As promised, in this post, I will share more about our team’s two weeks in Uganda. So much happened, I’m still unpacking – literally and figuratively! It may take several posts to share. At the end of this post, I will include a link to the Uganda Sharing video at Airport Christian Fellowship Church in Dexter, NY, so you can hear directly from 8 of us that are from the Watertown, NY area.
Instructions:
One of the first instructions we got during our first breakfast at Source of The Nile Hotel in Jinja, UG, was “If you’re going to complain, you have to sing it in an operatic voice.” I see this as good practice for “real life”. What a mirth-inducing act!
Some other cautions while in-country were don’t use the tap water for brushing your teeth. There may be things in it that your body can’t handle. Thankfully, our hosts provided us with cases of water bottles that we could use.
Foods:
As the saying goes, “an army runs on its stomach” and we were blessed with good cooks, great servers and abundant food at the hotel.
We were told not to eat fresh vegetables or salads. We could only eat fruits that could be peeled due to the possibility of digestive disturbances. There was always watermelon and pineapple available; once in a while mango, and many bananas/plantains.
The hotel served cooked vegetables at each meal, including mixtures of carrots, green beans, cauliflower, onions, and sometimes green peppers.
Potatoes of some kind were usually part of the buffet, as well as rice. They offered cold cereals, porridge, and sweet breads for breakfasts. There was a griddle where one employee made eggs to order and had sausages available.
We ate various versions of fish, goat, beef, chicken, and pork. It was not always easy communicating what exact meat or potatoes we were putting on our plates, but most of the food was excellent.
Note:
We were staying at a 4-star hotel, which sounds extravagant, especially for a mission trip. Actually, it’s part of the plan to keep the team as healthy as possible. It also frees us up to minister in the villages and not burden them or our team. As a contrast, on my trips to Ukraine, we stayed with trusted families in the villages.
Excursions:
Pastors John & Kristy wisely gave us time to assimilate before we dove into the intensity of 6 days of ministry in 3 villages. We had one day of shopping in a couple of shops where our leaders knew the two women who owned them. It is difficult financially and spiritually to shop in random shops that may put curses on their merchandise or try to take advantage of Americans. Even at the approved shops, we prayed over our merchandise to cancel any curses when we got back on the bus.
One day, we went on a boat cruise on Lake Victoria and got to see where the lake met the Nile. Lake Victoria is large, second in size only to Lake Superior! It was an honor to get to see the fishing boats and the shacks by the water. Here’s a short video I took at the confluence.
It’s nice that Pastor Kristy birthday is at the beginning of our trip. Bishop Makka said they enjoy the opportunity to have a party! We went to the village of Walukaba to meet the David’s Kidz staff and for them to meet our team. They fed us cake and sodas before taking us out to see the school and the new temporary housing. There was a fire that left some families homeless, so these units they’re building will have a couple to oversee things and several apartments for people to stay in temporarily.
After the tour, we went to their golf club for an even bigger party for Kristy. Joan had set up a balloon arch, and since Pastor Kristy had a vision of our team dressed in superhero capes, they put an actual cape on Kristy! It was a long day. Things in the restaurant began to get rowdy, so we headed back to the hotel.
Next time, I’ll share about the camps we did. Here’s the promised video link:
Musings along life's journey 