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