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This weekend two of the staff members Paul Were and Livingstone, agreed to go with us up the mountain near Mbale called Mount Wanale. The Go-Ed students, Joy and Jess were here until Thursday, and there was also another couple visiting last week from North Vancouver. They were here in 2007 with CAP Church helping to build in Bufukhula.
In the morning Paul and Livingstone went out to find someone with a truck who could take us. One of their friends had a truck, but the brakes don’t work well so they told him no. They ended up finding a guy with a little pick-up truck whose brakes worked so we decided to go with him. As we started to climb, the gears were slipping a lot, so the truck would jerk and make a horrible sound. After driving for about ½ hour, the truck made a big BANG and smoke started coming out of the hood. Thankfully, we were right in front of a house and could pull over there. The truck driver had to catch a motorbike down to Mbale to get a part for the truck. We decided to hike the rest of the way up the mountain. We were surprised at all of the people who lived up there, because from Mbale it looks like there is one mountain peak. When we got up there though, there were many valleys and hills.
The view was amazing, although we never reached the true “top.” Every time we would climb higher, there would be another peak that was even higher. We were really depending on the truck driver to come back to get us though, because there aren’t many vehicles up on the mountains and there were 8 of us. Along the way there was a small market selling bananas and passionfruit, so we had a nice lunch. I love the way that they eat so much fresh stuff, and don’t have any garbage. About 30 minutes after we’d
reached our destination, which was some cell phone towers, the truck driver arrived. We made it back down the mountain without any problems. It was an awesome day!
On Monday we were reminded about the frailty of human life and the sad reality of the seeming disregard for human life that some people have over here. For one thing, the roads here are terrible; they have huge potholes everywhere. Most drivers swerve to avoid them, even big trucks. People drive extremely fast here, I’ve seen speed limits posted at 80, but no one enforces them and they are too fast for the road conditions. Most motorcycle riders do not wear helmets, and none of the passengers do, and the motorcycles are mostly in bad disrepair.
As we were driving home we saw a large group of people standing on the road; it was almost completely blocked off. They had laid small tree branches on the road, which they use as pylons here. A boda (motorcycle) had been hit by a car and the driver and young boy were seriously injured when he fell off. There were huge puddles of blood on the road, streams running across the highway. We were told they both survived the initial crash, but were rushed into the hospital, and we haven’t heard yet what his condition is. We are so thankful that God continues to keep us safe, as we drive on the highway 4 days a week.
On a lighter note, we went to visit Livingstone’s mom and she made us dinner on Monday night. She lives in something like a bachelor suite, and all of the apartments are on the ground floor. She is fluent in 4 languages, Luganda, Swahili, Lugisu, and her language from the Tororo district. She also knows a few English words. I think that it’s so amazing that most people here know at least three languages fluently. We also got to meet Livingstone’s sister and her children. It is very strange here that children under 5 seem to be terrified of muzungus, but all other children are so friendly.
The same was true of Apollo’s son, who is only 3. Apollo is a 27 year old volunteer with FH; he is back in school to get his equivalent to a high school diploma and is currently in the equivalent of grade 10. This is amazing as he travels by bicycle for about 1 ½ hours each was every day after work to get to his evening classes in Mbale. We visited his house on Tuesday. His mother was pounding cassava to mix with ground millet to make flour. I tried it for a few minutes, but the cassava kept flying everywhere.
On Wednesday the 10th and Thursday the 11th, I taught classes for the last time; as I’m meeting with teachers next week. The children asked me to stay, but I told them that my students in Canada were expecting me to come back. I’m very sad to leave these children; they are a lot of fun and love learning. I feel so bad though because many of them look alike to me and since I’m teaching in two different places I get so confused as to who is who. There are three boys in Makhai that I always joke with because I think they look alike and call them the triplets; but they think it’s hilarious because they don’t think they look alike. On Wednesday night we went to visit Paul’s family again. He told us that we could have a small snack at his house, and his wife brought out plates heaping with rice, potatoes, beef, and avocado. One thing we’ve noticed here, is that hosts don’t eat with their guests. They either leave the room until you’re finished, or they just sit and watch you eat. It’s very unnerving and so much different from Canadian custom.
Creature of the week: The most humungous spider I’ve ever seen, crawling up the office wall in Bufukhula.
We are thankful for:
• Good health.
• Safety.
• Our relationships with FH workers and the people in the communities.
• A fixed toilet!
Please pray for:
• Rain. It has not started raining yet, and the people need the rain so they can plant their crops to have food in June and July.
• Safety on the roads.
• Continued good health.
• Amber’s meeting with the teachers next week.
• Frank’s trip to Kapchorwa next week. He’s going to help build some classrooms.
In the morning Paul and Livingstone went out to find someone with a truck who could take us. One of their friends had a truck, but the brakes don’t work well so they told him no. They ended up finding a guy with a little pick-up truck whose brakes worked so we decided to go with him. As we started to climb, the gears were slipping a lot, so the truck would jerk and make a horrible sound. After driving for about ½ hour, the truck made a big BANG and smoke started coming out of the hood. Thankfully, we were right in front of a house and could pull over there. The truck driver had to catch a motorbike down to Mbale to get a part for the truck. We decided to hike the rest of the way up the mountain. We were surprised at all of the people who lived up there, because from Mbale it looks like there is one mountain peak. When we got up there though, there were many valleys and hills.
The view was amazing, although we never reached the true “top.” Every time we would climb higher, there would be another peak that was even higher. We were really depending on the truck driver to come back to get us though, because there aren’t many vehicles up on the mountains and there were 8 of us. Along the way there was a small market selling bananas and passionfruit, so we had a nice lunch. I love the way that they eat so much fresh stuff, and don’t have any garbage. About 30 minutes after we’d
reached our destination, which was some cell phone towers, the truck driver arrived. We made it back down the mountain without any problems. It was an awesome day!On Monday we were reminded about the frailty of human life and the sad reality of the seeming disregard for human life that some people have over here. For one thing, the roads here are terrible; they have huge potholes everywhere. Most drivers swerve to avoid them, even big trucks. People drive extremely fast here, I’ve seen speed limits posted at 80, but no one enforces them and they are too fast for the road conditions. Most motorcycle riders do not wear helmets, and none of the passengers do, and the motorcycles are mostly in bad disrepair.
As we were driving home we saw a large group of people standing on the road; it was almost completely blocked off. They had laid small tree branches on the road, which they use as pylons here. A boda (motorcycle) had been hit by a car and the driver and young boy were seriously injured when he fell off. There were huge puddles of blood on the road, streams running across the highway. We were told they both survived the initial crash, but were rushed into the hospital, and we haven’t heard yet what his condition is. We are so thankful that God continues to keep us safe, as we drive on the highway 4 days a week.
On a lighter note, we went to visit Livingstone’s mom and she made us dinner on Monday night. She lives in something like a bachelor suite, and all of the apartments are on the ground floor. She is fluent in 4 languages, Luganda, Swahili, Lugisu, and her language from the Tororo district. She also knows a few English words. I think that it’s so amazing that most people here know at least three languages fluently. We also got to meet Livingstone’s sister and her children. It is very strange here that children under 5 seem to be terrified of muzungus, but all other children are so friendly.
The same was true of Apollo’s son, who is only 3. Apollo is a 27 year old volunteer with FH; he is back in school to get his equivalent to a high school diploma and is currently in the equivalent of grade 10. This is amazing as he travels by bicycle for about 1 ½ hours each was every day after work to get to his evening classes in Mbale. We visited his house on Tuesday. His mother was pounding cassava to mix with ground millet to make flour. I tried it for a few minutes, but the cassava kept flying everywhere.
On Wednesday the 10th and Thursday the 11th, I taught classes for the last time; as I’m meeting with teachers next week. The children asked me to stay, but I told them that my students in Canada were expecting me to come back. I’m very sad to leave these children; they are a lot of fun and love learning. I feel so bad though because many of them look alike to me and since I’m teaching in two different places I get so confused as to who is who. There are three boys in Makhai that I always joke with because I think they look alike and call them the triplets; but they think it’s hilarious because they don’t think they look alike. On Wednesday night we went to visit Paul’s family again. He told us that we could have a small snack at his house, and his wife brought out plates heaping with rice, potatoes, beef, and avocado. One thing we’ve noticed here, is that hosts don’t eat with their guests. They either leave the room until you’re finished, or they just sit and watch you eat. It’s very unnerving and so much different from Canadian custom.
Creature of the week: The most humungous spider I’ve ever seen, crawling up the office wall in Bufukhula.
We are thankful for:
• Good health.
• Safety.
• Our relationships with FH workers and the people in the communities.
• A fixed toilet!
Please pray for:
• Rain. It has not started raining yet, and the people need the rain so they can plant their crops to have food in June and July.
• Safety on the roads.
• Continued good health.
• Amber’s meeting with the teachers next week.
• Frank’s trip to Kapchorwa next week. He’s going to help build some classrooms.
