House Hunting

My most frustrating experience so far in Kampala has been finding a home. Being a single women with no means of transportation presents a particular problem both for me and for the logistics team here at FH/Uganda. The area that the office is located in is called Muyenga. It is the second most populated neighborhood with Muzungus (white person). It is a very safe area and one where I can walk at night provided the house is near the main road (Tank Hill Road). Now in order to find a house you have to work with a broker. And when you work with a broker you have to pay them a finding fee to have them start looking for you. A landlord only works with one broker. So as you can see, that makes it a difficult process. In order to look at a variety of places you need to use several different brokers and you have to pay each of them a finders fee. This can get a little ridiculous. In the past week I have looked at at least 10 places. Most of them have been too far from the office for me to travel to both during the day or the night if I am on foot or on bicycle. The only other way is to travel by Matatu (public taxi - more like a small bus). I have found a few locations that are close for the day time, but would not be safe to travel alone at night unless I took a special hire (what we think of as a taxi). The reality is I should have had a car in my budget. That would widen the area I could look at. I've actually found the most perfect apartment. It is brand new, spacious and has views of lake Victoria. It is in lower Muyenga and is perfectly safe to walk during the day time, but not at night. Having a car would allow me to take the apartment right now. Not having a car means I have to wait. But I am trying to remember that God has a plan and that He is working on finding me the perfect place, and that it will be in His time not mine. I read this verse today in daily devotions and it seems to have a special meaning for me as I keep looking:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)