I'll try to pick up where I left off!
After Dr. Val finished the animal health training we headed back to Soroti. We were back at the bed and breakfast and warm showers. We met a great team from Oregon who brought supplies for Thanksgiving dinner. So everyone pitched in and we had an amazing Thanksgiving - turkey(oh yes, a turkey met an untimely death, but he was delicious), stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, peas, pumpkin pie and more. Thanks again any Oregon teammates that may read this!!!
After meeting with the CLIDE consultancy in Soroti to discuss how we may be able to join their team we headed to Kapchorwa. This is where I got a little sick, took some anti nausea meds then passed out for a while. It was a long car ride, but at the end I was all better! Dr. Val lived in Kapchorwa when she was first in Uganda. It is certainly a beautiful place. We had been in the hot, dusty plains but had now arrived in the more mountainous region near the Kenya border. There were waterfalls, caves and vegetation everywhere. People were drying coffee beans along the edge of the road. It was very exciting. The people were very friendly. We ate at a small roadside "restaurant" - I can't remember the name of what we ate, but it was delicious. We even had a soda that afternoon. The idea would be to start some breeding projects to enhance the cattle genetics in the area with the possibility of marketing milk,etc. We had a great dinner - guacamole and chips, rice and groundnut (peanut) sauce. We stayed at a great place that overlooked the mountains. Then next morning Jason and I climbed to the top and watched the sun rise over the plains. It was beautiful. The next day we visited the hospital in town - I won't go into all that. We should all be thankful for the medical care we have. Then we had tea with some of Val's friends. Thus our short stay in Kapchorwa ended, but it was the most appealing place to both Jason and myself. We had to start the drive back to Kampala to get things ready to come back to the states.
Back to the big city :) We spent a couple of hours that afternoon shopping for souvenirs then met with Lindsay (Jason's sister) again. That night was pretty uneventful- the power was out most of the night. The next morning we went to church in Kampala then had a great cup of coffee at 1000 cups. Then we headed out to look at one more rental house. The house was beautiful and huge. Another beautiful house with a wall with glass at the top! We had lunch - fried chicken. Lindsay fed chicken to the stray cat who looked like he needed a little food. When Lindsay moved her hand it startled him and he bit her. Just a tiny bite though. No broken skin, thankfully. This just goes to show you that you can't trust a cat anywhere - Africa, USA - they're all the same. You play by their rules or else some body's gonna get hurt :)
Dr. Val then transported us to the airport. We had a 9 hour layover in Amsterdam so we decided to catch the train and look around for a few hours. We went from hot and dusty to cold and wet. From nice people to pretty grumpy people. I'm glad we went, but I certainly wouldn't waste the time or money to take a trip specifically designed with Amsterdam in mind. The canals were neat.
So, what is the conclusion? While Jason loves Africa and would move there tomorrow I don't feel like God was saying this is it. This is where you need to be. Don't get me wrong, God is doing all kinds of work in Uganda, but for me I need peace that it is what God wants our family to pursue. We still plan for long term mission, it always comes back to the when and where. I just don't think the timing is right, yet. 2 steps forward and 3 steps back - I feel like this is the story of my life some days!! So for now we will keep praying. Thanks to any of you who have prayed for us. We will keep you updated. You can learn more about Dr. Val and her ministry at cvmusa.org. Visit Uganda if you get the chance.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Uganda - the first half of the trip
Where do I begin????
Kampala: Since I couldn't sleep on the plane it wasn't so hard to fall asleep in our hotel room to the sound of loud music and partying in the streets outside . Can you tell I am not a city girl? The hotel was very nice. At least we got to stay there one night :) The next day we got to look at 2 houses in the city as we prayerfully consider if God would have us move to Kampala. The houses were all very nice. Nice big walls around them with broken glass or barbed wire lining the top. A good deterrent to any thieves, vagabonds, etc. Comforting. Really. Seriously, the houses were better than I had imagined. The rental prices were also higher than I had expected, but we see the house as a ministry tool for short-term visitors, so I guess we need the extra room. After looking at the houses we had a nice lunch - Sambosa. Kinda like a deep fried hot pocket full of veges or beef or fish. Pretty tasty. Oh, it's the time of year for grasshoppers too. You can buy fried grasshoppers on the side of the road. People are carrying them around in huge plastic containers and will sell you a small or large paper bag of them. So Dr. Val bought us a small bag. I use the term us loosely. Jason and Val ate a few. Not me. Not that hungry. Thanks anyway though.
On to Soroti: Does anyone like Robert Earl Keen? The road goes on forever..... We drove the rest of the afternoon, had dinner (chicken stir fry- yummy) near Mt. Elgon then made it to our "bed and breakfast" in Soroti. We had a nice place with another hot shower - this is where the hot showers end for a while. Just thought I'd point that out. The next morning we were off again.
To Kangole: Did I already say that the road goes on forever? New things are always exciting though, so we didn't mind. All the people, huts, termite mounds, potholes we passed were interesting to us. Then we got to the mountains just before Kangole. Very beautiful - Jason will be irritated that I don't remember the name of them :) I'll post pictures when I find the camera. They mark the entry into Karamoja. This is the area Dr. Val spends most of her time in. God is doing some amazing things out there. Dr. Val has helped facilitate peace villages among the fighting tribes in an area that had previously been uninhabited due to fear of cattle raids and the fighting and bloodshed that follows. I know I am not doing Dr. Val or the peace villages any justice - I am sure she could write a book on it. Just trust me, God is doing some amazing things.
We spent the next 3 days assisting and observing an animal health worker training seminar. Part of the goal of the training is to educate and enable individuals to treat and care for the animals (cattle, goats mainly) in areas where there is no veterinary care. The participants were eager to learn. We ate a lot of beans and rice. There was usually cabbage too. Most nights there was some form of meat - just pick out what you want - knee with ligaments and cartilage, broken pieces of bone. No one seemed to mind though except me. Spoiled American. Did I mention there were small rocks and grit in the rice :)
Anyway, it's late. Stay tuned for the play by play of the rest of our week!
Kampala: Since I couldn't sleep on the plane it wasn't so hard to fall asleep in our hotel room to the sound of loud music and partying in the streets outside . Can you tell I am not a city girl? The hotel was very nice. At least we got to stay there one night :) The next day we got to look at 2 houses in the city as we prayerfully consider if God would have us move to Kampala. The houses were all very nice. Nice big walls around them with broken glass or barbed wire lining the top. A good deterrent to any thieves, vagabonds, etc. Comforting. Really. Seriously, the houses were better than I had imagined. The rental prices were also higher than I had expected, but we see the house as a ministry tool for short-term visitors, so I guess we need the extra room. After looking at the houses we had a nice lunch - Sambosa. Kinda like a deep fried hot pocket full of veges or beef or fish. Pretty tasty. Oh, it's the time of year for grasshoppers too. You can buy fried grasshoppers on the side of the road. People are carrying them around in huge plastic containers and will sell you a small or large paper bag of them. So Dr. Val bought us a small bag. I use the term us loosely. Jason and Val ate a few. Not me. Not that hungry. Thanks anyway though.
On to Soroti: Does anyone like Robert Earl Keen? The road goes on forever..... We drove the rest of the afternoon, had dinner (chicken stir fry- yummy) near Mt. Elgon then made it to our "bed and breakfast" in Soroti. We had a nice place with another hot shower - this is where the hot showers end for a while. Just thought I'd point that out. The next morning we were off again.
To Kangole: Did I already say that the road goes on forever? New things are always exciting though, so we didn't mind. All the people, huts, termite mounds, potholes we passed were interesting to us. Then we got to the mountains just before Kangole. Very beautiful - Jason will be irritated that I don't remember the name of them :) I'll post pictures when I find the camera. They mark the entry into Karamoja. This is the area Dr. Val spends most of her time in. God is doing some amazing things out there. Dr. Val has helped facilitate peace villages among the fighting tribes in an area that had previously been uninhabited due to fear of cattle raids and the fighting and bloodshed that follows. I know I am not doing Dr. Val or the peace villages any justice - I am sure she could write a book on it. Just trust me, God is doing some amazing things.
We spent the next 3 days assisting and observing an animal health worker training seminar. Part of the goal of the training is to educate and enable individuals to treat and care for the animals (cattle, goats mainly) in areas where there is no veterinary care. The participants were eager to learn. We ate a lot of beans and rice. There was usually cabbage too. Most nights there was some form of meat - just pick out what you want - knee with ligaments and cartilage, broken pieces of bone. No one seemed to mind though except me. Spoiled American. Did I mention there were small rocks and grit in the rice :)
Anyway, it's late. Stay tuned for the play by play of the rest of our week!
Surprises
Before we left for Uganda we were slightly discouraged because we were a little short on our fundraising. God has proven faithful to us in this area so many times. So we shouldn't have been surprised to get an email letting us know that another donation had been made to our CVM account that would take care of any further costs with money left over. God never just comes through. It is always better that you hoped for, yet my faith falters every time. I write this to remind myself and any of you that the God who calls is able. 1Thes. 5 :24 - The ONE who calls you is faithful and HE will do it.
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