The EMI staff, the newly arrived eight EMI interns (recent or soon to be college graduates in engineering or architecture), and Karen and I traveled to Jinja today, which is about 2 hours east of Kampala. Two EMI couples, each with two young children, are living in Jinja to work on two major development projects for which EMI has provided design services. In addition to meeting the two families, we worked for several hours at one of the project sites. We helped dig the trenches for what will become the footings for a small dorm for the eventual youth retreat center. Talk about hard and hot work. I dug some but they needed an experienced (old) person on the level. The interns were all muscle and game but I'd have to say that the Ugandan EMI staff out-distanced them.
We still haven't fully emptied our suitcases. One reason is that we left Wednesday with Scott for Kenya to take him to his boarding school, the Rift Valley Academy. Scott seemed comfortable right away and we couldn't have been more pleased with the quality of teachers and dorm parents and the welcome that they gave to us. Bob and Patty, one of Scott's two in-country guardian families, were extremely gracious. They sent their driver to pick us up and it was a breath of fresh air to have dinner with them and spend the first night at their house. (The photo shows Scott and his roommate, Chase (far right), and one other friend, Colin, in Scott's dorm room. Chase's family is living in Tanzania.)
Karen and I leave Tuesday for our first trip to the Ngenge villages to begin the implementation of the water improvements. And, joy, we now have an internet connection at home! Joy mixed with frustration since it's only slightly faster than dial-up.
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