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.