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.