At first I thought his name was "Robot." He was a small, wiry man, who seemed to have a whole wardrobe of ripped and torn clothing. He kept bringing me bottle-caps, which I had mentioned I may want to make into something. Anyway, he didn't want the children to step on them with their bare feet.

Then he began carrying bricks to make a new hut behind the SOVCO office. First he laid them in a circle, and began building on top of that. Robert was always in motion, and he was everywhere, every day. Outside the outhouse, he rigged up a plastic bottle to pour water on the children's hands after they came out.

One day he handed me a thousand-shilling bill, worth about 40 cents. "For airtime," he said (airtime is what they call the pay-as-you -go phone service). I asked him if he had a phone, so I could call him. No, he didn't have one. He just wanted to help me out. Robert is a SOVCO volunteer.

Collin is a SOVCO volunteer, too, and has been for years. Need a bottle of water or some airtime? Yell for Collin. He'll fetch it at the village store. One of the kids is sick and has to be taken to the doctor? Collin will take her on the SOVCO motorbike. There's a package at the post office in town? You need someone to sleep at the worksite to guard the new bags of cement for the SOVCO school? Need to locate one of the children? You can count on Collin.

Collin and his wife Alice just had a beautiful new baby (who was sleeping in the hut when this picture was taken). We took them a bag of sugar from town when we went to visit them. Alice fed us a special meal of squirrel and beans and posho (a kind of cornmeal dish, served with everything). They sent us home with one of their precious chickens (alive, and sometimes protesting, riding upside down held by its feet by Collin on the motorbike), so we'd have a fine meal the next day, too.



"Jesus looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”
                                                                                               Luke 21:1-4, RSV

I'm home! Back to craving hot tea instead of cold water. Back to white snow instead of red dust. Back to missing my family in Uganda instead of missing my family in Indiana.

It was a great trip, and I felt like I really got to know people and the way of life in Uganda even better than last time. My son Joey and I rented a simple house in a normal neighborhood in town, with neighbors amazed to have "mzungus" next door. A cadre of curious kids was always on hand to greet us whenever we opened the door. It was fun to watch them play with toys they'd made: cars made from water bottles and discarded flip flops, kites made from a plastic bag and string, a hoop made from an old tire. They loved my toys, too. Especially my camera. When I would take a picture of them and show them, they'd laugh uproariously.

Each morning, I would wake up under my mosquito net, and after crawling out, would begin washing our clothes from the day before. The dry season means dust, and it was really quite fun to see how much dirt came out of those clothes after just one day! Also, I was amazed how quickly everything would dry. Here's a shot of our bathroom with wash basins and "squatty potty."

About mid-morning, our director Tonny would pick me up with the SOVCO motorbike to begin the day's adventures, which included visiting the children at their schools, and bead ladies at their homes, spending time at the SOVCO office (looking at receipts and report cards, chatting with volunteers and whatever children stopped by, checking progress at the SOVCO school worksite, and eating lunch made over a charcoal stove).

Late afternoons and evenings, I often spent time at Tonny's home with his wife Beatrice and their adorable baby Dan. I experienced for the first time what it's like to be a grandma...and I love it! We spent lots of time together sitting on their doorstep and watching the life of the compound. Babies in Uganda don't wear diapers, and it's said that if they feel comfortable with you  they will pee on you. Dan definitely feels comfortable with me! And I miss him so much! 

I’m in Uganda! Sorry it has taken me so long to write…life here presents all kinds of obstacles to accomplishing one’s goals. But I finally have an internet connection and a bit of extra time, so here I am.

My first day here, I was greeted at the SOVCO compound with a procession of children and their guardians, the women emitting this high-pitched warbling sound that means they are happy and excited to see you. I immediately recognized many of them from last time, and they were touchingly grateful for that. A committee of parents had organized the program.  I was seated under a sun shelter with the director and board members. Parents and guardians were grouped under a tree, and the children were under another sun shelter. There was a wonderful program with songs by the children, and a traditional dance by the women.  All the while there were women working hard preparing a meal over fires around the compound, and children trooping to the cute new outhouse hut and back. There’s always so much to look at here in Africa! Click here for a link to a video of part of the program.

We did not give the gifts to the children the first day, as there were children there who are sponsored by a church in Florida, who would not be getting gifts. They wouldn’t have understood why they didn’t get anything, so we have been giving out the gifts to the kids as we see them. Yesterday several stopped by after school to get them: Arach Eunice, Agnes and Babra, Ivan, Gerald, Brenda, and Prossy are the ones I remember.

Building has started on the SOVCO school! They had made bricks during the month before I came, using money from fundraisers some of you have done. My church sent $2,000 along with me, which we have spent on more materials. The land was cleared, and a trench has been hand-dug in the dry, rocky soil by local men grateful for the work. Soon, the foundation will be laid, and we hope to have enough to build the walls up several feet before running out of money. That’s the way it’s done here, since banks take such high fees, and money hidden in the house is not safe. So they just start building. They know with a growing population, and a fierce demand for education, a school is always a good investment.

I have visited several of the existing schools this past week, and always get a warm but shy welcome from the children. Tonny and I establish ourselves  in the head teacher’s office, and someone is dispatched to gather all the SOVCO sponsored children in the school. Then we sit and visit for awhile, me giving a speech about how much you care about them and pray for them, that it’s not just money you are supplying, but spiritual support as well. Then Tonny gives a longer speech about how therefore they should work hard to achieve their goals, and SOVCO will be so proud of them. And I take pictures, which I will send to you when I get home.

I am constantly feeling amazed that I am actually here, experiencing a life so different from life in North Manchester, Indiana (where I hear the snow just keeps on coming). I’m so grateful to God for letting me do this work! And to you for supporting these children. Thank you.

Blessings,

Sally