Hello again from N. Uganda!
Our week was eventful to be sure. Our first
stops were to Bala and Anyangapuc villages in which Hands Across
Nations has been working for 3 years. Monday and Tuesday we were
able to spend the days in Bala with Pastor Solomon and the women’s
farming group visiting their gardens, seeing their new oxen team and
joining together in Bible study. Solomon’s brother died this week
from Whooping Cough. His wife had already died so Solomon now has
3 more children to care for! This is not uncommon unfortunately
and puts an enormous burden on those left to carry on.
It was a really great day at Bala visiting their
garden plot where they planted yellow beans the first season on 2 ½
rented acres, and maize (corn) and soy beans in the same garden the
second season. Their new ox replacing Ferdinand who wouldn’t plow
last year, Opio White, is plowing even better than his partner, Opio
Black, and it’s been a huge help. Opio means “twin” in the Langi
language. Their garden was amazing for just 15 women.
Each has an equal plot in the garden so they “reap what they sow”.
Once they have sold their crops, 10% goes to the church, 10% to the
school, a certain amount is saved for seeds and veterinary bills, and
the rest is given to the women.
Nursery school at Anyangapuc is taught by two young
women, Ann and Cissy, 22 and 24 years old. Their teaching tools?
A blackboard, a few pieces of chalk, and a printed curriculum.
They have just the “baby class”, meaning 3 year olds with 24 students.
I had earlier learned that in testing 1st graders in the
Lira, Uganda free public school system, a Canadian educator found that
80% of the students were unable to identify even a single letter of the
alphabet! This baby class was not only identifying many of their
letters, they were tracing them and singing English songs. They all
belted out the Ugandan National Anthem as well! HAN is donating
pencils, sharpeners and erasers, crayons and chalk, and will also
provide flip charts and markers. A Flannelgraph Bible Story set
was demonstrated, for telling the important events in the Bible in an
interesting way to the children.
4 hours to the northeast of Lira, a return trip to
Adacar school included finishing the bank of latrines and drilling
a bore hole well for the Rotary Club of Colville grant. What was
to take 1 day, ended up 2 days and an overnight in the car, with all the
problems of broken down equipment, and unplanned glitches during
drilling.
The well drilling was completed with the promise of
enough water for over 50 water jugs an hour. That’s a welcome
change to walking 3 km for clean water, or dipping the jugs in the
stagnant pond near the school. All that is lacking is completing
the installation of the pump.
The latrines will get several coats of paint inside,
and have “rough casting” on the outside to prevent graffiti.
We’re almost there! With the added day, it gave us the opportunity
to meet with a group of about 40 men and women who have risen above the
refugee camp mentality - waiting for a hand out, and for others to
fix all their problems. They have moved back to their village
areas and rebuilt their mud hut homes and are willing to walk the long
distance to a well in order to be out of the camp lifestyle. It
gave us the time to share from the Bible and pray with them.
Early Thursday morning, tragedy struck as Jasper
Okello, deputy director for Medical Teams International (MTI) - Uganda
was killed in a bus accident on the way from Lira to Kampala. The
drunk driver was speeding, missed a curve, hit a very tall ant hill and
flipped the bus three times. Jasper’s young wife is expecting
their first baby in December. He was well loved and lived an
exemplary life. MTI Director, my host – Felix Omodi – and all of
MTI staff mourned Jasper’s death along with the whole community this
past weekend with about 5,000 people at his burial. It was a 5
hour experience with family and local leaders expressing their
appreciation for his life, prayers, a choir leading all of us in
singing, viewing of the body, and burial on the home ground followed by
a dinner served at 10 tables for all people attending - 2 cows
were slaughtered for the meal. Many had walked for hours to get
there and would return home on foot. It was a stark reminder that
life is fragile and short and can end at anytime. We must use it
carefully and well, not wasting a day in worthless pursuits.
Jasper Okello in Padar spring 2009
A big thank you to all of you who have supported and
prayed for the work here in N. Uganda. It is my pleasure and joy
to take your love, compassion and donated funds to the poorest of the
poor, giving them hope for a different future.
I do so appreciate your emails as it gives me a
feeling of connection to home.
Sharing the love of Christ in practical ways in
Uganda,
Carolyn
Carolyn's Journal November 19, 2010
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