Africa 2013

well lets try number #2
 so the first time i tried this i would type and nothing would happen.. i think my computer thinks were in Uganda or something with choppy Internet. That's one of the reasons why I never got around to blogging as i had hope to. so with this new month starting its about time i get these memories out of my head and on to this blog to share with all of you.

again where to start??? well how about here: we landed in Entebbe,Uganda about 7am, as we make our way to the luggage area,i get a kick out of how this airport looks I imagine its close to something you would see in a movie or TV about Zombie Apocalypse minus the Zombies...although I felt like one (yea i don't believe in a zombie apocalypse just for the record) but dead tried traveling with little to no sleep, 2) 18 hour layovers but I'm here! the airport is a mess,airport workers are few,there's papers everywhere soda bottles a broken escalator not that i need one.at least there's lights...well some what. ha ha
the bags start rolling in and so many people waiting to claim there's and head on to where ever their going. I've never seen so many military bags just like my own. you know the heavy duty cargo bags made of canvas..yea its the perfect way to travel.don't gotta worry about it falling apart. finally my bags appear,(slightly worried maybe they didn't make it,or some person decided that they needed the shoes I was delivering  more then these kids did in Masaka. but nope there here yay... now first things first dig threw my back to find the off...sure i have malaria pills but i just don't like getting bit by mosquito's..not that I'm afraid of contracting some disease in a foreign country..ha ha no far from it.. its the itching that drives me nuts.

so passing through everything needed to go threw i make my way to the exit..ah the morning sunlight.Thank You Jesus! You have brought me back! instantly i get bombarded by taxi drivers and hey Muzungu I'll drive you where you want! pick me! all shouting at once(personally I don't like the word Muzungu along with gringo In Mexico and Guatemala and Ha'ole in Hawaii)so anyone shouting that is an insta No thanks! seriously i didn't mind as much until later on in the trip...something to work on in me LORD.
so i politely declined to all of them when the biggest dude of all approaches me and says" don't worry about them you should pick me I'm your man to take you anywhere" well sir I'm sorry but I've got a driver arranged..the Man said well where is he? I'm not sure I replied. He then says well if and when he does not show up you will pick me!  is that so i thought in my head.he steps of to the side pulling my cart of bags and says lets go! we go now! wait one min i says. scanning through the crowd i look for my name on pieces of paper but see nothing that says my name or ABC,or Amani Baby Cottage.
not to know what to think,sleep deprived and vulnerably to any kind of attack or even if this dude grabbed my bags and left I'm not sure if i had the mental capacity or strength to stop him. but then in the back of the crowd i see a man holding a sign that says A Man Baby Carriage
i thought many things lol like what kind of place is that I wonder, then not seeing anything close to ABC except him and the big Ugandan trying to arm me to go with him.I call him over. Excuse me sir but who are you looking for? someone from the states a man....he says softly, well do you have a name for him? no he replied. are you from this place pointing at the sign.yes! OK well where is it located? Jinja he replied.I thought for a sec this may be the guy. he asked me some questions and i answered then he grabbed my bag and said come we go. i stopped him and said I'm not totally sure your my driver I'm looking for Amani baby cottage.oh he says. it was the kind of oh like oh that's not me your looking for someone else. he steps back and makes a phone call.the crowd of people are still yelling and the big dude looks at me like "man i will lay this guy out just so we can go" the guy starts saying Charlie i think this is the guy but he doesn't believe me can you talk to him? he passes the phone and she begins to tell me something but it was so loud and my hearing is not fully restored yet..it will be but not at that time.so i decided to take a leap of faith and go with this guy.

its not that i cared so much about the bags and it contents more then trusting anyone to get me where ever.if they got stolen i think id be fine with that. the only items i did care about were the 100 pairs of shoes given to me to bring for the kids in Timothy's Home in Masaka,Jinja

so the guy helped me with my bags,we got all loaded up and were headed out for our 4 trip to Jinja.now Jinja is not that far and if there was no traffic jams you'd get there in like an hour maybe 1hr 30mins. leaving the airport I said my name is Sam what is yours? He said My name is Abdul, well Abdul it is a long drive can we stop to get some drinks? sure he replied.pulling up to a gas station we got out leaving my back pack behind and locking the door Abdul reopens and says take that bag with you...yea? you think its not safe in the car? the doors are locked and we can see the car. Abdul said yes but you never know what people will do. they see a white person and it changes things so please take the bag. inside we got a few cokes(yea i know what your thinking 8-9am and your having a coke?) (yea well i didn't care,and still dint lol) about to pay Abdul turns to me and says when you are done wait right outside for me,I will be right back! just going to make a phone call.please stay here!OK no problem i said.. so i payed and walked outside Abdul was gone nowhere in sight! i thought ah what just happened?seems kind of shady if ya ask me.about 5-10 mins later he comes back and says ok we go. driving down the road I think Abdul is ballin, as 3 different phones start ringing lol.

So as we were going along he thanked me for the coke and the snacks that i would share with him during our trip.he says you are to kind to share your food with me...really its just peanut butter crackers I thought. you know the orange crackers that come in a 6pack.he was happy. soon after i began to ask him about where he live,kids?wife? his home land and how many languages he spoke. you know small talk,no radio and a long drive may as well get to know a person. next i remember my friend Barrett last year asked our translator all kinds of question of how do u say this or that.so then ask how do you say  How are You in Lugandan he replies with Oli o tia (excuse me if i get the spelling wrong) then he says the response is Gendi meaning Good or I am good.

Abdul said he spoke Swahili so from my encounter last year i ran into a man who spoke Swahili and his granddaughter spoke Lugandan, how they understood each other is a mystery but our Translator knew both. so Abdul how do you say How are you? Ah-ba-dee-ah-go and if they are good the response is Mazuli = i am alright
this went on for a little while with different sayings and tons of questions. he looked to be entertained by it. during the trip he would tell me in what parts to roll up the window or to put away my phone,put my bag in the back,lock the doors and when i could relax and roll down the windows take a nap or whatever.
after 3hrs it seemed we were finally out of the city and the smog. i saw a think black cloud in the city it was sad to me to see people have to breathe this crap in all day.its a mixture of smog and trash burning.It burned my eyes and made it hard to breathe.
out in the country we passed a farm the grew tea on one side of the road and on the other side sugar was growing. owed by the same company. ha ha makes sense grow the tea and sugar they go hand in hand.
unfortunately all these farms we passed are not own by Ugandans but outside influence and the works get paid next to nothing. now i dont know about you But i helped my late friend Bryan pick macadamia nuts and coffee and both are not easy jobs.. in fact they both sucked but it was an experience to do it for a part-time short lived career.I've got much respect for the people back home who do it and the people here in Uganda who. pick spiders...i mean banana's,tea,sugarcane and any other job that breaks your back.send you out into fields that are home to snakes and spiders(none of my favorite things God made)
 we passed and area closer to Jinja where they where digging up and replacing the road.kids would line the highway selling semi cold/warm sodas,meat on a stick,chicken on a stick,bags of nuts, corn on the cob.yes i was hungry but no we didn't buy anything."its not safe" which is true i supposed,you don't know how long that meat has been sitting in sun, no refrigeration then partially cooked.
finally Jinja Town and the bridge that crosses the Nile! we made it yay!

bout 15mins later we made it to Amani,   mmmm something looks different! i was only here for a short time last year. a night bonfire but i dont remember any of this...we pull up and I'm thinking well maybe were at A Man baby Carriage! Nope moments later i see Danyne and she say welcome to our new place! oh that's why i don't remember anything, ha cause Ive never been here.
unloading the bags she shows me where I'll be staying for the week. and I have to say i was greatly impressed and over joyed.
God is faithful to provide every time. I knew i was going to Jinja i wasn't sure were id be staying. a mud hut would of been fine i guess. She briefly says well this room was built in the event we would have any male volunteers but has been used as a storage area since we built it. you are the first person to actually stay here. now there a bathroom and shower but unfortunately we don't have the hot water hooked up yet, no problem i replied.(3days of travel and no shower or sleep a cold shower is perfect)

she went on to say that majority of the volunteers they get are women,they had very few men come. ( probably because Men feel they don't belong in an orphanage because its not Mainly!) (which is quite the opposite.a male or father presence in a baby's life in important and needed. so if your a guy and reading this. I'd say do it bro. be that big brother,Uncle,father to orphaned kids, the world needs men to step up and take on the role and lead these kids in love following the example of Christ and just being apart of their lives)...oh dont get me started on that subject.( to many fatherless nation around the world of guys being unavailable,abandoned or simple emotionally not there. Emotionally now I'm not saying to be an emotional pantie and get in touch with your feminine side.were guys we don't have that but you can be there for some kids supporting,encouraging leading them in a better way to go.(yup to late now im on that subject again) (time to redirect back to the trip)

I mention to Danyne about the taxi fare and how i didn't have shillings yet so should i pay in American? she said will take care of it and to pay them back later before i leave.fair enough can do. so Danyne introduces me to her Uncle,Uncle Dusty, really cool guy he shows me around the outside area, introduces me to Mathis and Sam and shows me the projects he has in mind that we can work on during the weeks.(sweet now i have purpose) there is painting the inside of a 2 roomed shack,repainting and installing locks on some homemade lockers,gardening.and a few other things that we will start on tmrw I'm sure you must be tired from your trip. I said really I've gone 3days without a shower and really just want to do that. then we can work on any project you want! he laughed and said no you rest get settled in and will start tmrw morning! Oh by the way we had hoped by now to have the hot water working but its not so all we have is cold water..but the best times to show would be late after noon after the pipes have been heated up all day.

so im pretty sure nothing is as cold as the water in Zona Reyna,deep in the mountains of Guatemala.the inside and outside showers are freezing cold along with the freezing cold river. yes Ive tried all 3. and not particularly looking forward to that in Oct 2013,but its water and theirs soap so I'm happy.
After the amazing Shower Uncle Dusty took me into town to exchange currency and to stop by the store for water and some food. every box of water is 15,000 shilling doesn't matter the bottle size..so i grabbed the 1.5 liters 12 of them and that lasted a while. uncle dusty pointed out that back at the cottage there was filtered water and 2 filtering system i could use if need. i then picked up some ramin noodles and some other things. back when i met Danyne and she gave a brief tour she said that morning breakfast consisted of fruit that i could grab the day before as needed from mama Maggie(i didn't quite understand that until my last 2 days there) they had pineapple and bananas.then every days at 1pm is lunch, which is prepared and cooked by Mama Sarah.so don't be late.

this is cool Mama Sarah cooks lunch everyday for all the kiddos,staff,volunteers,visitor if any the grounds workers,and at the same time has contract jobs to cook for people working on construction jobs and such,everything she makes in soooooo good!

then she says dinner are up to you...just then i thought OH Crap! i was so busy raising money(and sucking at it) that i thought i had everything,taxi,shelter for both 1st and last week,visa and a few other things that I totally forgot to budget in food...HA i was in a rush before i left that i left the peanut butter and jelly sitting on the counter at home...well i guess I'm fasting dinners i thought.
Fortunately God is faithful to provide everything needed.
( a few days before i left a friend of mine Newman said its all about trust and faith.and faith you have i see it every time i see you,but basically the moment you step off that plane and your standing at the airport not know what to do next. that will be like your leap of faith and saying God here I am whats next? and He provide for you the all way.watch. he's already got it all planned out. and like I've told you before He's taken care of everything.) when Uncle dusty and I returned from town.
Danyne said that the volunteer girls said they have enough food to have you over for dinner tonight and tmrw night.What! that's awesome Thanks God!. so i said sure. 

a little later i met the pastor of a church in Colorado who had come with some of the members of their church. they had heard stories of a women who came last year to visit Amani the same time that our team was there.
the Young Pastor and His wife greeted me and introduce some of the other they came with, Uncle dusty had mentioned that i was from the states here to stay a month and work in Uganda.it look as he was shocked and impressed.I didn't pay much attention but introduce myself and said very little. he later then said would you please join us for dinner tonight, and don't worry we got you.really i thought? i mean i already have dinner.i may of even said that. but they insisted and said we wont take no for an answer. at the time i didn't know he was the pastor. not until later that night at dinner.

we went to a place called The Keep along with uncle dusty and his wife Mary, i had eaten there last year with BWO. The Keep is an American couple from VA i think who moved here and opened up this restaurant, teaching the Ugandans how to cook and prepare the items on the menu.everything on the menu i would suggest! 
so we talked ate and talked more,He shared his ministry and what there vision was to help Amani and I shared what God has allowing me to do in Guatemala and now here. at the end of the night while everyone is figuring out the bill aunt Mary says we got to go. so we left in a rush really and I had to pay for my own meal..totally not what i expected good thing i brought along some shillings.(personally in my experience if i said or someone said no worries i got you that usually means its on me)(not that i was looking for a free hand out, not at all i was tight on anything as it was but don't say anything smile and be on your way) as i did, thanking them for having me join them,not gonna lie it was good to talk and get to know them.
shortly after we got back I fell asleep for a short time and woke up several times during the night wondering if it was morning yet.5am when no more sleep could be had,opened the Word and began to read. 7am lets get ready for work and start day 2.

 my apologies if you find this boring, hopefully you dont find it all to be boring but if ya do.then i can't help ya there..

to be continued...