Namyoya - Work Day 1

We start the morning with the usual excellent breakfast prepared by Kharm and Daphine. This is an optional day. Some of the team elected to explore Kampala. Some of the team heads to Namyoya to WORK. Our project is the church and Pastor David’s house.


The walls going up on Pastor David's house

When we arrive, we find that the church now has a fresh new concrete floor. Only a few days ago, it was dirt. All concrete must be mixed by hand and carried inside the church. I’m not sure how many yards of concrete the floor represents but it was a lot of work.

The outside of the church is getting a layer of stucco.

Our task for the day is to sand the walls and paint. The men working on the church mix the paint as we sand the walls. They have selected a light yellow for the inside of the church. The plaster walls soak up the paint and it is evident that it will take many coats. We use brushes and one of the men has a roller with an extension to reach the areas we cannot.

Behind the church, a man and two boys are digging a latrine. They are going to 50 feet and I estimate that they are about 30 feet down. If you look carefully, you can see one of the boys at the bottom of the pit. They get down into the pit by carving footholds into each side. They stair step down (and up). You can see them in the side wall.

I wanted to see how heavy the bucket was. Not too heavy but I would imagine that it got heavier as the day went on. You can get a better view of the 'ladder' in the middle of the picture with the foothold on the right side of the pit.

You can see the concrete floor as well as the fruits of our labor for the day.

We get to see Natume again today. She has come to the church to work and is surprised to see us. We brought some paper and pencils and pens for her grandchildren to use in school.
Today is a short day but we get the walls sanded and several coats of paint on the church.

Renata making PB&J.

We brought our lunch with us today. The children see us eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches so naturally, they want to try it. They have never had PB&J before and it is soon apparent that it is very popular.

JJ and her fan club.


Tomorrow is a full day of work with the whole team.

Road trip - Day 2 (Kamwengee)

We awoke from a good night’s sleep ready to travel to Kamwengee. We are to visit a primary and pre-primary school today. Henry (Idah’s husband) is also involved with this school. Kanwengee is an area that has been devastated by aids. One of the villages that we are to stop at has a population that is almost 80% affected by aids or HIV related symptoms.

You can see the Mountains Of the Moon in the background.

For my friends at National Beef - These cattle are called Ankole. Very lean. I wonder what we would do with the horns?

The route to Kamwengee takes us through a rain forest. We have taken bananas with us to feed to the baboons that we should encounter. The terrain is very mountainous and the roads are the usual mixture of red dirt and gravel with a liberal sprinkling of potholes. We can see the snow-capped Mountains of the Moon in the distance. As we climb from the valley of Fort Portal, we can see the beautiful lush countryside spread out before us. It is truly a breath-taking view.

We come across several families of baboons. It is remarkable to see them quickly peel the bananas and discard the peels. I had expected them to eat the peels and all. The dexterity of their hands that they display was not anticipated and was fun to watch. They would not stay on the road long and usually only the biggest males would linger to where we could observe them.
The stream under the bridge.

Team two - back row Amber, Gene, Luke, Renata, Michelle, Idah, Kaitlin, Ricky and Richard.
Front Row, Boscoe, Deb, Chris, JJ, Taylor and Jamie.

We stopped at a bridge to stretch our legs. There was a stream that wandered through the rain forest. The water was the usual murky brown colored by the red dirt. The vegetation was very lush but still covered by a fine layer of the red dirt. I think that all vegetation next to non-paved roads in Uganda have a permanent coating of this dirt.

As we drive up to the school we see a sea of small children waving branches coming to welcome us. It brings an overwhelming sense of awe. It reminds me of the description of Palm Sunday when Jesus enters Jerusalem. Was this feeling similar to what Christ felt when the people welcomed Him? The smiles are contagious and we are very quickly surrounded. The children are eager to touch and hug. They love to hold hands and walk with you.

Note the solar panels on the roof.

Note the cord wrapped around the machine - no electricity because the batteries for the solar panels need to be replaced!

One of the patterns used by the students - it is made of very heavy paper so that it can stand up to repeated use.

We are welcomed by the village dignitaries and asked to sign the guest books. They give us a short program of singing and dancing followed by a tour. They have a classroom where they train people to sew. The majority of their sewing machines are the old Singer manual machines that I remember seeing at my Grandmother’s house. They have another room where they have electric embroidery machines. They cannot use these most of the time because they are trying to conserve electricity from the solar panels. The storage batteries need to be replaced (about $1000 – one more need) – a generator would be even better.

The classroom for the children is nothing more than a dirt floor covered by mats. There are 41 children in this class. There are two teachers and they have remarkable control. The children respond quickly to any commands given by the teachers.

Michelle gives a short skit and demonstration about germs. Through Milton (the field worker), she explains to the children not to cough or sneeze into their hands. This concept was quickly grasped by the children as all the ones I saw started using the crook of their arm to cough or sneeze into.

Teaching materials are very limited - another need.

Taylor passed out coloring books, markers, crayons and some toys/games. The teachers are standing by Taylor.

This was the moment that Taylor had been waiting for. She had collected MANY coloring books, markers and crayons to distribute to the children. You could see the excitement in the children’s (and adults) eyes as the coloring books were given to the teachers to be distributed later. I continue to be amazed by the poise and maturity that Taylor shows. She was truly in her element with the children. You can tell that she has a real love for them and they return that love.

Henry shows me the plans for the primary school and vocational school that they would like to build. It is truly ambitious. The immediate need is for school supplies (teaching material, books, paper, pencils, desks, etc.) – perhaps another project?

It is soon time to go, we have one more stop before we head for Kampala. The people of the community present us with gifts and refreshments. It is wonderful to see those who have so little give so freely. It reminds me of the parable of the widow who gave a mite in the temple. The rich men mocked her for giving so little but Jesus rebuked them saying that she was truly blessed because she had given all that she had compared to the rich men who had given very little of what they had.


We loaded the bus and departed for a village near Kamwenge. Here we were to meet the family sponsored by the Pahlows. The greeting we received was no less enthusiastic than what we had received from any of the other villages. We were seated in the shade, asked to sign the visitors books and entertained with dancing, songs and speeches. One of the songs was done by a boy about aids. It went something like this – Aids, Aids, Aids, you’ve killed my mother, you’ve killed my father, I have nowhere to sleep except on the veranda. I will try to get the exact words to the song but I think you get the drift.

This woman has elephantitis of the feet - very painful. They have no medicine to treat it - another need.

After this song, the elders asked all those in the village affected by aids to come forward so we could see the sheer numbers. It was gut-wrenching to see men, women and children come forward. We hugged them and told them that we loved them and Christ loved them. They are not used to people treating them like people and they weep with us.

Most of these people have aids - they are not used to receiving hugs.

This is the clinic that is the dream of the community. It is located outside Fort Portal and would serve both Fort Portal and Kamwengee. It needs to be finished and staffed. A doctor costs $30,000 (5 years at $6000) to train. They have to sign a contract promising to stay and work for at least 5 years. A nurse costs $6,000 (2 years at $3000). A counselor costs $1000 and one year. This would be a HUGE benefit for the people of the area.

We boarded the bus and started the long ride back to Kampala, mostly in silence as we contemplated the events we had just witnessed. We arrived late in Kampala, tired but looking forward to tomorrow.

Road Trip - Day 1 (Fort Portal)

We left early for Western Uganda. It is a five hour trip to Tooro High School. The roads are not bad and the traffic is fairly light. All in all, the drive was not too bad. We have a good group and JJ is better than a radio station.

We arrive in Fort Portal and take our bags to the hotel. From there we go to Tooro High School. The students greet us enthusiastically and we are introduced to the administration. Our hosts treat us to several songs and dances (which we join in). It was quite a lively time.



We take a tour of the school. The majority of the students are girls. 80% of the students are orphans – mainly due to AIDS. They are boarded at the high school for various reasons. They have so many students that they have had to convert the lecture hall into a dormitory. They have a SEVERE space problem. 17 of the girls have HIV. They require a special diet (high amounts of fruits, vegetables and protein) that is not covered by the normal boarding fees. It works out to about $70/month (another need).



We tour the computer lab. When the school administrator was telling us about the school, all the students laughed. Now I know why – the room is empty (another need). They have many plans for the school – all they need is MONEY!
After lunch, we present a couple of short puppet shows and sing a couple of songs for the students. We are scheduled to play a football (soccer) game later that afternoon. I just hope that I don’t die!

Our church (First Baptist) has 4 families in the Fort Portal area. Three are sponsored by a family in our church and one by our church. We have built houses for each of the families and I am anxious to see them. We have special gifts for the families from our church.

Our first stop is Silas. Silas is 75 years old. He is immensely proud of his house. He lives on a small area of land and takes care of banana trees for the land owner. He has bought pigs with part of his sponsor money. He plans to start raising pigs as his business plan so that he can be independent at the end of his sponsorship. The grandchildren were in school. His wife and his children all died of AIDS.



Silas is VERY happy

Can you guess what this is?
It is what is left of the house Silas USED to live in. He tore it down so that it would not make his new house ugly.

One of Silas' pigs.

Our next stop was Edreda. She had 18 children and now has 10 children that she cares for. She lives in a community where everyone pitches in and shares in the responsibilities. These children are all relatives. All of the relatives have died from AIDS.
Some of the children are in school and others are camera shy. Notice the left-over bricks being used for a path near the front of the house.

Edreda had gifts for everyone on the team. She makes these as part of her business.

Luke was an instant celebrity. He traded the home made soccer ball (in Luke's hand) for a larger model.

The children are all suffering from the white stick disease. This was a disease that followed team two everywhere we went. There is no known cure.

The beds are always made and the houses are very neat.

Polina was the third stop. She is 90 years old – WOW!! Her grandchildren were in school. She makes mats as her business. Her spirit is amazing. You would never guess that she is as old as she is.

To say that she is happy is an understatement - her expression is priceless.

Polina does not have much land but she is very pleased with her new house.

Gifts are placed in the front room in a place of prominence.

Polina showed us a sample of the mats that she makes. They are very colorful and take two to four weeks to make, depending on how bad the arthritis is in her hands.


Mastula was our last stop. Her children are both in secondary school (Tooro High School). Her husband was Muslim and died of Aids. Matsula is also infected. Her husband's family rejected her because she was not Muslim. Her own family would accept her back but not her children (because they were half Muslim). She was at a point where she was ready to kill her children to spare them from starving to death and to commit of suicide but was talked out of it. Since her sponsorship, she has started a business. With the money, she has begun to plaster the inside walls of her house. She and a group of widows have a business making baskets and necklaces. When we walked up, the front of her house has flowers all along the front. She wants the house
to be beautiful.

Pure joy - women be shopping (even in Africa)!!!!

Michelle brought Mastula beads and supplies for her business.

Notice the flowers in the background near the front of the house. This was the only house (that I remember) that had flowers adorning the house.

This is Pastor Godfrey. He has the same first name as my father. Pastor Godfrey was instumental in talking Mastula out of suicide.

We are joined by Pastor Godfrey at Mastula’s house. He is the Pastor of the Christian Centre in Fort Portal. He invites us to his church. We drive up and are greeted by several members of the congregation. They have been waiting for us ALL DAY (it is now late afternoon). The church reminds me of a pole barn. It is entirely open, including about half of the roof. They have sheets draped from the edge of the roof that are the walls of the church. The pulpit is in the center of the church and benches are located under the finished part of the roof. We are welcomed and invited to pray with the congregation. Pastor Godfrey gives us a history of the church. He came to the area several years ago. A Muslim gave him a place to hold services until people started accepting Christ and going to the church. Pastor Godfrey was told to leave. One of the tragedies of the region that we learned about was the presence of witchdoctors and voodoo. There are so many orphans in the area that it is very easy for the witch doctors to use the children as sacrifices.

That is not a skylight - just an unfinished roof.

The walls are not transparent - just cloth.

The people of the community bought the land and have constructed the present church. This could be a great opportunity to partner with this Church and help them finish the building.

From there, we headed back to Tooro High school for our soccer match. By this time we were about 2 hours late and all the boys had left for the day. I’m sure they were disappointed but I felt relieved! We headed for the hotel and supper. The end of a LONG day (but a good day).


My apologies JJ - I just couldn't pass up this opportunity. JJ NEVER meets a stranger.