Well, it has been some time since our last post! We have come and gone from Mpigi, and it was absolutely wonderful to be there. This post is a small attempt to capture some of the events and atmosphere of our time there.
Our sleeping quarters for most of the time there. We stayed here at the back of the church until precisely 7am Sunday morning, when Mama Rose got an super head start on cleaning for the service at 11.
This is the one of our care and compassion visits. She is a lovely woman with 5 kids; her family is squatting now, but will have to find new land to rent once the landowner starts developing. She had a hard time understanding why we didn't own chickens back home and grow our own crops.
Josh' first bodo-bodo ride. Thanks for bringing him back safely pastor Scott!
This is Richard, a very remarkable young man from near the orphanage. He will be starting 2nd year university in Kampala in August. His goal is to go to law school after his bachelor and make an impact for his community. He has a bright future.
Since Josh survived, we let Scott have a go with Aisy too.
We did not let our kids ride with this man. Scott has a bet with Brent that he will not wash his feet until he gets home. A photo of his feet on the plane's tray table is the required proof.
Aislyn and the other muzungu kids helped bring water up so the Mpigi kids had a bit more time to play after school.
Normally the kids get home around 4 or 5 and have an hour or two of chores. Homework happens after dinner.
This is the Canada-vs-Uganda football match on Saturday. An epic battle, which seemed to end abruptly after the Ugandan team broke a tie on a penalty kick. We would have had words about the allotted extra time with the ref, if there was one.
The mamas peeling mitoke (a hard green banana) for boiling later.
After catching the first part of church on Sunday, we picked up the Fretz-Moffitts in Kampala and headed to the rhino sanctuary. Rhinos were exterminated from Uganda in 1973, but have been re-introduced into the sanctuary in recent years. We got to trek on foot to visit a mom and baby Justus.
At our closest approach we were about 30 feet away. This photo is from about 60 feet.
Kids from one of the families on our second care and compassion trip. There were a lot of sad stories on this day. The girl in the center has AIDS, as does her little sister and mother. Her mom left when she learned about the disease, so the girl is staying with her aunt and cousins.
This is the apartment where the family lives. The mother lives here with upwards of 12 kids. This was a state-owned building and no rent was required; however, the building has been privatized and family will be hard-pressed to pay the rent if the landlord renovates.
Dave earned himself a new nickname here. We delivered 4 pigs to two families, and this little one was nearly losing his mind after being hobbled and stuck under the backseat of a taxi bus. Dave picked him up and settled him down through either some muffled oinking or perhaps a porcine mind-meld --- but the Pig-Whisperer is not giving away his secrets.
This widow and her family fled from Rwanda some time ago. She runs a small restaurant on the side of the road in Mpigi. The restaurant consists of an charcoal fire outside and a 5x5 hut where her patrons can sit and eat. They long to have land where they can raise their own crops.
This single mom is raising 5 boys. She is a squatter on government land, which means she can't build anything more permanent than the mud hut seen behind her. Nonetheless, her boys are doing very well in school, with the oldest already in college.
Dan and Sheri Anderson have visited this family several times, and will be happy to hear that she and the boys are all healthy.
After our last visit, we visited the famous drum shops of Mpigi. It was great jamming with everyone. Josh loves his new drum!
Couldn't figure out how to get this one home but Ben and Aislyn had fun playing.
Every night at 7 the kids sing and pray as the sun goes down. It's pretty amazing, and a highlight of our trip. Then an extended hug-fest ensues as they all say goodnight.
Jeff and Shannon have continued to lovingly guide us through our Ugandan experience. We can't say enough about how wonderful and gracious they have been.
On our last night in Mpigi we went to each of the kids houses and delivered cards and lollipops. At each house we were welcomed with singing and dancing This is Subi house, for the youngest of the boys and girls.
These are the older girls, a beautiful group.
Laura and Harriet.
And these are the boys. They are active and mischievous, but a sweet and talented group of kids. Every time we left their house at night, two of them would sneak out back and jump out from behind the shadows of the cabin as we left.
After leaving Mpigi, we stopped a final time at Sanyu Baby Home. Laurie and Ben fell in love with baby Augustus. It was hard to say goodbye.
Sanyu is in the midst of busy Kampala. This constitutes an outing for the little ones, sitting out front and watching the people and traffic pass by. Brad and Dave are manning the walls for falling babies.
Yummy. Cafe Java is a favourite stop for muzungus. Josh finished his milkshake, and then polished off half of Aislyn's here too.
