Merry Christmas!!!

No Christmas cards from this continent this year, I'm afraid! Just wanted to send out Christmas and New Years greetings to all who may grace this page with their friendly eyes. Know that if I know you, you are dearly missed and if I don't know you I hope our paths may cross in the coming year!

May your Christmas holiday be full of joy and peace - that Christ's love entering the world and the hope of that Love still to come will bring to you the full life that is promised.

Two of my favorite Christmas songs:

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.


O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O holy night, O night divine!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

Blessings to you all!

My neighborhood

This evening after work I took a walk & much to my surprise, it was a peaceful and serene event. The neighbors are getting used to me now. The ladies across the road from Medair seem more cordial, especially after I gave one of them a ride to the hospital a few weeks ago when she was too ill to walk. They wave & greet me, I smile & greet back. The children come running to shake my hand or just yell at the top of their lungs from wherever they are, “Mzungu!” and “Byebye”. Again, I smile & wave. I met one man along the way that does some work with Medair and found out he lives just around the corner from us. He asked where I was headed & my answer is typical to the culture here, “just to that rock there, on that side” as I point to my destination in the distance. Then I head on, with a few little ones probably no older than 2 years in tow as they can’t seem to unglue themselves from my hands. A bit further & they are called back home by someone. So I continue on my own, marveling at the beauty of Kaabong – boulders and rocks sprouting out of the earth randomly, huge cactus-trees, and an amazing sunset towards the west against the silhouette of many more mountains and rocks. I greet a friend, Christine, who helps us with some washing and cleaning a few days a week at our base – its good to see some familiar faces while I’m out and about. Another few minutes and I hear this distant shouting, “sister, how are you?” and two teenagers emerge from some gardens about 100meters away. “Where are you going?” they ask in really good English. I tell them I am walking to the rocks there & point that direction as I continue to walk – they say they will come too. So I tell them I will walk a bit slower, but they will need to walk a bit faster to catch up with me! They quicken their pace & in a few minutes we walk on together. Greeting them I find out they are sisters, Margaret & Joyce – 14 & 15 years respectively. They are in P6 class at the Pajar primary school just down the road from Medair. They have just come from their garden & were headed home. I ask them a bit more about themselves, but they seem content to just walk & not talk much – so we walk on in silence for about 20 minutes. Its nice to not be alone. Even nicer – when we turned around & came back to where they joined me to begin with, they said goodnight and headed home. That was it. Why is that so nice? Because almost every single person I meet here asks me for something. They want 100shillings or food or my shirt or my bag or my shoes…and they usually don’t just ask, they beg and demand. A normal phrase here is “You give me ….” Fill in the blank! Even the little ones who know just a bit of English can spit out “HowareyouI’mfinegivemeonehundred”. It’s exhausting…and I feel like a resource not a person. Yeah, so I was really grateful to take a quiet walk with some kind girls who wanted nothing from me – they walked away without a word other than goodnight. On my way back at the house of the man I mentioned earlier a crowd was gathering & some girls had some long vine-like branches tied together to make a jumprope. They had stopped for the moment, but when I showed interest they got very excited and wanted to show off their skills, so I stayed for a bit & then jumped in for a few rounds. The ladies thought it was the greatest thing – and still, no requests of me. I just got to be me and enjoy the company of the people here.

That was my evening walk, wish you could have been there too!

Holiday with friends

Sorry my posts have been delayed lately. I had some friends in the country over the past month & have enjoyed spending time with them. Here are some highlights:

The hippest new (read: only) coffee shop in Gulu, Uganda – the Kope Café. Opened by folks working with Invisible Children to raise money for a program to provide fun activities like dance and music to children in need. The place is beautiful, all the walls are muraled as you can see here. They took the verses from Ecclesiastes (some may quote instead from the famous Beatles tune as well) a time for … and a time for … and made banners along the whole wall. The kids chose pictures to depict each season mentioned – it is a powerful display! Plus the coffee is great and the people are really kind. Tif & I spent a few afternoons here sipping lattes and wondering if we were really still in Africa…

Ah, my good friend Brandi – only had a few precious days with her, but it was so wonderful! Glad we got to share a room & catch up from under our tents!

We spent Thanksgiving with some American & Ugandan friends while in Kampala. Here is Patrick, Tif, me, Julie, Alyssa, & Emma. Patrick, Julie & Emma all work with Come, Let’s Dance. It was so fun to celebrate Thanksgiving and enjoy a fabulous spread of American-ish dishes! Julie & Shane did an amazing job of making us feel like we were truly in the states and with family. This picture was taken a few days later off of Lake Victoria in Jinja. This is the source of the Nile River.

Some of Ghandi’s ashes were spread at the source of the Nile here, so there is a shrine. I don’t really think it fits with who Ghandi was or what he stood for – think it looks more like a shrine to the marble-tile god. If I were in charge, there would be many flowers, maybe a fountain, and a place to sit & ponder or meditate on peace and non-violence. But alas, they didn’t ask me my opinion before throwing a ton of money into this piece of work…

Another view of the source

Jared & I were thrilled to find a great coffee place in Jinja – yay for foam!!!



Tif, Alyssa, & I spent a few days hanging out in Jinja after the others left. What a relaxing few days we had. Here we are at Bujagali falls just about 6 km down from the source of the Nile. We could have rafted the Nile, but decided to not risk life & limb on that adventure. We settled for a very peaceful sunset canoe ride at the source instead – we were quite content with that option! These ladies brought me so much joy! I miss them so much already!

Day trip to the Equator

Last Saturday morning I was making coffee at the Medair teamhouse in Kampala when Jo – another Medair staff member who lives there – bounded in with a great idea of getting out of the city & going to the Equator! What an exciting adventure, I know that’s what you’re thinking… so by midday Jo & myself and two other Medair ladies, Mags and Moira, who work at another of our Medair programs in Abim, Uganda, headed for the Equator. It’s about an hour drive once you get out of the traffic-crazed city and its actually an amazing tar road all the way down – we did hit some pretty deep pot holes at points, but the fact that most of the road was asphalt was just unbelievable to me! Plus, it was through a beautiful area of the country. Down south it is amazingly green, rolling hills all around. I forgot how much I love road trips. Plus it was great to get to know some new people, these ladies are all quite fun. Mags & Moira are both from the UK, Jo is from New Zealand. Someone decided to capitalize on the adventure of visiting the actual Equator & now there is a bit of a tourist-trap strip mall, African style, surrounding the Equator. A couple coffee shops/cafes as well as a number of craft stores line the road for about 200 meters or so. We did in fact enjoy the café which boasted chai smoothies and guacamole with chipati chips. Yummy!

The craft strip

Notice the "Did U Know?" stands? You can pay a few dollars to watch water swirl one way on the North side of the Equator and another way on the South side - we didn't pay...

Emergency Water Kit

I wanted to share some things that have gone on over the past few weeks - sorry for my lack of communication recently!

About two weeks ago our team spent a few days testing out an Emergency Water Kit that is a vital piece of our project here in Kaabong. This kit is designed to be set up within 24 hours to respond to an outbreak of a water-bourne disease such as typhoid or cholera which can devestate a community within days. The kit allows us to set up a water pumping and filtering system to provide clean water to a community and therefore stop the spread of a disease due to lack of clean water supply. The process goes like this:


1. Jetting water (using the force of water through a pipe to 'drill' a hole into the earth to reach a new, clean source of water)

2. Pumping water from the jetted source

3. Filling a tank full of the pumped water

4. Pumping the water through a chlorination tank to cleanse it

5. Pumping the clean water into a bladder tank

6. Water flows out via tap stands for people to access it


It was fascinating for me to watch this process, as I'm not technical when it comes to this stuff. :) I tried to help as I could, but my role in these emergencies would really be to hold down the fort and keep the team in communication with our offices and be a support along the way. So I became the photographer for these days and tried to keep the kids who gathered entertained as well! What I love about this part of our project is that 1)we have not had an outbreak yet that needed such a massive response (yeah!) and 2)that it really would make a HUGE difference in a very short period of time. Let's pray this is never needed, but if it is we are much better prepared for it now & will continue to tweak our ability to respond quickly and as a cohesive team.

Dola & Trace are testing the chlorination treatments

the raging Kaabong river...

Charles, Jacob (Coco), Simon, Dola & Trace - our dynamic Watsan team!

My first RnR

Last Friday I packed a bag & said goodbye to Kaabong, anxiously awaiting the next morning when I would pick up my good friend Tif from the airport in Entebbe here, welcoming her to a month of Uganda research (and first a week of fun with me!). The airstrip in Kaabong District is about a 25 minute drive from town down a very curvy, bumpy dirt road. We fly with MAF mostly (Mission Aviation Fellowship) as they have become more popular for reaching destinations around the country. The morning a MAF flight is coming in we have to call their office in Kampala and ask for the estimated arrival time, then we venture out to the airstrip to meet the plane. Most often it is a 12-seater plane that dives in & I've learned to tell who the pilot is by the length of the landing. One guy stops the plane within 100 meters of hitting the strip, smooth as a bird! And really, it feels more like SkyRide than Air Uganda. They shove your luggage in a compartment under the plane, you climb in & find a seat, then you are off to who knows how many destinations to drop someone or pick someone else up and finally end up at their strip just outside of Kampala! On Friday after I got on we stopped in Kologo, Patongo, Kotido, Lira, & then on to the final destination. It took about 3 1/2 hours, but I got to see a lot of Uganda that I would never see otherwise.

Tif arrived safely on Saturday morning & we spent the day resting and talking. I can't even tell you what a blessing it is to see a familiar face, let alone someone who knows & loves me dearly. And to make the day even better, Jared Mackey called me up to see if he & the Theisens could swing by & exchange some luggage Tif had brought to Kampala for them. What a joy it was to see Jared, Jeff & Michelle. Jared is one of my pastors from TNL, but more than that a good friend that I came to Uganda with last year. Jeff & Michelle are friends from Portland who live in northern Uganda.

On Sunday we visited an orphanage called Jordan House here in the city. The children are beautiful, of course, and they have a church service every Sunday. We sang and danced with them – about 50 from age 2 to age 16. They love to get hugs and to welcome you. There’s something about being surrounded by these children that never ceases to stir my heart. I have to wonder what I may be able to contribute to an orphan’s life – maybe one day God will reveal that to me. For now, I’ll keep on with where I’m at and see where this road leads.

Tiffani also brought me lots of fun treats from friends in the US. Thanks to each of you who were thinking of me - it was like Christmas in November! We even had a Tim Tam Slam, thanks to Brian & Kelley Gray!

Monday was another refreshing day of spending time with Jared & Tiffani exploring downtown Kampala complete with pizza for lunch and amazing Indian food for dinner! My taste buds are so happy this week!

Today I got a haircut at the local mall – a bit of a risk, I know, but it ended up ok I think. Good enough, at least. We found this great New York Kitchen diner that made amazing pizza, bagel sandwiches and (drumroll please…) pumpkin cheesecake! Wow, I couldn’t pass it up as fall and pumpkin are very missed right now in my non-seasoned life of rainy vs. wet season! I miss autumn!

Hiking Kepak

Twice now I've had the opportunity to hike a nearby rock they call Kepak here in Kaabong. The first time I went with Trace, Jacob & Georgia. The second was with Jakob, Trace & Emmanuel who was in town for the weekend visiting from our Kampala office. The views of the area are beautiful. Here are just some glimpses -

Video Take 2

Let's try this one, a video from Independence Day. Could you let me know if it still doesn't work? Thanks!




If you don't see it above or it doesn't play, you can find it on YouTube here.

Uhuru - Independence Day

Uhuru - its a swahili word for independence (so I've been told!) and though they do not speak swahili here in Karamoja, this is the word used to celebrate October 9th - Uganda's Independence Day.

We celebrated by having the day off work and hiking into town to enjoy the festivities. They had a huge gathering with a parade of soldiers, police officers & school children who marched like soldiers and carried sticks as if they were guns (that was a tad disturbing). Then they proceeded to have multiple speeches interspersed with entertainment.

This is the MP giving her speech - ok I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to government & positions/titles, but I think MP stands for Member of Parliament and I believe she is a rep from Karamoja...but she's beautiful, isn't she?

These girls had the best uniforms, I think!

The women are wearing lots of beads - this is very common for the traditional dress here, so beautiful!

Amusing God

Every day there are millions of moments I could recount here, but of course that’s not feasible and this blog isn’t meant to be an all-about-jennie reality spot. So how do I decide what to share and what not to? Today it comes down to time, energy, and basically any thoughts that might be interesting or in some way comprehensible outside of my mind. Here it goes…

Sometimes I just think, what in the world am I doing here? And I think back to my dreams of being here, the last 2 years of my life focused on serving in Africa – I’m a pretty down to earth person, fairly realistic, I think. But there’s a lot about working here that is very different from what I pictured. Some examples…I had this picture of living and being within the community very quickly. Now, of course I live here & move around the community daily, but I’m talking about truly interacting, understanding, integrating myself within this culture. I’m white – there’s no way to hide that fact. And more than that, I’m western. I’m Muzungu. Here that’s means white person, but I’ve gathered it embodies a lot more depth to some people than just the color of my skin – I’m privileged, educated, rich, and think I have something to teach this people about how to live life. The poverty here is rampant, few people live in better than a mud hut and eat more than one meal a day – if you read either of the previous posts’ articles, you’ll know the malnutrition in this region is shocking. Men have multiple wives, as the more children one has, the more status. My culture, life experience and perspective is very different, to say the least. I have plenty of food to keep my stomach from growling – I have a 16th of my wardrobe from home with me & still have a clean shirt to wear every day – I can read and write – I can leave whenever I want… and I realize that I AM privileged, educated, rich and think I have something to teach this people about how to live life.

And so, the reality is that my integration into this culture isn’t simple nor is it easy. No matter how much I want to understand, I don’t. No matter how much I want to share & love, it’s probably going to have to look different than it does for me to share & love in my own culture. Yet, I can’t turn my back on who I am & where I come from…especially when my white skin has marked me and can’t be hidden nor should it be. I’ve started taking walks when I have the chance around town – greeting people as I pass & often having dozens of children running towards me to shake my hand or join my walk with laughter in their voices and a shy smile on their face. For now, this is my integration – observing, caring, praying. I’m trying to learn the language, though it is a slow process. My latest achievement, though – if you stop by I’d be happy to offer you tea: Echamite iyo edyo chaia?

Daily I get to interact with our local staff, beautiful people with hearts that are excited to see this community flourish and the people to care for their health and well-being. They are my link to the community & through their eyes I’m beginning to catch a glimpse of life here in Karamoja. They are so patient with me and my blunders, so quick to laugh and correct! I’ll introduce them to you as the weeks pass.

I’m sure that I’ll live through many disappointments as well as many unexpected joys while I’m here, but its just interesting to think on my desires to be here, to serve – they are still in me…but I’m not totally sure they are being met or fulfilled. I’m also not sure that they need to be though – maybe they were the springboard from which I had to jump from & now that I’m here God is doing what He had in mind all along. I’m just trying to live into His will, not mine, or anyone elses. This journey we’re on is so complicated & yet so simple all at once, isn’t it? Sometimes I have a feeling God just smiles in amusement (not mocking, but genuine pleasure) at how we walk through this world…like how we grin when children say silly things or experience things for the first time & try to figure out how they work. In my blunders and my determination, may He smile.




***pics are through the little opening in our front gate - children playing on the mound of sand next door***

The Daily Monitor - article

The Daily Monitor is a Ugandan newspaper - below is a link to a recent article about Kaabong & the work of Medair, but mostly MSF (Medecins Sans Frontier) in the area. It's worth a quick read!

Child malnutrition levels in Karamoja worrying

Karamoja

I haven't mentioned much about the situation here in Karamoja District of Uganda. Here's an excerpt from a UN update on ReliefWeb this past week to give you a glimpse of why we're working here:

Ravaged by insecurity and cattle-rustling, the region has lagged behind in terms of development and social services for decades, and with the proliferation of illegal firearms in the last two decades, the rustling has become increasingly violent.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Karamoja scores lowest on Uganda's key development and humanitarian indicators, even when compared to the northern region which has been wracked by conflict between government troops and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).
"Karamoja registers the highest maternal mortality rate (750/100,000 live births), the highest infant mortality rate (178/1,000 live births), the lowest latrine coverage (6 percent) and the highest illiteracy rate (89 percent)," said a recent OCHA report.

Click on the link below for the whole article:

IRIN Uganda: Optimism in Karamoja despite lingering security concerns

Last night's showdown...

So earlier in the day I had a conversation with friends about rats – yes, there are rats here. I’ve seen them, so far not any larger than a hamster, but still rats. They were telling us of a time when they were awoken in their tukel by a rat & the adventure they had in getting rid of the rat in the middle of the night. Well, my question was, how did it get in there to begin with. Answer, “Oh, didn’t you know they climb walls? They get in right between the thatched roof & concrete wall”. Nope, didn’t know that, now I do & am not sure I wanted to know that…oh well, that’s why I have a lovely mosquito net to keep me safe at night!

This brings us to my night. I cozy up & fall into a deep sleep, only to be awakened from said deep sleep. What, I wonder, could have awaken me? Ah well, just roll on over and go back to sleep. A few moments later, ‘scratch, scratchity, scratch,’ um what was that? Ears perked in the middle of the night…yep, there it is again. Ok, turn on the headtorch (not headlamp here, headtorch just so there’s no confusion – I speak true English these days) and shine it around the top of the concrete wall. Nope, no rats. Ok, go back to sleep. Headtorch off.

Headtorch back on – what was that? Scratching near the door – AHA! Little mini rat (like little field mouse size) trying to find his way out of my tukel! Scratching at my door…what to do? Chase him out…not going to work…call the cat to come & get him…no telling where the cat is right now in the middle of the night & don’t feel like going to find him…

Ok, headtorch off. Maybe I can just forget he’s in here & go back to sleep – my mosquito net is keeping me safe, maybe he’ll find his way out & we’ll all be happy. Scratchity-scratch again! Seriously…headtorch on – yep, there’s the little guy again, trying to find his way out to no avail…ok, so he keeps coming back to the door though I keep shining the light on the door…maybe I can open the door a bit & he’ll get out. But I don’t want to leave my door open while I sleep in case other creatures want to find their way in…and how do I know when he’s left. Ok, I’ll open the door, then sit & watch the door until he leaves…ok…

5 minutes later…mosquito, or mozzi in ‘correct’ English, flying towards headtorch – distraction number one from door monitoring! Ok, mozzi killed, back to the door…still nothing…10 minutes – ‘like a moth to a flame’, no not the rat it was really a moth coming to attack my headtorch as well. Flashback to another conversation with the same friends today. They have bedbugs – moths, they say, bring bed bugs. Stupid moth is flitting all around on my bed in the light of the headtorch – this is not ok! We cannot have rats & bedbugs all in one night! Second distraction, moth killed. Wonder if the little guy got out by now? Surely…

Got to type this story up since I’m wide awake now…door closed, cozied under the net with my computer on. Typing away…scratchity-scratch…seriously rat, you have got to get a larger brain! Deep breath, ok, I’ll prop the door open & set my torch’s light on the door while I type & maybe we’ll both get lucky…I just want to go back to bed. Maybe I should just put my earplugs in & call it a night?

Yep, that’s what I did…after an hour of this going on!!! Fell fast asleep again with earplugs in…3am, cell phone ringing. Don’t know the number…not going to answer it. It rings again, same number…still not going to answer you, let me go to sleep! Ringing again – 5 times!!! Finally it stops – until the text message…all in some other language…not answering, they’ve got to get the picture. Another message – seriously, text back “Wrong Number” and finally sleep.

That was my night…

Inside the Tukel

I’ve had lots of inquiries about my tukel, so here are some pics of the inside for all those curious:

This is the view in from the door. Notice the thatched roof, mosquito net (which aids mostly in keeping creepy-crawlers from falling on me from the thatched ceiling as I sleep – mosquitoes actually aren’t bad here right now), kerosene lamp/candles (no electricity), shelves with all the belongings I’ve been able to bring up thus far! It’s amazing what little you can live with, you know? The bed is alright, it’s a pretty hard foam mattress, about 6 inches thick or so.



Then, as you walk in the door & look to the right – another bed. Currently I am alone in my tukel, but if we have any Medair visitors I would share my tukel!



And, from the back looking forward – have you noticed how bare the walls are? I didn’t bring much with me to decorate with & so I’ve decided to leave this up to you. What would you like to see on Jennie’s tukel wall? I’ll take suggestions, but I’d love to take any cards, pictures, beautiful creations that you might like to send my way (email me for an address if you are inspired)! I’ll update here with pictures as the wall fills up!

The tukel is about 12 feet across (diameter) I think, so its spacious for me. In other news, I have successfully learned to drive the manual & have a lot of fun with the landcruisers! The roads here are so bad, its really like you're off-roading all the time! Today we went for a hike nearby and ended up on a not-really road, and actually had to push the landcruiser out of the mud at one point (I was pushing, not driving). Luckily we made it out before the rain began, as we really might have been stuck at that point! I'll post some pictures of our hike later - some beautiful views of the area.

And here’s just a bit of a laugh to pass along to you…Tracey posted this on her tukel door, did you know Kaabong kitties can read? Yeah, well Jack is learning quite slowly actually.

It says “ NOTICE FOR JACK – Not this tukel, try the other 2!”

There's No Place Like Home

My English vocabulary is limited - I tend to use words that are somewhat vague, such as 'great', 'nice', 'really', and I often wish I could articulate myself better.

Last night I was trying to capture how I was feeling & what came out was simply, "I miss my friends." The word 'miss' is not even getting close to the point of how I feel, though. How else can I put it? I came up with this - I'm "grieving the absence of"...

I 'miss'...

• dark chocolate (hint, hint!)
• ice cream
• blending in
• hot showers

I'm grieving the absence of...

• friends
• family
• my church & community
• uninterrupted walks
• ok, maybe dark chocolate :)

Does that make sense? Don't get me wrong, I'm doing ok here & enjoying the new friendships and experiences I'm having. But this last week was a bit more challenging as I started feeling the loss of my Denver community and 'easy access' to people who know and care for me.

So feel free to drop me a line! I think I'm doing pretty well thus far at responding to my emails & comments. And also feel free to pray, its just going to take some time for me to feel truly at home here - God and I are conversing about that regularly.

Rich towards God

Our team meets every morning from 8:00-8:30am for a time of reading/reflecting on a Bible passage & then praying together. It could be seen as really burdensome to those who aren't so spiritually inclined & even to those who are, spending every morning doing 'church' can be a bit much. That's where I often find myself, in the latter group. But I have to admit that there is something about starting your day out recognizing that the work we're about & life in general is less about me and more about joining God in His work for justice here on earth.

We've been working our way through Luke and the most recent passages have been the commonly quoted ones about storing up treasure in heaven. Literally, not allowing material possessions both to be your goal in life and to be your source of worry and anxiety. That all we gain here on earth can pass away in an instant, what truly matters when all of that is swept away is our soul and how we live the life we've been given.

It's interesting sitting and talking through these truths with people who have such a different culture, but add to that the society of surplus that I come from as opposed to the scarcity here. Material wealth takes on a whole new meaning in this context for me. It's less about deciding to purchase a sedan or an SUV and more about how to pay for a bus ticket to get to the next big city to stand in line for hours to turn in paperwork to receive a card that shows you're registered in the country and can therefore receive a salary & will then pay taxes on your salary which will all take at least 3 days which includes lodging and food which cost money...you see where I'm going? I sat across from one of the guys on our staff today who explained to me that the document I need for our files that allow us to pay him will require all that I said above & therefore he needs a salary advance to pay for such a trip. This isn't about saving & thinking ahead, this is about survival. This man doesn't go out and drink every night - he's a very hard worker and so dedicated. Yet, he wouldn't have the money to pay for that 'simple' trip until he receives the wages we'll pay him...

Yet, in our conversations, my friends seem to get it, maybe better than I do. Its about valuing God & His ways above the things of this world. Being "rich towards God" - I hope to learn more about this as I get to know the hearts of His people here. My prayer is that though I stick out as white, therefore RICH, here that my wealth will be known as love.

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Lord, provide food, shelter, clothing, health and PEACE to your people.

Settling In

I wish I had some amazing stories to pass along to you, but so far things have been rather quiet as I’ve begun to take on some responsibilities around the base here. Let me give you the highlights since I arrived about 12 days ago…

• I have successfully managed to not crash the server in our office, but instead lock all the users off of it
• hire 2 relief guards for our base
• be almost fluent in the radio alphabet & in correct radio lingo – roger that
• prove myself to the ladies in our community by joining in their traditional dances
• workout to 80s Kathy Smith aerobics
• learned to count to 10 & greet people in the Karamajong language – repeat after me, Ee-jock, yes that means hello!
  

Some pictures & some thoughts:

A cutie on the way to fill her little jerrycan at the borehole.

Trace & I took a walk one day that came with an entourage!

Joseph & Tracey monitoring a borehole - this is the point of our work here, to ensure the boreholes around the Kaabong District are working well. The process involves training Water User Committees (WUCs), groups of about 10 people in the communities on hygiene & sanitation and to encourage them to raise a portion of money to put towards a subsidized repair, should their borehole need it. It's really fantastic to see how empowering with education & ownership can bring about a number of benefits for these communities!

Jacob, Georgia, me, Tracey & Jakob
You'll read about Tracey & Jakob, I'm sure, they are my co-workers here - I get along very well with both of them!
Jacob & Georgia are baptist missionaries from Texas who live just down the road from us & are such a joy to have near. They stayed over Saturday night & on Sunday morning our conversation somehow turned into a competition. Around Karamoja you can easily hand a letter to someone & it will get passed on & on until it reaches the person it was intended for. Why couldn't that work with a letter to our homes, too? So, we wrote letters to our families & have to hand it to someone in town & have them pass it along in hopes that within a few months one of our letters may arrive at our homes! I'll let you know the outcome of that one, if there is one!

Home Sweet Kaabong

Breathtaking - that's how I describe the landscape here. It's quite green, rolling a bit & with random outcroppings of rocky hills & huge boulders. Of course, I haven't experienced the dry season yet & when the green-ness fades here, will I still feel the same? And of course, the African sky - never in the world have I found a sky that captures so much glory in every direction...it never ceases to amaze me!

Here are just a few glimpses of our view & the base:

looking to the east from inside our base

our house/office

my tukul - right in the middle! Isn't it cozy? That's where I sleep, it's quite nice actually!


And I was very pleased to make friends with our resident PCM (Pest Control Manager) - his name is Jack!

Nat, doesn't this look familiar? Yep, feeling right at home here.