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!