Sunday School help

I've been frantically working for the last two weeks to keep up with our weekly chapels. One of my main duties here is to write all of the lessons for chapel. Sounds easy right? Did I mention that there are 5 sections of chapel lessons for each week? Take my word, it's not easy stuff. However, I found a pretty cool website recently that has helped me to be more innovative with our lessons.

In Uganda, it pretty much doesn't matter what age you are. You'll have a teacher who just stands in the front and talks. Imagine being a child in such a Sunday School class. Doesn't sound too exciting does it. So I've been trying to help them be more creative. Use demonstrations to help bring a lesson to life. Use activities that are interactive. Unfortunately for us, our resources are limited. We can't afford to give every child a copy of every thing we are doing so we have to be more creative. However, it's been fun to participate with these teachers and show them a different style of teaching. That they can present a simple lesson and really try to nail it down for these kids instead of trying to teach them what most adults struggle to understand.

My request is this. Many of you have worked or are working with children or youth. Do you have any good activities or demonstrations that we can use out here to enhance lessons? Don't worry about the lessons we are teaching, but anything that brings something to life will help us. Thanks and bless you all.

Rain Rain Go AWAY!!!

So based on our recent weather pattern, we're back in the rainy season. It's been a long time since we've seen this much rain. Too bad that rain didn't come earlier this year when we needed it. In Uganda, people rely on crops to survive whether it be for their own sustenance or to be used as a source of income (or both). We didn't get enough rain to sustain much of the crops that we were growing on our new land. Also because of lack of rain and thus fewer crops, prices for food are increasing at an alarming rate. It's still super inexpensive compared to food costs in the U.S., but the people here suffer because their income cannot compete with inflation.

As for me, I really enjoy the rain, especially the thunderstorms since as a Californian, I saw few of those in my lifetime. The other nice thing is that thunderstorms and rain in Uganda doesn't last for days on end like in California. We get short storms for about an hour or two then it's over. The bad side, the side I really dislike, is that when it rains a lot other problems occur. For one, our kids can't play in our field because it morphs into a pond/lake/river. (see picture - you can't see the river moving in the back, but that line of water is a rushing flood of water). Keep in mind also that only the main roads are paved and thus everything else is muddy which is no fun if you are walking or on a boda. Even on those paved roads, rain means potholes at the least and during a good pouring, floods! Most of all, I hate rain when it affects me. It seems to rain on days that I do laundry (or other people do laundry for me) or days when I want to play basketball.

Yesterday, it rained for a good 2 hours in the morning and then around lunch I saw the black clouds creeping in again. I immediately began to rebuke them in the Name of Jesus because I selfishly didn't want my Tuesday basketball game to get "rained out". Thank you Jesus for listening even with my selfish motives.

Mzugu prices

One of the things that I've always been cautious about since coming to Uganda is the cost of things here. If you're not aware of the cost of something then you most likely will be charged a higher price because of the color of your skin. I've been in taxis going from the school to the church where they attempted to charge me 500 shillings for a 300 shilling ride. They always laugh when I call them on their "mzungu" fare.

In town, it costs 400 shillings to park for an hour. However, many people don't carry around exact change so they'll end up giving the parking person a 500 shilling coin knowing that they won't get change. I one time gave a guy exactly 400 shillings and he asked me where the other 100 was. I laughed and asked him why he wanted to charge me 500 shillings when we both know it costs only 400 shillings. He, in turn, laughed and said, "Ah, you are very wise" and walked away.

However, last week I had a funny experience that made me want to share all of this with you. When you drive on the roads to Masaka, there are places to stop to buy "grilled" beef or chicken, water, etc. I was hungry after going to the village so I pulled over to buy a beef stick. I also bought ones for the other people in the car and gave the guy the money I knew it cost. Instead of charging me 500 shillings, he said it was 1500. I laughed and said he was joking with me. He said no, it's 1500. So before anyone began eating I told them to all give them back to the guy. Only then did he say "no" and took the money and walked away.

This is what you get to experience almost every day, but in many ways, you can't blame them. They make very little doing these jobs so anything extra is a big deal.

Aftermath

So I'm finally healed after a bout with some stomach/intestinal bacteria. It came on very slowly before it really put me down for a few days. The good thing about being sick this past week is that I didn't feel as much like a prisoner with all the rioting going on around the city. If you've watched the news and seen the reports of rioting in Kampala, it might have looked like every area of Kampala was out of control. However, there were definitely pockets of chaos and then many more pockets of "things somewhat as normal". Yes, I could definitely hear gunshots from the school; yes, my friend had to pick up his children from his school because they were near there; however, no one I know or even know anyone who knows anyone who was hurt in the riots.

The riots pretty much ended by Saturday night. Because our area was not that affected by the riots, nothing really seemed different than any other week. However, I had to travel to the west with Oliviah to do some social work for the ministry and we passed by a place called Nateete. This is an area in which the rioting was the worst. Unfortunately for Pastor Dongo and his family, the road to their new house in Bbira passes through Nateete. I had heard that major rioting there was so bad that they burned down a police station and all the impounded cars and let all the prisoners free. I couldn't really picture this in my mind, but I was amazed at the scene as we passed by on Wed. The structure of the police station was no more. There was a definite military presence there to maintain control. And about 20 cars or more were burned to a crisp. I wish I had a photo to help show you what I mean, but I was a little intimidated to take a picture because law enforcement don't take too kindly to having their pictures taken.

I definitely didn't feel threatened during the week, but I'm also glad that I was wise enough to stay home and not run any errands on those few out of control days.

Riots in Kampala

The recent activity in the city of Kampala reminds me of my first trip to Uganda. I was on the plane from London to Entebbe and my traveling companion and president of Buyamba told me I should watch the BBC News on the airplane on-demand tv. I asked why and he said they were rioting in Kampala and that an "Asian" was killed during the riots. I watched and it was funny to me because I didn't even see an "Asian" in the news broadcast. However, I did see quite a number of Indian people (from India not Native Americans). So I wasn't worried. The riot was over by the time we got into Uganda.

I don't know how big something has to get out here for it to make the news back home, but I posted on my Facebook account that I was okay and that the riots were not in our area. I'm not sure if it worried people more or not, but it seems that many people are praying for us out here now. Prayer is always accepted, but I can't say that I feel threatened at all.

I first learned of the riots when a friend who lives on the other side of town called me asking me if I heard any gunshots. I hadn't. He later informed me of the riots going on in the city. If I tried to explain the reason to you, you wouldn't understand so I'll just let it be and say that it should pass by Sun.

On a different note, the riots have reminded me of the foolishness of people. Most of the people who are rioting are just people who are idle and now have a reason to be active in a negative way. It's quite similar to the L.A. riots after the Rodney King verdict. Some of you might not be old enough to remember them, but I do. In fact, I was on La Cienega Blvd. in L.A. when I first heard the verdict. I knew that it was a bad sign, but not thinking of the worst that could happen, I ventured on a shortcut to my girlfriend's house in Westchester. If your geography of L.A. is not very good, it meant I had to drive through Inglewood and other dangerous areas to avoid the traffic on the freeways. I passed a shop called Fedco on the way. To make a long story short, I made it safely to my girlfriend's house in time to watch that same Fedco burning and people looting it.

As I watched the nonsense on the news, I had to wonder why would you destroy your own neighborhood. To this day, that still makes no sense to me. Jesus calls us to forgive...not once, not twice...but over and over. I think the Scripture says something like 70 times 7, but I don't think He meant to count until 490 and then you no longer need to forgive. When we act in ways similar to these hooligans starting fires, etc., we are just thinking selfishly. Instead, we need to think of others as greater than ourselves. Jesus can to serve, not to be served. We should follow His example.

Eastern Uganda

So I was pretty burnt out after working on our children's camp at the end of Aug. Lucky for me, I was able to get away from Kampala for a few days to visit some friends that are working in Soroti, which is in Eastern Uganda. Early Saturday morning, I jumped on a bus to Soroti. I arrived at around 11 am to a much quieter environment than I'm used to. Kampala is the only real city in Uganda. The rest are just small towns. It's almost like going back to the days of the ole West. The town center was just a few blocks long; definitely not as many cars or motorcycles crowding the streets; on the other hand, there were plenty of bicycle taxis.

We spent Saturday resting for half of the day and then borrowed some bodas (motorcycles) to go to a lake down the road. I didn't know how far the lake was so I thought a short trip...like maybe 15-20 minutes. My friends didn't know the distance either. On the way, the boda I was on got a flat so we had to wait for it to get it fixed. When we finally arrived it was about 2 hours later and the sun was setting. Beautiful across the lake, but bad for us as nighttime brings trouble many times in Uganda so we raced home in like an hour. BTW, we looked pretty amazing after our ride...no helmets = lots of dust on our faces and in our hair. Finally, we ended the day with dinner at a pastor's house. This pastor, James, was much like Pastor Dongo. He lived on a compound and was caring for about 20 children not his own.

Sunday we woke for church and then rode bicycles there. Again a lot farther than I had thought, but only about a 20 minute ride. The church was small, but beautiful (didn't bring my camera for any pics though). I love the people of Uganda. They are pretty much the same throughout the country. Then we rode back as I gave one of the kids a ride on the back...uphill most of the way! Let's just say I got my workout for the day.

Monday we left on a bus for Mbale. I don't think they've changed the shocks in the bus in a long time as we hit many bumps that caused us to leave our seats. One made me knock my head on the overhead above. The bus dropped us on the junction for Sipi Falls and after waiting about an hour, we finally got into a taxi...made for 8 but with 14 packed into it. Not the most comfortable ride I've taken in Uganda. We arrived at Sipi and began hiking when we encountered our first obstacle. A man claiming that we needed to pay an entrance fee. There were no signs talking of this and he didn't seem legit, but we paid him and were on our way. Hiking was beautiful, but it had rained recently so mud was a challenge as we climbed down to the bottom of the lower falls. Apparently last time my friends were there, they crossed the river to the other side, but Sarah was a little worried that she might fall in because of the increase in the amount of water and lack of places to walk across safely. So we got pummeled by the spray of the waterfall and backtracked up to go around a different way. We were constantly followed by people who wanted money from us. Probably the one thing that I dislike the most about Uganda...the idea that white people are rich and therefore they should beg us for money. At one point, we asked some kids to leave us alone and they picked up stones to throw at us.

After relaxing at a lodge by the upper falls, we finally made our way to where we were staying for the night. A campsite near a different waterfall down the road. Again we took bodas for this long journey, but arrived to a beautifully landscaped campsite with our tents ready for us with mattresses and everything we needed. We enjoyed a BBQ dinner, a campfire and the sounds of the waterfall and nature. In the morning, we had an incredible breakfast with a view of the falls.

It was a great few days to relax with friends, but now it's time to work. Kids are back and the last term of the year has begun.

For more pics go to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=122035&id=697366716&l=a2a69ccca6

Spoiled in Uganda

With all the teams over the summer seeing where I live and what my life is like, I felt like I was a little spoiled. After all, I'm supposed to be a missionary and yet, I have a bed more comfortable here than what I had when I was in the U.S. I have a flat screen tv (though it's only 24") and a Wii game system. I have internet in my room even though it's sometimes slow and sometimes not on. I have a stove and oven; I have hot showers. In a nutshell, I'm pretty blessed if not spoiled.

Last night, I went to a friend's house. She is working for a mission agency and they have their own compound for missionaries. She's living with one roommate in a 3-4 bedroom house. They have a huge living room and kitchen (my living room and kitchen together could fit in their kitchen). They have a washer and dryer! They are eating American food every night (though I guess I could do that if I wanted to)

Suddenly, I don't feel spoiled anymore. However, I do admire those missionaries that are in a remote place without all the comforts of their native lifestyle. I'm not sure if I would survive. It's difficult enough to just be in Uganda with all the things I do have. So please pray for those that are really sacrificing for the gospel.