Vieles were overjoyed to see their Grace.   Karen had a chance to talk to John Bosco, our orphan who would like to come study in the United States.  The whole process isn’t an easy one, but we still have hope! 

 Afterwards, Karen and Diana again treated the girls to mini-manicures with polish and materials donated by Tina Regan of Serenity Hair and Nail Salon in Holt, MI.  There were many giggles and proud smiles as the girls showed off their pink nails.  The boys meanwhile headed out to a nearby field for another fast-paced and enthusiastic game of barefoot football (soccer) with their new balls. Elizabeth watched from a nearby hill, surrounded by giggling children, and there were shout of muzungu! (white person) every time Dave or David touched the ball! A hearty lunch of matooke, yams, g-nuts, rice and cabbage was served to the children, staff and volunteers, and then the team sat down for a talk with the children.  As with the group yesterday, Karen, assisted by Josiah, led a discussion on the importance of education, hygiene, and how men and women should treat each other, among other things.  We then left for Kabale, in a van packed with sixteen people, whom we dropped off along the way.  After dinner and devotionals, Karen and Elizabeth rehearsed for the weekend’s music and then we all headed to bed.

 

 

 

Saturday, May 03, 2014:  Upon arriving at the ACT center we were once again greeted by the sound of violins on the back porch.   We quickly loaded the sponsor gifts to take with us for our visit to Murole Primary School.  Some of our ACT children are at the school right now taking some extra classes while the rest of the students are on break.  We were met at Murole by Norman, the school’s Director, who talked to us for awhile, tell us of how hard the students are working, speaking of how grateful they are, and how committed they are to cooperating with ACT. We currently have 71 of our 100 orphans here, so this is an important thing for us.  He then gave us a tour of the new buildings that have been completed since our last visit.  Their progress is encouraging!  We were treated to a wonderful assembly with the 40+ students who were present at the school today (there are almost 500 enrolled).  There was singing, testimony and dancing, Karen spoke, and played hymns on the violin to illustrate her message, accompanied by Elizabeth in song.  Afterwards, the students were dismissed, with the exception of the ACT children.  They stayed with us to receive the gifts from their sponsors, be interviewed, etc.  We were served yet another wonderful lunch, and were then treated to traditional dancing by the students. Then it was time to head back to distribute the pillow case dresses which had been made

Waiting for us back at the center was a crowd of about 200 people, which eventually swelled to at least 500 people.  Seeing as we only had about 255 dresses to hand out, this made things interesting!  After organizing the dresses by size we began bringing the girls in in groups and matching them up with dresses. Things outside quickly got out of hand unfortunately, with far more people wanting dresses than we have available. The original plan had been for each of the 7 parishes to choose a certain number of girls to receive dresses, and the plan was not followed.  Generous halted the dress distribution and directed the people to figure it out and return the following Saturday so we could finish handing out the dresses.  Karen conducted violin lessons while David conducted business in the village, and then we headed back to Muko.  Tomorrow will be a full day, with multiple church services being attended and with the ecumenical service being held in the afternoon.  We feel very blessed, and continue to ask for your prayers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was last Sunday, when after church, all of the children waited for me outside.  They surrounded me, with hopes we would be able to touch each other.  Another 'humbling' moment! === Diana

 

Here I am with my new buddies, watching a fast and furious game of football (that would be soccer for you folks back home!).  We love interacting and having fun with the children here in Muko!  === Elizabeth

Thursday, May 01, 2014:  Greetings from Uganda!  It was another early morning today, up before dawn and on the road by 7:00.  But we were all very excited to be heading to Muko because today we spent the day with the younger children (ages 5 to 12 years) from the MukoHOPE program!  When we arrived in the village there was already a hum of activity. Violins were playing in the back, and construction was underway.  During the day electrical work was completed on solar panels and to add more lighting to the center, which will be much appreciated. Another crew was hard at work plastering over the brick and finishing the exterior of the center.  Dave V continued to work on the attempting to improve the internet activity working with the electricians to install the antenna extenders to the top of the roof.  Unfortunately the attempt failed to obtain a strong signal, nothing has worked to obtain a strong 2g signal for an extended period.  What is frustrating is that if you move less than two hundred yards closer to the lake, there is a strong 3g signal.  We believe it is the steel of the roofs around our center including the new potato storage building that hinder our ability for a strong signal.  Children were already arriving with their guardians, so we quickly got to work organizing the gifts from the sponsors and getting ready to greet them.  As each orphan came in, they were greeted by Karen and one of the other adults and photographed with the gift from their sponsors. We then tested their vision (all seem to have great vision!), and measured their height and their shoe size.  We hope this will be helpful to the sponsors in the future when shopping for their orphan.  Each child then opened their gift, tried on clothing if that was part of the gift, and interviewed with questions such as “What is your favorite color?”, “Who else lives with you in your home?”, and “What do you want to do when you grow up?”.  For the most part the clothing that was sent was the correct size.  The most popular item may have been the many soccer balls that were included.  Some of the older boys stayed busy pumping up the balls and the children began playing with them as soon as they could. The smiles and happiness were priceless! Thank you so much to all the sponsors who continue to make such a difference in the lives of these children!

After all the gifts were distributed, interviews finished, and pictures taken, the boys and girls went their separate ways for a while.  The boys took some of their new soccer balls (or what they call “footballs”), and walked over to a village field for a rowdy and happy game of “football”.  Dave Mozahn and Josiah joined in for a game very different from what you would usually see in the United States!  A hill in the middle of the pitch? No problem! No soccer cleats or shin guards? No problem!  There are some soccer coaches we know back home who would’ve been pretty impressed with some of the skills we saw out there this afternoon…. Meanwhile, back at the ACT center the girls were treated to mini-manicures by Karen and Diana with polish and supplies donated by Tina Regan, the owner of Serenity Hair and Nails in Holt, MI. The girls really enjoyed themselves, showing off their pretty pink nails with big smiles and happy faces! After an hour or so we all came back together to have a talk with the children.  With Josiah’s help, Karen led a discussion about standing up for yourself, being assertive, and encouraging cleanliness, among other topics.  After this we all headed back to the field for some fun and games! Some played more football (soccer), and some tried their hand at baseball and Duck, Duck, Goose. But the most popular activity may have been playing catch with water soaked nerf balls of all shapes and sizes!  Every time a catch showered someone with water there were smiles and laughter.  Even some of the women from the village joined in, and they were pretty good at jump rope too!  What a great way to spend a sunny afternoon.  The last thing we did with the children was helping them write letters and draw pictures for their sponsors.  Then it was time to say good bye.

After the children left, Karen worked with some of her violin students. The students who returned this week seemed to play through the last year, using the knowledge from last May to play by ear. So it was back to the beginning, with emphasis on music reading. Every day one student adds to our group so we currently have six with one waiting to start. Henry Arimpa, Boaz Twikirize, Frances Girukwayo, Haward Biryomuriwe, Isobel Akanduhura, and a young man from Muko High School named Benson are in the “advanced” class. A young man named Deacons came in today and will get started on Saturday. There is much to do, not only to teach new techniques, but to straighten out misconceptions occurring during the past year with no teacher.          Meanwhile, a few of us made a few choices from among the beautiful baskets made by the women of the MEP handicraft program. Then it was time to head back to Kabale.  On the way home we made a stop at the market to shop for food to feed the older orphans (13 years and up) and their guardians who would be arriving at the ACT center in the morning.  Tomorrow will be another busy and wonderful day!

P.S.  there will be pictures in a separate blog tonight, we are doing pictures as a separate blog