Wow

Wow… I praise the Lord for each day that I am here. He is good. And I feel like I am in a really nice season of refreshment and blessing with the different teams coming in. How sweet to have familiar (and unfamiliar) faces and to always be able to understand the little comments and conversations that are going on around.

Well, it was a really nice time with the team of Mr. Rob (the GICF pres) here. They were at LCH having activities for the kids and doing hygiene clinics at some of the schools. On Sat (2 weeks ago) the Good Neighbor kids came to LCH. The Good Neighbor is a program where all of our 90 kids are paired with a kid from the Bulolelo village (where the Home is). They come once a month for a teaching, playing, lunch, a bible story, and sometimes it is time to pass out school supplies to help them out. Well last week all the kids came for a carnival type day. And their moms were invited too, to attend the hygiene clinic. It was really awesome. They were taught about how diseases spread from not washing your hands properly or from flies and about how to help keep the compounds safe and clean and other practical items. I was really impressed by the material and the response of the women. It seemed to be a great success. The team also had a really beautiful and special appreciation lunch for the teachers and staff. Everyone really enjoyed.

Praise the Lord!! I went for attempt number 2 to turn in the first stages of my work permit (I was rejected the first time because I was missing 2 documents (although I really feel like I had every important document I have ever acquired in my life)). But I went this past week, back to Kampala (a 4 hour drive) and after dealing with rude lady who was upset because I had interrupted her lunch, and then visiting the NGO office and then the immigrations office, THEY ACCEPTED MY PAPERS. Well, at least for the first step. In total it will be about a 3 month process, but I am so relieved to have the first step done. I don’t know why they make it so difficult to acquire a permit. Even getting the list of documents that I would need was nearly impossible to find. Praise Him for the Mzungu friends I made here who did the ground work for me and passed the steps on so I could follow their footsteps of getting a permit.

The rest of the week went by so fast. I was at LCH and then there was a Youth conference at church on Friday and Saturday put on my Mzungus from Colorado. Yesterday I attended another wedding reception. It is always amusing to me that it is not uncommon to see people coming with a wedding gift of a chicken, turkey, or goat. Of course. The picture attached is of the bride serving cake to her visitors, after she has knelt down, washed her husband’s hands and fed him cake. Then the bride, groom, and bridesmaids go to all the visitors and serve cake- while kneeling to show respect.


So, this week I am the teacher on duty so I must be sharp and tough, showing the kids who is boss. Ha. Although I will have a stick in my hands, they all know that I don’t cain the kids (which is the common disciplinary action in Africa for unruly children). But I will be tough on them and make them do wall squats or stay after from lunch if they delay to get to class. All in all they are good though. I am excited to maybe teach a new some during assembly. I really love these kids. They are all so special to me in their own unique way and I feel like a proud mama when the teams come through because they love the kids but don’t get to know the kids like I do. It is such a sweet blessing to be able to know the personalities of each of them. Oh, praise the Lord for his saving grace!