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Well, this week has been quite interesting. We could only include some events, as there was so 
much to write about. First of all, we’ve been told that the rainy season begins in March, but it has been raining for the past week at least once a day. Strong winds and thunder and lightning have come with it, making for some impressive damage to almost all of our banana trees out back as well as a lot of time without power.
On Sunday Frank and I were both feeling sick so we stayed at the office all day. We were supposed to go to an introduction party, a bride was introducing her husband to her family, but
unfortunately we couldn’t go. These ceremonies are where the groom is expected to pay the bride’s family a minimum of three cows for her. At first we were quite interested to see this in person, however, after talking about this custom with some Christian locals we realized that this “ownership” of the wife results in her often being treated as a bought object instead of a human.
Monday was a public holiday and we were feeling better, so we went to look at some of the shops in Mbale. We also went to play catch with a football outside our office and within minutes about ten neighbourhood children asked if they could join us. So, Frank taught the older boys how to play American football while I played soccer with some of the younger children. It was a lot of fun and the kids stayed for about 3 hours; I think they would’ve stayed all night if we hadn’t told them that we had to go.
We also walked around town with Vicki, looking at some of the hotels and then we went to a wedding meeting. In Uganda, people have 5-6 meetings before their weddings to go through the budget and raise money. They sell pop, and auction off mystery gifts to raise money. We didn’t stay the whole time though because dark clouds were looming overhead…
Halfway back to the office, the skies opened up and we were caught in a torrential downpour. The three of us tried to take cover, but Frank and I were completely soaked anyways, so we decided to run back to the office. Within minutes it looked as if we had jumped into a swimming pool. Hundreds of locals who were taking cover were laughing at us, as they thought it was funny that we’d go out into the rain. This tropical rain is something we’ve never experienced before!
On Tuesday I (Frank) went with the FH engineer to look at a school structure being built two districts from Mbale. When we arrived it rained VERY VERY hard for about two hours, which the locals said would make it impossible to reach the school on motorbikes because of the severe mountain slopes, and washed out roads. We decided to go anyways, as I was thinking to myself “Self…how bad can it be?” Well needless to say, it was really bad. During the trip we came off our bikes twice, and the other bike went over three times. We looked at the school structure being built and I had a chance to see the existing school structure. I have included a picture of the old school structure. About 800 students go to school at this school,
with about 80 students who sit on rocks on the floor in each of the classrooms (photo). The community with the support of FH has now built 4 classroom blocks (photo) making learning conditions much better. When we finally reached the office in Pisway (photo of town) it was still raining, making it impossible to go back, so we were forced to stay the night. It was such a beautiful but cold place (+5 which is COLD by African standards) perched on the slopes of Mount Elgon. I thought Livingstone (the engineer) was going to freeze to 
death as he was shivering the entire time we were there, while I on the other hand enjoyed the break from severely hot weather of Mbale. This area used donkeys for transporting crops and everything else as it is impossible even with motorbikes to reach most places, so there were very many of them in the area and they kept us up at night because of the constant “EEEE AWWWW”ing.
On Friday morning I (Amber) woke up with a huge red welt on my leg that looked like a big bite of some sort. It was okay and we continued on as usual with devotions, prayer, and worship. But at mid morning…SNAKE!!! That’s right; I was coming out of our room, and saw a green snake stretched across the hallway. Well, as you may know, I wasn’t
about to call Frank because he would’ve passed out in the hallway beside it, so I called for Paul. But there are two Paul’s and they were trying to decide which one of them I was calling. I yelled that I didn’t care which one of them it was; it could be both but just to come out here now! Needless to say we’re having snake soup for supper (just kidding), but that snake will never return.
Our prayer requests for the week:
· Please pray for the children who are returning to school this
week, and for Amber who’s been asked to teach some classes- many of them have about 100 students in them.
· For families who are required to pay increased school fees.
· For good health.
· That the computer training that Frank will do will be effective and useful.
· That the sessions that we do with the youth about vocation, education, and relationships will speak truth to them.
much to write about. First of all, we’ve been told that the rainy season begins in March, but it has been raining for the past week at least once a day. Strong winds and thunder and lightning have come with it, making for some impressive damage to almost all of our banana trees out back as well as a lot of time without power.On Sunday Frank and I were both feeling sick so we stayed at the office all day. We were supposed to go to an introduction party, a bride was introducing her husband to her family, but
unfortunately we couldn’t go. These ceremonies are where the groom is expected to pay the bride’s family a minimum of three cows for her. At first we were quite interested to see this in person, however, after talking about this custom with some Christian locals we realized that this “ownership” of the wife results in her often being treated as a bought object instead of a human.Monday was a public holiday and we were feeling better, so we went to look at some of the shops in Mbale. We also went to play catch with a football outside our office and within minutes about ten neighbourhood children asked if they could join us. So, Frank taught the older boys how to play American football while I played soccer with some of the younger children. It was a lot of fun and the kids stayed for about 3 hours; I think they would’ve stayed all night if we hadn’t told them that we had to go.
We also walked around town with Vicki, looking at some of the hotels and then we went to a wedding meeting. In Uganda, people have 5-6 meetings before their weddings to go through the budget and raise money. They sell pop, and auction off mystery gifts to raise money. We didn’t stay the whole time though because dark clouds were looming overhead…
Halfway back to the office, the skies opened up and we were caught in a torrential downpour. The three of us tried to take cover, but Frank and I were completely soaked anyways, so we decided to run back to the office. Within minutes it looked as if we had jumped into a swimming pool. Hundreds of locals who were taking cover were laughing at us, as they thought it was funny that we’d go out into the rain. This tropical rain is something we’ve never experienced before!
On Tuesday I (Frank) went with the FH engineer to look at a school structure being built two districts from Mbale. When we arrived it rained VERY VERY hard for about two hours, which the locals said would make it impossible to reach the school on motorbikes because of the severe mountain slopes, and washed out roads. We decided to go anyways, as I was thinking to myself “Self…how bad can it be?” Well needless to say, it was really bad. During the trip we came off our bikes twice, and the other bike went over three times. We looked at the school structure being built and I had a chance to see the existing school structure. I have included a picture of the old school structure. About 800 students go to school at this school,
with about 80 students who sit on rocks on the floor in each of the classrooms (photo). The community with the support of FH has now built 4 classroom blocks (photo) making learning conditions much better. When we finally reached the office in Pisway (photo of town) it was still raining, making it impossible to go back, so we were forced to stay the night. It was such a beautiful but cold place (+5 which is COLD by African standards) perched on the slopes of Mount Elgon. I thought Livingstone (the engineer) was going to freeze to 
death as he was shivering the entire time we were there, while I on the other hand enjoyed the break from severely hot weather of Mbale. This area used donkeys for transporting crops and everything else as it is impossible even with motorbikes to reach most places, so there were very many of them in the area and they kept us up at night because of the constant “EEEE AWWWW”ing.On Friday morning I (Amber) woke up with a huge red welt on my leg that looked like a big bite of some sort. It was okay and we continued on as usual with devotions, prayer, and worship. But at mid morning…SNAKE!!! That’s right; I was coming out of our room, and saw a green snake stretched across the hallway. Well, as you may know, I wasn’t
about to call Frank because he would’ve passed out in the hallway beside it, so I called for Paul. But there are two Paul’s and they were trying to decide which one of them I was calling. I yelled that I didn’t care which one of them it was; it could be both but just to come out here now! Needless to say we’re having snake soup for supper (just kidding), but that snake will never return.Our prayer requests for the week:
· Please pray for the children who are returning to school this
week, and for Amber who’s been asked to teach some classes- many of them have about 100 students in them.· For families who are required to pay increased school fees.
· For good health.
· That the computer training that Frank will do will be effective and useful.
· That the sessions that we do with the youth about vocation, education, and relationships will speak truth to them.
1 comment:
Hey guys! Sounds like you are having quite the adventure! Happy Belated Birthday Frank (I bet you'll never have another like it) ...and no letting Amber fall from her motorbike over a cliff! You take care of her! :) Sounds like your hair looks quite interesting Amber. I got braids when I was in Mexico but it sounds like they don't even compare..hehe
Anyways, stay safe you two. Can't wait to hear more next week!
lovsue
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