Uganda Chronicles Chapter XX
Chapter XX
10 September 2007
We are again home in Kabale. We arrived Saturday to the usual round of adventures. First, we went to the money changing counter only to find out that $200.00 of the money we had brought with us couldn’t be changed because the bills were older than the year 2000. (This was the first time we knew of this rule) Then, Fr. David was not at the airport to greet us, and of all the things to forget to bring with us, I forgot to bring my church directory which includes Fr. David’s phone number. So, while Rick sat on a metal folding chair in the airport parking lot with all our luggage, under threatening thunder clouds (and in the midst of hundreds of hopeful taxi drivers), I went in search of the information desk. The airport is in the middle of major renovations because of the approaching CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) conference which will include a visit by Queen Elizabeth II of England in November. The gate we arrived through is in a temporary building and the main terminal where the information desk resides is in complete shambles with workmen moving around, sounds of hammers and drills, and dust flying. At the information desk I attempted to communicate the need to find a telephone number. Somehow the message got through the pounding of hammers, buzzing of saws and the language barrier of English spoken in two radically different dialects. The very helpful woman, Edith, was able to get me a number for the Diocese of Kigezi after 15 minutes of calls to different places. Then she tried to call the number from her airport phone and couldn’t get through. So, we walked next door to the air-time seller and I paid for time on her cell phone. There was not a writing instrument to be found between the air-time seller’s office and the information office, so I provided a pen from my purse to write numbers down. While Edith was still trying to find the numbers I needed, I asked to see a telephone book so I could look for some numbers myself. She handed me a book about the size of a Newsweek magazine. I asked if this book would include numbers in Kabale – she told me this was the telephone book for the entire country. I couldn’t find anything I was looking for, so we used her phone to call the Diocese of Kigezi. Fortunately, the Bishop’s secretary was in on that Saturday and I was able to get Fr. David’s cell phone number at last. I called him and found out the car had “betrayed” him, was at a mechanic’s shop, and Fr. David was in a taxi on his way to the airport to get us. Now, all this was achieved in African time – so I was gone for over 45 minutes. When I finally returned to the parking lot, Rick was about to have a meltdown. He had last seen me walking through a crowd of strangers at a foreign airport and had no idea where I was all that time. Finally, Fr. David arrived and we piled everything into the taxi and went to the Namirembe Guest House, a guest house owned by the Diocese in Kampala. It was now too late to drive home and arrive before dark and driving in the dark is suicidal. The guest house was really nice and we had a good night’s rest and our last hot shower for awhile and breakfast in the morning. After a few more car repair delays, we got on the road about 11:30 and by the grace of God arrived home about 30 minutes before the sun set. It was so good to see everyone – especially our new grandson, Retreat. He is adorable! We had a great time catching up and giving gifts. We had dinner and visited some more. In the morning all the neighborhood children were laying in wait to greet us. It was fun to see them again. At one point, all the kids were whispering together and laughing and all of a sudden they all rushed Rick and almost knocked him over with a huge group hug.
Fr. David was in the village taking three small boys to the clinic. Their mothers had brought them to our house early this morning because they were feeling ill. It turned out that two of them were suffering with worms, and the other had malaria. They had walked four or five miles through some rough terrain in this condition to get help from Fr. David. It gave me a good feeling to know that the money for their medical care was available through a generous contribution from a member of St. John’s Roseville. Without donations from outside sources, these children would continue to suffer, and possibly die. While Fr. David and the boys were gone, I visited with the mothers of the children. Only one spoke a little English, but they managed to communicate that one of them had been struck by lightening as a young woman and suffered what seems to be serious neurological trauma. She perceives her physical and mental abnormalities as being tormented by demons. I asked her if I could pray for her and she said yes. Isaac told me later that prayer had already brought her much further towards healing than she had ever been expected to come. Three of the four women are widows, all seem to be in their 30s or early 40s. They all wanted me to take pictures of them for their pen-pals. That was fun. They all had a good time seeing the pictures on the digital camera screen. When they left we all had heart-felt hugs.
Later in the afternoon we walked some distance through the neighborhood to look at some property for sale. We walked up and down narrow dirt pathways, crossed a stream on some logs, greeted many people walking, and eventually came to the property. It was like most property here – rolling. There is a hill where we would build the orphanage and then it slopes down to an area of bullrushes which looks like a swamp but actually isn’t. The parcel is a little over an acre and ½ and the price is 10,000,000 UGS (about $6,000.00 U.S.) I told Rick we will probably get mixed reactions when we explain we went to Africa to start an orphanage and bought a swamp for 10,000,000. We looked at several properties with some houses already on them, but it became clear that buying the land and then building would be much cheaper and also everything would be new and the way we want it. Also, the property is not inside the town – it is in a more “suburban” area where the children would have a nice play area and could raise animals and have a garden. So, now we need to meet a lawyer and arrange a purchase contract and meet an architect before we leave in 10 days. During this 10 days, we will also meet the sponsored children and visit 2 churches, 2 schools and the Bishop.
12 September 2007
Yesterday we couldn’t do anything. It began to rain in late morning. Maybe rain is the wrong word – deluge is more like it. It poured sheets and sheets of water for 30 minutes at a time, let up for a few, and then began again. Two or three times the sky let loose a barrage of marble sized hail. The neighborhood children kept running out from under the shelter of the overhanging porch roof to grab the balls of ice and pop them into their mouths (and I noticed some went down the backs of shirts). They were all soaking wet within seconds but didn’t seem to care. Hail is the only ice they ever see or have a chance to taste and/or throw at each other. Soon the lights began to flicker and the power went out. That was about 16:00 yesterday. It’s now 09:30 and still no power.
10 September 2007
We are again home in Kabale. We arrived Saturday to the usual round of adventures. First, we went to the money changing counter only to find out that $200.00 of the money we had brought with us couldn’t be changed because the bills were older than the year 2000. (This was the first time we knew of this rule) Then, Fr. David was not at the airport to greet us, and of all the things to forget to bring with us, I forgot to bring my church directory which includes Fr. David’s phone number. So, while Rick sat on a metal folding chair in the airport parking lot with all our luggage, under threatening thunder clouds (and in the midst of hundreds of hopeful taxi drivers), I went in search of the information desk. The airport is in the middle of major renovations because of the approaching CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) conference which will include a visit by Queen Elizabeth II of England in November. The gate we arrived through is in a temporary building and the main terminal where the information desk resides is in complete shambles with workmen moving around, sounds of hammers and drills, and dust flying. At the information desk I attempted to communicate the need to find a telephone number. Somehow the message got through the pounding of hammers, buzzing of saws and the language barrier of English spoken in two radically different dialects. The very helpful woman, Edith, was able to get me a number for the Diocese of Kigezi after 15 minutes of calls to different places. Then she tried to call the number from her airport phone and couldn’t get through. So, we walked next door to the air-time seller and I paid for time on her cell phone. There was not a writing instrument to be found between the air-time seller’s office and the information office, so I provided a pen from my purse to write numbers down. While Edith was still trying to find the numbers I needed, I asked to see a telephone book so I could look for some numbers myself. She handed me a book about the size of a Newsweek magazine. I asked if this book would include numbers in Kabale – she told me this was the telephone book for the entire country. I couldn’t find anything I was looking for, so we used her phone to call the Diocese of Kigezi. Fortunately, the Bishop’s secretary was in on that Saturday and I was able to get Fr. David’s cell phone number at last. I called him and found out the car had “betrayed” him, was at a mechanic’s shop, and Fr. David was in a taxi on his way to the airport to get us. Now, all this was achieved in African time – so I was gone for over 45 minutes. When I finally returned to the parking lot, Rick was about to have a meltdown. He had last seen me walking through a crowd of strangers at a foreign airport and had no idea where I was all that time. Finally, Fr. David arrived and we piled everything into the taxi and went to the Namirembe Guest House, a guest house owned by the Diocese in Kampala. It was now too late to drive home and arrive before dark and driving in the dark is suicidal. The guest house was really nice and we had a good night’s rest and our last hot shower for awhile and breakfast in the morning. After a few more car repair delays, we got on the road about 11:30 and by the grace of God arrived home about 30 minutes before the sun set. It was so good to see everyone – especially our new grandson, Retreat. He is adorable! We had a great time catching up and giving gifts. We had dinner and visited some more. In the morning all the neighborhood children were laying in wait to greet us. It was fun to see them again. At one point, all the kids were whispering together and laughing and all of a sudden they all rushed Rick and almost knocked him over with a huge group hug.
Fr. David was in the village taking three small boys to the clinic. Their mothers had brought them to our house early this morning because they were feeling ill. It turned out that two of them were suffering with worms, and the other had malaria. They had walked four or five miles through some rough terrain in this condition to get help from Fr. David. It gave me a good feeling to know that the money for their medical care was available through a generous contribution from a member of St. John’s Roseville. Without donations from outside sources, these children would continue to suffer, and possibly die. While Fr. David and the boys were gone, I visited with the mothers of the children. Only one spoke a little English, but they managed to communicate that one of them had been struck by lightening as a young woman and suffered what seems to be serious neurological trauma. She perceives her physical and mental abnormalities as being tormented by demons. I asked her if I could pray for her and she said yes. Isaac told me later that prayer had already brought her much further towards healing than she had ever been expected to come. Three of the four women are widows, all seem to be in their 30s or early 40s. They all wanted me to take pictures of them for their pen-pals. That was fun. They all had a good time seeing the pictures on the digital camera screen. When they left we all had heart-felt hugs.
Later in the afternoon we walked some distance through the neighborhood to look at some property for sale. We walked up and down narrow dirt pathways, crossed a stream on some logs, greeted many people walking, and eventually came to the property. It was like most property here – rolling. There is a hill where we would build the orphanage and then it slopes down to an area of bullrushes which looks like a swamp but actually isn’t. The parcel is a little over an acre and ½ and the price is 10,000,000 UGS (about $6,000.00 U.S.) I told Rick we will probably get mixed reactions when we explain we went to Africa to start an orphanage and bought a swamp for 10,000,000. We looked at several properties with some houses already on them, but it became clear that buying the land and then building would be much cheaper and also everything would be new and the way we want it. Also, the property is not inside the town – it is in a more “suburban” area where the children would have a nice play area and could raise animals and have a garden. So, now we need to meet a lawyer and arrange a purchase contract and meet an architect before we leave in 10 days. During this 10 days, we will also meet the sponsored children and visit 2 churches, 2 schools and the Bishop.
12 September 2007
Yesterday we couldn’t do anything. It began to rain in late morning. Maybe rain is the wrong word – deluge is more like it. It poured sheets and sheets of water for 30 minutes at a time, let up for a few, and then began again. Two or three times the sky let loose a barrage of marble sized hail. The neighborhood children kept running out from under the shelter of the overhanging porch roof to grab the balls of ice and pop them into their mouths (and I noticed some went down the backs of shirts). They were all soaking wet within seconds but didn’t seem to care. Hail is the only ice they ever see or have a chance to taste and/or throw at each other. Soon the lights began to flicker and the power went out. That was about 16:00 yesterday. It’s now 09:30 and still no power.
Labels: Uganda Chronicles
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