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!