Christmas in Bufukhula

I made it back to Bufukhula last weekend. Moses and Andrew invited me to come to the village for the CDP children's Christmas Party. This is a party to celebrate the children, the teachers and the parents and for the children to have a nice meal and receive a Christmas present. The plan was originally to take the bus (a first for me). I had a taxi arranged for 5:30 in the morning to take me to the bus park. The bus left at 6am (hopefully!) and should arrive in Mbale be 10am. I was very excited and nervous about the bus trip, I even had the office pray about it during devotions. (We often pray for people who are travelling) But alas, Luke the CDP Manager had one of his supporters in town and wanted to show her CDP in action. So he arranged a private hire and the three of us headed off to Mbale. It was such a funny trip. We started late cause the driver was late. Then he got lost on the way. You start on the highway that goes to Kenya, but in Inganga you turn off and take the road to Mbale. I was sitting in the front but chatting with Karen (Luke's supporter) in the back and wasn't paying attention to the road. When I turned around I realized something wasn't right. You see the road was terrible; pot holes galore. The road to Mbale is absolutely perfect once you make the turn off the main highway. I said something once, but the driver didn't respond. So after a minute or so I said something again. This time we stopped and found out that, yes, we missed the turn. But there was a short cut between the two highways. Well, it wasn't a shortcut but it sure was fun.

We arrived in Mbale an hour later than I would have had I taken the bus. But then we had to check into the hotel and drop a Fourth passenger off at the bus depot in Mbale so he could go back to his CDP center in Soroti. By the time we reached Bufukhula we were really late. They didn't start the program until we arrived at noon, although it was supposed to start at 9am. Luke, Karen and I sat at the head table with the other guests of honour. There was the LC1 (local leader), the Head Master of Bufukhula Primary School (Bob!) the Head Mistress of Makhai Primary School, the School Inspector and us. One of the fathers, a Muslim who has begun attending church, was the MC. The children began with songs welcoming the visitors. There were scripture readings, poetry and plays by the children. Of course there were speeches, by the LC1, the School Inspector, the Head Master, the Head of the PTA, the Head of the SMC Committee??, Luke, Karen, Myself and finally by the guest of honour the Head Mistress of Makhai Primary School. In between speeches and children's performances was Christmas music played by the hired DJ! Finally it was lunch, three hours later. The guests and leaders had lunch in the same room that was our lunch room last year while the children lined up and spread out for their feast. After lunch we all headed over to the soccer field to watch the Primary School Boys vs. the Secondary School Boys. It was great to see the two teams wearing the uniforms donated by Cap Church. The players take so much pride in themselves.

The children were to receive mosquito nets as their Christmas present. However, there was much debate over whether or not they were going to arrive in time on Saturday to distribute to the children. Thankfully my friend Vincent in Kampala was working overtime to ensure that the nets arrived. And they did. It was so comical watching the children stream off the soccer pitch and rush to the Head Masters office as the taxi arrived with the nets. It still amazes me at how organized the children become when they are asked. They were all removed from the vicinity while the nets were counted and while we opened the packages (to prevent them from being resold). They got into their class groups and were brought in class by class to receive their net. It was so organized. Each child had to stamp their thumb print next to their name to acknowledge that they received their net.

I had such a wonderful experience with my three sponsor children at the party. As I was sitting at the head table I kept scanning the children to see if I could spot Dianah, Ivan or Ben. After a few scans I found Dianah. She was sitting in the second row right in front of me. Her friends figured out that I had found her and kept poking her and telling her that I was looking for her. I waved at her and caught her eye a couple of times; she was so embarrassed. Later Ben was sent up to greet me; it is always so good to see him. He's the only one of the three who seems comfortable around me, but I suspect that is because he was my only sponsor child last year and he is used to having me around. But later, the children were dancing to the music the DJ was playing. The song is Calypso and as I have learned since I came to Uganda, it is a very popular song here. I joined in with the children, and Dianah was right there next to me dancing and smiling. It was so awesome! When it came time to receive the mosquito net, Dianah came to me to thank me, bending down and bowing in that humbling way the children greet you in Bufukhula. I took her outside and made sure I got a picture with her and her net; I also had pictures taken with Ben and Ivan. I can't fully express how it felt to be there as there celebrating with the children. It brings tears to my eyes even as I type this blog.

The next day we went on a home visit to Dianah's before we attended Sunday services at Bufukhula Church of Uganda. It was so great to visit her home. It was a surprise visit so her mother was not there as she was off getting water.(these are done so the family does not prepare something for the guest that presents a burden to the family). Dianah's father indicated that he knew me very well from my visits and was so thank full. He also expressed a desire to have me back so he could entertain me in Ugandan custom. I promised him that this was only a short visit, but that as I am living in Uganda for three years I would have many chances to spend more time with him and his family. I also met Dianah's grandmother and sister. Their home is small, only three rooms. But they have several cows which indicates a small amount of wealth for the family. For those reading this blog who have been on home visits in Bufukhula, this was the farthest home visited so far. You have to take the back road that leads to Makhai, get off the main road then walk through fields to find their homestead. It was very comical as it was obvious the distance we were travelling was going to make us late for church and there was every reason to suspect that Dianah and her family might not be there. Ah Africa!!!!

After the home visit we rushed back to the village as we were late for church. Of course it didn't start on time and went much longer than we were told. Apparantly 4 hour services are the norm and not just reserved for when their are guests (We had Andrew instruct the community that they were not to do anything different because we were there). Unfortunatlely we had to leave before church was over so we could get back to Kampala at a reasonable time.

It was such an extraordinary weekend for me. I love being in Bufukhula. I feel so at home there. It is nice to get the attention, but more than that I feel like I am accepted, just not as a visitor but as a member of the community like the FH staff. I had a wonderful conversation with my friend John Mukhooli and he kept asking when am I going to be back. I desire to spend as much time as possible in Bufukhula. Now that I know how to catch the bus, and a cheap place to sleep in Mbale, it is my desire to visit at least once a month. My next trip to Bufukhula will be in January when Elaine comes to visit. I am counting down the sleeps, not just for Elaine coming but also for my return home to Bufukhula.

A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

I had a rough week last week; nothing so bad…but a rough week nonetheless. I liken my week to being on the downside of a roller coaster, a cultural stress roller coaster. The week started out great. My internet was installed only two weeks after I signed up (although even that is not sorted out as they installed more expensive hardware and service than I signed up for) and the engineer who I hired to come fix some things around the house finally came over to go over what needed to be looked at. So Monday was a pretty great day. I came home from work and talked to my parents on Skype for 2 hours.

Then came Tuesday; if there was a plane leaving at 2:30 in the afternoon I would have been on it! It has been hard transitioning into my work life here. I came at the exact moment Food for the Hungry changed its entire financial system. It has been chaos here for the past two months. We also have a Korean Finance Manager, so I have had to adjust to both Korean and Ugandan work cultures. That has caused several moments of work stress for me. On Tuesday the stress came to a head for me. Nothing earth shattering, just upsetting and frustrating at the same time.

Wednesday went down hill fairly fast, although it ended with a banana split! The engineer came to fix several things around the house and put some things up for me. After my experience with the holes in the wall when trying to have a towel rod installed in the bathroom, I wanted to have the landlords engineer do any work in the house that involved putting holes in the wall. I had three mirrors that needed to be put up in the bedrooms and living room, as well as two wall hangings I had purchased. When the engineer came on Monday, we went through everything, even marking x’s on the wall where the screws should go so the spears that hold the wall hangings could sit. When I came home to check on the progress I found the following…the concrete used to fill the holes in the bathroom was so dark that it would take several (5 or more) coats of paint before you wouldn’t see the patches, the paint is a lighter shade than the wall color, the mosquito net was not hung by the center ties but the outside ones so the net did not hang evenly over the bed (It has since fallen down), the mirror in my room was not put in the marked location, the replacement door handle was not installed in the same spot as the broken one leaving gaping holes on the side of the handle. And the kicker…he screwed the wall hangings directly to the wall right through the fabric loops that hold the spears and not even on the x’s he and I marked together on Monday. I think that is what sent me over the top and down the stress roller coaster. I refused to pay him his over priced fee until he fixed the wall hangings, the unnecessary holes in the wall and the mosquito net. But to top it all off, I discovered the next day that my butcher knife was missing. He has said he will replace it, but no word on that yet.

I do realize that there are homeless and starving people living in Kampala and throughout Uganda. Holes in my wall are not a big deal, holes in the loops of my wall hanging are not a big deal (the loops can be replaced). I am blessed to have a roof over my head and furniture in my house. But it is stressful nonetheless to have shoddy work done, work that I could do on my own at home when I am not worrying about an entire wall crumbling down at my feet. Wednesday night was great though. I had dinner with the gang who run the youth group at a fancy restaurant and topped the night off with a banana split. Yummm!!!

Thursday and Friday were OK, although I was in a bit of funk. We had an awesome storm early Friday morning which caused flooding throughout the city, damages to my hedges and the top floor of our office flooding. Blocked drains and a broken gutter caused the patio to fill up and flood the finance, Go-Ed and Bringing Hope departments. But the upside was that Sang Hoon thought that in light of the flood in the morning, we would stop work at 3pm and watch Evan Almighty before heading out for the weekend. It was a nice way to end a frustrating week.

The nice part of the cultural roller coaster is you don’t stay down for long. There is the fun and anticipation of the uphill climb to look forward to.

Mbale and Bufukhula

Two weeks ago I was finally able to make it out to Mbale to visit with Moses and Andrew and to make the trip out to Bufukhula. Ostensibly, the trip was for training. We left Kampala on Wednesday afternoon arriving in Mbale by dinner time. Bruce, who runs the Go-Ed program, also went along on the trip as he was visiting two of his students who are doing their practicum there. It was so wonderful to see Moses and Andrew at work in the Mbale office (I had seen them a month ago here in Kampala) I even got to visit with Patrick, Livingstone and Molex when they came in from Makhai to do some work. It was really wonderful to be able to see where Angela spent so much of her time and to meet Vicki who holds a special place in Angela's heart.

Thursday was a full day of training. The bookkeepers from Kapchorwa, Kumi and Soroti came into Mbale to join Andrew so I could follow up with all the changes that have been made in the accounting system. The account codes have been changed, new codes have been added and new forms have been created, and this has thrown everyone for a loop. They are overwhelmed by the changes and seem to think that more has changed than actually has. So needless to say, there was a lot of training to be done! Then, as is the norm all through Uganda, the power went out. We came to a dead stop in our training. My only hope was that they understood enough to go back to their centres and complete the monthly reconciliations correctly. They didn't!

Friday morning dawned with much anticipation for me. I was finally going back to Bufukhula. I was nervous and excited all at the same time. We went first to the FHI office and met up with Andrew and Apollo! It was so good to see him. He still has only two children and is practicing family planning. We then made our way to the village proper. It has changed so much since May 2006. The school blocks are finished, painted with their respective Capilano Christian Community Block and Lynne Block, and full of children. The school has 730 students, 180 of them if grade 1! There is also a new teachers office, where we went and spoke with the new Head Master of Bufukhula Primary School. It was wonderful to hear him talk of the pride and ownership the parents have of the school. It isn't FHI's or even Cap Church's school, it is their school. The Head Master took us to each of the classrooms. There were so many familiar faces, although only a few children remembered me. Paul also joined us as we were visiting the Head Master. I was so happy to see him and be able to congratulate him on his wedding and pending fatherhood. He looked wonderful, although he was suffering from pneumonia.

When we finished touring the school, we went under the mango trees and met the health committee in charge of the new clinic. Both Samson and John Mukoli were there. And they both greeted me with Mwanguisi. I wanted to cry. It was so amazing to be welcomed back so warmly and remembered. It must be the same to them as I greeted them with rememberence of their names. The health committee took us first to the church so I could see the framed panorama photo of Cap Church placed in prominence near the altar at the front. Andrew joked that Cap Church was inside praying at that moment! We then went and toured the health clinic. Work is going on daily to get it completed, although currently, the grade 7 children are sleeping in the unfinished rooms so they are close to the school for extra teaching as they prepare to write their exams to get into secondary school.


The health committe and the Head Master toured us around the village. There are such big plans for the community. Behind the clinic is land set aside by the community to build a residence for doctors and nurses. Behind the Primary School is land set aside to build a secondary school and teacher's residence. The community has a very good chance of receiving the secondary school from the government. It is between Bufukhula and another nearby community; the government is leaning towards Bufukhula because of the work that they have been doing to improve their community. The spirit of improving the community extends beyond the role that FHI plays in the community. The trenches have already been dug for another four room school block and bricks have already been brought into the community. And the school block has yet to be put into the FH budget for 2008 and the next team to visit isn't until Cap comes next May.

The best part of the morning, however, was sitting with my three sponsor children, Ben, Ivan and Dianah. We waited until lunch and brought the children over to the mango trees so we could meet again and have a conversation. Dianah and Ivan were very shy, but Ben was all smiles. He even told his mom that I was coming and she made the 30 minute walk to the village to see me. This meant so much to me. Last year, she seemed awkward and overwhelmed by our presence at her home. However, this time, she was all smiles and we had a wonderful conversation. I hope to make many more visits over the next three years and get to know her a little more. Soon it was time to leave Bufukhula and head over to Moses' house for lunch. It wasn't as hard to leave this time as I know I can come back anytime and will be welcomed back with open arms.

Having lunch at Moses' house is always a treat. Grace was at work and could not join us, but Peter was there along with Grace's mother and Moses' sister. We left picked up Faith and Emmanuel from school so I could see them again then went back to the office in Mbale to wait for my ride back to Kamapala. Grace joined us there and it was wonderful to see her again. I am looking forward to the time that I will be able to go back to Mbale and have more time to visit with Grace and my friends in Bufukhula.

A Quick Update

Sorry it has been a while since I posted. It has been a very busy two weeks. I will blog more on these past two weeks, but not until the weekend, so I'll give you a quick update. I spent three days in Mbale last week and visited Bufukhula and my three sponsor children. So much fun! This week had been extremely busy trying to get the month end financials organized since we changed to an entirely new system that no one knows how to use perfectly. It had been very trying. I also have a new roommate for the next two months. Her name is Jian and she is from Korea Food for the Hungry.

I plan to tell you all about it this weekend, so until then hold on tight. Life is great here. I have a very busy social life, great friends and a great place to work at. And if you want to see some pictures of my trip to Bufukhula, go to the photo album on the right and have a look!