Music Competition

Although our kids have been doing music for quite some time, this was the school's first year to compete in the Uganda Primary music competition. There are 8 "events" in total, including sight reading, traditional song, western song, traditional dance, original song, and original dance. I don't remember the other two.

Our kids had so much fun. They did AWESOME in the traditional and original songs and dances. This particular song (in the photos) was about a shepherd boy going out for month to herd his animals and the things he would need while in the bush and the celebration when he returned home safely.



They dressed Anthony up to be the "bush" where the shepherd was going.
Paul, the shepherd.


Nuruh, the shepherd's sister, warning him of the dangers in the bush.

Waiting to enter for the Western portion of the competition.Overall, our kids did great with the local/traditional/original things but have some work to do on the sight reading and western piece. I am not sure why they didn't pass to the next level, but hopefully next year. I wish internet was fast enough for me to post the video of their performance. Really, they were so good. You would have been proud!

Sports competition

Last month our kids got to go for their second sports competition. This time, the girls competed in netball and the boys in football.

Netball is a game that I would best describe as basketball and ultimate frisbee combined. They toss the ball and make points by shooting it into a hoop. But if your team member throws you the ball then you can't run with it and must throw it to the next. If you drop it, then the other team has the chance to recover it.

Notice the kids watching the games from the tree.
Doreen, from P6 was selected to compete for the subcounty team, but that is where she stopped.

And of course football (soccer) is the universal sport played on every continent in the world.

Ivan (the one smilingin the front) made it to the national level (again!!- he was our child that went for track and field in Gulu) and played for the Mbale team. The team made it to the final four and then were eliminated.

And this photo is random, but one thing I really like in Uganda is all the flowering trees. Yellow, purple, red, pink, white- they are just beautiful.

And another picture of "Africa" captured in still form.

Life in photos

I have not done a very good job at keeping up with what is happening here. Sorry. As you probably know, we have had many visitors and many activities, all while still being in the second term of school. But hopefully over the next few weeks I can post some things that I never got around to and other photos that just show life here.

I am blogging by the motto that a picture holds a thousand words. Hopefully that proves true.




Crusades: I think we have opened nearly 13 churches this summer. What that means is that American churches from all over have "sponsored" the purchasing of a piece of land somewhere in East Africa, the building of a church building, a pastors house, and sometimes a medical clinic or more, and a water well. When the American team is here, they spend M-F going hut-to-hut evangelizing and sharing about the Good news and love of Jesus Christ. They also invite the people that they meet to attend the afternoon crusades. The picture below is of a crusade. At the crusades there is loud music, dancing, people share their testimonies of what God has done in their lives, and the Gospel message is presented again. It is on Sundays, after a full week of getting to move around the community, that the new church is officially open and dedicated. One of the pastors that is trained from the Bible College in Mbale is then placed at that new church.

Mbale Town: I like Mbale. After spending a full 5 days in Kampala, hosting some friends who were looking at a leadership academy, I have grown to appreicate Mbale even more. Although there is not but 3 good restraunts to eat at and although I can't find the variety of foods or shops like I can in Kampala, Mbale is still a better place to live. It is beautiful for one thing. Not exactly the roads with potholes, but there is Mt. Wanale that I see everyday. And many people that dress in traditional wear. It also has the nice feel of a small town, in that I can always run into someone I know as I am walking around town. And Kampala traffic is so annoying and takes forever and is the hub of at least 1/4 of the world's air pollution. So, all in all, Mbale is good for me and Kampala is a nice treat to visit and eat good food (I did find a great place that served very decent quesadilla and brownie sundays and in my 5 days, I ate at this place for 5 of my 10 meals). Ha, can you tell that food is one of the main things I miss.

Here is Mbale town, from the top of an Indian restraunt.

More to come, so stay in touch.

Dyana we will miss you!!

Sorry there are doubles, it won't delete for some reason.

Yesterday we had some shocking news that has sadly impacted the children's home. Our wonderful nurse came back about 3 weeks ago from being home for her brother's funeral but hadn't been feeling well since she had returned to Uganda. Yesterday she went into town and did tests to see what was wrong. To her surprise her white blood cell count was extremely too high, indicating that she has Leukemia. How? Why? Since when? We don't know.

So by the blessings of the Lord, flight details were worked out for her to leave tonight back to the US to start treatment.

We had a wonderful prayer meeting to pray healing over her and we know (from experience) that our God is a miracle worker. So we (as staff and kids) are believing total healing over her and that she will return to us one day.

We can't always know or understand things that happen but we know that God does know and that God is good.

Dyana seems in shock, sad, but also hopeful. His grace is sufficient for her and she is holding fast to that. Please be praying for her!!!

Hodge Podge #2

It is definitely a season of visitors, which is fun. Usually it is the mission teams that I get to visit with on Sundays before they spend the week doing hut-to-hut, but sometimes people come for longer. There was a wonderful woman named Susan that was here teaching music and the past month I have made a great new friend, Lauren, who is doing her college internship here- living life in another culture. She is about my sister's age and we have had a fun time making jokes, talking about life, and just being silly. I am so blessed that God has been faithful to bring great girls that have a simular personality as me (Haley and Lauren) in the past 2 years. Just sad that they always seem to go. Maybe one day I will have a long term kindred spirit to work and play with. But this is Lauren and I with Marium, Beatrice, Norah, and Naula.
I also hosted my own team. They were part of a group, Global Journey, and had previously been in China and India. They came and were a bit of a sickly team, but God quickly nursed them back to health in a little more comfortable conditions. Glenn graciously offered his house for us to all stay at and we had such a great week. It was wonderful to hear their stories of what God had done in the other places and also wonderful to catch up with my friend Sarah, that I know from TbarM. The team did a great job working on painting the kindergarden classroom block. And we had fun at night playing games like Cranium and making cinnamon rolls together (thanks Kara!)

While the team was still here, I also had my dear, sweet, wonderful friend Erin come to visit me!! How blessed I am!! She spent the past 5 weeks in Ethiopia and I said that if she was on my continent then she was required to come visit me. She gladly did and will be here until the end of July.

So, while Erin, Lauren, and the team were all still here we went to Sissiyi Falls. It doesn't matter how man times I have been there or hiked that mountain, I love it every time. It is really one of the most beautiful places in Uganda (that I have seen).

The River Nile.

I have been confused as to why we call it the Nile River in America but clearly the words are reversed here. What is the real name? But after I took this photo the army man jumped up and shouted something at me. It immediatly brought me to a flashback of the army man that tried to take my camera because he was corrupt. Not this time!! I told Glenn to just keep on driving, quick.

I love the house moms. They really take care of me. Auntie Ritah is always up for a good laugh.

Music Competion PRACTICE:

The kids have spent the past week and a half practicing for music competion. There are 8 areas to present including: western piece, sight reading, drama, original composition, traditional composition, original dance, traditional dance. They have been working really hard and it is so fun to hear the deep-soul-beats of the African drum ringing through the air as I am down at the school. These local instruments are really my most favorite Ugandan music. I have no skill at it, but it was fun to have the kids try to teach me something.

The LIBRARY!!!!

What a huge, amazing, fun, exciting, and wonderful blessing it is to have a new library. Well, when I say new it is true but it is not like we had a library before, just a few books scattered here and there. For the past year Mike Thrasher has been collecting books and organizing to send a container (via ship) full of books/resources/school supplies. Two weeks ago his team was here to "unlock" the boxes of burried treasures and build shelves for the library. The whole team worked so hard to set it up and the outcome is almost unbelievable. What a blessing. They taught each class how to use the library, look for a book, and check it out. AND we had a huge party for the official opening. I really can't speak too highly about it. It will be a blessing for generations to come. Thank you to EVERYONE who contributed time, money, books, resources, etc. They are greatly appreciated by everyone here!!!

A hodge-podge of updates #1

So, internet is moving a bit slow right now and refusing to upload all my photos. So, here are some updates and there are more to come soon.

Overall, life is very good. It has been VERY busy with visitors at LCH, my new friend Lauren who is doing her internship here for a month, the Global Journey team that I hosted, and my sweet, dear, wonderful friend Erin who has been doing work in Ethiopia who is now in Uganda until the end of July to visit me. But I think things might be calming down a bit.

I really have so many more small updates and stories, but they will come with time (and internet speed).

Put a smile on my face:
On the day I was about to pick up my great friend Erin, we had a little time in the big city, Kampala, until we had to head to the airport. We were walking from one shopping center back to another and on the sidewalk in front of me I saw this man. I was greatly amused when I saw this man. If you notice closely you will see that in his little woven bag on his back he has a goose and a chicken AND a turkey around his neck. Right in the middle of the city. It made me smile.

These are just some photos that I liked. No particular story or reason, they just say, "Africa" to me. Enjoy.

Gardening:

So I brought some seeds again and had asked permission from Mama to plant in her inside "flower beds". Well, first off I was a bit skeptical because the soil was full rubish and glass. Second, there was only one set of little hand shovels in Mbale at 35,000 shillings and I refused to spend that much. So what is my next best option? A spade used for "scooping" cement onto the walls and making it smooth. The spade worked pretty well. But seeing as it was a small space to plant I choose those things that didn't have huge vines. As I hoped (despite the soil) things grew really well and extra big. But i also realize that I planted some of the least usable vegitables. Things like okra, lima beans, and too much lettuce. Now my lettuce has overgrown and is about as tall as I am. Who knew lettuce could grow that tall? But I still have some seeds and do plan to plant them at some point.

Arabian/Indian Wedding:

A few weeks ago Glenn informed Lauren and I that we had a wedding reception to go to that night. He is friends with the dad, and seeing as Lauren needed to attend a wedding for part of her internship curriculum we all became really excited. Well, the weekend came and after showering to be ready by 3:30pm, Glenn tells us that the time has changed to 6pm. Ok, typical Ugandan style. Well, when it came down to going, we were finally told to show up at the hotel at 8pm. We got dressed up and arrived, only to find that the chairs were stacked at the location of the ceremony. Not sure whether we had missed the wedding or whether it was starting even later, Glenn went to ask someone. When he came back he said that it was scheduled to start at 9pm, but he wasn't sure what sort of wedding it was and if he would be able to attend. We were a bit confused as Glenn continued to report what the worker said. "We men will be leaving before the ladies arrive because our sisters will be undressing." WHAT??? What does this mean? We were all really confused, but it was confirmed later that indeed, only women were invited to the wedding reception. So, sad for Glenn (but at least he had another guy who was misinformed and sat with him, inside the hotel). Lauren and I joined some other Mzungus who were staying to the hotel and went out to the reception. We just sat there for a long time until around 9:30pm when the music started and a group of woman got in the middle of all the tables and started dancing in a "mamba" type line but with some serious shaking and hands moving gracefully through the air. There was about 20 minutes of this dancing when the oldest mzungu on the team was beckoned from one of the Indian ladies to join in. She did with full enthusiasm. Then we all started joining in. It really was a lot of fun because these ladies got a kick out of teaching us mzungus how to shake it like they were. We danced for neary an hour, then sat because we were exhausted. It was during this rest that Lauren and I realized why the man said his sister's would be undressing. Seeing as they were from a Muslim background the women are required to keep their heads wrapped in some sort of cloth. They were considered "undressed" without the head covering because in their religion their husband is the only man allowed to see them uncovered. And we also decided that it is during these "women only" ceremonies that they are able to really express their own style and show off their beauty (and feel really beautiful). These women had thier hair done up and were wearing beautiful prom like dresses. Really stunning to be honest.

So time continued to pass and all the mzungus went back to their rooms but Lauren and I had waited this long already. We really wanted to see what would happen when the bride arrived. Well, at 12:45am we said we would wait for 15 more minutes. As we were getting up to leave we saw the bride's car arrive. We were told she had spent all this time getting her hair, makeup, and henna done. After she had walked to the front stage it was a time for her just to pose for photos. We had heard word from the other mzungus that they were requested to not take any photos but as the bride was up their I looked to Lauren and said, "If we have waited this long I am going to get a photo." We went up to the front and snapped some photos until one of the Aunties came over in a mean voice and said, "No recording! No recording!" Well, we already got the photos. So we left the reception at 1:20am. And that is when things were just going to get started. I have no idea how long it lasted.

God is good:

I am still amazed at what God is doing here in Uganda. He is definitely making his name great. I am so blessed each Sunday when the I Choose You children have a "special presentation" for us. They are so cute and proud. God is faithfully restoring Hope and fathering the orphans and widows here.

Summer Happenings.

I had a few people call last week and I felt like I just didn't have anything really interesting to update them on. You would think, "Oh, she lives in Africa!" and that would lead itself to all sorts of amazing stories, but really life can be pretty normal here. I have a routine and have been staying VERY busy since summer teams have started to come, but nothing really noteworthy. Or maybe I am just being blind to what God is up to and doing an injustice to you for not boasting in His faithfulness. So let me try to catch you up.

Term 2 of school is in full swing. I am still busy teaching phonics to P3, P4, and P6 classes, plus some special groups.

Our Friday afternoon prayer times are still going on. These started when Nellie was sick last year and has just continued. God has done wonders in uniting us with one purpose and one love as staff and kids. It is really challenging and heart-warming to hear the prayers of these precious kids. Faith like a child in full force!!

There is also time for some playing and exploring. Last week was grasshoppers (well really every week is grasshoppers- I guess the chase never gets boring). Though this week P3 is learning about spiders and I have seen the boys hunting for them, which is a bit disturbing because today I confiscated a small turantula.

God is so so faithful. A long while back some of you prayed for baby Gift, the daughter of one of our workers, who was burned severely. Well, Praise the Lord that she is healed and now is a student in our pre-school class.

We have been practicing for netball and football (soccer) competitions. The practices are a great time for me to talk with some of the kids that are not playing and just be silly.

I also got to see my friend Nambozo (the Compassion friend of Steph Beeler) play in the Netball National Competitions for Secondary Schools.

We have also been blessed at LCH by having teams come to visit. Grace Fellowship Church came and did VBS with the kids in the afternoon. One day, as I was moving through the classes seeing them dancing, singing, learning Bible stories, and doing crafts, I was overwhelmed by how far the Lord has brought these kids. Truly, less than 4 years ago these kids had nothing to hope in for their future and lived to survive. Now, they are so blessed and have really been redeemed from darkness into light. God has and is transforming each and every one of their lives and I get to be a part of that. How awesome is the Lord, Most High!

This is Norah and Florence showing off their crafts. (This photo is for you, Monica and Jac).

This one is for my Dad. I think I told you how I have a namesake baby. Well, another Auntie here was having a baby soon and jokingly I said, "Oh, well since we have baby Natalie now we just need baby Paul, Monica, and Janece. Then my whole family will be here in Uganda." Sure enough, this is baby Paul. And everytime I see him the Aunties say, "Greet your Dad." Ha. So, Dad-- your namesake!!

BUT right when I felt like I didn't have anything exciting to update people on, then The Day of the African Child came. Last Thursday our kids marched for my second annual DotAC. Our kids carried their banner proudly among many other schools and non-profit organizations that deal with kids.

We followed a live marching band and walked a good 2 kilometers from the middle of town to a little neighborhood outside of town. The main purpose of this day is to bring awareness of the stuggles and rights of an African child. It is in memory of the kids that were killed years ago in South Africa. Many issues, such as child labor, child sacrifice, and freedom to education are brought up through songs, poems, and skits.

Our LCH kids had a chance to perform a song. After their first song, everyone liked them so much that they were called up to do another song. I was in the crowd and everyone was asking, "Who are these kids?" "Where is Lulwanda?" "Have they recorded a CD?" People were impressed. They even came up and gave money to our kids for the job well done. I was really so proud of them and realized how these kids are shining, not just in my eyes, but outside the gates of LCH. God has made them a light and has made them to shine for His glory. It was really neat to see that so evidently. Also, after the performances, a reporter from a local radio station interviewed some of our kids and they all sang a song, "I am what God says I am. I am what God says I am. I am a winner, not a loser. I am what God says I am!"

(This picture is special to me because it is one of the IChooseYou girls who goes to Covenant Primary School giving money in appreciation to our LCH kids)

Jarod (the tall one) has done a great job producing original music and teaching our children not only how to sing it but also how to play it. David Lucky played the song "live" in front of all the people. I was so proud, once again.

So, maybe there are things going on but I have just failed to take the time to tell you about it. Thank you for reading this and being an accountablity to me to keep my blog up to date. It helps me to process (and document) what God is doing in my life, the kids life, and in Uganda in general. I love you and appreciate your continuous prayers.