Sunday, August 30, 2009

Nile River


Here's another photo to go along with the previous entry. Karen (on the far left) and other EMI staff are looking out over the headwaters of the Nile River from the lower portion of the project site. Quite a view. We could see rafters tackling the first whitewater on a Class 5 rated whitewater trip.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Scott to RVA; Jinja Workday



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.

Monday, August 24, 2009

More shopping

Today was a good day for me. I'm not sure why, but I felt more relaxed than I had before, maybe just from getting more used to things. We went to the EMI office at 8:30 (about a 7 minute walk from our apt.) for the morning devotional time, then talked with staff over the next couple hours about Ugandan culture and other things. We asked about housekeeping tasks like how we get our propane cook tank refilled (call a motorcycle driver to pick up the old tank and deliver a new), when trash is picked up (day unknown but put it out by the gate), and when Stella would come to do laundry for us (she's sick but Harriet will come tomorrow morning and wash it by hand in tubs).

Then Alisha, the EMI director's wife, took us in her car on her weekly shopping trip. She goes to three western-style grocery stores (aisles! carts!) in a definite order depending on what each store has. We got quite a few more basic items, from chicken for tonight's dinner to a blanket for Scott to take to RVA. It was helpful to have her guided tour of brands and prices, as well as to be in a car that we could load up with the goods. It provided me not only with practical help, but a psychological lift. Things seemed more do-able this afternoon. Plus we ended the trip with ice cream, which helps in any country.

Karen

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Arrived!


We have been welcomed to Africa. After picking us up at the airport, the EMI staff delivered us to our bright yellow, freshly cleaned apartment. We so appreciate their help including the meals they've provided.

Our experiences are adding up quickly. Yesterday, we visited the Oweno Market in the company of two of the EMI staff women. We picked up a taxi (like a bus, but a van that hold 14 people). It wasn't a long way but we did get stuck in traffic jams at a couple intersections for long waits. The market was quite a sight. We estimated that there were a thousand stalls, many being just a 5' by 5' square of muddy ground. (We've had rains each of the three days so far.) We bought sheets, plastic containers, fruit, and vegetables. The pair of single bed sheets (for Scott to take to Kenya) cost 25,000 Uganda shillings ($12.50). The lady selling them to us pulled out various ones that we pointed to from her tall stack and displayed them for us as we tried hard to stay clear of the narrow isle and the many people walking by. I don't think we saw other non-Africans at the market.

Church this morning was a refreshing experience. We attended the one that meets at the Christian school that is located just 100 meters from our apartment. It had a mix of Africans, Britians, Americans, and other Europeans. We met in an open-air building. Somehow, it's more meaningful to sing the songs we've sung many times before in a new setting and among new people. In our brief conversations with people before and after the service, we talked to people working for World Relief, WaterAid (Britian's NGO for drinking water projects in the developing world), a Ugandan man involved in community development (including water projects) for his home villages, and another man wanting help with a water project. Exciting possibilities.

Paul

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

London Entry # 2


Scott and Paul on our first morning. We took the subway from Steve and Julie's house and walked across the Thames.








This is me on the way to Harrod's (the building with the flags). We've been restrained from buying things because we don't have room in our suitcases, but I was tempted. What a lot of stuff!

Sorry the pictures and captions are mixed up, but I don't quite have this blog set-up figured out. If anyone can e-mail me with help on how to configure photos in blogspot I'd appreciate it. Also, I'll hope to get better at posting multiple pictures.

We've been having full days of sightseeing, then go home for dinner with Steve and Julie. Scott wasn't feeling too well yesterday so he spent the afternoon resting while Paul and I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum. He's gotten good enough on the subway system that he could get himself home fine. Today we went to the Tower of London and enjoyed it a lot. We tried to go to the Natural History Museum in the afternoon but were just too worn out, so we came home and relaxed. We have thoroughly enjoyed our stay in London.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

London

We arrived safely on Sun. and are having a fine time in London. Paul's cousin Julie and her husband Steve are great hosts. Yesterday we saw Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Trafalger Square, and Big Ben. We spent a couple hours in the Imperial War Museum, then met Julie and Steve for dinner at their favorite Indian restaurant in Covent Garden. Since we're spending most of our times in tourist areas there are crowds everywhere we go. Probably two-thirds of the snatches of conversation I hear as we pass by people on the street are in foreign languages.

Scott isn't feeling too well so we're starting our day out slowly today, trying to determine if it's jet lag or some kind of bug he picked up. If he's up to it our plan is to buy tickets for a multi-stop tour bus where you can get on and off all day. We'll see more sights.

The weather has been lovely, mid-70s and sunny. Julie and Steve have a gorgeous, if miniature by American standards, back yard, and we've been sitting out there mornings for breakfast. We'll try to start taking pictures, but until this morning we hadn't been able to find our camera in our nine suitcases.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

A Group Effort


We're humbled and encouraged by many people. It's clear that we're not in this alone. We're the tip of the iceberg (pun intended) supported by family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers. Thanks to all of you and we sincerely hope that you are encouraged as we do a small part to bring clean drinking water to the poor.

What have people done to help us out? Well, Chris built three prototypes of Paul's water purification invention so we can field test them in Uganda, Kathy made puppets for me to use with village children, Martha lent me Africa-appropriate clothes and a suitcase to put them in, Kim and Richard lent us two more large suitcases, Fred connected us with Nancy and Patty who have been filling me in on information about Scott's school, Julie connected me with a pastor friend in Kenya, Marc and Carol advised us out of their experiences in Uganda, Janet and Jill fixed up our apartment in Kampala so it will be ready for us, Scott and Tasha, and Lisa and Todd, and Elizabeth threw us going away parties, and a whole church in Alabama is praying for us. There are many more people who have helped us, but that's a sampling.

Here are two of the best things people have given us: money and time. I don't mean to be crass, but we couldn't do this without many people being generous with their hard-earned money. And time, because people have taken the time to be interested in what we're doing. They've asked questions and listened as we've explained what we have in mind. Our plans may be worlds away from what they have going on in their lives, but they've taken the time to care.

(The photo shows our kids from our last family outing before leaving for Africa. It doesn't directly relate to the above posting, although they've been our supporters, too.)

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Packing


This is a picture of our life right now. We're making progress on packing, but it might not look like progress. Also, we're finding that the ratio of 6 suitcases to 10 months of living means we have to leave some things out. Lots of things. Vital things. I can't take those ten pairs of shoes, nor the extra bottle of my favorite shampoo. Fortunately, we're going to a warm climate (although not as warm as many people think - we hear generally the temps are in the mid-70s to low-80s), so we won't have bulky winter clothes. Of course, the sobering fact is that we will have more stuff than whole families that we're going to help out. No doubt we'll come home with a different perspective on needs vs. wants.