“How are you Peckerwoods?” came a shout in the dark. David and Kade, two Americans who are here for the summer came into the light dressed in greasy T-shirts, thick glasses, dirty baseball caps and suspenders.

Wayne, the gentleman in charge of African Childrens Mission had gone into Kampala and they had decided to raid his closet. Later when we met up with some American visitors (Bellevue Christian School) David had to explain to them that this was not how he usually dressed.

Wayne, by the way, is fond of calling people Peckerwoods. I am commonly asked by Ugandans what it means and I’m not really sure how to respond…

--PHD

Pop Quiz

You’ve heard us talk about “The Internet Tree” – that small area at the Secondary School up the street where mysterious factors coincide to bring us MTN cell service for our modem. We’ve discovered that the signal now reaches past the giant tree and to the side porch of the school chapel, which works out really well during rain storms! However, any time we want the internet, we first have to think about what time it is, in order to avoid school breaks. If we hit it at tea (10:30-11am), lunch (1-2:30pm), or dinner (6pm), we’re likely to be mobbed by a crowd of teenagers, all with tons of questions. Even at other times there’s likely to be a few students wandering around. So for a while, we’d got into the habit of going together – one of us to do the actual internet work, and the other to entertain any visitors.

A week or two ago, I (Heather) was not paying attention to time, nor to the fact that I was alone; I only wanted some new recipes from the internet! I hopped on the bike, pedaled to the spot, and set up the computer – the connection was great! I’d just signed in to facebook, and had typed in my google recipe search, when they started coming. Shoot, it was tea time! Soon I was surrounded by 5 or 6 boys, all introducing themselves and trying to read over my shoulder. I quickly repositioned the computer and clicked out of facebook (EVERYONE wants to be your friend if the know you’re on), hoping I could at least get the recipes. Laughingly, I soon gave up. The questions were coming thick and fast.

What did I think about Obama?

How about Osama bin Laden?

Should women be pastors of churches?

What were my thoughts on Libya?No, really, I must have an opinion!

How was it that I’d been married almost three years and didn’t have at least a couple children?!

Was interracial marriage ok where I came from?

Did I know any American girls they could marry?

All Americans were beautiful, unlike their schoolmates [their words, not mine!].

Do Americans keep cattle?

Which is more developed, Uganda or America? [I laughed at this, until I realized the speaker was serious, and I told him America, definitely]

After about an hour, I finally gave up on the recipes, the computer died, and I escaped back to AHI.

--HD

What's Cooking in the School Kitchen 3.0

All the beans need to be sorted to get out rocks and bad beans

Sylvia serving pasta salad with mangos

Teaching the students to make pasta

Wild lemongrass

Diplomacy

Osama Bin Laden had just been killed and I was sitting in a taxi with Ben. A few of the Ugandans in the seat behind us were clearly Muslim by their dress, which inspired Ben to loudly ask me the question “Do you think it was a good thing to kill Bin Laden?” After some awkward silence (and quick thinking) I said simply “I support Obama, and if killing Osama helps Obama then I am all for it. Ben and several Ugandans nearby smiled with appreciation, for no one is more popular in Uganda then Obama.

--PHD

Taxis III

Yet another time I was in a parked taxi when an old lady rode up on the back of a boda (a motorcycle taxi). She paid the boda driver and hopped into the crowded taxi. The boda driver handed her change through the window of the taxi and we were about to be off. Then suddenly the boda driver started shouting at the old lady, something about the money he had received. She was denying his accusations and it started to become a heated argument. A crowd of people on the street began gathering around the taxi shouting about how this old lady had cheated the boda driver while everyone in the taxi was shouting back at them that she had not and to let the taxi go. The driver began making the “tsk” sound and the next thing we knew he drove off with the door wide open and the crowd of people shouting out behind us.

--PHD

Cute Dinner

I have started to get used to the idea that the cute farm animal I see around the kitchen in the morning will often be my dinner in the evening. It is easier in Uganda to keep your meat fresh by keeping it alive than using a freezer.

--PHD

What's Cooking in the School Kitchen 2.0

Chocolate tart filled with passionfruit creme

Heather's homemade bread with fresh tomatoes and basil

Outdoor meal

Pesto lasagne with meatballs

Date Night

Heather and I spent a few days in Kampala buying supplies and took an afternoon off to see a movie in the only theater in Uganda. I was excited to find “Thor” was playing and during the movie we almost forgot we were even in Uganda. Almost… because apparently it started raining outside and water began pouring into the theater from leaks on the roof making a few members of the audience have to change seats to avoid getting drenched. The sound of dripping water continued throughout most of the movie – just to remind us of where we were.

--PHD

Taxis II

Another time I was in a taxi, we were driving through Luwero again when the person sitting shotgun started cracking up laughing. He yelled over to the driver who then halted the taxi, put it in reverse for 20 yards or so, and then stopped. The man in shotgun pointed into a nearby shop and soon the whole taxi was rolling with laughter about something I couldn’t discern in the shop. Then we drove off.

--PHD

What's Cooking in the School Kitchen 1.0

Caroline is learning how to make soft pretzels!

Bread by Heather

Allen and Christine serve on the buffet line.

Bicycle Race

I had taken some visitors into Ntuuti on bikes to tour them around the villages, when a kid on a bike came up from behind me shouting, “Ofwono, Ofwono,” which is my Ugandan name (Ofwono was the tallest man to live in Uganda). He was trying to pass me and I kept biking a bit faster, laughing at him as we went. Soon he surged forward passing me and the American visitors who were in front of us, also on bikes. Well I couldn’t let that stand so while he split to the left of the visitors I split to the right and began pumping my pedals ferociously, not to be beaten by a 10 year old in a bike race.

We flew past the visitors and were dodging potholes, children, and bodas (I had a distinct disadvantage being on the wrong side of the road) speeding through the village, both of us laughing the whole way.

And of course you are wondering… I defended the Mzungus that day winning the race pretty handedly.

--PHD

Taxis - MicroStory

Not all of the stories from here in Uganda fit into larger narratives. In fact, most are fun little things that just happen to collide into life as you live it out here. So I thought I would share some these “MicroStories” on a random basis.  There will be more of these from both of Heather and  I in the future.  Below is the first installment.

--PHD


When I say taxi you may envision a little yellow car with a lighted sign of the roof. However that is not at all a Ugandan taxi. Instead envision one of those big ugly church vans, usually they are painted white with a blue checkerboard detailing pattern around the sides. Ugandans are piled in as deep as you can get them and goods are piled high on the roof-rack. They drive a “route” but you can hail one anywhere along that route and also tell them to stop anywhere along that route. You can even tell them to stop, do some quick purchases and hop right back in, that is, if you don’t mind a van full of other Ugandans rumbling while they wait for you.

So I (Patrick) was sitting in a taxi at the taxi park in Luwero, one stop on our way ultimately to Wobolenzi. Our driver was outside shouting at people, trying to round them up like a man working a carnival game. The taxi was mostly packed but there was certainly still room by Ugandan standards. The day was hot and random Ugandans would approach the taxi with goods like bananas, mystery meat on a stick (likely roadkill), or bottled water.

I noticed among the passengers the mild seat shifting and under the breath grumbling that indicates impatience. When Ugandans get frustrated they start making this sound with their tongue and teeth, sort of like when you suck the tongue from the roof of your mouth to make a clicking sound, it sort of sounds like a “tsk”. At first that sound could be heard first just here and there, but soon momentum grew it into a wave of tsking, grumbling and seat shifting rising up all around me. The next thing I knew, mutiny was on this taxi drivers hands as Ugandans began piling out and leaving the taxi for another one. The driver bounced around to all the deserters trying to convince them he would go right then but they just shook their heads. The driver surrendered, hopped in his taxi that was now barely half full and began to drive off.

Just outside of the taxi park several people were waiting for a taxi and he was quickly full before we even left Luwero.

On my return trip that same day I was about to hop into a taxi at the Wobolenzi taxi park when that same driver came running up to me and grabbed me by the arm. "I drove him down here today, this Mzungu is MINE!” he stated defiantly to all the Taxi drivers in the area. Shrugging because I really had no reason not to go with him I followed him back to his taxi.

--PHD

The Saddest Letter I Have Ever Written

Below is a letter sent out by my friend David Semeyn who is on staff at African Childrens Mission, a sister organization to AHI that is also located on the ranch. I think it gives some perspective on some of the financial struggles here in Uganda and got his permission to post it.

--PHD

June 4, 2011
I wanted to send an update to each of you to let you know how my trip has been going. You will find specific prayer requests listed throughout the email.

Thank you for your much needed prayers.
Before I describe one of the saddest experiences I have ever had. I want to let you know that the work I have been doing with African Children's Mission (ACM) has been going very well. Each week I spend three days in remote villages teaching theology classes to 49 pastors and church leaders who have never had any training in Biblical studies. Not only have they not received training in Biblical studies, but like most Ugandans, many of them never completed high school. Despite their lower level of education, some of these students have served in church leadership positions for longer than I have been alive. I find it remarkable that the students faithfully attend Bible classes, in spite of the fact that many of them have not been in a formal classroom setting in years. Their love for God's Word and His glory supersedes their tribal differences and learning difficulties.

God has been clearly faithful to the work He started last summer with the Bible training programs. Though it is hard at times, there is nothing I would rather be doing than returning to the Bible training schools to help equip my brothers and sisters with the tools necessary to exegete Scripture and better serve their church congregations.

Please pray:

• That God will allow the students to truly grasp the information being taught.

• That the Holy Spirit would give the students understanding of the information, and help them to properly apply it to their particular contexts.

• Praise God that a shipment of reading glasses came in and now all of the Bible students can read their Bibles!

The saddest letter I have ever written:
If you do not know, one of African Children's Mission's (ACM's) main ministries is a feeding program which operates in the poorest of schools in one of the poorest districts in Uganda, East Africa. Last week, I helped compose and deliver a letter from African Children's Mission to seven schools. Though the letter was addressed to seven schools, ultimately it affects more than 3,300 students who attend the schools and their families.

The purpose of the letter was to notify the schools that because of the nation's extreme inflation on food products, ACM would have to change the feeding program. The product that has affected the most people in the country is "posho." Posho is eaten by most Ugandans everyday; it is the main food that keeps these people alive. In the last year, the wholesale price of posho has risen by 66%. By God's grace, African Children's Mission has been able to continue feeding all 3,300 children in spite of the rising economic problem. In order to sustain the feeding program indefinitely, ACM has had to reduce the amount of food being served by 50%. Those affected by the change seem to understand its importance and have said, "A little is better than nothing. Thank you for what you can give."

It is hard to fully describe the positive impact the feeding program has on the children and their families, but I will try. Many children attend school simply so they can eat a free meal at lunch. Studies show that education is a key factor for one to successfully escape a life of poverty; if a 12 cent meal is an incentive to get one to attend school, it is a small price to pay. The one meal per day, provided by ACM, is often the only meal these children have. ACM teaches a weekly character development class at all seven of the schools. If the attendance drops, then that means that there are more kids who will miss the Bible-based character development classes; this may have the largest impact of all. Even if you have not spent time in a "fourth world" country, it is not hard to imagine the gravitational effects associated with cutting one's daily meal in half.

Please pray:

• That God will provide for the children through other means until ACM's feeding program is running at its normal capacity again.
• That the students will continue to attend school, even though the food incentive has been reduced.
• That people in Uganda would not think that the God of Christians is weak because a Christian organization has had to make cutbacks. My prayer is that during this hardship, the faith of the children and their parents will be strengthened and that God will be seen as the God who he truly is: Jehovah Jirah--the God who provides.
• Please pray that the people will find their delight and satisfaction in the true Bread (John 6:35), more than in the bread that spoils (John 6:27).

Please be praying for the listed items above. Please also be praising and thanking God for his goodness, faithfulness, and steadfast love He continues to show His people.

Please know that the purpose of this email is primarily to update you on what I am doing and to ask you for your continued prayer support. However, if you would like to make a tax deductable contribution to ACM to help with the feeding program, please see the address listed below. You may also donate online at africanchildrensmission.org. Note: At the current cost of food, $30 will pay for 250 meals & $120 will pay for 1,000 meals.

In Christ,
David Semeyn

African Children's Mission
P.O. Box 26470
Birmingham, AL 35260
africanchildrensmission.org