Uganda YWAM Project (IV of V)

Figuring out the site boundary, with my private security officer
intern Michael in tow.

Part IV of V

Days 9-10:  11^th – 12^th September

Presentation day! The last night wasn’t too bad, with most of the team only staying up until around midnight. Compared to the all-nighters that commonly occur on trips, it was nice that the team felt comfortable with where we were at to get some sleep.

Jaz Lambert - our team MVP

One thing that’s been difficult on this trip has been the fact that the existing nursery school has been on a school holiday while we’ve been here so we haven’t been able to connect much with the people we’re here to help. But one of the wives on the team, Jaz Lambert, has been a great ambassador for us and has been very involved in various aspects of the ministry on campus here. So after the presentation, we had Jaz share with the team some of the things she had experienced here and the feedback she’d heard from some of the people. It was very encouraging to hear that a number of the women she spoke with said their number one concern was getting money for school fees for their children. Consequently, they are very excited that we are here to design a school!

Jaz speaking to some of the local women who come to the
YWAM site each week for counseling.



Jaz, with ministry Director Tim and his wife Jackie.

The presentation went well – there were about 25 people there, mostly the ministry leaders and others who live and work on the campus. Other than a couple of Western staff couples (one British, one South African), the rest of the audience was Ugandan. They were very excited about our work. They shared how God had given them a vision for the school back in January, but they had no idea how to make it work. With our plans, they feel like God has given them a road map and they now know the direction they need to start heading in.

Intern Michael, preparing the makeshift screen for the presentation.

Scaring the audience with pictures of buildings falling down so
they won't fall asleep during the structural report (it seldom works).

Volunteers Ray and William, doing their part to dispel the
common myth about engineers having no sense of style.
Well done gentlemen.

After the meeting was over and a few questions were answered, the entire room gathered around us and laid hands on us and prayed in their native languages (all at once, out loud!). Honestly, those situations make me feel uncomfortable because I’m not really a ‘touchy-feely’ kind of person, nor am I given to emotional responses (not saying never, just not usually).

But, I’m learning to realize there are all different types of people in this world, and that these people were doing this because that is how they best express their faith and love to others. So, even though I couldn’t understand a word being said and felt a little awkward and uncomfortable, it was an honor for them to express their appreciation to us in this way and I realize that as Christians, we have to make allowances for people having God-given differences in personality and communication styles – it is exactly how God created us! (Hopefully, others will understand this principle and give me grace too as I suspect I'll need it more often than most!) But the whole point of there being all different types of people in the world was driven home to me later in the trip when some of our team members pointed to this experience as the highlight of their trip! J

Uganda is the only place I've been where the thunderstorms
can actually make you feel like you're under water.

 

From a distance, the beauty of Uganda's landscape is
nearly unmatched anywhere in the world...

but up close, the reality of the situation on the ground
can be more than disheartening.

Since we had presented a day early, we decided that we would head back to Kampala a day early as well. It turned out being a great decision to do that as the team very much enjoyed a quiet day back in the very comfortable guesthouse (i.e. warm showers and clean, quiet rooms). We did our usual closing meeting, except this time instead of sharing about each person, we made up a card for each person and had everyone write something encouraging to the other team members. That really was a great modification, as it kept the team meeting length down (still 2 1/4 hours) and also gave each of us something tangible and encouraging to take home to read at a later time. Alisha will especially appreciate that given my typically terrible memory for recounting what people said during the trip!

On the bus, heading back to Kampala

Road works - despite the flagger's best attempts to restore order
(see his standing aside, to the right), cars in both directions insisted
on forging ahead and sorting their own way around the workers.
And actually, it worked out pretty well. Perhaps this methodology
should be considered back in the US/UK?

This could be any of about 5 million such huts along the road
in Uganda.

After over a week of nothing but Ugandan food (which is nice,
but does get a little old in time), having pizza from one of our
favorite places in Uganda was indescribably satisfying. We were
so giddy we took a picture holding up our bottles for some
unknown reason. Also unknown is why Jean (far left) is holding
up her room key instead. Chalk it all up to over-exuberance at
the prospect of eating good food.