Monday, September 29, 2014

Crazy as it seems, this is probably our last blog of the trip.  Although it feels like we haven’t been home in forever, it also feels as though the trip started just a few days ago.   We are currently in Kampala at the Adonai Guest House – where it all began almost three weeks ago.  As with the Jopfan Hotel in Kabale, we feel very welcomed here.  The chef prepares delicious meals, the grounds are very peaceful, and the weather is beautiful.  We have also met others here at the Adonai Guest House who are involved in various mission activities and we will be making contact with some of them to learn how we might improve some of our programs based on their experiences.

Our trip here yesterday took about 7 hours.  But we certainly didn’t waste that time.  In the “guys” van, there was a lot of continued discussion on the future strategy for the HANDS program.  Dave also spent time working on our budget and expenses.  In the “gals” van, we had a two-hour meeting regarding Pathways – a plan currently being developed to help our HOPE orphans make the transition from the education phase of their lives to higher education and employment. 

Today a group is in town accomplishing several things.  First on the list, Ginny, Sue and Generous are shopping for more material at the market to provide to our volunteers in Michigan who sew the beautiful handcrafts we sell at Uniquely Uganda and our art fairs.  John and Roger are visiting a store to do some research on farm equipment that is more practical and common in this area.  Toni and Karen will be paying a visit to the vocational school where Toni’s sponsored orphan (through a different program) is currently attending classes.  There are many, many vocational schools in Uganda and the more schools we learn about, the better prepared we will be as we develop our Pathways program. 

And …. drum roll please …. they (Generous, Ginny, Sue, John, Roger, Toni and Karen) will all be attending a meeting with the Vice President of Uganda!   What an honor, and how wonderful to be able to introduce him to ACT. 

Michelle is now in her second day in the village since we dropped her at the Empowerment Center and said good-bye after dinner on Saturday night.  She has already painted the one outside wall on the Center that we were unable to finish during our time there.  She is in Kabale today with Alexander and Josiah picking up some food and looking into some additional items that will help improve her phone and internet access.   She has many people in the village looking out for her:  Josiah and Alexander, who she will be working with each day; HANDS team members; Generous’ sister, Mabel, who lives two doors down; Father John is at Uganda Martyrs school across the lane from the Center and is available to Michelle whenever she needs him … the list goes on.  She also has contact information for a Peace Corp volunteer who we all met at the Jopfan Hotel in Kabale. He indicated there are a group of about eight U.S. volunteers who get together periodically – and will probably celebrate Thanksgiving as a group. 

Michelle will be starting a blog once she gets everything up and running and we will be sure to provide the address through church newsletters and e-blasts to those on our distribution list.  If you are not currently on our distribution list, but would like to be, please visit our website and on the “contact us” page you can let us know you would like to be added.

Below are a few more photos (that Dave was too tired to add on Saturday night J).  Be sure to hold Sunday, November 2 from 3:00 – 5:00 to attend our trip review presentation.  There will be many more pictures and stories that we hope will give you a better idea of all that has been accomplished during our trip.  The presentation will be held at Memorial Presbyterian Church in Midland.

Tonight we will be going out for dinner to Fang Fang – a local Asian restaurant as it is John’s birthday, and a favorite of those on the team who have been here before.  Tomorrow, Tuesday, will be spent organizing all of our 18 check-in suitcases, our carry-ons and getting ready for the drive to the airport, which can take quite some time due to traffic, even though it’s not far from here.   We appreciate all the prayers that we know have been coming our way, and would ask for continued prayers for our journey home! 

Thanks for following our adventures and mission! 

Thursday, September 25, 2014

We received a call early this morning from the Empowerment Center that Michelle and Bill had a fine night at the Center.  There was a small interruption due to a dog fight outside the center, but that was the highlight of the night.  It went so well, that Michelle is going to stay at the Center on her own this evening.

One van headed to Mbarara to pick up some additional needed items:  file cabinets; hardware; computer; sewing machine needles; “she-llac" (for coating the jewelry beads); and much more.  The shopping trip took most of the day, but was successful.

There were also two orphan home visits.  We stopped at the Murole School on the way to the Center and picked up Musa (age 11), Ginny and Bob Donald’s sponsored HOPE orphan, and Ronald (age 12) and Friday, (age 14) two brothers who are sponsored by Diane & Bill Busch.  We dropped part of the team off at the Center and then Ginny, Diane, Bill, Michelle, Josiah, Musa, Ronald and Friday headed higher into the mountains for the home visits.  We first went to Musa’s home.  It was a long, steep walk up a path to his house, but what a beautiful view once we arrived at the top.  And how gracious and welcoming were his guardians!   As is the Ugandan custom, we were treated to delicious fruits and breads.  They have dogs, a cow and a pig - and of course Michelle made friends with one of the dogs :)  After that visit, we headed back down the mountain, hopped in the van and headed further up the mountain to Ronald and Friday’s home.  Their smiles got bigger the closer we got to their house.  They saw a young family friend along the road and yelled out his nickname “yellow tiger” and had to tell us all about him.  It was great to see them so happy.  We arrived at their home and were greeted by their guardian, who is their 17 year old sister.  They’ve lost both of their parents to different diseases over the last few years and their sister has been caring for them since she was 15.   She is a wonderful, smiling young lady and was a very welcoming host.  We also met her extended family and neighbors who all pitched in to serve us another feast of cooked cabbage, Irish and sweet potatoes, rice, peanut sauce, a dish of greens and red beans, avocados and blood fruit.  It was delicious!  As with Musa’s home, it was again a picture-perfect view of Lake Bunyonyi (lake of many birds) and beautifully terraced mountains full of crops. 

While the orphan visits were happening, several of the other team members met for many hours to plan the launch of the HEAL program (Health is Elemental to All Life).  The first step is to form an advisory team and seven health promotion teams, one team for each parish.  Within the seven parishes there are a total of 72 villages.  We are hoping the launch of the first Health Promotion Team will occur early-mid 2015.  They will visit the villages in their parish to determine specific needs for their villagers.  Generous is excited to put into action the knowledge and skills she attained at the health conference she attended in Chile earlier this year - thanks to a grant from Melanie Nelson. 

More work was done on the bedroom - mosquito netting is now up, curtains and screens are installed.  Looking more and more like a warm and welcoming bedroom everyday!

“Mama Toni” was busy most of the afternoon making a genuine homemade Italian meal for all of us to enjoy at the Center.  The homemade sauce simmered on a propane stove out on the veranda, and the pasta, Bucatini, was cooked in a large pot over an open fire in the backyard of the Center.  Turning the heat down meant removing a log - not turning a knob.  We also had a superb green bean dish that Toni prepared, fresh avocados and breads as accompaniments to this great meal.   Nineteen people - our whole U.S. team, all the ACT staff here in Muko, our wonderful drivers and Father John from Uganda Martyrs, enjoyed the feast!   We ended with a meaningful devotion, cleaned up the dishes and headed back to the hotel - remember this is about a one-hour drive.  We arrived around 9:00 and all headed immediately to bed! 

And if you’re keeping track, our score for today is 150%.

Friday, September 26, 2014

Off to the village around 8:30.  When we arrived, one group, Toni, Roger, Ginny, Karen and Alexander immediately headed off for the Ikamiro Clinic - which exists in part because of a generous grant from St. John’s Episcopal Church.  This clinic is staffed by two nurses who live on sight.  They provide immunization and delivery of babies for the population of Ikamiro, about 20 deliveries each month.  The immunization services are mainly provided by home visits from the nurses.  On-sight they have medication for malaria, pain medication and all vaccines.  Mental health issues are referred to Kabale Town, with the closest hospital being Lugarama, about 45 minutes away.  Lisa Corso knitted several newborn baby hats and those were presented to the clinic by the team.  They were very happy to receive them.  They are also making very good use of the baby scale that was delivered by the US team that came last May.  Their immediate needs are another refrigerator for medicines requiring refrigeration and also a vehicle for transportation to hospitals.  They are also working to complete the staff housing.  Reverend Julias and his wife, Hope, entertained the team with a nice brunch.

When they returned, another group, Diane, Michelle, Bill, Toni, Ginny and Sue, headed to the Muko Parish Clinic.  We were treated to a very thorough tour of the clinic which includes a maternity ward, boarding of expectant mothers up to one month prior to due-date, in-patient facilities for men, women and children, an operating room for minor surgical procedures, nutrition counseling, family planning and all immunizations.  There are seven full time employees:  senior medical clinical officer; two nurses; a midwife, a laboratory assistant, a nursing assistant and one counselor.  In-patient care is free to all, only payment for medication is required.  After the tour, all but Ginny (who was needed back at the Center for MEP activities) stayed for a delicious lunch and discussion with Father John.  It was a fruitful and lively discussion which we all walked away from knowing more about each other’s culture and education systems.  This information will be very helpful as our two organizations (ACT and the Muko Parish) continue to work together to help improve the lives of the children in Muko subcounty.  As with all meetings here, when it was over we realized we’d spent four hours together!

The HANDS team (absent Michelle) assisted in the planting potatoes one of the leased parcels of land for the ACT commercial farming endeavor.  Seeing young men carrying 80 kg of seed potatoes on their shoulders down rough trails gave us new appreciation for the very hard work of subsistence farming in Uganda.  Roger and I first observed the process of laying out the rows, digging the trenches, sprinkling the starter fertilizer and kicking it in the soil, laying out the seed (9-12 inches apart) and covering the seed with the panga (large hoe).  Then the two muzungu helped with various parts of the planting process.  Roger developed a blister from operating a too short panga handle for three hours.  After bending over placing potatoes for three hours, John is not too sure he wants to see a potato for a few weeks.  As the planting was concluding a light rain began to fall, God’s gift of perfect timing of watering the seed to begin the growth of our potato crop.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

The Empowerment Center was full today!  Approximately 40 women and a few men were here for the day learning new dyeing techniques for the materials used to make the baskets.  Very interesting to see.  There were several large pots on wood fires behind the Center.  Each pot was used for a different dye.  Carrots were crushed and boiled to make a beautiful yellow dye; an herb (Nyarwehindura) was used to get a dark navy/black dye; the same herb was used with ash added to achieve a soft light blue/slate/green color.  We were also able to watch the women weaving – what an amazing skill.

There was also much time spent explaining and demonstrating improvements that could be made in jewelry making to make the products desirable for purchase in the United States.  Sue, Ginny, Toni and Alexander, with the help of Octavia, critiqued well over 300 necklaces one-by-one with the MEP women.  Additionally, we also time spent showing the men what type and quality of carving would sell well in the U.S.   We are anxious to begin carrying more wood figurines and walking sticks!

Believe it or not, there was more painting again today.  A strip was painted at the bottom of the columns and walls on the back veranda to match the green on the front of the building.  Then the walls above the tile in the new shower room were primed.

We also spent time getting the pillowcase dresses and shorts organized.  These items were donated by many kind individuals and they will be given to the village boys and girls this Saturday morning.  Luckily we have team members here who have experienced this event before, so it should go fairly smooth.  Each year is a little less chaotic.

The HANDS team stayed in Kabale today.  They shopped in the morning for a few needed supplies for the ACT Center, such as mosquito nets, towels and hooks to hang the nets. Along with Generous, Moses, Sharon and two local government officials they visited the Mushroom Training and Research Center just east of Kabale to increase their knowledge on the training, start-up costs and profitability of growing mushrooms.  We were warmly greeted and given a tour by Emmanuel, the manager of the center.  The discussion should “set the stage” for bringing more individuals in Muko sub-county into this profitable

new endeavor. They were also able to meet with the local chairman of Kabale District to inform him of ACT’s Mission.  He was pleased to learn about ACT and thanked us for all the efforts to improve the lives of the people of Uganda.

Bill and Michelle are staying in the village tonight to take advantage of all of the improvements that have been made to make the center a little more like home. 

Karen headed to Muko High School to hold her usual violin/viola practice.   All went well.

This day was very full – from 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. with dinner at 9:00 pm.  I tell you this so you understand why we think today we rated a 163.5%.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Another day full of orphan visits.  We first went to the Uganda Martyrs Primary school to visit seven of the Muko HOPE orphans who attend there.  We were also taken around to each of the classrooms – baby class (3 years old) through P7 (7^th grade equivalent).  We were warmly greeted in each class, sometimes with a song and other times with a recitation by the entire class welcoming us.   We each introduced ourselves and then in the older classes the students asked us questions ranging from what the weather is like in Michigan to what we each do as a profession, and even just asking us to repeat our names.  Each visit at the schools provides more and more insight on the culture of education in Uganda.

After our visit at Uganda Martyrs, we then headed to Muko High School where there are 17 Muko HOPE sponsored orphans.  We had fun, and sometimes sadness, learning how their lives and studies are progressing.  They all appreciated the hockey jerseys and t-shirts and we took a nice photo of all of the boys in their jerseys.

We left the high school around 3:30 pm so Karen stayed in order to have time before her 5:00 violin lesson to visit with the music teacher and see her classroom.  Or so she thought…Karen set out with the music teacher, Isabella, three students, Haward, Henry, and Isobel understanding that they were headed for the music classroom. Instead, they took her to a beautiful home in the middle of the Muko High School campus where the “grandmother” of the school lives. Her home was surrounded by plantings of beautiful blue hydrangeas, calla lilies, and a large palm tree. When Karen was introduced to the grandmother, named Dinah, pronounced “Deenah” she thought she was about to be served dinner! A wonderful time of fellowship ensued which included a call from Dinah’s daughter who lives in Kampala. Dinah insisted that Karen talk with her on the phone! Dinah amused everyone with stories of her life and a brief sermon including John 3:16. Karen will remember this for the rest of her life!

Music classes included an introduction to the viola. The students caught on quickly and it seems like they are on their way to a second section of the orchestra.

While part of the team was visiting the schools, the HANDS team made great progress with plans for the commercial potato endeavor, including finding a buyer/distributor, William Katonga who agreed to purchase potatoes from ACT for 1000 UGX above market price.  William has been a volunteer for ACT Uganda from the start of ACT and recently donated 20,000 UGX to fill the rutted road in front of the ACT Center prior to the Thanksgiving Event.  All we can say is: Webare Munonga William!  The HANDS Team also met to discuss soybeans, liquid manure production and organization of the potato storage area. Tomorrow the team will meet at the Mushroom Training and Resource Center east of Kabale to learn more about training fees and on Thursday we will observe and help with potato planting in the three parcels of land that have been leased by ACT this growing season.

Dave, following instructions that Dave Molzahn (who was on the last ACT Mission Team in May) found on-line, was able to provide 3G access to the Empowerment Center on his first attempt by rigging up an antenna attached to the new 20 foot water tower.  The antenna is comprised of a metal colander, an empty peanut butter jar and duct tape.  We're giving McGyver a run for his money!

Speaking of the water tower, there is now running water in the Center in the form of a sink and a shower – which has more water pressure that our hotel!

Ginny spent much of afternoon organizing and packing baskets to bring back to the U.S.  She also prepared lessons for tomorrow’s class with the MEP women and men.  She is expecting 40 women and up to 10 men carvers.   They will be learning new dyeing techniques and will also be working with the jewelry makers and carvers on quality control.

One of the vans returned to Kabale a little earlier than normal today and Norman, Ginny, Sue and John did some shopping to purchase a few more necessities for the Empowerment Center.  Shopping is a bit different here … and negotiating is expected.

We accomplished many extra things today, so rated ourselves a 175%.  The bar just keeps getting raised.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Today’s focus was much different than last week.  We traveled straight to Murole Primary School where 73 Muko HOPE Orphans are enrolled.  We set up an “interview room” and one by one the orphans were brought to have their photos taken, their shoe size determined, height measured and they were then interviewed.  The interviews, photos and information gathered will be provided to all orphan sponsors to help them understand more about their orphans.  Hockey jerseys that had been donated to the Muko HOPE program were passed out to all of the boys and bright colored t-shirts were handed out to all of the girls.  There were many smiles, some shyer than others, but it was a great day with much happiness.  We also had some dedicated time to talk with the owner/director of the school which gave us some more insight into the education system in this area.  As custom dictates, we were treated to a small breakfast when we arrived, and five hours later we dined again on a feast that was prepared for us.

Also while at Murole, a few of us were able to attend some of the classes to see what a typical day is like for the students.  There were different experiences ranging from happy, energetic teachers with lots of clapping and happiness to some teachers being rather strict with what might appear as overly rough discipline to most of us.

Later in the day, Karen and Ginny worked with the MUSIC students on string duets. Many students are participating but the hours were shortened by the school administration that we are allowed to practice. Haward is making very good progress as a teacher and several of the students are developing good tones and relaxed bow holds.

Sue and Generous were able to spend some one-on-one time together, which is rare. It was nice for them to be able to reconnect and it was a very fruitful discussion.  

Tomorrow we will be visiting Muko Martyrs Primary School where we have 7 Muko HOPE orphans and also Muko High School where we have 14 Muko HOPE Orphans.  We are looking forward to another enjoyable day with these students.

You didn’t hear from us yesterday because it was a day of rest!  However, our score for today is 120%!  Woo Hoo!   More tomorrow ….

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Unfortunately we lost internet at the hotel yesterday, so the Saturday blog is being posted Sunday morning.

The Thanksgiving event was full of activity!  It started around noon with lunch for many at the center.   We headed over to the tents around 2:00 for the actual program.  It was great to see all of the different ACT groups represented.  There were four tents; one for HOPE children guardians; one for HOPE orphans; one for all Volunteers; and one for the U.S. Team and the Guests of Honor (dignitaries and board members from Uganda).   There was much dancing and music – even some of the U.S. team members joined in at one point.  All of the ACT programs were able to give a demonstration during the program: agriculture, MEP women, and HOPE orphans.  Seven of Karen’s MUSIC violinists performed and did an amazing job.  They sounded great and also looked wonderful in the vests that were sewn for them by Diana Stubig, a member of the last ACT Mission Team.  Thanks Diana!  Both the U.S. and the Ugandan flags were raised and both national anthems sung – the U.S. team being the only nine singing our National Anthem.   And I say nine, not ten, because unfortunately Toni was not feeling very well so stayed back at the hotel all day.  Thank goodness for Cipro, for she is feeling fine today. 

The portion of the program that took up the majority of time was the auction.  This is a very common event in Ugandan culture … they even do it at Sunday church services.  There were many items donated - chickens and goats, spears and drums, clocks, coffee mugs, produce, calendars and more.  It was a very interesting activity to witness – and Dave and Karen got into the spirit and bid on and won the drum.   It will be an interesting carry-on on the flights home.

Many of the orphan sponsors on our team were able to meet and spend a bit of time with their orphans and the orphans’ guardians today!  That was definitely a highlight. 

By the time all activity wound down and we loaded up the vans, we didn’t get back to the hotel until 8:00 pm.  Another late dinner, great devotion by Michelle, then off to bed early.  We are all excited that there will be no need to set an alarm for tomorrow.  Looking forward to a day of rest!

Friday, September 19, 2014

Wow, wow, wow … as our driver, Christopher, would say!  We worked very hard today to get everything finished for the big Thanksgiving event tomorrow.   ALL rooms are painted, the outside is painted, everything has been scrubbed, the windows washed, banners put up, books organized, a stone path laid, choirs practiced, our five piece orchestra practiced, the baskets are beautifully displayed … so we’ve decided our score for the day is 155% - another record.  Josiah and Alexander were with our driver, Aine, in Kabale most of the day getting supplies for the event.  When they returned we saw a lot of items unloaded from the van, including seven live chickens which will be prepared for tomorrow’s feast.

We are expecting 100 to 200 people.  There will be tents, food, dancing, music, and more.  We are looking forward to it and will be sure to pass on how it all went.

During all of this activity we also saw a pig butchered in the field across from the Center.  We also saw a goat being skinned.  All getting ready for the Market – which is also happening tomorrow not far from our Thanksgiving celebration.  Because of all of this nature in our face, there are a few of us who are very close to becoming vegetarian.

Another great addition to the Center today was the new sewing machine.  Ginny and Sue worked on it for quite awhile and it is now set up in the training room and ready to go!

We also had fun dancing and playing with the children that like to stand in the yard of the center and watch all of the activities.  We will be very busy tomorrow and we are all ready for Sunday – a day of rest!

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Happy Anniversary Les and Jean!  Happy Graduation Bethany!

Toni, Ginny, Karen, Diane and Sue were treated to a wonderful visit at Lovinah’s house today.  Lovinah is our quality manager for MEP.  After about a ten-minute drive from the Empowerment Center high into the mountains we arrived at the top of a trail that was about a 10 minute steep downhill walking trail to Lovinah’s house.  We were met with singing and hugs.  Then we were led into her home where we were served the local drink, obushara, along with water and soda.  We then took a tour of the kitchen, which is a separate building where dinner is cooked in pots over an open fire on the ground.  We met several family members and neighbors, and were then treated to a wonderful meal of curried rice, cooked cabbage, boiled Irish potatoes, chips and chicken.  During the meal we talked a lot and they tried to help us learn their language.  There were about 12 people welcoming us and only one or two spoke any English.  Diane got her baby-fix holding four month old Joshua.  There were many hugs and smiles between everyone present.  At the end of the meal everyone, including us, introduced ourselves to the gathered group.  When it was time to leave, they sang us a farewell song as they followed us back up the hill to our waiting van.  Our visit lasted four hours!

While the women (except for Michelle L) were being treated to the wonderful visit, the other five team members were extremely busy back at the Center.  Almost all of the painting is done with just three walls left to finish tomorrow.  Go team!

The HANDS team met with 21 women who have an informal mushroom growing co-op.  These women live over a four kilometer area, but get together because they share a drying house.  They grow oyster mushrooms, but have to purchase the spores through the Mushroom Training and Research Center (MTRC).  There is a large demand and low supply of mushrooms in Uganda, so the women are interested in working with ACT to increase their knowledge through training.  To increase their profits, the women are especially interested in learning how to harvest and prepare spores so there is no need to purchase them from MTRC.  ACT’s HANDS team is going to work with the women to see if a program can be developed that will be beneficial to all.

Ginny spent more time sorting and taking inventory of the MEP women’s baskets.  It’s a very important, but time-consuming job.  We are so thankful that Ginny likes detail work!

Pathways is our new program for the children in ACT’s Muko HOPE program. The goal for this program is to provide what is essentially a “school” counselor for helping educate the kids for adult life and choice of vocation. We plan to offer life skills, spiritual support, understanding about situations like domestic violence and abuse, health education, and so on. We want to help these children learn to make the best choices and not be taken advantage of throughout their life.

ACT is currently experiencing our first young people to complete Senior High School and move on to other programs. One is enrolled in Kabale University and two in vocational programs. Our hope is to begin another program that would offer scholarships to exceptional students whether orphans or just destitute. We are just beginning to set this up and have more work to do. Part of our work is to best understand the existing school system and family dynamics. This takes lots of fruitful dialogue time with Josiah and Generous.

On a general note, we saw some beautiful crested cranes today, Uganda’s National Bird.  We were lucky enough to get fairly close to some because our wonderful driver, Christopher, keeps his eyes out for them and pulls over so we can take photos.

Speaking of Christopher, we are fortunate to have two very kind and capable drivers.  Christopher has been a driver for just about every ACT team that has come to Uganda and Aine (I-NAY) is new to ACT.  Aine is actually from the area where the Empowerment Center is located, so he is seeing some old friends.  In addition to being great drivers, they are also capable mechanics – thank goodness!

We bought hamburger buns last night and the Jopfan, our hotel, has graciously agreed to make us hamburgers and fries tonight using the buns we provided – otherwise they would be served on bread slices.  We order our dinner in the morning so the hotel can be sure they have the needed ingredients.  Past teams have found dinner can be delayed quite a bit if it’s ordered when we return at night.  And lately we haven’t been getting back to the hotel until 7:30 or 8:00 p.m.

Tonight’s score of accomplishments, as compared to our agenda and totally arbitrary scoring according to Dave, was 120% … good, but not as good as yesterday.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Many goals for today!  One van left with six people around 9:00 in order to get to the village in time for meetings.  The second crew didn’t leave until later because they were waiting for the stores to open.  If you remember from yesterday’s blog, we were unable to find the paint we needed.  So after a trip to the Kabale shopping district on their main street, which is a dirt road, all supplies were found … there ain’t no Lowe’s here.   The second crew arrived in the village around noon. 

A large green border, about three feet high, was painted along the bottom of all the walls that were painted yesterday.  It matches the lime green of the ACT logo, so it really brightens things up!  Many shelves were reinforced and moved to their new locations and loaded with baskets.  It rained quite hard in the afternoon, so we were unable to do any painting outside.  There were meetings in the other two rooms, so we were unable to prepare those for painting.  It’s going to be a busy two days to get the painting done in time for Saturday’s celebration!

Today was amazing. Ginny, Sue, Toni and Alexander met with the MEP women from 10am until mid afternoon. It was fun to see the women again for Sue and was fun to watch Ginny get to meet them face-to-face after knowing their names and crafts for so long. We met outside the Empowerment Center under a very intense sun.  At about 12:30 we realized we needed to move to the shade – especially us “pale-faces.” The conversation was about their hopes and dreams for MEP and the quality of their products. We handed out their “uniform” that they had wanted which were black twill aprons with “Muko Empowerment Program” in beige at the top and a big pocket of bright African fabric. We handed them out to the women, they put them on and danced and sang for 10 minutes. As sisters we told them we would be wearing them as well in Michigan as we sell handcrafts.

We provided lunch for them – Katogo which is beans, matooke, Irish potatoes and Obushara, the local sorghum drink. We took portrait photos of each of them to use for their baskets so that when the people in the U.S. purchase them, they know the woman who made it as well as her story. We also fitted each of them with reading glasses that we brought from the U.S. They were thrilled. Some of them had not gotten them before and some had “spoilt” them. The beaders were so pleased to receive the huge amount of seed beads that were donated by Cricket, Sue’s sister, the findings we purchased for their jewelry and some new design ideas. We will work with them next Wednesday to learn how to make rosaries with their paper beads thanks to the supplies that Anne House sent.

The meeting concluded after several hours of the women of MEP bringing their wares forward so that Lovina and Alexander and Ginny could evaluate the quality and purchase the ones we will bring back to the U.S. for sale.  Sue couldn’t help but remember the first baskets she was buying back in 2008 and how they compared to the quality they produce today – it is truly amazing.  We can’t wait for you to visit us at Uniquely Uganda and our booths at the local Michigan art fairs and church sales so you can see some of the new designs and styles.  They are both beautiful and functional.

Toni interviewed some of the women to learn their stories.  The most memorable one was our MEP woman who had given birth to 17 children and 4 were still living. The other 13 had died before they reached 2. How can a mother bear so much grief…  The stories that Toni is collecting will be so beneficial is helping us understand the culture and needs of the villagers which will then allow us to know how to work shoulder-to-shoulder with them in a productive way.  She was assisted today by Boaz (an ACT orphan sponsored Kapina and Mike Williamsen) and Demus, two young men from the village who served as her translator for several hours.  Kudos to them!  Toni also worked with Demus to learn how to operate the camera. 

Sue and Karen visited the director of Muko High School to discuss how ACT and the high school can work together to promote the MUSIC program.  The meeting went well and we are encouraged that there will be continued progress.   Karen’s class later that afternoon was attended by 15 students and Karen continues to be happy with their playing.

The HANDS team spent time at ACT’s commercial garden where the cabbage is ready to be harvested.  They also took a look at and discussed the demonstration garden behind the Empowerment Center where onions, potatoes, passion fruit and more is growing.

We must say that we are very happy with today’s work.  As mentioned in an earlier blog, we score our performance each day, and today’s score is 151% … 1% OVER the record of 150% set last May.   A new record has been established!

Tuesday, September 16

This coming Saturday, September 20, is ACT Uganda’s Thanksgiving event.  Many dignitaries from around Uganda were invited by the ACT Muko Board and Generous, ACT Uganda’s director, and are expected to attend.  More on that event later.  But we mention it because it means there is much effort this week being spent on sprucing up the Empowerment Center.  Today, we were able to get all of the windows cleaned, inside and out, and two of the five rooms painted.  Whew!  We have two days to paint three more rooms.  Unfortunately, all of the paint colors we need were gone when we stopped at the store on the way back tonight.  And that was discovered after having to use flashlights in the store to read the labels, since there are no lights in the stores.  Flexibility is key here.

While the paint crew (Dave, Karen, Diane and Bill) was working, many other activities were accomplished by the rest of the team. 

Ginny, Sue and Toni met with Alexander, MEP Manager, Lovina, MEP’s Quality Control Manager and Generous.  Over a four hour time span, many things were accomplished for the MEP program.  Product Quality Guidelines were developed, along with skill level requirements in order for someone to be part of the MEP team.  It was also decided that Lovina will live at the Empowerment Center one week each month.  She will be available to train women who are interested in improving their basket weaving skills.  She will also spend that time determining which baskets fit the quality requirements in order to be included in the next shipment to the U,S,  And a bonus is, she will also be company for Michelle … maybe Michelle will become a  basket weaver!  Ginny spent additional time with Alexander sharing ideas on inventory control processes so they can work together efficiently on keeping our shelves in Michigan well stocked for Uniquely Uganda and the many art fairs in which we participate.  We were also very excited to learn that Alexander’s sister, Barbara, is a senior tailor.  Generous and Richard Turinawe had donated a sewing machine to ACT last June in honor of Tess Waechter’s, wedding, but we didn’t have anyone in MEP that could teach sewing.  Now Barbara is going to sew for MEP and also may serve as a trainer.  Yay!

The HANDS team (agriculture) kept busy as well.  Michelle, John, Roger, along with Moses, Benson, Herbert, Sharon and Tito walked many miles today taking soil samples and surveying potential plots for commercial gardens.  As Michelle put it, they walked on many hills - and it was uphill both ways.  The US team distributed seeds to the Ugandan team and the Ugandan team explained how the labor practices work in Uganda.  One difference from US practice is that each part of the farming activities is handled by different group of people:  tilling, planting, weeding, and so on.

Later in the afternoon, Ginny and Karen headed to Muko High School for their daily violin practice.  They were happy to see that 16 enthusiastic students showed up and worked hard.  All had fun!

Toni spent time with eight individuals today, interviewing them one-on-one to learn more about their culture and daily lives. 

Speaking of culture, one big difference is the traffic.  There is no public transportation, but you see many motorbikes, sometimes carrying up to four people.  We even saw a bicycle that was being used to transport a full-sized couch! It is also the main mode of transportation, besides walking, to carry your wares.  We’ve seen bags of potatoes, chairs, bamboo, babies, cans full of water … you name it, they carry it.  There are also no traffic lights or stop signs.  And on top of that, they drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. 

We’ve finished another great dinner and are planning tomorrow.  We are continuing our practice of rating ourselves on our plans for the day. We earned 100% yesterday and 120% today! We give ourselves bonus points for extra things we did during the day.  Thanks for following our adventures!

Monday, September 15 – Off to another good start.  On the road by 8:30 with two vans packed full of gifts for the orphans, pillowcase dresses, shorts, supplies for the MEP and HANDS programs and tools!  We filled the first four hours with the US and Ugandan teams fine-tuning the planned activities for the next two weeks.  A delicious lunch of Katogo (a cooked blend of Irish potatoes, bananas and beans), peanut sauce and sliced avocado was served.  We are getting spoiled by the fresh avocados, bananas, potatoes, cabbage, pineapple! 

We then unpacked and sorted all of the items we’d packed into the vans; prepared walls in the Empowerment Center for painting; handled some minor maintenance items; and had various meetings on different topics.

We also took time to walk around the area to take a look at Michelle’s new neighborhood.  We watched goats and cows being herded past the Empowerment Center and of course played with all of the children who come by to check out the strangers in their village.  The children love to have their photo taken and enjoy looking at it even more.   In addition to pictures, Diane took a video of one of the young boys pushing a tire down the road with a stick.  He got a kick out of watching that playback!

We also presented hockey jerseys, provided by Urban and Marilyn Rice, Karen’s cousins, to all of the staff here in Uganda.  They put them on and broke into a lively “thank you” song … it was great and brought many smiles and cheers.

Karen and Josiah headed off to Muko High School to meet with the headmaster to discuss Haward’s orchestra classes . We realized a misunderstanding about times for classes and worked together to avoid conflict between the adults and the students. The students were scolded by the headmaster for gathering too slowly and wasting time. Then we went to a classroom like the pictures you have seen to rehearse. Many students gathered to watch while about six students played. They mostly played African music by memory and no method books were to be seen. I gave them an assignment to produce the books tomorrow and perform from them as well so I can assess their music reading progress. They are performing on Saturday for our big fundraising event so we will work all week to perfect their tunes.

Sue and Ginny went to Drucilla Vocational School in order to secure a trainer for dyeing the basket materials. We were accompanied by Rev. Esau Habomugisha to the school since they sponsor this school. We all met with Phoebe, the head of the school. Currently, they have 81 girls in the school who go through a 2-year rotation of programs (agriculture, home economics, basket weaving, knitting, tailoring and catering). Most of the girls are orphans who scrape whatever they can together to attend this school. Phoebe’s philosophy is to build the girls up with self-confidence and practical skills so that they don’t automatically marry at a very young age and have little future. Once we secured the trainer, we spoke more with Phoebe and realized how similar her values are with ACT’s. We think this will be a great vocational school for us to send out girls after they leave school. I showed Phoebe the little bag for the “Days for Girls.” I told her we were going to making these for our girls. It is a bag of supplies for the girls during their monthly menstruation. Right now, the girls stay in bed or at home during their periods and miss school. This kit will allow them to have the supplies, hand sewn by women in the U.S. to go back to school. Phoebe was just thrilled with the bag and I promised her we would send her 100 bags for her girls.

When we all met back at the hotel we had the pleasure and privilege of meeting Francis and Mackline – two of ACT’s orphans who are now attending University in Kabale.  We were able to see them try ketchup for the first time.  Francis liked it; Mackline – not so much!  Mackline expects to be our first orphan to graduate in April 2015 in records management from the Kabale University vocational school.  

We also celebrated Toni’s birthday after dinner with cake picked up from a shop in Kabale.  The shop didn’t sell cakes, but sold chunks of cake – so we shared four chunks and sang Happy Birthday to Toni – with Francis starting the tune for us.   Happy Birthday Toni!

Sunday, September 14, 2014 – After a good breakfast, we piled into two vans and headed to Muko County to go to church.  Going to church one van had 12 persons in it and Dave had to walk to his church about a mile up a mountain.  There were so many different experiences that we want you to hear about each visit first hand. 

Bill and Diane Busch visited both a Catholic Church and an Anglican Church. There was singing, drumming and clapping at both churches.  In order to visit both, we started at the Anglican Church where we were treated to bread, eggs, bananas and tea in the Pastor’s home.  We then went to church, talked to the congregation to introduce ourselves and then had to leave to attend the Catholic Mass.  We arrived at Mass shortly before communion so were able to join in the passing of the peace, Communion, another opportunity to introduce ourselves to a congregation and meet some of the orphan guardians.  The Catholic Church is new, so new that it’s not built yet and we worshipped outside looking over the mountains with the goats and cows grazing nearby. Afterwards, we were treated to another wonderful meal, a tour of the Parish center, clinic, and school.  Father John then drove us back to the Empowerment Center. 

It’s Karen! We were greeted at the Muko Empowerment Center with a group of six violinists, playing a tear-jerker piece by memory. This gave me wonderful anticipation for all that will come on this trip. Sue and I visited two Churches of Uganda and during our speeches we shared the special gift of choir robes from the First Presbyterian Church of Holt. The choirs were elated, singing and dancing and jumping. Luckily we videotaped to show our great Americans their excitement! After church, we had the opportunity to “hang out” with some of our staff and orphans. We also noticed some of our kids watching a video on our Centre TV which allowed a great teaching opportunity. It was an African show about a father who did not want to send his daughter to school but instead hoped to marry her off for the dowry. As their “Mom” I gave the kids some other ideas to consider. Sue gave her two cents about a bikini dressed chick on another video! Whoa! The Moms are in town!

This is Dave and I have recovered from my hike up the hill.  My experience was kind of boring compared to everyone else; due to deaths of church members and members families there were only 13 adults at the service.  The most interesting point was one song that lasted over 20 minutes.  Otherwise there was a lot of singing and dancing as there was at the other churches.

 Hi this is John.  I attended Butare Anglican Church.  There 12 children were baptized and an adult women baptized who was converting from being a Catholic.  The priest preached a “hellfire and brimstone” sermon based on the Genesis story of Noah and the ark.  Some ACT orphans are sponsored from this parish and after service Josiah and I were swamped with people pointing out orphans and asking how to get a child sponsored.  After service we had at tea with the pastor and his wife.  

Hello from Ginny in Uganda!  Roger and I attended the Anglican Church in Bwindi today.  The service and auction (people donate food items and then auction them off for more donations) lasted approximately four hours!  I was surprised how similar the structure of the service was- scripture readings, announcements, Nicene Creed, sermon, etc. My favorite part was the music!  So spirited… and the drummer, amazing!  And then the dancing!  So much life!  After the service, we walked down the hill to the main center of town and talked with the villagers. The children surrounded us and kept us close company all the way down the hill! It was a lovely day. 

Toni and Michelle traveled to another Catholic church that sits on a beautiful mountain peak (though they can’t remember the name, it translates to “the highest peak”). Before the mass they were able to meet with Millicent, who is a woman catechist. This is a big  deal for the area, as out of the 26 Catholic churches she is the only catechist who is a woman! However, upon getting to mass, they discovered that she is more than a catechist, but she also read the gospel and gave the homily! Toni also had a very moving experience as she was able to bid on sorghum seeds. However, it did not stop there as the congregation did the best they could to match her donation. Afterwards, despite the lack of warning, Millicent surprised them with a wonderful meal. It was a great day full of warmth and love.

To end our Sunday, the team met for a delicious dinner at our hotel with pineapple filters or in English pineapple fritters, which by the way are delicious.  More adventures are waiting for us tomorrow as we meet with all of the Ugandan staff to plan the details of our two weeks together.

Friday, September 12:  Well – we arrived after a long, uneventful (in a good way) journey.   Eight of us left Memorial Presbyterian Church in Midland at 1:00 pm on Wednesday and Jan Babcock drove the Vieles where we met at the Detroit airport.  We all arrived at our hotel in Kampala, Uganda at 1:00 a.m. on Friday (6:00 pm Thursday USA time).   After a quick night’s sleep we were up having breakfast at 8:00 a.m. – a meat turnover, eggs, toast, juice and coffee.   Our hosts at the hotel are wonderful and the food is very delicious.  After breakfast five of us headed to the local market to shop for locally made wares and five of us headed for shopping at the “western” market to complete our purchases for Michelle’s eight-month stay in the village, some banking and lunch.  We all met back at the hotel for a little rest, then off to Steven Bandutsya’s home for dinner.  Steven is a local Rotarian who is familiar with ACT and has been very supportive with the development of ACT in Uganda.  We will be working with him in the future on a program for exchange students.   Another highlight was Toni Stanfield, one of our team members, meeting Rauben.  Toni has sponsored him as an orphan through Christian Children’s Fund for the last two years and he has just completed his first two years at a vocational school in Kampala.  It was a great day full of interesting sights, sounds and meeting many friendly and welcoming individuals.

Saturday, September 13, 2014  Saturday’s travel from Kampala to Kabale turned out to be a bit more interesting than our travels from Michigan to Kampala.  We woke, had a good breakfast and packed up the two vans.  All of this went very well and we were on the road on time!   However, 1.5 hours into the trip, one of the vans had some issues with one of the wheels.  Thanks to some helpful villagers and the expertise of our two van drivers, it was fixed and we were on the road in about an hour.  During that hour we made friends with some of the children of the village and tried to handle the heat and sun.   A highlight of the trip was the stop at the equator … that’s something you can’t do everyday!   Back on the road again, and believe it or not, about two hours later the same van blew the alternator belt.  Once again, because of the expertise of our two van drivers, the belt from the air conditioner was removed and replaced the alternator belt.  Once again, we made friends with more village children while the van work was being done alongside the road and we once again survived the sun and heat.  Those in the van then rode in a very hot van, with only the breeze keeping them cool.   But, the story ends on a happy note … we made it to our hotel in Kabale before dark to a wonderful dinner and nice rooms.   We’re tired now and getting ready for bed.  Tomorrow is another day and we will be splitting up and heading off to five different churches in Muko subcounty.  Those who’ve been here before and looking forward to seeing old friends, and those who are here for the first time are looking forward to meeting new friends!

Tuesday September 9, 2014:  Today has been a very busy day rushing and and checking off  items on our long list of tasks to accomplish before we leave for Uganda tomorrow evening.  Our team is comprised of ten persons, of which 5 have been to Uganda previously.  The fall team consists of John and Sue Waechter, Dave and Karen Viele, Bill and Diane Bush, Michelle Bush, Roger Vern Moll, Ginny Donald, and Antoinette (Toni) Petrella-Stanfield

Of the group 7 are from Midland, Toni is from Traverse City and the Viele's are from Holt.  You will recall that the Dave and Karen were members of the Spring 2014 trip.  This is the first time that two trips have been made to Uganda.  The Midland group with Toni will leave for the Detroit apirport around 1:30 pm for our flight at 6:16 pm.  The Viele's will meet the group at the airport with their 6 suitcases.  In total, we are taking 22 suitcases.

The flight is long, as stated we leave Detroit tomorrow at 6:16 pm and arrive in Entebbe, Uganda Thursday evening at 10:40 pm, allowing for the 7 hour time change our travel time is approximately, 21 hours. We will begin updating the blog daily beginning Friday.  We look forward to updating you on our activities and how everyone is doing in the village.