Restoring Dignity ~ The women in Africa

This is a speech that was given about the Women in Africa

When was the last time that someone told you, that you would be better off going some where and doing something else? It seemed that it would be ok but it still gnawed at your better judgement.  Only to find out that it wasn’t as good as you thought?  That you should have trusted your instincts!

The people of Northern Uganda were told that they needed to leave their homes and come together to form a bigger group of people and the government would protect them and provide support against the Rebels. These camps were called IDP Internally displaced people camps.  But what they found as they gathered was they were not protected, they lost there means of support and they were dependant on a government that would not be able to help them.  With all good intentions- these people were still greatly affected by trauma, physical, emotional and mental, caused from that war.

My main role on this trip was to provide training on healing touch to our group and well as scheduling it with Living Hope when we got there. 

Our time there was Whirlwind ….  We were going from sun up to sun down.

It wasn’t until I got home did I have time to reflect ….  And strangely enough  - the first thing that came to my mind was, on our last day of pampering at Living Hope, there was a bunch of women  that showed up with these purple shirts.   I thought was kind of strange considering the environment in Africa – that they all have the same t-shirt – and I was also thinking – they’re so cute – I want one.  These women had received these shirts at the opening of this facility.  Living Hope facility provides trauma counseling, spiritual discipleship, skills training and empowerment to raise their children and bring change to their communities.

I find it rather interesting that I brought home the thought of these t shirts   “Restoring Dignity to Vulnerable Women”  That was the saying on the t-shirts.

What I’m thinking is that these women are the spine of that country.

Restoring dignity – The definition of dignity is The state of being worthy of respect.  

Let’s backup – let me tell you about these women in Africa,  

Restoring Dignity to Vulnerable women – referring to the trauma they have experienced from the war. They really are no different then you or I and I don’t mean to make light of trauma but trauma is relative.  We all have our own definition.  Your trauma is different then your trauma.

Suubi Village – Suubi village is for widows and orphanages because of the war.  The mamma (with or with out their children) are given 6 – 8 orphanages to raise.  These boys were abducted to be rebel solders.  Chances are they killed their family, it was that or be killed and the girls were taken as wives or slaves.  At Suubi they are provided a home, clothing, food and schooling.  These mama’s need to embrace these orphanages as kids and raise them as kids despite all they (including the mama’s) have gone thru.

Restoring dignity

Living hope – our first day there we were suppose to pamper 72 women and only 59 showed up that day.  But word got around and by Friday – we had 72 signed up but we had over 120 women show up.  We only were able to do 108 that day.  By lunch break – which was a much needed break, it was hot, we had a lot of women still to pamper, I mentioned to our translator that we were going to take an hour break and to let the women know who had been sitting there since morning, if they needed to do something and go somewhere – they would have an hour to do that, so they didn’t have to wait for us.  The translator informed me that they traveled very far to get here (by foot or bike) and they would rather just wait.  And to add more injury to my guilt, when we did sit and eat – all the women and all the stuff they packed for the day, were no where to be seen.  We were left alone to eat and to rest. 

Restoring dignity

IDP camp – the women in the camps – some talked about the trauma that they went through.  One woman talked about her experience with the LRA.  While she was telling her story, she mentioned that her husband was absent during that time cause he was drinking.  She mentioned in brief and without anger or sarcasm.  It stuck with me because I know how would have acted in that situation.  We are not talking about when your spouse is out of town and you have to pickup the slack – we are talking about how she and her new born baby were abducted, and was beaten within inches of death.  And she took ownership for this event in her life. 

This woman at the age of 12, abducted and taken as a wife, refused to kill a little boy.  The little boy did die at the hands of others but she stood tall and said no. When I look at these women and what they went through.  Without any support what so ever.  The respect I have for them is so immense.  They weren’t sobbing, weeping, they weren’t a mess.  They seem to have control.   Life goes on.

Restoring dignity

These women have my respect.  Could any of us go thru what they did and function as they do?

Suubi Village – Polite, caring, welcoming

Living Hope – respectful, appreciative,

IDP – they were clean, sweep the dirt, they was no waste or junk lying around.

These people (mostly women and children) they were hoeing a field by hand, not a garden but a field.  They truly work the land. They weren’t asking for hand outs, they waved when you drove by.  They greeted with a smile and were so happy to share with us with what little they had.

Remember when I mentioned about listening to someone telling you about being better off………

Even though these women had no choice at the time - These women kept their wit about them.  They kept their values in tact.

Restoring dignity

I got my shirt.  I really wanted the purple shirt with the sparkles on it but this will do.  How fitting that I should be wearing this shirt.  By seeing these women that we pampered, by seeing and hearing these women at the IDP camps that have lost there children, who had to kill a family member with their own hands, husbands lost to the war – they are the ones working the fields, they are the ones raising their family, they are the ones supporting their family, 

They are the ones who experience trauma that we will never experience in our whole lives, ever in a million years.

Those shirts that they were wearing- we all need to be wearing them.  We need to wear them because we are the ones that need to work on The state of being worthy of respect

I bow down to these to these women; they have shown me so much,

It makes me think on how pathetic we are with the things that we have and things that we can do and all we want is more.  We don’t find what we have worthy, we don’t respect what we have, we are never satisfied.

I went on this mission trip to bring healing touch to these women – that was my mission/ that is my purpose in this world – to show my heart thru my hands.  But I went home with their heart in my hands

Where’s your shirt – I have mine!

Essential Oils and Africa

Recently I was fortunate to be part of a group of 20 people that went on a mission trip to Africa for 16 days. The group went over to offer support to a family that is there doing trauma counseling for the people affected by the war with the Lord's Resistance Army, a militant group that was based in Northern Uganda. We went to help with building swing sets, visit orphanages, discipleship at some IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps and to pamper the women at a facility called Living Hope. Living Hope also provides trauma counseling, spiritual discipleship, skills training and empowerment to raise their children and bring change to their communities.


When I first decided to bring the oils over to Africa ~ my first obstacle was how to get them over there without checking them. Also if I was to bring large quantities ~ would that cause me trouble at the airport.

My other decision was, what to bring? We went over and worked under a group that was doing trauma counseling. So ~ I needed to pick oils for trauma. Then I needed to add to that equation … us. I needed to bring oils that would protect us. The group of gals that were going to be part of the pampering group, had never done that sort of thing and I needed to think about fungal infections, lice, seeing the physical trauma of the women and the emotional aspect of administrating massage. I then wanted to include oils for travel and general well being.

As much as my intention was to use the oils on the people of Africa ~ I mainly used them for our group. The people of Africa are simple people that live off the land. The people in the bush already use some type of herbal remedies from their ancestors. We were the ones that needed the oils. We left our safe environment (USA) and went to a world of unknowns.

I did bring about 64 10ml oils along with pounds of tea tree, our therapeutic blend, a bug blend and my Thieves pure. I did check all the oils with no problems.

The oils that were used the most.

Tea tree ~ Melaleuca Alternifolia

• Lice ~ we started using tea tree in our hair about 2 weeks before we left. This was to ensure that the oil was in the shaft of the hair to help keep lice away. We brought the shampoo that had it in along and used it thru out the trip.
• Fungal ~ we made a spray bottle with water and tea tree and sprayed our hands before and after we touched a person. We added lavender to that to help with the odor, as well as making it a friendlier solution for our hands. We also used it as a disinfectant on surfaces.
• Open sores ~ any open sores that we came across we applied tea tree directly. We left a large amount at the facility that helps with medical checkups to use for open wounds, sores, and fungal applications

Lavender ~ Lavendula Officinalis

• A must have everywhere we went. It was used neat or mixed with most of the oils to relax, to deal with stress, wounds, sunburn and to integrate our spirituality into our day

Peppermint ~ Mentha Piperita

• Water ~ to keep my digestive system safe, 1 drop in a water bottle thru out the whole trip. When people had to take meds - I was fine.

Ravensara ~ Ravensara Aromatica

• Cold sore ~ a cold sore showed on one of the gals during the trip. She applied it neat to the sore until the tingle went away and then applied lavender until it healed.

Therapeutic Blend ~ this blend is a combination of eucalyptus, fir, lavender, rosemary, naiouli, peppermint and tea tree.

• This blend was chosen for its trauma properties; alleviating anxiety and stress, revives the spirit by bringing the higher and lower chakras into harmony, it clears thoughts while overcoming feelings of inferiority. Good for physically delicate individuals who struggle not only with their bodies but with the feelings of victimization.
• Trauma ~ made spray bottles of this blend with water and sprayed the area where the women placed their faces during their massage. This was also added to their hand/foot bath.
• It was also diffused in areas when we weren’t using it in other ways.

Peace and Calm blend ~ a blend of patchouli, orange, blue tansy, tangerine and ylang ylang extra.

• It promotes relaxation and a deep sense of peace, helping to dampen tensions and uplift spirits. It calms over-active and hard to manage children. The oils in the blend have historically been used to help reduce depression, anxiety, stress and insomnia.
• This blend for selfish reasons I brought for any unknowns that we come across. I would apply it straight to my hair in the morning.
• Crying baby ~ on the last leg to Africa, we had a crying baby on the plane. I think about 2 hours had gone by and the baby was still unsettled. I put Peace & Calm on my hands and touched his head with my hands and the baby calmed down right away. I explained to the father who I was and asked permission to put some oil on his blanket. The baby slept the rest of the 6 hours on the plane. The father was very grateful.

Bug Blend ~ Citronella, copaiba, lemongrass, cinnamon and geranium.

• Protection ~ I brought this blend for one of the gals was concerned about bed bugs. We mixed 3 drops with 4oz water and sprayed our beds.
• We also sprayed our thresholds, and around our beds and in the morning, our little friends were not moving.

Thieves Pure blend ~ a blend of the cinnamon, clove, eucalyptus, lemon, ravensara and rosemary.

• This blend used for immune protection.
• Roll on ~ used on the bottoms of feet.
• Inhaler ~ closed, contaminated areas
• And because of the cinnamon in this blend, diffusing it the air helped with insects.

This trip really brought these oils to the attention of the members of our group. I carried the oils every where we went and they were used daily by most everyone.

I did leave quantities of the tea tree and the therapeutic blend at Living Hope. The tea tree for treatment of fungal infections, sores and the therapeutic blend to diffuse in the areas that the women gather to help support what Living Hope is doing to help the women in Northern Uganda.

Mission Uganda Open House

Please join the Mission Uganda 2010 Team

at our Open House.  

Friday, April 23rd at 7pm - 9pm

First Baptist Church 341 North Shore Dr

New Richmond

We will be sharing our group's experiences, along with pictures. 

Refreshments will be served

Nile Porch and shopping

Saturday, March 13

Today is an easy day - pretty much what ever we want.  Breakfast at 8:30 and then taking the bus shopping, and for some - a boat ride to the source of the Nile.  Some had a short shopping trip - Dale & Tim - it was us! and the others spent more time downtown.  There was 8 of us that went on the boat ride, Pastor, Rene, Shay, Virginia, Cindy P, Kate, Karen and Betsy.  They enjoyed it a lot.  So many interesting things that everyone came back with.  There was swimming & relaxing with the view.  Dinner here and we will be havng communion tonight.  Pack up and get ready for tomorrow.

Tomorrow - leave for Watoto church in Kampala, stop and vist the Baby Bulrushes - Watoto's baby home, lunch at an Indian Restraurant and then we need to head to the airport.  From that point forward - we have lots of sitting and waiting.

We can't wait to be home but it's hard to leave.  We wished we could have done more.  But our job was to plant the seed and God will make it grow!


I don't think I will be on anymore before I get home but please stay tuned.  I will post pics when I get home as well my journeling on the uses of the essential oils that have been used while on the trip.  Thank you for following and we are so excited to share with you all that we have experienced.  There has been talk of the team gathering one evening and sharing with you.  If this get's organized - I will post it here and we would love for you to be there.

Safari & Chimp Trekking

Thursday March 11 and Friday March 12th.

We left Gulu at 4:30 am, needed to get to the park by 7am.  The Acholi had breakfast ready for us and we packed the bus last night.  We got to the park shortly after 7am and our guide was not there - so we started w/o him and we were to meet him somewhere in the park.  So awesome the animals that we saw - up close.  we all have great pics and can't wait to show you.  I will not be able to post any pics until I get home - these computers are free to use but as old as the TSR- 80's.  (maybe at the airport - Virginia & I will work on that - we want you to see them)  We saw elephants, giraffe's, antelope (there is a couple of kinds), wort hogs, a rare bird, beautiful colored birds and butterflies.  We met up with our guide - George.  Yep - go on and say it.......  "George of the Jungle"  We decided to look for lions, so we took the tour bus off road - poor Charles - he thought we would get stuck. By now the sun was getting high - it was about 11am, a couple of times we stopped cause the antelope were still and looking in one direction.   Off road we were heading to a known den and guess what we saw...  the lion - so awesome.  This doesn't happen very often - we saw all the possible animals in the park.  We saw hippos when we crossed the Nile.  We needed to get to the ferry in time so we wouldn't be late for our chimp trekking.  We made it...  did I tell you that we have an awesome bus driver.  There is a video of him driving thru places that seemed impossible.  

We got to the Chimp place - we will be staying there.  Nice accommodations but we were spoiled by the air conditioning at the Acholi.  Half went on the trek and the other half stayed back and chilled.  Jerry & Carol had chimps sitting on their porch.  There was no cell service there - well there was but you had  to walk about 1/4 mile next to a sign and then stand on the rock - then it would work.  The other half went trekking in the morning at 7am.  All groups saw chimps - going thru the bush - it was awesome.  Shay has a great video of following a chimp on the trail.  He would stop and hang with us and then slowly moved on.  So cool.   We needed to get out of the park by 10am. - of which we did. 

We had a long bus ride to Jinga but so worth it.  6 hours on the bus.  We are staying at the Nile Porch in Jinga and it is breath  taking.  What a wonderful way to end our journey.  We had dinner overlooking the Nile, watching the monkey's and the birds.  After dinner - we walked down (1/2 mile trek) to the rapids and waterfalls - we put our feet in the Nile!  Devotions and then to bed.  They have these cabins that are tents that are right on the edge of the river.  So beautiful.

Olinga - IDP Camp

Tuesday, March 9 and Wednesday, March 10.  II Corinthians 3:18b

The power went out in town this evening so I'm trying to write between flickers.

Left Gulu at 10am for a 2hr drive north/west to a satellite IDP camp(Olinga).  The main, (Pabbo)camp at one time held 61,000 people, the largest camp of all.  The road is unbelievable.  You know when you can humm over bumps and it makes your voice jiggle.  Well, that's what we did for 2 hours.  When we got to the camp - the kids came from everywhere - so excited to see us.  Today we have 2 groups - kids camp and the discipleship group.  While we were waiting for the adults to come - they were in the fields working - we wondered around the camp and looked around.  Not all the huts have people living in them anymore.  They are marked.  A = someone is living here.  B = getting ready to move.  C= no one here anymore - can be torn down.

In the near distance are some tall hills.  For some of these people - their village is near those hills and it was in those hills that 1000's were killed and the villagers are afraid to go back.

The kids camp set up and they had a drama, crafts - making bracelets, decorating little bags and also bandannas. They then played games with the kids.  They were so excited.

The discipleship group broke into 4 groups.  Elders, 40's, 30's and young adults.  We talked with them and answered questions - some very interesting.....  "I am interested in believing but I have 2 women - what would you suggest I do?"  "I'm only 15 and I want to have fun while I'm still young"  We had material with us to help answer these questions and we were also able to hand Acholi bibles to them on the 2nd day.  They were so thankful.  Currently they had one bible per 30 people.  There were only 4 bibles in this camp.

They had so many more questions - wish we could have spent more time with them.  Watoto - is planning on starting a discipleship program and they will be back to this camp soon.

An interesting thing happened both times we were there.  The witch doctor had a ritual she was doing.  We could hear music and they were in her hut.  She would start shortly after we got there and would go for about 1 hour - then stop.   

Notes:
Ann had a ride on the back of someones bike.
They eat white ants.  With salt, roll in a ball or make them into a paste.  It's interesting on how they catch them - I'll let you ask....
Men are able to marry 3 -4 wives.  It's not the normal practice - that is tribal.
Most huts have no door.  2 reasons .. the LRA would think nobody home or for a quick escape.
Goats are mainly for meat.

Our translators were the staff from Watoto.  They were awesome.  Florance, Francis, Joel, David (who learned Spanish from Claudia on the bus ride) and Benson.  They really relate to the people in the camps - they were a blessing to us!

Our work is done.  We wish we had more time here - there is so much to do and the people are so grateful of any kind of help they can get.  We are packing the bus tonight and leaving at 4:30 am.  Heading to a safari and chimp trekking.  We will be staying in the park for a night and then to Jinga, where I hope to fill you in then.

Hospital visits

Monday, March 8th.  International Women's Day!  The banks even close for this!
Our verse today is 1 Peter 4:10-11

Today we were suppose to head out to another IDP camp but it is a Holiday here, so we changed our plans.  This IDP camp is pretty much disbanded but they can come back for special gatherings.  Watoto goes around to the villages and lets them know what's going on in the camp.

Carol, Pastor, Cindy G, Rene & Jerry went shopping for shoes for the House of Hope. There were some sizes we were missing. They brought the shoes and the gifts of the mamas.

The rest of us went to visit a couple of places that we were not planning on even going.  First we went to St. Jude's Children Home.  This is not a Watoto sponsored home but is similar to House of Hope or Suubi but bigger and not as nice.  It's 2 complexes as one. The second one is for disable children.  Between both houses there are 17-22 children per mama and there are 17 mama's.  We handed out bibles to the English speaking staff and beanie baby's to the children and foam stickers, which they tore in small pieces and stuck to their ears.  We only stayed for about 2 hours.  This was hard emotionally for a lot of us.  These children need so much and it was hard to leave.

We went to the Acholi for a picnic lunch. 

The next visit was to Gulu Regional Hospital to visit the children's ward and the maternity ward.  It is a public hospital.  When you go there - you should bring someone with you because they don't feed you, so there are people hanging out in the hall ways. Julie, Marrie, Cathy, Claudia and myself went to the maternity ward.  We asked if we could pray with them and we brought boiled eggs and a bar of soap for them and gave the extra soap to the head nurse - who's name was Florance and she was dressed in the white nurses outfit with the matching cap. Cute.  There was one women there in labor.  She was on a big metal table, with a black plastic bag on it and she was in the room by herself.  Family was in the hall and when I say hall - it's outside. 

Holly, Katie, Cindy P, Betsy, Karen, Virginia, Anne and Shay went to the Children's ward.  They visited 3 wards.  The 1st ward had mostly children of various ages with malaria and their mamas were with them.  Some were responding to the meds but there were others that were not.  Bracelets/necklaces that were made by Sophia Shad from 1st Baptist were given as well as beanie babies.  The group prayed with the children and also mama's had specific requests for their children.  The 2nd ward was the malnutrition ward.  There were more requests  from the mama's for their children. More gifts given.  The 3rd ward was mostly infants that mostly were crying.  Gifts and prayers were given to the mama's and baby's but when we tried to give the gift - the infants were afraid of us.

The power in the town is very unpredictable.  The hotel has a generator but some times that means nothing.  That also applies to the Internet.  So just in case ...our schedule for the next few days is.

Tuesday: head out to an IDP Camp and have a VBS sort for the children and also spend some time in discipleship with a group of about 100 adults that have gone thru the trauma program.  Answer questions etc..

Wednesday: Back out to the same IDP camp and do the second part of our programs.

Thursday thru Saturday:  Leave Acholi Inn at 5am for chimp tracking, Murchison Falls and head over to Jinga.  Not sure of internet access there.

Sunday: Church in Kampala and head for the airport - Going home.........


Notes: I would love to post more pics and I might do that Wednesday.  The internet takes so long to load when I have all the pics on.

Sunday Worship

They have 2 services - 8 and at 10.  A full house at each one.  The service is very much like Faith Community service.  They have communion once a month like First Baptist and today was the day.  Lots of singing and lots of praising God.  Taylor played for the offertory at both services.  He did a great job and the congregation loved it.

After church we all went different ways.  My group jumped on boda's and headed to the craft place only to find out that it's not open on Sundays.  Walked thru down town, to the market.  The children come running and tried to hold your hand.  There were two little girls that just kept hanging on and we were afraid that we would end up with them away from where they were suppose to be.  We noticed their sisters following close behind.  Going thru the market was interesting - so if anyone of you wants to know more about their meat dishes - you won't get it from me.  No way!  We ended by walking back to the hotel and were able to kick back.  Went and had a massage.  Cost me 20,000 shillings, ($10)  why not!   She was awesome.  Nana is a mother of 3 children that are living in Kampala with her sister while she works.  She gets paid 200,000 a month. ($100) Nana goes and visits her kids once a month.  Tonight we are going over to Carl and Julies for a BBQ and volleyball with the staff of Watoto.  Should be fun.

Notes:
They used ox to plow their fields before the LRA came thru.  They had taken then and now there only a few.  The children clear the fields and the adults use hoes to work the ground.

They pierce their children's ears to make them unpure in the eyes of the people that sacrifices children.  This is happening today.  This is in Kampala and we passed by it a few times.  We have pics.

They like their music - especially at night

Most buildings have walls around them, with barb wire.  They also have guards and they carry guns.

When the kids had a eye exam (Marrie & Betsy) and they were asked to cover their one eye - they covered both.  They had to show them how and also how to look out of the other.

Living Hope, Laborra & House of Hope

Friday, March 5th 
Big day at Living Hope.  The ladies that were suppose to have come but were not sure of us, did show up on Friday.  We were scheduled for 72 women that day and we were able to pamper 108.  As tired as we were - we were so blessed by these women.  At the beginning of the day - 2 women gave their testimonials - I recorded it with translation but haven't had a chance to refresh my memory but I do remember thinking -  traumatic and touching.  A couple of comments from the day "This is the Lord's love" and "The Lord takes care of orphans & widows and I live by that"  We finished the day - I think at the Acholi for dinner.

Saturday, March 6th.

Repacked suitcases and off we went to Laborra. 1.5 hour drive and it was raining.  Laborra is similar to Suubi, a house mama with 8 orphan children. 1 or 2 can be their own. This is also sponsored by Watoto.  7 of us pampered the mama's (14) and the rest did kid's crafts for the kids (113).  We left after lunch time and had lunch at Acholi. 

We had some down time and then went back to House of Hope to see the swing set that Karen and the guys built.  We also handed out shoes and toys to the kids.  We played with them for a while.  While we were playing, the kids outside of the fence had climbed on the wall to see what we were doing.  Hard not to include them.  We worshipped with them and at the end, the children laid hands on us.  Each child, singing, walked around the room and laid their hand on each of our heads.  WOW!
Ended with dinner and devotions.  

As I write this down to remember what we did on this unbelievable journey - I can not even touch on how we feel here.  The mama's when they hug us - "Bless God".  These people have gone thru so much - more then we can even comprehend - keep going.  They live in conditions that we would not even have our animals live in and "it is good"  We see so much despair but we also see hope.  You would love to do more for them but it's impossible by ourselves.  Most of these people believe in our God - and with that belief  "all things are possible"

Pics say a thousand words

Living Hope

Road to the IDP camp

Brothers waitng for things to happen

Older group dancing

What ever it takes!

IDP Camp (Internally Displaced People)

Thursday March 4th - This morning we went to Living Hope to pamper 24 women and the construction crew went to work on the swing set. This set is "hand made"  no power tools here - well - they did have a drill but the battery only lasted 15 minutes and then the power went out.

Had lunch at another hotel - just had a spring roll, which seems to be popular here and they are good.  Then we hit the road for a 1 1/2 road trip.  It's more like our 4-wheeling trails that we wouldn't even think putting a bus on.  The traveling is an event in it's self.  When we pulled into the camp - the kids came from all over - we couldn't even get off the bus - singing, I'll call it screeching but its a "happy call" that they do and wanting to touch us. 

The reason that we went, is that they had a graduation from the trauma counseling that Watoto had completed.  We listened to testimonials that would have broken your heart.  They danced for us - there is video of this - they danced a mating dance with the 20 year olds, then they had different age groups do their dances, they even had the older villagers do theirs, which was somewhat primitive.  They cooked all day for us, we did not have to wait in line in the sun like the rest of them - we where served under a tree.  They served the men first - then the women and I didn't see the children eat at all.  I asked about that and the only reason that may have been is that these kids came from the area?  I don't understand but they do walk a long way to get where they are going and they are little.  Kindergartenish.....  That's just the way it is.

Anyway - we ate again with our fingers - I'm getting pretty good at that - I think I'm ready for soup...  We got to roam around the camp and visit and take pictures.  These camps are on someone else's land.  When the war was going - the government told the villages to gather together in these camps - for protection.  The children would walk into town to sleep - I can't think right now what they were called - because they were the most vulnerable and wanted.  The government has now told these camps to disband and that they will not be getting any aid - they need to "go home".  They have been away from home for about 20ish years.  For most - their home was taken by someone else or they can't find it as they mark their property like my dad does - "From the white pine to the pond to that big rock and then to the dirt road."    The land owner won't let them come back or he will kill them - so these camps soon will be no longer.  What a privilege this is to even be here.

Got to go the bathroom in the bush - just the short call - not the long.  It was better then their outhouses - you could hardly get in the door, dark and of course - the smell.  I think the temp was around the high 90's.  No thank you - I'll be over there.

Just as the ceremony finished - it poured rain.  They are surprised at the rain now- it's too early.  The roads are made of clay and again - hope we get back.  I really don't know how this bus makes it around.  They use buses all around here - their school buses are greyhounds and watching them go over these roads is amazing - especially when we meet!

We learned some Acholi - they laugh when we say it.
They seem to love lawn chairs - white plastic - they are everywhere.

It's been very humbling here as they want to do everything for us here.  At the camp - we sat in the shade, in chairs.  As the sun moved, they moved us.  Everybody else was in the sun watching.

They are so laid back - but the hardest workers I have ever seen.  I saw no children bugging, or whining.  They were the ones taking care of the babies "not sucking milk".  They had them on their backs, dragged them everywhere - not once did I see them "hand em over" to mom.  The men sat together, in the back, with the women in front.  The women - if they had them - sat on mats.  The children where opposite of the adults.

This was an amazing experience.   This girl - who is about 20, was abducted when she was 12 and taken as a soldier's wife.  She was the one of the gals that gave her testimony, about that she had to kill a little boy and other stories.

Living Hope

This morning, breakfast at the hotel, we had some cheese/egg thing, sausage, beans with peppers and onions :) and fried potatoes.  Fruit etc.   The coffee here is great.  We got to Living Hope, set up and started.  When we finally figured out how to make things work - our schedule was about 45 mins per group.  Today we pampered 60 women.  They were so grateful - and all the gals from our team really embraced the moment.  Rene even had a lady fall asleep.  It is hot today, the hottest we've seen so far.  We had a couple of us that toke care of the ladies children while they were pampered.  We finished early today, they had lunch for us.  Brought in green pickle buckets - rice, mashed bananas and a beef (I think) soup that they poured over the rice.  They had nice plates - but no utensils!  We had to eat with our fingers and there is a trick to that, of which I think I have mastered.  We also sat on the floor, with nothing to drink.   We are planning on doing 2 groups tomorrow and 7 groups on Friday.  I think we may have sandwiches for that day.  Because we got done early - we are going to check out the pool and just get caught up on our reading and writing. 

Today the construction crew - Pastor, Jerry, Bob, Taylor and Karen were at House of Hope.  Haven't talked with them yet but I think they may be ready for a rest.

Marrie and Betsy worked on the medical side of things at Living Hope.  We left them there as there was a long line of women needing attention.  They toke a boda (dirt bike) back to the hotel.

Road To Gulu

We left at 10:30 - a late start.  Breakfast was fresh crepes, fruit, jam, toast and frosted flakes.  Gulu is about 3 - 6 hours depending on the checkpoints.  After a couple of wrong turns, gas stops  - we were on our way.  The bus was jam packed - we condensed the totes down to 35, then our personal stuff - all we had was toe room.  We had 6 police check points, of which we had to stop at 3 of them.  The checkpoints don't really serve a purpose other then to show authority.  We were very lucky to get thru with a bus load of Mazungas!  The road to Gulu is much better then Kampala, as far as paved and hardly any potholes.  The roads are just wide enough for 2 cars to pass but now throw in bodas and walkers - all side by side.  I think I held my breathe more then I breathed and I think I had the only seat belt in the bus.  Not that it really mattered - cause if we hit something - I would have all the suitcases and my fellow mazungas hitting me in the back of my head.  We saw baboons on the side of the road and they, like the villagers - would run to the bus for stuff.  We crossed over the Nile - (we will see it next week, Thursday).  We had cooked (I'll call them bananas for now).  When we stopped for the bananas - we had offers of goat on a stick, fresh chicken (alive), water and other kinds of fruit.  We got to Gulu in about 5 hours - we couldn't wait to stretch our legs.  Gulu is a nice town - I feel more comfortable here. Checked into our room and headed over to House of Hope.  Kinda the same as Suubi, but this is under the Watoto Church.  We visited and worshipped with them and then went back to the hotel for dinner.  The hotel is actually very nice.  Patrick is my Internet friend.  I haven't seen the pool yet.  These have been long days.  Tomorrow to Living Hope for pampering and the construction crew to House of Hope to build swing sets - of which they never heard of.

Kampala - The City with Everything

We arrived in Kampala at 3:30 am after a long delay in Amsterdam.  Got our rooms and went to bed only to wake at 7am to go Suubi - Children's home.  When we went thru Kampala at night, there were still people on the street.  During the day it's unbelievable.  It's kinda weird in that the shops are setup like a strip mall but they are only 12' wide (like a storage container), no pavement, all dirt or mud and stuff everywhere - old cars are left where they stopped.  Then the shops repeat again with the same stuff.  The traffic is uncontrolled.  No stop signs or lights, including intersections.  The interesting thing is that it works for everyone.  They honk to let you know they are there - no yelling - no anger, pointing fingers etc.. It was amazing and scary.

Suubi Village. Here they have a circle of houses with a house mama with 4-6 kids per house.  These kids are orphans from the war.  We went to visit, they fed us lunch - rice, beans and 2 peanut sauces, one that was green and the other a plain peanut sauce- of which I just couldn't eat, but I tried.  I now carry baggies with me.  They were so interested in us, they greeted everyone one of us - truly we were guests.  It was raining when we got to Suubi and we are in a 28 passenger bus and Suubi is on a big hill.  Well - it got stuck - not sure how they got it out.  The kids had to walk thru the mud to get to their house (1/2 mile) to meet with us for lunch.  They sang and danced for us.  We were invited into their homes (they are all the same) to see them and the decorations they made for us.  What a humbling experience.  Another venture back thru Kampala - cleaned up and went to dinner at a Japanese restaurant.  We then dragged ourselves to bed for a 7am wake up call for breakfast at 8am.

Gulu - we made it

I will write later tonight - it's 5:30 and we are gathering to go to House of Hope for worship and then to dinner.  I'm just figuring out the computers here.  The buttons are in different spots.  The drive here took about 6 hours and we had so much luggage that it was a little cramped but it was an interesting trip none the less.

Just a little update

We had delays with the plane and that added 6 hours to the flight.  We arrived in Kampala at 3:30am and got up at 7am for our visit to Suubi.  It was raining and lots of mud.  Had lunch there  - I'll tell you more about that later. The weather in Kampala was chilly -ha ha -  67 degrees.  It's 20-25 C here.

The hotel has Internet and I will be able to get this updated - till later

10 days and Counting

10 days left before we go.


Lots of busy work, organizing the kid’s activities, getting the supplies needed for that. Practiced back massages last night for our ladies spa days. We have gift bags to put together, printing of discipleship material that we put together as a group. Making extra copies to hand out when we get there. We have about half of our checked baggage done and ready to go. 2 more packing days left and we are still receiving donations.

We now are reviewing what we are going to bring as our carry on. All our personal items will be in our carry on. We had gotten an email regarding the "dress" of the women coming. We are not to wear tank tops, can't have our midriff showing (like I was planning on that!), shorts or skirts at least to our knees. Did I mention that it was over 100 the other day? When we are on our own free time - we can wear shorts and tanks but otherwise we need to be covered up. Being I'm going to sweat... I might as well bring - remember those plastic "sweat suits" from the 70's - (I have one - don't ask) I'm going to sweat in "style" You won't even recognize me when I get back... Ok ~ now I'm off the subject....

I would like to say that I'm packed and zipped and ready to go but I already unzipped and rethinking.

We're still Packing

Little by little it's coming together.  The community has been sooooo generous.

Here Carol is logging all the items in a susitcase.  Each suitcase can't be more then 50lbs.  Once it's all logged - the case is sealed so we don't mess with it.  We will have 40 - 50lb cases.  One ton!  You can see some of the finished totes in the background of the 2nd pic.  Here Betsy and Anne are figuring out the right weight combinations of some items.

Again - thank you to the community who have supported us in this mission!