Interesting information I wanted to share.
Concerning food: Matoke is boiled plantain. It is a bland starch that reminds me of poi in flavor, but potatoes in consistency. Yams so far have been white with purple spots. They have a little more flavor than the Matoke. They are good plain or with gravy or peanut paste, which is also purple. Sweet potatoes are the white variety and are a little sweet. I like them. You can also put gravy on them.
Rice is served at every lunch along with chicken, Irish potaotes, cooked chicken livers, a little beef cubes, and fresh pineapple. Meat here is cooked to well done always. Anita didn't like the meat at the resort because it was about medium/ medium well.
Samosas are triangle shaped and deep fried like a wanton. They can be stuffed with meat, beans, or vegetables. Very tasty!
Mendazi is a slightly yeasty, deep fried donut, but not sweet. It's square shaped. Not bad.
At the resort we had Katoogo. It is stewed bananas in mixed vegetables, carrots, cauliflower, peppers, etc. in a tomato based sauce. The banana flavor is gone and tasted like the sauce, which is yummy. The bananas take on a potato consistency.
Birthdays: On Shari's Birthday, they dressed her in traditional clothes and slowly walked her into the church, in front of everyone, to the wedding march song. Todd and her cut the cake together into lots of small pieces and passed it around to as many as they could. She was so embarrased! Alex was the culprit. This is pretty typical of Birthdays.
About names here: I asked Alex about why people don't have the same last names as their fathers. He said that when a child is born, they are given 2-3 names that are from a list of acceptable names that each tribal clan has. When the child becomes closer to marriageable age, they can change the order of their name, add a name, or take their fathers name. First and last names are interchangeable, so it doesn't matter which name you call your child, in case the letters are unclear about it.
If you have a child like us with a "Ky" combination in their name, it is pronounced as "ch".
I met a man named Mugisha Francis Bekunda at Melembe. He gave me some information about being a chairman. He is the elected chairman LC1 of Melembe. He is the communities link to government activities and is in charge of mobilizing the people for projects like clearing a field, etc. Chairman LC2 is at the Parish level. Chairman LC3 heads the sub-county. Chairman LC4 is at the district level, which Uganda has 69 of. Chairman LC5 is the president.
Love in Christ, Danelle Chase
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Home visits
7-31-13
Mukama yebazebwe! (Praise the Lord)
Today is our last day at Kachungwa. It rained heavy a few times, which cools things down usually for the rest of the day. That makes me a happy camper!
We drove out to Kachungwa proper to see the land the medical clinic should be built on. Please pray for that process to speed up. The paperwork should have been done in April. It is in the town behind the main row of stores and a layer of houses and a banana field. There is a well and power lines nearby. It was being used to grow peanuts recently. The town chairmen and people know about the clinic and some followed us up to watch us pray on the property and shook our hands. There is a guava tree on it that shouldn't have fruit, but did. Cool!
We also visited a bank that a member of Kachungwa Community Church has started. It is called Peoples Bank and they do small loans in the community and people are starting to save money there. This is something we want!
We bought some things to give to our kids' families, beans, rice, etc. Jeff bought a 25Kg bag of corn flour ($14) and the shop owner was dancing in the streets afterwards. We were happy to be able to influx some money into the town.
Back at the church, we went to the classrooms and did VBS for each grade. Brandon and I did P-6 where we sang a little and talked about the "who/what/where/why/when/how" method of studying the Bible and using the God separated from man where Jesus is the bridge over the gap illustration to show them a way to witness to others. The teacher said they understood and then we had a question time. They are really interested in our seasons and the teacher helped connect some of the things we said to lessons they have learned, like Fall and transpiration. That was very helpful.
After that, Brandon and I visited our first childs' house. Kayesu Kyalimpa lives really close to the school with her mother and 3 sisters, 2 sisters and brother from her fathers second wife. The father and second wife are dead. The fathers mother lives next door. The mother works at digging to pay for 1 girls schooling and at least two of the others are sponsored. They all go to school except the little boy and girl. The mother sold a pig to buy a fairly big mud wall house for the area. They have 6 pigs. The mother also is involved at helping at the church. Praise the Lord for her hard work and commitment!
After a quick lunch, we visited our other girl named Scovia Muhembisi (sp). Her situation is not so good. She lives about 3km away from the church in a tiny town called Kysinga with 2 aunts, one is crippled and the other has a baby, and her uncle and older sister. Her aunt and uncle drink and either neglect or possibly abuse her. She hardly talks and is very closed off. She found us at the school a few times and will hug us and hold our hands, but she won't speak unless spoken to. She disappears back home if you let go of her. She has a grandmother who lives far away, who she visits occasionally. Her mother ran off and her father is dead. Her mud house was VERY tiny and they have 1 pig. She needs prayer and we need prayer to know what to do for her.
To my nervousness, we had to ride a boda boda (motorcycle) to visit our first boy, John. He's kind of shy and quiet. He lives 6km away in Kachungwa town. His father is dead and his mother , 2 younger sisters and brother live with their grandmother. They lived farther away, but moved here recently so he could go to school. There is also an aunt and cousins that live nearby. He takes care of meat sheep (not the wool type) and have a mixture of other animals as well. He gave us a chicken, which we named George.
We have another child here, Sam Nsynga (sp), but we ran out of time and weren't able to visit his home. That was very disappointing because we learned so much about the others through this process. Sam grabbed on to Brandon and followed him around as much as he could. He seems more outgoing.
I have to give a shout out to my boda boda driver, though. He was slower than normal and he let me hold on to him. Normally and woman rides side saddle behind the driver and doesn't hang on. I, thank the Lord, had shorts on under my skirt and was aloud to ride straddle and wrap my arms around him. I also had George under one arm on the way back, so I was happy and relaxed at his gentleness. We were a big source of humor for everyone who saw us driving. Oh, well.
Love in Christ, Danelle Chase
Mukama yebazebwe! (Praise the Lord)
Today is our last day at Kachungwa. It rained heavy a few times, which cools things down usually for the rest of the day. That makes me a happy camper!
We drove out to Kachungwa proper to see the land the medical clinic should be built on. Please pray for that process to speed up. The paperwork should have been done in April. It is in the town behind the main row of stores and a layer of houses and a banana field. There is a well and power lines nearby. It was being used to grow peanuts recently. The town chairmen and people know about the clinic and some followed us up to watch us pray on the property and shook our hands. There is a guava tree on it that shouldn't have fruit, but did. Cool!
We also visited a bank that a member of Kachungwa Community Church has started. It is called Peoples Bank and they do small loans in the community and people are starting to save money there. This is something we want!
We bought some things to give to our kids' families, beans, rice, etc. Jeff bought a 25Kg bag of corn flour ($14) and the shop owner was dancing in the streets afterwards. We were happy to be able to influx some money into the town.
Back at the church, we went to the classrooms and did VBS for each grade. Brandon and I did P-6 where we sang a little and talked about the "who/what/where/why/when/how" method of studying the Bible and using the God separated from man where Jesus is the bridge over the gap illustration to show them a way to witness to others. The teacher said they understood and then we had a question time. They are really interested in our seasons and the teacher helped connect some of the things we said to lessons they have learned, like Fall and transpiration. That was very helpful.
After that, Brandon and I visited our first childs' house. Kayesu Kyalimpa lives really close to the school with her mother and 3 sisters, 2 sisters and brother from her fathers second wife. The father and second wife are dead. The fathers mother lives next door. The mother works at digging to pay for 1 girls schooling and at least two of the others are sponsored. They all go to school except the little boy and girl. The mother sold a pig to buy a fairly big mud wall house for the area. They have 6 pigs. The mother also is involved at helping at the church. Praise the Lord for her hard work and commitment!
After a quick lunch, we visited our other girl named Scovia Muhembisi (sp). Her situation is not so good. She lives about 3km away from the church in a tiny town called Kysinga with 2 aunts, one is crippled and the other has a baby, and her uncle and older sister. Her aunt and uncle drink and either neglect or possibly abuse her. She hardly talks and is very closed off. She found us at the school a few times and will hug us and hold our hands, but she won't speak unless spoken to. She disappears back home if you let go of her. She has a grandmother who lives far away, who she visits occasionally. Her mother ran off and her father is dead. Her mud house was VERY tiny and they have 1 pig. She needs prayer and we need prayer to know what to do for her.
To my nervousness, we had to ride a boda boda (motorcycle) to visit our first boy, John. He's kind of shy and quiet. He lives 6km away in Kachungwa town. His father is dead and his mother , 2 younger sisters and brother live with their grandmother. They lived farther away, but moved here recently so he could go to school. There is also an aunt and cousins that live nearby. He takes care of meat sheep (not the wool type) and have a mixture of other animals as well. He gave us a chicken, which we named George.
We have another child here, Sam Nsynga (sp), but we ran out of time and weren't able to visit his home. That was very disappointing because we learned so much about the others through this process. Sam grabbed on to Brandon and followed him around as much as he could. He seems more outgoing.
I have to give a shout out to my boda boda driver, though. He was slower than normal and he let me hold on to him. Normally and woman rides side saddle behind the driver and doesn't hang on. I, thank the Lord, had shorts on under my skirt and was aloud to ride straddle and wrap my arms around him. I also had George under one arm on the way back, so I was happy and relaxed at his gentleness. We were a big source of humor for everyone who saw us driving. Oh, well.
Love in Christ, Danelle Chase
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Church Plants
7-30-13
There are still a few small puddles on the ground this morning, so it must have rained good during the night too. Yay!
After Breakfast at the school, we drove through Kachungwa proper, past a government school to visit two church plants that have started out of Kachungwa. We saw lots of banana groves, some cassava, and a little corn. They also grow potatoes, avocados, mangos, papaya, guava and tomatoes around. Sugar cane grows wild. They plant eucaliptus and a few varieties of pine for wood/ scaffolding.
We passed through the Gorode Trading Center where they have a government headquarters and a tiny clinic into Kigando sub-county. We passed a valley full of water that was a government water project. They also do environmental projects. We saw some mud huts with thatching for roof and a section of wall that was just dried banana leaves. Half of our group went to Dyangoma church plant and the rest, including me, went to Melembe. Melembe means peace. There was a small coffee plot near it. The church is a 25x10 ft. mud and stick building. They have started a school there called Cornerstone School. They have 1 real tiny building as a classroom. The school is only P-1 to 3 for now, but we saw a nice group of kids there. Brandon and a few others went to pray at the pastors house, which was 1/4 mile down a foot path to a true mud hut village. Afterwards we had a church service where Brandon preached on the greatest commandment, loving God and the second, loving your neighbor. They did some songs and dances for us. Francis Mecunda, who is the elected chairman for the community, was there and talked to us a bit about the needs of the area; water and a clinic. The closest one is about 10 miles away. Please pray for these two communities.
We ate lunch at Kachungwa and were off to Bagezza Seed Secondary School, which is a government school and one they visited last year. Ashley and Isaac gave their testimonies and Pastors Ken and Sylver spoke. Isaac and Ralph also sang a few songs with guitar. Over 100 kids came forward, but some of those just wanted prayer, etc. Then was tea and dinner back at the hotel.
Love in Christ, Danelle Chase
There are still a few small puddles on the ground this morning, so it must have rained good during the night too. Yay!
After Breakfast at the school, we drove through Kachungwa proper, past a government school to visit two church plants that have started out of Kachungwa. We saw lots of banana groves, some cassava, and a little corn. They also grow potatoes, avocados, mangos, papaya, guava and tomatoes around. Sugar cane grows wild. They plant eucaliptus and a few varieties of pine for wood/ scaffolding.
We passed through the Gorode Trading Center where they have a government headquarters and a tiny clinic into Kigando sub-county. We passed a valley full of water that was a government water project. They also do environmental projects. We saw some mud huts with thatching for roof and a section of wall that was just dried banana leaves. Half of our group went to Dyangoma church plant and the rest, including me, went to Melembe. Melembe means peace. There was a small coffee plot near it. The church is a 25x10 ft. mud and stick building. They have started a school there called Cornerstone School. They have 1 real tiny building as a classroom. The school is only P-1 to 3 for now, but we saw a nice group of kids there. Brandon and a few others went to pray at the pastors house, which was 1/4 mile down a foot path to a true mud hut village. Afterwards we had a church service where Brandon preached on the greatest commandment, loving God and the second, loving your neighbor. They did some songs and dances for us. Francis Mecunda, who is the elected chairman for the community, was there and talked to us a bit about the needs of the area; water and a clinic. The closest one is about 10 miles away. Please pray for these two communities.
We ate lunch at Kachungwa and were off to Bagezza Seed Secondary School, which is a government school and one they visited last year. Ashley and Isaac gave their testimonies and Pastors Ken and Sylver spoke. Isaac and Ralph also sang a few songs with guitar. Over 100 kids came forward, but some of those just wanted prayer, etc. Then was tea and dinner back at the hotel.
Love in Christ, Danelle Chase
Monday, July 29, 2013
Sunday
7-29-13
Praise the living God!
I slept 3 hours last night, but I just read my Bible by headlamp.
We left Town View Hotel at 8:30 and were at breakfast in Kachungwa by 9:30. Sunday School started at 10 and we were all asked to take an age group and teach. Todd and Shari Davis, Brandon and I taught 13-15 year olds. God gave me a lesson about 3 months ago about being a pot. God makes us as a potter does, so that we can be useful to Him. Sometimes he allows us to be baked in the fire to make us stronger, but He watches us and doesn't leave us alone to shatter. He also wants us to choose to put good things into our pot, not rotten fruit, which will corrupt us and take our minds and hearts off of God and His purposes for us. I think they understood most of it, with an interpreter. They sang some songs and asked some questions about a America and I drew a picture of Oregon on the chalkboard for them with Portland, Salem and Canby on it. They think it's funny we have pets.
At 11 church proper started. Ken preached on faith and told them of how we came to be connected to their community. We then had a graduation ceremony for a beautician and 3 seamstresses. They received sewing machines and scissors/mirror to help them start up a business.
Then there was lunch and a parenting seminar. The church was full of parents and they had a few traditional dances that have to do with marriage. There was a question about legal action to make a child go to school. Not knowing Ugandan law, we could only encourage the father to pray with the child and urge them to get the education so they don't continue in poverty. The other question was about the younger generation getting more rebellious and promiscuous (sounds familiar). And we talked about teaching your children from early on what's right and how to love God. There was a big emphasis on love and spending time with their kids.
After that we gave out the gifts we brought. We really missed Rose, the social worker who usually organizes these parts who is on maternity leave, but we got the job done. Then we went back to the hotel and I dozed into my dinner.
PS. It rained for the first time in 3 months as we left Kachungwa. PTL and keep praying!
Love in Christ, Danelle Chase
Praise the living God!
I slept 3 hours last night, but I just read my Bible by headlamp.
We left Town View Hotel at 8:30 and were at breakfast in Kachungwa by 9:30. Sunday School started at 10 and we were all asked to take an age group and teach. Todd and Shari Davis, Brandon and I taught 13-15 year olds. God gave me a lesson about 3 months ago about being a pot. God makes us as a potter does, so that we can be useful to Him. Sometimes he allows us to be baked in the fire to make us stronger, but He watches us and doesn't leave us alone to shatter. He also wants us to choose to put good things into our pot, not rotten fruit, which will corrupt us and take our minds and hearts off of God and His purposes for us. I think they understood most of it, with an interpreter. They sang some songs and asked some questions about a America and I drew a picture of Oregon on the chalkboard for them with Portland, Salem and Canby on it. They think it's funny we have pets.
At 11 church proper started. Ken preached on faith and told them of how we came to be connected to their community. We then had a graduation ceremony for a beautician and 3 seamstresses. They received sewing machines and scissors/mirror to help them start up a business.
Then there was lunch and a parenting seminar. The church was full of parents and they had a few traditional dances that have to do with marriage. There was a question about legal action to make a child go to school. Not knowing Ugandan law, we could only encourage the father to pray with the child and urge them to get the education so they don't continue in poverty. The other question was about the younger generation getting more rebellious and promiscuous (sounds familiar). And we talked about teaching your children from early on what's right and how to love God. There was a big emphasis on love and spending time with their kids.
After that we gave out the gifts we brought. We really missed Rose, the social worker who usually organizes these parts who is on maternity leave, but we got the job done. Then we went back to the hotel and I dozed into my dinner.
PS. It rained for the first time in 3 months as we left Kachungwa. PTL and keep praying!
Love in Christ, Danelle Chase
Sunday, July 28, 2013
On Top of the World
{This is a little old since I have been unable to get Wifi}
We made it to Uganda! All of the luggage arrived with no issues (we had 31 bags total which took quite a while to locate all of them) and we had no problems getting visas, through customs, etc. We were greeted SO warmly by none other than our very own Ashley Davis, Alex and others from Alex’s church. When we spotted each other it was a grand reunion full of hugs and laughter. I couldn’t wait to give Ashley and Alex a huge hug, it’s been far too long since I’ve seen the both of them. As I’m sitting here on my little net covered bed, thinking about our first day in Uganda I am slightly at a lost for words. Trying to form the right words to describe how I feel is nearly impossible. I definitely have been looking forward to this day for weeks, months, no more like years. The joy, peace, and shear contentment I feel in my heart is overpowering. This whole process; the getting ready, the traveling, the stepping foot off the plane, the meeting and loving on the people here feels as natural as breathing to me. It’s been less than one day and I’m sure with all my heart that Uganda and I will have a future. Not sure how just yet but I can’t wait to find out. God you are great!
Before I dive into what is has been like and what we’ve been doing I wanted to share with you a little bit about our traveling. We had absolutely no internet until we got back in the airport in Dubai.
Written 07/25/2013
Two days, three plane rides, over 9000 miles travelled. Portland to Seattle to Dubai and finally to Uganda. It can easily be said that the 14 hour flight from Seattle to Dubai was the most tiring, and hardest. We happily walked off the plane, stretching our legs after such a long flight. Happy to have a place to rest our heads. I know for me personally I didn’t sleep much the night before we left and on the plane ride but made up for that in Dubai. Most of all we were stoked to be one step closer to being in Uganda. In the short time since we left home God has given us more than enough, showed us great opportunities to talk to people around us about what God is doing in and through the lives of our team. I wanted to share with you an experience I had on our first flight to Seattle.
When boarding our first flight to Seattle, the fifteen of us found ourselves sitting all throughout the plane. None of us had seats together, it was as if we were flying solo. When I have flown before the people I sit next to are usually not all that social. Consumed with their music and are in their own little world. I do that myself most of the time but it is nice when you get lucky and get to sit next to a complete stranger who ends up being a great conversationalist. I think that is fun, meeting new people. Learning about their life, their beliefs, their ideas, thoughts, interests, you name it. Not long after I found my seat I was joined by such a character. We hit it off right away, asking simple questions about each other and the reason for traveling. Once I explained what our team is traveling for, of course he became more interested; allowing our conversation to dive deeper about our trip, what we are doing, life in general, and God. I wish I could go into great detail but it was a 30 minute conversation that couldn’t have been better. Walking away, handing him the link to this blog and going our own separate ways I couldn’t help to smile. Knowing God put this guy right in my path. It’s so easy to tune out the world like most people do when flying, but I always think about the great experiences you might miss.
Our route from Seattle. Not the route I thought but I’ve never flown over the North Pole and Russia before.
I will try and upload more photos tomorrow night. This is all I have for now.
FIRST DAY IN UGANDA!
What a day this has been. We’ve been in Uganda for less than a day and we’ve already done so much. First things first we stopped to get some food. We were all pretty hungry. We then drove over to the ARM headquarters to tour the ARM office and see a little bit of the amazing program they have going on. I was able to meet a couple of the high school girls as they were heading out of their devotion assembly. So many children flooding the walkways, all of which wanted you to smile back at them and wave. Many times I would notice all they want is to be noticed by you. Children will be franticly waving and only when you smile and wave back would they break out their beautiful smiles and laughter. I can’t wait to meet more of the kids and teens; getting to know them some more and loving on them! After dropping our stuff off at the house we were staying at for the night we went to Loving Hearts Orphan Home, where Ashley has been spending quite a bit of time the past few weeks. I’m not ready to describe that experience yet.
I love children. Holding and loving on babies (newborn-toddler) is something I love to do. I did get to hold several of the babies and soaked up every minute of it. Seeing them; their smiles, personalities, and happiness to be held by you melted my heart. This experience was a little bitter sweet for me. Not going to sugar coat it. On one hand you have these adorable, bouncy, happy, and some sleeping babies that make you smile and can’t wait to love on them. On the other…such sadness, heart wrenching really. Walking into this home of babies that have been abandoned, alone, one even survived being stabbed by her mother; breaks my heart. It makes me want to hold and love on them even more. They need it so much!! There is one girl I love so much, Rebecca!! What a personality she has. Rebecca stole my heart a little bit. I want to go see her again!
Thank you all for your support, prayers, and love! Please keep us in your prayers as we are heading to Kachungwa tomorrow. Pray for safe travels and open hearts and minds as we meet with people, children, leaders, etc.
Love in Christ,
Melanie
We made it to Uganda! All of the luggage arrived with no issues (we had 31 bags total which took quite a while to locate all of them) and we had no problems getting visas, through customs, etc. We were greeted SO warmly by none other than our very own Ashley Davis, Alex and others from Alex’s church. When we spotted each other it was a grand reunion full of hugs and laughter. I couldn’t wait to give Ashley and Alex a huge hug, it’s been far too long since I’ve seen the both of them. As I’m sitting here on my little net covered bed, thinking about our first day in Uganda I am slightly at a lost for words. Trying to form the right words to describe how I feel is nearly impossible. I definitely have been looking forward to this day for weeks, months, no more like years. The joy, peace, and shear contentment I feel in my heart is overpowering. This whole process; the getting ready, the traveling, the stepping foot off the plane, the meeting and loving on the people here feels as natural as breathing to me. It’s been less than one day and I’m sure with all my heart that Uganda and I will have a future. Not sure how just yet but I can’t wait to find out. God you are great!
Before I dive into what is has been like and what we’ve been doing I wanted to share with you a little bit about our traveling. We had absolutely no internet until we got back in the airport in Dubai.
Written 07/25/2013
Two days, three plane rides, over 9000 miles travelled. Portland to Seattle to Dubai and finally to Uganda. It can easily be said that the 14 hour flight from Seattle to Dubai was the most tiring, and hardest. We happily walked off the plane, stretching our legs after such a long flight. Happy to have a place to rest our heads. I know for me personally I didn’t sleep much the night before we left and on the plane ride but made up for that in Dubai. Most of all we were stoked to be one step closer to being in Uganda. In the short time since we left home God has given us more than enough, showed us great opportunities to talk to people around us about what God is doing in and through the lives of our team. I wanted to share with you an experience I had on our first flight to Seattle.
When boarding our first flight to Seattle, the fifteen of us found ourselves sitting all throughout the plane. None of us had seats together, it was as if we were flying solo. When I have flown before the people I sit next to are usually not all that social. Consumed with their music and are in their own little world. I do that myself most of the time but it is nice when you get lucky and get to sit next to a complete stranger who ends up being a great conversationalist. I think that is fun, meeting new people. Learning about their life, their beliefs, their ideas, thoughts, interests, you name it. Not long after I found my seat I was joined by such a character. We hit it off right away, asking simple questions about each other and the reason for traveling. Once I explained what our team is traveling for, of course he became more interested; allowing our conversation to dive deeper about our trip, what we are doing, life in general, and God. I wish I could go into great detail but it was a 30 minute conversation that couldn’t have been better. Walking away, handing him the link to this blog and going our own separate ways I couldn’t help to smile. Knowing God put this guy right in my path. It’s so easy to tune out the world like most people do when flying, but I always think about the great experiences you might miss.
Our route from Seattle. Not the route I thought but I’ve never flown over the North Pole and Russia before.
I will try and upload more photos tomorrow night. This is all I have for now.
FIRST DAY IN UGANDA!
What a day this has been. We’ve been in Uganda for less than a day and we’ve already done so much. First things first we stopped to get some food. We were all pretty hungry. We then drove over to the ARM headquarters to tour the ARM office and see a little bit of the amazing program they have going on. I was able to meet a couple of the high school girls as they were heading out of their devotion assembly. So many children flooding the walkways, all of which wanted you to smile back at them and wave. Many times I would notice all they want is to be noticed by you. Children will be franticly waving and only when you smile and wave back would they break out their beautiful smiles and laughter. I can’t wait to meet more of the kids and teens; getting to know them some more and loving on them! After dropping our stuff off at the house we were staying at for the night we went to Loving Hearts Orphan Home, where Ashley has been spending quite a bit of time the past few weeks. I’m not ready to describe that experience yet.
I love children. Holding and loving on babies (newborn-toddler) is something I love to do. I did get to hold several of the babies and soaked up every minute of it. Seeing them; their smiles, personalities, and happiness to be held by you melted my heart. This experience was a little bitter sweet for me. Not going to sugar coat it. On one hand you have these adorable, bouncy, happy, and some sleeping babies that make you smile and can’t wait to love on them. On the other…such sadness, heart wrenching really. Walking into this home of babies that have been abandoned, alone, one even survived being stabbed by her mother; breaks my heart. It makes me want to hold and love on them even more. They need it so much!! There is one girl I love so much, Rebecca!! What a personality she has. Rebecca stole my heart a little bit. I want to go see her again!
Thank you all for your support, prayers, and love! Please keep us in your prayers as we are heading to Kachungwa tomorrow. Pray for safe travels and open hearts and minds as we meet with people, children, leaders, etc.
Love in Christ,
Melanie
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Overwhelmed by Gratefullness
7-28-13
The people of Kachungwa really know how to show how grateful they are for Gods' blessings!
We drove from Adonai House to Mubende, which is a bigger town than I expected. It's bigger than Canby, but a tiny dot on the map. The Town View Hotel lives up to it's name! It has a courtyard, an eating place, and lots of stairs to drag your suitcases up. I'm glad the stairs are pretty symmetrical at least!
After dropping off our luggage, we went straight out to Kachungwa. The drive is about 45 minutes from the hotel. It is located off the main paved road, off the main dirt road, and off the secondary, etc., etc. dirt roads. There are signs posted for all the schools here, and at the "Grace Christian School" sign, we were greeted by so many singing kids in green uniforms. It was pretty overwhelming! They all wanted to touch us through the windows as they ran straight through bushes with the bus until we reached the school grounds. It was a very festival atmosphere and mothers were ululating while the kids cheered.
The school buildings are near the top of a hill and look small on the outside, but the classrooms are actually close to our classroom sizes. There is a new building being built between the two school wings and the church, which will eventually be a pre-school/nursery/early education building, but it has no roof yet. I think everyone eventually found their sponsored children and we all hugged pretty much every mother/grandmother there. They are so sweet! I was immediately given a pink bead necklace and earrings by a mother upon exiting the bus.
We had introductions, ate a lunch, received a report on the school with goals for the future. There are over 500 kids at the school now. I don't know how they fit them all into about 7 classrooms. There was a fun surprise Birthday celebration for Shari, set up by Alex. She was so embarrassed!
After that was some time to visit more. One of my girls pulled me around the campus showing me the swings and trying to introduce me to some of her 18 relatives. This was difficult since they speak quietly, the music from the church was blaring, and she writes better English than she speaks it.
I got to have a quick discussion with a P-6 teacher as we were leaving. Didas Twine (twin-ay, not the string) took my hand and we talked about the school year. He also asked me about our nights. He explained that they have 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night. He wanted to know how our nights changed length. He seems very intelligent and (I think) understood right away. That was fun! I never thought I'd teach a teacher something. I hope we can have other conversations.
Please pray for a few things here. It is very dry and the only reason they have water right now is because of the rain catching tank that was installed. There is also a banana blight going around and that is a staple. Sunday we start preaching/teaching. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to intercede and cause real understanding from us and them. We are doing a parenting class as well...enough said!
Love in Christ, Danelle Chase
The people of Kachungwa really know how to show how grateful they are for Gods' blessings!
We drove from Adonai House to Mubende, which is a bigger town than I expected. It's bigger than Canby, but a tiny dot on the map. The Town View Hotel lives up to it's name! It has a courtyard, an eating place, and lots of stairs to drag your suitcases up. I'm glad the stairs are pretty symmetrical at least!
After dropping off our luggage, we went straight out to Kachungwa. The drive is about 45 minutes from the hotel. It is located off the main paved road, off the main dirt road, and off the secondary, etc., etc. dirt roads. There are signs posted for all the schools here, and at the "Grace Christian School" sign, we were greeted by so many singing kids in green uniforms. It was pretty overwhelming! They all wanted to touch us through the windows as they ran straight through bushes with the bus until we reached the school grounds. It was a very festival atmosphere and mothers were ululating while the kids cheered.
The school buildings are near the top of a hill and look small on the outside, but the classrooms are actually close to our classroom sizes. There is a new building being built between the two school wings and the church, which will eventually be a pre-school/nursery/early education building, but it has no roof yet. I think everyone eventually found their sponsored children and we all hugged pretty much every mother/grandmother there. They are so sweet! I was immediately given a pink bead necklace and earrings by a mother upon exiting the bus.
We had introductions, ate a lunch, received a report on the school with goals for the future. There are over 500 kids at the school now. I don't know how they fit them all into about 7 classrooms. There was a fun surprise Birthday celebration for Shari, set up by Alex. She was so embarrassed!
After that was some time to visit more. One of my girls pulled me around the campus showing me the swings and trying to introduce me to some of her 18 relatives. This was difficult since they speak quietly, the music from the church was blaring, and she writes better English than she speaks it.
I got to have a quick discussion with a P-6 teacher as we were leaving. Didas Twine (twin-ay, not the string) took my hand and we talked about the school year. He also asked me about our nights. He explained that they have 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night. He wanted to know how our nights changed length. He seems very intelligent and (I think) understood right away. That was fun! I never thought I'd teach a teacher something. I hope we can have other conversations.
Please pray for a few things here. It is very dry and the only reason they have water right now is because of the rain catching tank that was installed. There is also a banana blight going around and that is a staple. Sunday we start preaching/teaching. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to intercede and cause real understanding from us and them. We are doing a parenting class as well...enough said!
Love in Christ, Danelle Chase
Day Two
7-27-13
Blessed be the name of the Lord!
Yesterday was a fairly light day. We flew from Dubai to Entebbe with no problems with visas. That was 5-6 hours. Same story with Entebbe airport. We drove through Entebbe and Kampala and had lunch at a deli/meat market.
Our first official thing to do was take a short tour of the ARM headquarters. ARM has a great location right up to a Lake Victoria and lots of room for the kids to play. They are between a primary and secondary (middle and high) school with a chapel on the ground floor, which was in session. Everything was tidy and organized. Our tour guide was Anita. She was a sponsored child herself and has been very helpful.
Side-note: School runs very long here. The kids get up early to run/walk a mile or more to get there and the secondary schools last until about 5PM. They also have a totally different schedule than our schools. They have farming year round, if there's water, and so they have year round school. Feb. to May, July to Sept., and Oct. to just before Christmas. June, some of Sept. and January are holidays.
After the tour of ARM, we stopped at Loving Hearts Babies Home for a short time to hold babies. It was very clean, with about 7 rotating employees to care for the little ones. Ashley Davis has been volunteering here when she's not in Luzira. I held a 3 month old named Corrine, who was very aware and cooing. Ashley said that they've never had to turn out a child for getting too old. Most are adopted by Mazungu (white folks). Praise the Lord for providing them homes!
After the babies, we went to Adonai House, which is beautiful and secure, for dinner and sleep. We all needed that!
Today... Kachungwa!
Love in Christ, Danelle Chase
Blessed be the name of the Lord!
Yesterday was a fairly light day. We flew from Dubai to Entebbe with no problems with visas. That was 5-6 hours. Same story with Entebbe airport. We drove through Entebbe and Kampala and had lunch at a deli/meat market.
Our first official thing to do was take a short tour of the ARM headquarters. ARM has a great location right up to a Lake Victoria and lots of room for the kids to play. They are between a primary and secondary (middle and high) school with a chapel on the ground floor, which was in session. Everything was tidy and organized. Our tour guide was Anita. She was a sponsored child herself and has been very helpful.
Side-note: School runs very long here. The kids get up early to run/walk a mile or more to get there and the secondary schools last until about 5PM. They also have a totally different schedule than our schools. They have farming year round, if there's water, and so they have year round school. Feb. to May, July to Sept., and Oct. to just before Christmas. June, some of Sept. and January are holidays.
After the tour of ARM, we stopped at Loving Hearts Babies Home for a short time to hold babies. It was very clean, with about 7 rotating employees to care for the little ones. Ashley Davis has been volunteering here when she's not in Luzira. I held a 3 month old named Corrine, who was very aware and cooing. Ashley said that they've never had to turn out a child for getting too old. Most are adopted by Mazungu (white folks). Praise the Lord for providing them homes!
After the babies, we went to Adonai House, which is beautiful and secure, for dinner and sleep. We all needed that!
Today... Kachungwa!
Love in Christ, Danelle Chase
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