Saturday of Week 3

On a boat at the mouth of the Nile River

Hi Everyone- I am going to try to download some more pictures but it is taking a long time so I will just start with that one. We had a great trip to Jinja on Thursday. Not only was it the day we found out we had been officially approved but there were some beautiful sights to see. We were on the Nile with Moses! (our driver) 

  Friday we moved to the house where the ekissa team will join us really late Sunday night. I got a text today to say that a little bit of home was headed my way and it was right. Steve and I are both so excited to see some familiar faces. We also have some additional supplies being brought to us which will be great. I can tell you that physically Steve and I are beginning to feel the wear of living here. The diet especially. We have both had bouts with stomach issues. Tonight when we were getting ready for bed we found out we have NO water. Last night we had no hot water. The town is rationing the water supply. Thank goodness I gave the kids a bath before dinner-all you have to do is step outside and you are covered with a red dry dust film so you can imagine at the end of the day how dirty they both are. 

  Steve and I had the opportunity to go on Friday and visit Bweya-the area where ekissa will be doing the mission work. I was so excited to show Steve where Edith had lived and where we worked in December. We met with Mr. Robert-he is the gentleman that ekissa bought three acres from. It is also the sight where the future church will be constructed. Robert is a jolly man who has an amazing smile. I was so excited for him to show Steve the way he farms. He has a fully functioning farm with 9 dairy cows and many chickens. All of these animals are located in about 1000 square feet. It is in his back patio area and is all concrete. I know this sounds really bizarre but he has done this in an ingenious manner and it is clean and very organized. He uses all the natural resources he has around him for feed. The waste from the animals is being used for bio-fuel to cook and heat with. His farm was chosen as a test site for the bio-fuel and he was so excited that he had been the given the opportunity. He is very aware of the ever shrinking tree and land resources that Africa has available to them. He let me help his son milk a cow which I had never done and then he knocked some fresh mangos out of the trees in his yard and we enjoyed those. (That just might be the cause of my stomach issues). We left there and visited Bweya Children's Home where we will be apart of a medical mission on Monday and Tuesday. They house around 80 orphaned children. He said that 90% of his kids have no family at all. 

  We had a nice afternoon. This was the first time that we had been away from the kids. The Ggaba house where we are staying has lots of young kids that belong to the helpers at that house. I met them all in December and the kids were thrilled that they could stay and play with them. I have to admit we were excited to be by ourselves for a few hours! They greeted us both with "Mommy and Daddy" and ran to us when we returned so they missed us as much as we missed them.

  Today we enjoyed having Edrine with us to play with Derrick and Edith. Edith was sad to see him go tonight and keeps questioning about his coming to America. Derrick doesn't show much emotion but I have noticed that when people come around from his "old" life he tends to stick close to Steve or me. I think he must not understand that he is not going with them. He hesitates to hug on them and generally wants us to hold him. 

  We were all exhausted from last night. Ggaba church holds an all night prayer vigil every Friday evening. Our room faces the church and with the windows  open at the church and in our bedroom for air circulation it sounded as if we were in a concert hall. The loud drum beats and chanting lasted until 4:30 this morning. Steve and I hardly slept at all so this day has been especially hard. At one point we were laughing hysterically at nothing. Edrine and Edith were trying to tell me that they wanted something from upstairs and I thought it was "bug" spray. Of course Derrick follows them upstairs and as I was trying to make sure that he "hit the hole" in the bathroom I turned around and they were taking their clothes off. They wanted to take a bath not put on bug spray.....That shows how our language differences can confuse everyone....I sent them back outside. Two young men from the church came over and we visited with them most of the afternoon. 

  Tomorrow morning we are headed to Bweya to attend the church service with Pastor Robert. He is the minister who is helping to build the church with ekissa. He was originally holding the services in a chicken coop but they have moved to a facility at Mercy orphanage. Edith and Derrick's older brother (Usher) is at this home so I am sure they will be excited to see him. I have to speak about what we are doing here and about the upcoming mission week. I am a little nervous about that. 

  We go Monday to the US Embassy so we will know more about when we can head home. We are beyond homesick and ready to be home. Please pray for our health as we have both battling some stomach issues. We don't want to get sick here I can tell you-

Happy Father's Day to our Dad's- Wish we could be there to celebrate! We love you!

I will try to send some pictures tomorrow when the computer isn't so slow. 

Good Night!!

Debbie and Steve