It's been awhile since I've posted--this is due to: lack of electricity, bad network/internet connection, busyness. Now I am sitting down to write for a few minutes while I enjoy a plastic cup of wine before beginning to "cook;" that is to boil water and cut up some tomatoes! Joe is resting after a big day.
Oh, oh. The electricity just went out. Now I will have wine by candlelight. We'll have to get out the kerosene stove to boil water for our soup. TAB!
So much TAB (that's Africa, baby)! Good thing the people are (mostly) so wonderful and the climate is beyond compare.
Right now it is 7p.m. and it is already dark. It's amazing how suddenly darkness (and daylight) come. There is no dusk, no drawn out dawn--just light and dark! With the darkness the constructors who have been working out in front of our little apartment building constructing another building with 5 more apartments have mostly left. They will be back at dawn (before 7) in the morning. The dirt and noise from this project gets to us, but we are trying to learn to go with the flow. It's just the way it is. People are happy to see such "nice" places going up in this small town. If only they had waited until we were back in the States. Actually, it seems that the owner has been so successful in renting out these places because of us (TOLM has 3 of the 8) that we were probably the reason he started the new building so soon!
We've had an amazing few days. Sun. evening, we had dinner in Masaka with 3 (young) volunteers (Mzungus) from another project in Lukaya at 10 Tables. This is a restaurant that has a wonderful ambiance and great food. It is run by a non-profit org. that is working to take care of thousands of children affected by AIDS. All of the profits go to their programs. It gives us something to strive for in our work. What great fellowship and delicious food we enjoyed. Joe and I stayed at a hotel in town to check it out for future "service safari" visitors. It was very nice, but very, very noisy. We shall look more.
We accomplished some things in town on Mon. including visiting with Bill and Ann Peckham, friends of ours from Canada who are running an orphanage in one of the villages that is close to the Lukaya trading center. Sharing with others who are dedicated to bringing hope to the area, commiserating about the setbacks and about having to do everything twice, was encouraging to us, and, I think, to them. We are all faced with questions about how much money to spend on security (fences, walls, guards etc.). That same amount of money might be able to provide for several children. But, if we don't have security, the assets we've acquired to help the children and the project can be abused/stolen.
Today we have had an exciting and productive time. A Ugandan who sat next to Joe on the airplane to Entebbe is an engineer and owns a building company in Kampala. (He also works for the US gov. in Afghanistan.) Joe and he talked for hours on the plane and became friends. We gave him a lift to Kampala from the airport. So, today he and a colleague came all the way to Lukaya to look at our new Mustard Seed Academy property and to brainstorm about how to develop it. After spending two wonderful hours with them walking the property and discussing ideas, we got a call from the new TOLM Peace Corps volunteer. She had arrived in Lukaya! We are so excited that we will have an American on site for at least one year. Her background is just the kind we need at this stage of development. We even got a chance to meet her back in the States in Sept. (before we knew that she would be the one assigned to TOLM). It feels like lots of doors are opening, and even though we are going to be hard pressed to accomplish even half of our "to do" list while we are here, so many long-term things are getting set in motion. This afternoon we did some shopping in Lukaya with Kristen (PCV)--probably stopping at 10+ shops to ask about the price of mattresses etc. Along the way we ran into the other PCV in town and another volunteer. They guided us to the Shell station's shop where we found ICE CREAM!! Or at least what is called ice cream here in Lukaya. What a treat that "Dixie cup" was.
On Sat. we had interviews with 4 of our 8 teachers and we made a short video of each one talking about how grateful they are for all that TOLM/RPU has done to support them etc. Each one was very happy with his/her job and the cooperation and regular pay at MSA, and each gave us one or two suggestions for something that could be improved. So wonderful.
Also on Sat. we had a TOLM board meeting where there was a lot of fellowship over lunch and a great feeling of support and cooperation. Everyone is excited about the new land that will be the site for MSA--to be developed over the next few years. It is in a "strategic" location according to the bd. members and others. There is a new road that was put in since we were here in Feb., and it runs from the current MSA to the new property. It parallels the highway, and is very close to the town center.
Electricity just came back on so boiling that water should be easy in my hot pot. Wine is gone. Must get going on "dinner."
Oh, oh. The electricity just went out. Now I will have wine by candlelight. We'll have to get out the kerosene stove to boil water for our soup. TAB!
So much TAB (that's Africa, baby)! Good thing the people are (mostly) so wonderful and the climate is beyond compare.
Right now it is 7p.m. and it is already dark. It's amazing how suddenly darkness (and daylight) come. There is no dusk, no drawn out dawn--just light and dark! With the darkness the constructors who have been working out in front of our little apartment building constructing another building with 5 more apartments have mostly left. They will be back at dawn (before 7) in the morning. The dirt and noise from this project gets to us, but we are trying to learn to go with the flow. It's just the way it is. People are happy to see such "nice" places going up in this small town. If only they had waited until we were back in the States. Actually, it seems that the owner has been so successful in renting out these places because of us (TOLM has 3 of the 8) that we were probably the reason he started the new building so soon!
We've had an amazing few days. Sun. evening, we had dinner in Masaka with 3 (young) volunteers (Mzungus) from another project in Lukaya at 10 Tables. This is a restaurant that has a wonderful ambiance and great food. It is run by a non-profit org. that is working to take care of thousands of children affected by AIDS. All of the profits go to their programs. It gives us something to strive for in our work. What great fellowship and delicious food we enjoyed. Joe and I stayed at a hotel in town to check it out for future "service safari" visitors. It was very nice, but very, very noisy. We shall look more.
We accomplished some things in town on Mon. including visiting with Bill and Ann Peckham, friends of ours from Canada who are running an orphanage in one of the villages that is close to the Lukaya trading center. Sharing with others who are dedicated to bringing hope to the area, commiserating about the setbacks and about having to do everything twice, was encouraging to us, and, I think, to them. We are all faced with questions about how much money to spend on security (fences, walls, guards etc.). That same amount of money might be able to provide for several children. But, if we don't have security, the assets we've acquired to help the children and the project can be abused/stolen.
Today we have had an exciting and productive time. A Ugandan who sat next to Joe on the airplane to Entebbe is an engineer and owns a building company in Kampala. (He also works for the US gov. in Afghanistan.) Joe and he talked for hours on the plane and became friends. We gave him a lift to Kampala from the airport. So, today he and a colleague came all the way to Lukaya to look at our new Mustard Seed Academy property and to brainstorm about how to develop it. After spending two wonderful hours with them walking the property and discussing ideas, we got a call from the new TOLM Peace Corps volunteer. She had arrived in Lukaya! We are so excited that we will have an American on site for at least one year. Her background is just the kind we need at this stage of development. We even got a chance to meet her back in the States in Sept. (before we knew that she would be the one assigned to TOLM). It feels like lots of doors are opening, and even though we are going to be hard pressed to accomplish even half of our "to do" list while we are here, so many long-term things are getting set in motion. This afternoon we did some shopping in Lukaya with Kristen (PCV)--probably stopping at 10+ shops to ask about the price of mattresses etc. Along the way we ran into the other PCV in town and another volunteer. They guided us to the Shell station's shop where we found ICE CREAM!! Or at least what is called ice cream here in Lukaya. What a treat that "Dixie cup" was.
On Sat. we had interviews with 4 of our 8 teachers and we made a short video of each one talking about how grateful they are for all that TOLM/RPU has done to support them etc. Each one was very happy with his/her job and the cooperation and regular pay at MSA, and each gave us one or two suggestions for something that could be improved. So wonderful.
Also on Sat. we had a TOLM board meeting where there was a lot of fellowship over lunch and a great feeling of support and cooperation. Everyone is excited about the new land that will be the site for MSA--to be developed over the next few years. It is in a "strategic" location according to the bd. members and others. There is a new road that was put in since we were here in Feb., and it runs from the current MSA to the new property. It parallels the highway, and is very close to the town center.
Electricity just came back on so boiling that water should be easy in my hot pot. Wine is gone. Must get going on "dinner."
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