Uganda - part 2

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.