Visiting our Sponsored Children

Meeting Phebe

The Bushikori bus dropped us off at a corner of the main road through Mbale. We followed Dan, the Childcare Co-ordinator, to a hair dressing salon (called saloons here) where some young girls were practising braiding hair. In a typical Ugandan understatement he said, “So, we are here!” This was Phebe’s place! We walked in and met a lovely lady with a huge smile on her face who was very excited to see us. We did the usual handshake and “you are most welcome” routine and then Dan told us this was Phebe’s mother! Then there were hugs and more, “you are most welcome” and “thankyou so much for coming”. Dan then told her to get Phebe. She came out from the back very shyly. It was hard to believe we were finally meeting her. She had grown so much compared to the photo we have of her on the fridge at home. We were all overwhelmed by the moment. As she had just completed her term 1 school exams she was able to show us her school report. She is 15years old, in Senior 3 and doing very well. She attends the local secondary school.

Teddy, her mother, then ushered us into the backroom of the salon (where they live). It was so small, just a tiny sitting area with an area curtained off where Phebe sleeps. Her mother sleeps on a mattress in the sitting area and packs it away each morning. She told us a bit about her family circumstances and how she trusted God through all the hardships which she encountered bringing up several children on her own. She seemed to be a well spoken, strong Godly woman. She was so thankful for Phebe being sponsored. We then gave Phebe a small gift (blouse and necklace) which she immediately went and put on. It was a perfect fit!

A couple of days later at the Bushikori Youth Empowerment conference, we met Phebe again. It was wonderful to have such a special bond with her. She also is a great singer and led some of the worship. Her mother Teddy was also the guest speaker! She spoke on Ephesians 5:15 – “Be careful how you walk, not as unwise but as wise.”

Meeting Martin.

As we left in the Bushikori bus to meet Martin, Dan said, (in typical Ugandan style) “We drive a bit, and then we walk a bit. It is up in the mountains. (UP UP!)” We drove for an hour on horrendous roads (click on player to hear road sounds)


, through many tiny villages and even a village market.

Dan then said, “So now we walk!” Dan had organised for a man to guide us up the mountain. We walked on a rough road again passing many small villages. The scenery was breathtaking.(Click player to hear the Ugandan Chatter)

We saw many different types of crops being grown, onions being planted and fields being hoed and weeded by the women. The men sat around in groups talking. It is a time of not much food as it is still growing season. The farming here is subsistence only. They need to be taught how to grow their food more efficiently and proper means of storing their surplus food. Dan started calling out to a woman sitting outside her mud hut preparing some food. She was Martin’s mother. How pleased she was to see us. She ran out to welcome and thanked us for coming and she laughed and laughed. She followed us up the road. We then veered off onto a skinny “goat” track which certainly went UP UP! Liane needed to stop and catch her breath. Our guide called out “Mummy, are you bad?” (White women are often called mummy) “But you must do it!” Mother Womono chuckled, took her hand and started pulling Liane up the track. Around every corner we thought “This must be it!”

Finally after an hour and a half walk we reached a small group of huts (Bulamununyi). Some chairs were quickly produced and we were ushered into them. One of the young men called Michael told us that Martin was at school. Oh no! Out came a mobile phone! And Dan made some calls to get Martin and Fred (Jan and Big H’s sponsored child) released from school. It was an hour’s walk for them to get to us, so we sat and enjoyed the serenity and picturesque scenery amongst the dogs, cats, ducks, chickens, pigs, cows, goats and many curious children. (Click player to hear the animal sounds)

In the meantime Michael proudly showed us the hut which he shares with Martin, Fred and two other boys. It consists of a small sitting room and three small bedrooms. One with a triple bunk he had made so as to keep the mattresses (which the work party supplied last year) off the ground. Their blankets were very thin and as it gets very cold up in the mountains we will look into purchasing some new ones for them all. Martin had written on the door to the hut “All visters yo ur most wellcome visters. I am at school” Dan asked someone to get us some sodas which we thought was quite amusing in a primitive rural village at the top of the mountain.

Finally Martin arrived. He is 18 years old and in P7 and has very little English, so Dan did some translating. He was very thankful for the gifts we had sent and for sponsoring him. He said that now he truly knows that there are sponsors helping him. Our visit had made it real for him. He told us that he would like to be a teacher or even a head master. We then gave him a gift (a shirt) which he put on straight away – a perfect fit again! We said how delighted we were to meet him and encouraged him to continue working hard at school. We felt sorry that he had to walk an hour back to school to complete his exams. As it was now getting onto 2pm we were invited to stay for a meal of matoke, tough old chicken stew (which Rex couldn’t even get his teeth through) and greens. After this we headed off back down the mountain, a much easier trek, followed by a young man carrying 2 bunches of matoke on his head, a woman carrying a large bag of passionfruit on her head and Pastor George carrying a live chicken under his arm. All items were loaded into the bus (even the chicken) and we also ferried a very sick old man to the next medical centre for treatment. What a wonderful experience God had given us.

Both these visits have been the highlights of our stay in Uganda. Once again we saw the two extremes of life in Uganda, one sponsor child living 5 minutes away from us in the city and the other in a remote rural village.

The Namatala Bible Club Celebrations

We awoke early this morning. A rooster (or roosters) gives us a series of early wakeup calls! We are up at dawn each morning. After brekky we checked our emails and did some washing. We were picked up by Jane (from the British Jenga NGO) in an old pickup truck. She drove us out to Namatala, a very poor area of Mbale to go to their Bible-Club celebrations. They have been conducting bible study groups in this area and all the groups were getting together for a celebration. It was supposed to start at 12:30pm but didn’t start until after 2pm (time is VERY flexible here!) as they were still picking up children in the pickup and a van from the outer areas. About 500 children came. A few of them were brave enough to come up and shake our hands and quite a few melted our hearts. It was held in the local Baptist church which had the walls built but only a “temporary” roof covering half the area with a dirt floor. When we arrived we were swamped by little kids calling out “Muzungu”. While we were waiting the children who were already there broke out into spontaneous worship. (Click player to hear singing)

The MC for the afternoon was a Ugandan named Moses. He broke the British and Aussie complement up when he lead worship with a yellow wig and red nose. Each group presented some songs. Some of the songs were quite moving and the children that led worship are very gifted. (This is despite the LOUD keyboard playing and distorted PA)

They also had a find the bible verse competition and a bible knowledge quiz. The children were each given a mango juice drink and a chapatti and a mandazi (like a doughnut). At the conclusion it was getting dark and the team ferried the children home.

We saw the lights and fires come on in their little mud huts and reflected on how blessed we had been by their enthusiastic worship and how impressed we were by their bible knowledge.

A Day at Bushikori

At 7.30 the Bushikori bus came past to pick up staff for the Centre. We stopped a few times along the way. We arrived about 8 (time is VERY flexible here) through the big locked gates and past the guard.

As it was the end of term (they have 3 terms) we all walked across the road to the chapel for final assembly. The staff normally start the day with Morning Glory where they meet together for a short time of worship, prayer and teaching. But as it was assembly and chapel this was put off. (No crossing supervisors here) traffic just kept speeding past. Once all the children were across safely and were seated we were ushered up on to the stage as “honoured guests” along with another couple visiting from America. After Michael (some of you may remember him when he came out to Australia with Anne a few years ago) outlined the programme, Anne introduced us and we each spoke a little about ourselves.

The children then sang the Ugandan anthem and the Joshua Primary School song.

(Click player to hear song)

Beautiful and enthusiastic singing! After that we had Chapel. The P5 students ran it – worship time, Bible readings, memory verses. Dan (the Co-Ordinator of the sponsored children) spoke on 1 Tim 5:1, children respecting their parents and elders – a good message for the holidays.

Afterwards we had a cup of tea in Anne’s office where we discussed what we would like to do at Bushikori. We then had a brief chat with Dan who outlined how the sponsorship program works. We walked across to the school and met the headmaster Charles. They have just built the P5 classroom, which is equivalent to Year 4. The students were all outside playing and singing.

We then wandered across to the clinic where Dr. Levert showed us around the maternity section, as well as the men’s, women’s and paediatric wards. It is a very well run and much used facility. The doctors here have no fancy diagnostic equipment and rely on their own knowledge. However they do have access to modern drugs for treatment. One patient was a badly burnt little girl. It is a common injury here, as children fall over the cooking pot or hot water. Also HIV is still a big problem in this area but there is a big education program in the papers and schools. A few days ago a widow was brought in who was very sick. They had to transport her to the hospital (where you can wait for 3 days to see a doctor) but she later died leaving two young children (a five year old and a one year old). This is just many of similar stories which have lead to the vision of setting up Bushikori.

We wandered around and took some photos. Lunch was ready about 1. All the staff receive a hot lunch. Our first Ugandan meal – boiled rice, fried rice, cabbage, a little bit of meat stew (we didn’t ask what kind of meat) and potatoes (called Irish). The Ugandans surely have huge servings. Forget the low carb diet. It was quite nice.

Rex is planning to look at the computers in the admin building. He will try to clean up the viruses, network them and try to set up internet access on them all. As the term is finished I will help out with coaching some students who will have to come back in the holidays for further tuition.

We had another look at the school where the students were busy washing the floors and took some more photos. The children swamped us and squealed with delight when we turned the camera around and showed them pictures of themselves.

We were very impressed at how well the centre is run. They are doing an excellent job with the limited resources they have available.

Muzungu life in Mbale

There is quite a close group of Muzungu (white people) living here. We are surprised by how many different aid agencies there are. Many of them are Non-Government Organisations (NGO) supported by various churches. We met quite a few of them at John’s 60^th birthday party – a lot of Americans, a small contingent of British (mainly the Jenga team), some Palestinians, one Belgium eye doctor and of course us Aussies.

They all live in pretty old but comfortable houses left over from when the British were living here. The rooms are large and made of concrete as termites are a problem. There are steel grates on all the doors and windows. Properties all have a high fence and locked gate. It is expected that they employ a house boy/girl and a night guard and also have a watchdog. Lyn is a very good cook. She makes her own bread each day in the breadmaker as the local bread is very sweet. She buys fresh milk, cheese and yoghurt each morning and boils the milk up. She also boils up a large amount of water each night and stores it in a large water dispenser.

Uganda is a land of huge contrasts – from the very rich to the extremely poor. There is a lot of aid money given from other government countries but it doesn’t seem to filter down to where it is needed. You can see smartly dressed people walking back to the slums after work. Many people have mobile phones as there is no land line service. You buy “air time” from a stall in the street where you can also charge up your phone. You can even see people charge their phones up at church. There are stalls where you can pay to use a mobile if you don’t have one (outside the PO). There are armed guards outside the banks which make you feel very safe when you are withdrawing your money! There are many Indians living here (also a hangover from the colonial days when they were servants). Now they are the successful business people and run the restaurants and supermarkets. Yes an Indian restaurant in Uganda!

The Ugandans are very friendly and polite. They like to shake your hand and do their own special handshake. The greeting is always “You are most welcome.” They are quietly spoken and take pride in dressing smartly, even if that is there only set of clothes. In the town the men all wear long pants and shirts, some even with ties. Shorts are only for young boys. The women wear mostly dresses or tops and skirts. Very few wear trousers. Shoes are always highly polished - no thongs! Their hair grows in very tight curls so many have their head shaved. The more modern ladies have hair braids sewn in or wear a wig in a modern style! Workers will dress up to travel to work and then if they work in a yard or house they will change into work clothes and then dress up again when they travel home ( usually a small two room house)! The soil is very fertile and they live on what they can grow, mostly matoke (a kind of banana) and some greens. If the man of the house dies his brothers take over the property and throw the woman and children onto the street. It is against the law here but the police turn a blind eye to many things especially traffic breaches. There are still about 8 million Ugandans living in abject poverty and many houses in the poorest areas where they do not have any farming land, can have 20 people living in them, mostly children. Somehow they scratch out an existence.

Some particularly Ugandan phrases (there are many different languages but most have a little English).

The answer always to “How are you?” is always “I am fine.”

Are you getting me? - Do you understand?

Melembe - Hello

It has refused. - It won’t work.

Are you there? - Are you ready?

Do it now, now. - Do it straight away.

How is here? - How are things?

How is there? - How is it at home?

How is behind? - How is it from where you have come from/Australia?

He is far. - They are out of town

It is about. - It is somewhere.

Some new posts to come - A day at Bushikori and The Namatala Bible Club Celebration.

Thats all for now. - We are fine!

The First Few Days

Well the time finally arrived for us to go. We were able to check our overweight luggage in without any extra charges and no one questioned our heavy hand luggage. All our connections went smoothly and we enjoyed the service on the Emirates flights. Dubai airport is enormous, soon to be the biggest in the world! As everything in Dubai is. Our travelling time from Melbourne to Uganda was just over 24hrs. We were very glad to see John there to meet us.

First impressions – lusciously green (God's garden), pleasantly warm, busy with people moving using all forms of transport, lots of people walking, taxi bikes (boda-bodas), taxi scooters (pickies), lots of overfull mini-bus taxis (matatus) all driving at enormous speed and without much distance between them with seemingly no regard for road rules. John's driving is to be commended! He drove us to a missionary's home in Kampala which just happened to be near the top of a hill overlooking Kampala and Lake Victoria. The view was fantastic especially seeing the sun rise over Lake Victoria. A lovely birthday morning present for Liane. We are now called Muzungu (White person).

After a morning doing some chores in Kampala which included picking up some Americans and changing our US dollars to Ugandan shillings (we were nearly millionaires) the full Bushikori bus headed down the road to Mbale (pronounced Mmmmm-Barley) We drove through the Mabira forest (which the government has just sold for a sugar plantation which caused a violent protest where 3 people were killed. This was in Kampala just before we came) We stopped at a roadside stall for Anne to get some pineapples and chicken and were swamped by boys and girls wanting to sell us some lovely chicken on a stick, cooked banana or cold sodas. John told us to wind up the windows but someone opened the side door to the van! John nearly died as people were poking chicken on a stick at us. Beth (one of the Americans) said in an assertive voice, "NO!, GO!" Anne got out of the bus to get her things and we were rescued as another taxi bus arrived crammed full which caused the flurry of activity to move to them and we shut the door quickly. They were all desperate to sell something. What a way to make a living. We saw the Nile river and papyrus reeds just like the story of bay Moses. What a relief to finally get to Mbale after 4 ½ hours of driving over some pretty rough and dangerous roads. The next morning we walked Annie and Emma to school and walked into the town for a look around. We met the crew from Jenga (another missionary group) and then took a boda-boda ride to our new home.

The internet connection here is extremely slow and frustrating!!

Fitting it all in. Gadgets and Stuff.

Just a quick explanation of the essential items that need to be taken!
Seems a lot really but isn't.

One Nickon coolpix L6 digital camera, this can take movies as well but we don't intend to
take a lot, mostly pictures.

One Sony minidisk recorder including varied mono and stereo and binaural microphones.
Instead of a lot of movies I am hoping to record the sounds of our trip.
Interviews, interesting sounds that we come across, the sound of the children, the sound of Ugandan life, the many sounds of Europe. Also threw in a mini speaker so others can hear all this.

Phone/PDA, one for me (Rex) and one PDA for Liane. This has our bibles(s) on them and
can operate as MP3 players and everything else a PDA can do.
This means chargers and some other misc cables!

One Compaq mini laptop. This is to be our communication hub!. Most contact with home will be via email and this blog. It will also be for storage and processing of photos and sound recordings.
This means another charger!

Some spare SD memory cards, USB memory sticks, batteries for camera and minidisk player. (Have I forgotten any?)

Some of the non-technology gadgets are numerous power adapters, microfiber towels, sleeping mask, money belts, space bags (These are really cool, compress things down to make it easier to fit in the case, unfortunately this doesn't make it lighter!!!!) and some travel books for Europe.

Presents for children, relatives and friends.

Yes we are overweight! (meaning our baggage of course)

A Sea of Pencils!

On the last day of term we had a casual dress day at Drysdale Primary School. The purpose was to raise an overall awareness of child poverty in the world and provide an opportunity for the students to contribute in a meaningful way. The money will be used to purchase some library books and sports equipment for Joshua Primary School at Bushikori, Uganda. I also asked each family if they would like to donate a packet of coloured pencils.

After showing the students a short slideshow of the children in Uganda they all became very enthusiastic to help. You can imagine the excitement in my class when there became many knocks on the door and packets of pencils and donations began flooding in. A lot of students gave more than their gold coin donation and many brang more than one packet of pencils! Students began coming up to me to tell me about their sponsor child or how they have donated money to support various projects to help the poor overseas. It was truly amazing to get such support and encouragement. Eventually I managed to fit all the pencils in the boot of my car. After counting all the money we had raised I was able to buy some beautiful picture books about Africa and some lovely Steve Parish books about Australia.

Truly blessed to be a blessing….