5Crawfords

My old friends, left to right, Jade, Matt and Beau. Great guys and being with them made me wish we still lived there. Monday March 4th: Packing up and leaving the ministry for Kampala, I was reminded how stressful it is to once again be in charge of meeting the team’s every need, in a place where meeting needs and making people feel comfortable are near impossibilities. Also, making sure I have enough money, exchanged to the right currency, keeping track of receipts, finding places to buy not only drinking water but enough water for teeth brushing as well, and planning a schedule to keep people fed is a full-time job and then some. I look at the volunteers sometimes and think how nice it would be to just be along for the ride. Ha! Actually, I very much like leading trips, and especially in Uganda it really isn’t too hard to sort things out since I am so familiar with the place, places to eat, shop, exchange money, etc. A few random pict's that didn't make the cut until...

No new backpack patch earned on this trip, but then again, there's good reason why I've put this patch 2nd from the top, just below the USA flag. As strange as it may seem, as much as any place in the world, Uganda feels like home to our family. Friday March 1st: I haven’t introduced the team yet, so here goes:   Tim Butcher – Volunteer architect from Sheffield, UK; 1 st time EMI trip volunteer Zach Butcher – 7 month old son of the Butchers; a very cute little boy who has stolen our hearts Izzy Butcher – Volunteer landscape architect from Sheffield, UK; 1 st time EMI trip volunteer Alan Adams – EMI-EA office Long Term Volunteer Land Surveyor Johnny Martin – EMI-UK Intern; Architect Jaimee Schmidt - Volunteer Civil Engineer from Manitoba, CAN; 7 th time EMI trip volunteer Angie Parra – Volunteer Civil Engineer from Boise, ID; 3 rd time EMI trip volunteer Matt Lammers – EMI-UK Intern; Structural Engineer Jana Van Singel – V...

Joe and Elaine Griswold, founders and directors of RPU and MSA   Tuesday February 26 th :  On this project, we’re working with an organization in Uganda called Tree of Life Ministries, which partners with a USA-based ministry called Real Partners Uganda (RPU) in operating a nursery and primary school called the Mustard Seed Academy (MSA). Having been started 4 years ago by a couple from New Jersey, Joe & Elaine Griswold, who were touched by the poor quality of education they encountered unintentionally while on a tourist trip to Uganda, the school is now home to 285 primary school students and 160 nursery school students. While a 3-acre site has been purchased and is being developed for the nursery school, the primary school is still held on a small, poorly equipped site that is leased. The temporary classrooms where MSA now meets.   With the growing numbers and success of the school, the ministry has now purchased a few plots of land nearby totalin...

The team (L to R): intern Dan, Rob, intern Matt, Alan, Jingo John our driver for the week, me, intern Jonny, Jana, Tim, baby Zach, Izzy and Angie - more about them in my later posts from this trip. PART I - MUSTARD SEED ACADEMY (*Note: If you want to view any of the pictures closer, simply click on the image.) Sunday February 24 th : I think Alisha and I have tried something different each time I’m heading out on a project trip in hopes of finding a way of doing it that will be easier. To date, no such luck. This time, since Alisha’s parents were leaving the same day a couple hours after I departed, we went to a hotel for the night near the airport since our car wasn't big enough to fit all 7 of us plus all the luggage (and also, Heathrow is a two-hour drive from our house, which makes for a very early start for morning departures). So Alisha’s parents were led by Brodie on the train and tube in London and Alisha and I drove with the other two boys and the lugga...