Merry Christmas!

Also, the link below is my end of 2011 newsletter.  

(sorry for the poor photo quality)

 Nat in Uganda - Update of 2011

Goat Roasting...

Many little eyes, 338 to be exact, stare intently following the sound of the goats' screams.  The Headmaster presents the head boy and head girl each with a big goat with a string tied to its foot like a leash.  The excitement grows as the uncles lead the goats to the side of the school.  Definite squeals of thrill and disgust as the children have closely huddled around to see the goats being slaughtered and skinned.  

“Teacha look!! The goat still has milk.”- My Western thought: “Really?!?  Stop milking the dead goat. That is disgusting!!”

What is happening at LCH?!?

As a reward to celebrate the children’s great efforts and success at music competition in July, the school organized to have a goat roasting celebration.  

I won’t lie… I had a moment where I laughed to myself and thought, “Only in Africa would this be normal (and acceptable) fun.”  And fun it was.  The kids were so happy as they carried their big chunks of goat meat, hanging by a thin metal wire, to the fire to roast. 

As they huddle in three groups over the small fires we had created there were three main methods to the madness.  Some children were patient with the process, keeping their meat on the wire grill until it reached the perfect tenderness.  Some children didn’t feel like they had the proper angle, so they devised ways of “hanging” their meat over the fire by tying banana leaves to the skewer and lowering the meat down to the middle of the fire where the patient roasters could not reach.  And then there were the others who were salivating too much from the thought of this delicious treat and decided to speed up the process by shoving the meat directly into the fire.  Whatever the method, the result was satisfying.

Method 1 & 3

Method 2

Roasting matooke

Ugh!! UMEME!

“Ugh!--- UMEME!!”  I find myself saying this phrase a lot recently, well at least in my head.  UMEME is the local word for power or electricity.  And for the last month we have had power twenty four hours on, twenty four hours off- at best.  Lame!  They call this load shedding.  

There are a variety of theories as to why there has been such an increase in power cuts.  1) Uganda, as a country, has an outstanding debt to the power company, which they are unable to pay because the current president used all the allocated money for paying the bill on his presidential campaign at the beginning of the year. 2) There were 3 companies producing power at the Nile river and because of the economic crisis, two went bankrupt.  Therefore, there is now only one company producing power for the whole country- in which it is unable to produce enough. 3) Uganda is selling the power to neighboring countries.  I don’t even know if this is possible.  But none the less, candle light dinners are now a common occurrence and not so romantic :)

So, there a few key things I have learned due to the load shedding.  1) On the nights that you do have power, plug in everything with a rechargeable battery. 2) Oil lamps are more economic than candles. 3) Make sure you check that the light switches are off, otherwise you will get a bright surprise when power returns as you are sleeping. 4) “Missionary midnight” = 9pm now makes sense to me.  5) I am grateful to have power AT LEAST sometimes.  

Inflation

There are things that are so basic that we often take for granted.  Let’s take sugar.  Shockingly, the cost of sugar has increased from 2300 shillings/kg about four months ago to 6000 shillings/kg.  In the past month, it has not been uncommon to see sugar increase by 1000 shillings in a day. 

To gain a little perspective, the current exchange rate is about $1=2600 shillings.  And there are about 4 cups of sugar in a kg.  So, it is about $2.30 for 4 cups of sugar. 

So, for a little more perspective, you can buy one kilogram of sugar OR you can buy:

-          6 giant avocados

-          ½ kg of beef fillet

-          6 sodas to enjoy with your friends

-          30 tomatoes

-          Two bunches of bananas

-          Or Have a skirt altered and two small curtains made

 

I was talking to my Granny the other day and told her that we have now gone on sugar rationing and have eliminated most baking (and in a house of two girls that love to bake, this is saying a lot).  

In a society that sees sugar as a necessity for their tea (often times using up to 3 heaping tablespoons), the increase in sugar prices is having a big impact on my Ugandan friends.   And though I have made this out to be a little light-hearted, the reality is that the cost of EVERYTHING has increased significantly, whereas the wages of Ugandans has not moved to account for the increased cost of living.  This is putting many people in difficult situations to even meet basic needs like food, rent, and school fees.  

Please pray for Uganda.  Pray that prices come down.  Pray that employers are fair and kind in regard to their employees’ salaries.  Pray for God to provide for the growing number of people who seem to have more expenses than they do income.  The Lord is our Shepherd, we shall not want.

"You are lost."

Often times, when you meet a Ugandan you haven't seen in awhile, they will tell you, "You are lost."  I have come to understand this as merely an extension of their typical greetings.  My response of choice is either, "Yes, somehow." or "No, I have always known where I was."  So, I do recognize that I have been "lost" from my blog for some time.  But thank your for your faithfulness to continue checking and reading.

I have been challenged recently by the thought, “Wherever you are, be all there.”  And I suppose this would also be my attempt to explain my blogging absence.  After a wonderful, but very busy summer, the children then were released for second term holiday (basically all of August). 

This is my favorite time of the year.  With all my little friends back home, not occupied with the rigorous school schedule, I had plenty of activities and fun that I wanted to have with them.  So, abandoning the world of computer, internet, emails, and blogging, I spent August playing with legos, snuggling little ones, taking groups out to visit a babies home, swimming with P5 and doing arts and crafts.  Evening hours would have been a great time to catch up, but power is only on every other night- if that. 

So, all that to say, I have been intentional to “be all there” for the children while at LCH and with my friends, playing games and sharing time together in the evenings.  

The biggest news to share is that I have “shifted” houses.  I am living in the same neighborhood with my closest friend here, Tiffany.  In the month that I have lived in my new house, it has already been a great blessing.  There is a beautiful vegetable garden in the back, along with a little covered patio to sit on and take evening tea.  Also loving to cook and  host people, I am excited to see who the Lord brings our way to show the love of Christ.  

This is my house as you enter from the main gate.

The back porch and lovely patio.  These are two of our four dogs.

The kitchen that faces the backyard.

The sitting room.

View of the sitting room and dining room.

The hallway to the bedrooms.

My room.  This is the view as you walk in the door.

My room.  A view from the opposite angle.