Uganda (Part 3): The Highlights

The blog post of random moments and fond memories...

You see, we just arrived in Uganda and came upon a MIRROR!!!! So this is how we look? Wow!
"Hello Face! It's great to see you again!"

It was our first Sunday in Uganda when we heard of a group that takes porridge to the patients and their caregivers at the local children's hospital every Monday morning. The hospital does not provide meals for these patients, neither does it provide care for the sick. Family members stay at the hospital providing care for their sick loved ones, as well as cook what food they can afford to buy and scrub their laundry. Mothers leave the rest of their children at home to fend for themselves until the sick child is healthy enough to return home. I met one mother who was juggling her responsibilities at home and with her child in the hospital. After the sick child was feed in the morning, she would return home to feed the rest of her child. In the evenings she would return to the hospital for the night.

Those Monday mornings were painfully early, but super rewarding. When I remember the porridge chef that had to get up at 4 am to make this meal happen, I counted it a blessing to be able to sleep till 5:20.

This critically malnourished child is 14! It seems so hopeless...



...until I hear about stories like this one. Just a few months ago this darling child was extremely malnourished as well, but has recovered and is now a healthy, energetic girl who loves attention and lots of hugs.

A tent for the caregivers to gather. Sometimes they bring the patients out for some fresh air. This is also part of the area that they use to wash their clothes (like the lady in the background) and cook their meals.

Rachel and Dorothy faithfully sacrifice their time for this ministry.

Shoe shopping in the market.

STREET FOOD

These are the kind of stands we visited on a regular basis for our evening meals.
A day was not complete without a chapati. 

         

We quickly discovered our favorite chapati chefs and enjoyed buying from them on a regular basis. 

                       

But no chapati could beat this one, made to perfection and fresh off the fire!

Favorite Places

This neat little marketplace was just down the road from our guesthouse.

Main Street. We walked this street every day.

There were many tourist shops along main street. Even though we were not interested in doing much of that type of shopping, occasionally we would stop by to chat with the vendors and take a peek at their goods.

We met Steve and Rebecca one night as we were making our daily rounds on Main Street. This young couple and their twin baby girls captured our attention. Even though our discourse was short, an impression was made. The next day Beth bumped into them again and learned that they had a small stand along Main Street. Throughout the remainder of our time in Jinja, we stopped by their stand frequently to chat and cuddle their precious littles. One night they invited us to their "home" or more like to the place they were currently staying for the evening. We enjoyed sitting outside in the courtyard hearing their story of redemption which is truly amazing! (to be shared later)

We wanted to have Ugandan porridge and as a bonus we also got a cultural experience.

Cooking porridge and learning how to make chapati like the pros.

Aisha, Diana, and Naima

We made so many friends with the locals in those three short weeks. Meeting guys was so common, but we really wanted to start building relationships with women, so we made it a matter of prayer. The next evening Lora and I met a man who very much wanted us to meet his born-again daughter, Diana. Through that meeting we also met these two other girls. Watching God work through these relationships was so amazing!

Flavours, a cafe with free wifi! Over the first week or so we frequently stopped by here and quickly got to know the employees and began building friendships.

Another one of those nice cafes. This one is famous for being the Mzungu hangout. Since I really didn't like the label, "Mzungu", I tended to avoid this one. I know, my skin is white and will always be white and I just need to get over it!
I will say though that this place is beautiful and their frappes are truly amazing!

 Why of course we celebrate Valentine's Day!

The double, side-saddle winners!

The Sailing Club was our destination that night and what a delightful evening we had!

       

A visit to God's Garden with Pastor Bob one rainy Sunday afternoon.



Surjio's pizza at Peter and Val's beautiful home with our "American" friends.

And of course, we can't forget the day we took a boat out on Lake Victoria and River Nile. Yes, this is the same Nile River that flows through Egypt and is spoken of in the Bible. 

                                                                                                        

    

   

Our darling little boat.

Oh the list could go on and on. No picture, nor descriptive story could ever give you a true experience of this city like actually being there and talking to the locals, playing with the Ugandan children, walking the streets, hearing the pounding music, smelling the smoke from the charcoal fires, and scrubbing red dirt from your feet at the end of each day. 

Oh how we miss that place!