We Will Miss You!

 Saturday 

It's Saturday morning and the end of this journey is drawing near. Such a bittersweet feeling...excited to see our loved ones at home & sad to leave this new family of loved ones in Uganda.

Yesterday was quiet but quite fulfilling. We took JaJa Ssempa shopping. She is the grandmother of Syd's sponsored child who is raising 6 of her grandchildren. She was so sweet and tiny and overcome by the gifts of love she received. She went home with food supplies and a new mattress pad for one of the children. When we left her home, she insisted we take a chicken or eggs as a token of her appreciation. All we needed was one more hug! Thanks Syd..she held tightly to the envelope sent to her by you.

Back then to Rock of Ages school. All but one class, P4, was attending the Ag Fair. Jayde and Jared purchased icicles/Popsicles for them and we gave them all balloons & taught them a new song "We Love You So Much".

Back home for an afternoon/evening of packing and playing. Jayde, Jared & Dennis are preparing to take one last boda ride into Jinja for some last minute shopping. Then we leave at noon for Kampala where we will reunite with the safari team for some shopping & pizza before going to the airport. Our flight to Amsterdam leaves Entebbe at 11:30 p.m. Thanks to Jayde and her skills, we're already checked in. Once there we will say good-bye to the Fowler crew as they continue on to Idaho.

Good-bye UGANDA!!! We will miss you!
Cathi Delp

Friday

It's Friday morning here and as i sit on the back porch sipping coffee & thinking about this experience, many things come to mind that will never be forgotten.

Things like the quiet morning sky and listening to the neighbors working at cutting trees and doing morning chores. Betty & Abdu's children preparing for school..the older one, Sarah, and Uncle Dennis get them, dressed and fed and ready for their morning boda ride. But today they miss school so Daddy can take them to the Ag Fair. Excitement builds!

I look out and see the homemade volleyball net made of rope and dried stalks and can hear the laughter of our team (and finally some of our Ugandan family)
as they battled to win. Also, our sweet moments of sharing devotions, prayers and life stories..often ending with tears of joy and sometimes pain. Handing off the $2 that Abdu planted in the palms of my hands last Sept 2012 so that I might see my dream to see Africa come true, to Dennis...so that he can now see his dream of "coming to America" come true.

I think of Jordan and his love for food...Jayde her open appetite for chapti's & our favorite little convenience store "The Igar" where we went wild buying snacks regardless of the time of day. Katie, Corrie & Jayde getting their hair extensions and braids and even me letting Susan put a few in my own hair. Katie aka Mrs. Uganda, Corrie aka Miss Uganda, Jayde aka Miss Africa, Keri aka Auntie Keri and me aka JaJa Mark. And of course, Randy and his puns and all the ribbing he took for being ADD/MD and Keri..for keeping us all in line and on time. Tyler's pool event and us planning the wedding for he & Corrie.
It's so good to know that Christianity prevails here. One of the first evenings here we could hear from afar the echoing of Muslims and Christians battling over who was right. This is a daily event on a local road corner not far from here. Thankfully I know Who Reigns!! I'll close by sharing one of the sweetest memories I will  take home. Last evening after dinner while we sat in the living room and played on computers and cell phones, Abdu had some christian music playing. His 6 yr old son Moses sat on my lap and taught me a game all the while singing every song that came on right along with his daddy.

This is just a bit of what i'll be taking back to Indiana with me......Cathi

Bonding for LIfe

Baptism in the Nile!

By Cathi

Wednesday we headed out to Nile Bungee Jumping in Jinja..where 4 team members...Jordan, Tyler, Jared & Randy plus our favorite taxi driver and Christian brother, Kennedy took the plunge over the Nile!!  Since it was a first for all but Randy there was a lot of anxiety & excitement for all..especially the jumpers. The guys did a great job and were all ready to go again.  After that, we all met at the Nile for baptisms.  Pastor Jimmy, from Jesus Life Christian Church (where we worshiped last Sunday), was there to  pray and do the baptizing of Corrie, Tyler, Katie, Cathi & Jared. Afterwards we celebrated these two experiences that we'll never forget and has bonded us ,again as a team, more for life. Next stop was the Black Latern campground & restaurant, where the Idaho group stayed the night before heading out for their safari. We enjoyed a yummy late night dinner there.  The trip there was another opportunity to toss balloons out the window to the little children!  Never a dull moment with this group.

Today, Adbu and Betty took the remaining 3 of us to the Jinja Agricultural Fair.  Besides the fact that the President of Uganda was supposed to be there, it was packed!  We saw cows, pigs, chickens, goats,lots and lots of school children & even a John Deere tractor.  After a quick stop for groceries and milkshakes, we're home.  Betty's friend, Susan, known for her famous hair braiding and now chapti making, is teaching Jared how to make chapti's. Dinner smells good!   

Note: Chaptis are an unleavened flat bread, a favorite both of the locals and visitors.

Fish in the Ocean

By Cathi Delp

Today is Tuesday and has been another wonderful day. We began once again by visiting the children at Rock of Ages school.  As soon as we got there it was Bible study time. I wish you all could have seen the excitement in those little faces when they gathered to hear about Jesus.
  

Soon afterwards Jared & I were blessed to stand beside Betty and hand out the Children's Bibles to the P3 & P4 classes! Thank you to all who helped make these little faces smile smile smile.  Before leaving we walked to the nearby city of Mbiko. This is a very small & poor village where many of the Rock of Ages students live. We stopped at the shop where the "Women of Faith" sell handmade items, as well as food for the people of Mbiko. It's always a joy to have the little ones run to see us and shake our hands as we walk along sharing stickers and balloons with them.

After a few hours of resting at home & finishing up the braiding, we visited the local children's hospital in Jinja. Our hearts are still melted from this experience. At the hospital parents wait on the lawn until time to feed their own children. They must supply bed sheets & blankets for their children. A nurse gave us a tour of the crowded facility and shared with us about the major diseases they deal with, which are malaria, pneumonia, HIV/AIDS & diarrhea  Throughout the tour we handed out plastic crosses to sick children and their parents and had opportunity to pray for some as well.

Team Outside Jinja Hospital

Dinner has ended and now we sit and listen as Abdu & Betty share their life stories of how God has worked along side them as they both followed the visions of their hearts...farming and teaching. We love them and their children, Sarah,Moses,Hannah & Abby so very much! They are a true blessing to all.  This morning during devotions Abdu planted a seed in us all with these simple words "..when you have never left the US, you are like a fish in a fish pond. But, when you fly 10,000 miles to Africa, and you find brothers & sisters worshiping the same God as you do, then you're like a fish in the ocean".

Note: Women of Faith (Karla Reynolds)

This  group was started this past  January  with a grant from a Rotary Club in Alaska.    It  brought to life   a vision that Betty had shared with us in April 2012 during a  team visit.  She hoped to get sewing machines and train some of the school moms to sew uniforms. The women would be compensated for their work, and once they had completed the project, they could use their newly acquired skills to  make money in other  sewing projects.  ROA would continue to use them as their uniform supplier year to year to help sustain the business.   The uniforms you see the kids wearing were all made by these women.  

This past April, while we were there, this group of woman shared  with us their dream of continuing to grow their sewing business. But they had another idea: to set up a food co-op where members (other school moms)  could buy at a discount and non-members  buy at retail.   A  generous donor gave them a small loan  to  rent a shop and set up the business.  The back room was to house the sewing machines  and provide work space for the  sewers. The front would be the shop.  

This was the shop the team visited today.  This project  has only been the works for two months  and we are still working out the kinks. Our goal is to help  these moms become self sufficient, while helping out the school and other parents.   With the help of Betty and Abdu, we are working on turning over the ROA supplemental food program to these ladies.  Since May, they have been buying, packing and distributing the supplemental food that some of our sponsors provide for their sponsored families.  Please pray for this venture and for women in this group. The road to self-sufficiency is difficult. 

The shop

 

Sewing Uniforms

Blessings to you all from Jinja!

By Cathi Delp

Jade, Katie, Sera and Cori

What a weekend we had...Saturday was a day of coffee on the patio for some & sleeping in for others. After that we took a quick trip to town then on to an afternoon at "Sera's Caring Place". Sera is one amazing young 26 year old woman..who a few yrs ago gave up her career to take in young boys and girls off the streets who needed the love of a mother!! She currently has the most respectable 26 boys & 4 girls r  We had a ball sharing & playing football, basketball & putting up a basketball hoop & net that was nailed to a tree. Keri led us in the kitchen as we prepared them a meal of 17 boxes of Mac & cheese, sausage & chocolate chip cookies. One little girl didn't even know what a cookie was. They blessed us with song and dance and so much heartwarming respect. After a long exhausting day, we returned to Betty&Abdu's to re-live our blessings of the day until 11p.m.

Sunday, we were up and off to "Jesus Life Church" with Betty&Abdu. We had CHURCH!!!! Worshiping and Praising The Lord in song and dancing...and an awesome message from Pastor Jmmy  regarding opportunity and seasoning our words. Quick trip home to change & eat before heading to the local pool with Sera and her 30 kids. This was a special gift to these children. Tyler, one of our team members known for his lifeguard skills jumped right in to enjoy swimming with the kids...and cut his foot on a jagged piece of tile.  Dr Randy & his trainee, team member Jared, came to the rescue!! Abdu rushed him home to get medical gear and right there at the pool, 13 stitches were put into his foot. Another quick trip home for us to change clothes, then on to a nice outdoor restaurant where we treated Sera and her kids, her cook Margaret & our cook Grace to a one of a kind outdoor restaurant meal along with a time of miniature golf, pictures & each one left proudly wearing a WWJD bracelet. Wore out again..but we were all on such a high that last night our bedtime extended to midnight. God is so amazing"

Shopping in the Market

Today, Monday, we went back to Rock of Ages school. We played, finished teaching toothbrushing hygiene, Randy taught the teachers some medical lessons, took a few children to the local hospital for HIV testing (Praise God all were negative). Corrie got to meet with her sponsored child's mother and Jordan & Katie met their new sponsored child's mother. Some visited Women of Faith & shopped in Mbiko, while the young hooligans & I headed downtown Jinja to shop for their favorite Ugandan foods! Fun never ends around here that's for sure. Two of our team, Katie and Corrie got full hair extensions today and two more of us get ours done tomorrow. Tonight as I type, we are blessed to have Sera with us sharing her unbelievable testimony.  She struggles financially with her ministry but her faith and trust in God as she loves and mothers these children is so humbling. Our prayers are to find resources to help Sera & Sera's Place thrive and that she will be blessed financially to provide a vehicle to transport these children to and from school.

Hygiene and Wound Care and Lots of Fun!

Post Health Fair

Hello again from Uganda.  What a wonderful day!  As mentioned yesterday we spent the morning at Rock of Ages school working with students and parents on hygiene.  There were approximately 75 parents there.  They received the info well and even had some medical questions of their own.

Bubbles

After leaving there, we proceeded on to visit Abdu's chicken farm and then to his dairy farm.  Both operations are amazingly run.  Some of the younger adults enjoyed letting the chickens peck at their fingers.  And, at the dairy farm we held baby goats and let the little baby cows "nurse" on their fingers! Lots of laughter !!On our way home we visited the Jaja's and came home with 8 loaves of freshly baked pumpkin and banana bread. 

Came home to some r&r time for some and another active game of volleyball for others... before enjoying a great meal prepared by Grace.  We've all begged her to come back to the States with us. Now preparing for a time of devotions to be led by Jayde.  Good night!

Volley Ball

The Team