My How Time Flies!

It was 25 years ago that this young couple met and fell in love. They met at a church singles bowling league on June 24th. Their first date(July 7th) was a very special occasion with dinner out and a trip to Galveston for a moonlight walk on the beach. They were engaged on August 10th over a romantic steak dinner and movie (Somewhere in Time). Can you tell he's a romantic?

She had just graduated from college and was "supposedly" home for the summer and then on to seminary in the fall. But that's not the way it happened.





They married on October 27, 1984.



















And have lived happily ever after!!

A Glimpse of Africa

This song rings true in my heart. Sara Groves has taken her experience in Rwanda and put it to music. The images are the same as Uganda so I thought I would share this beautiful message with you.




Thanks for stopping by. More to come!!

My Ugandan Treasure

One of the treasures I brought back with me from Uganda is the memory of this precious woman. This was taken at a women's meeting we held on our visit to Llolwe Island. What a blessing to be able to share with the women of the Island as well as listen to many of their stories.

Just look at that smile. You would think that this woman didn't have a care in the world. But she did. She began her story by telling us that she was the mother of nine children. She had buried eight of them. Her nine year old had just been buried the week before we arrived. Now look again at her smile. She exudes joy. The joy of her Lord truly is her strength.







The Ugandan women are so strong. They have to be. So many are either widowed or abandoned by their husbands to support themselves and their children. They have no government aid. If they don't make it happen, it doesn't happen. They go hungry.

And yet, they believe in a big God. Bwana is the Swahili name for Almighty God. Her God provides for her all that she needs, therefore, she can smile. They are so full of Tumaini (Hope).

Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. (Matt. 5:4) She was a living testament to the truth of this scripture.

This photo will be placed in the carved wooden frame I brought back with me from Uganda. Anytime I get to thinking that I have it bad she will be there to remind me that the joy of the Lord is my strength also.

Thanks for stopping by. More to come!!

Now for the Nitty Gritty

Ok, so now I'm going to share some of the nitty gritty facts about Uganda! I know you have been waiting!! I've already shared that we had no privacy whatsoever while on the islands. There were kids everywhere and most times they were peeking into the windows anytime anyone was in our "room". The reason "room" is in quotes is because it was a classroom which had been cleared out for us to sleep in. Here is my "home sweet home" on Llolwe Island. I shared it with Deb and Jo. There were also two other tents set up in here for the other ladies on the trip. Ah, the comfort of concrete floors!!

Since the island had no running water the people of Llolwe set up a bathing station for us.

There were 5 very narrow stalls in the structure but it was private. (Sorry don't know why all of a sudden I have underlining???) They carried water from the lake and boiled it for us. We would pour the water into a tub and wash off. Actually, it was VERY refreshing after a hard day of work in the heat and humidity!!

The bathrooms almost everywhere we went were also as primitive. This(below) was my first exposure to a "squatting" toilet. I had imagined much, much worse from the accounts given by last year's team. This was at a convenience store we stopped at on the way to Busiro school.

This was at a bathroom stop we made on Suku Island on our way to Llolwe Island. Those are the edges of my skirt you see at the bottom of the photo. Not only do you have to squat to do your business but the women on the islands always wear skirts so we had to also so as not to offend them. And to answer your next question, Yes, there were geckos, bugs and all sorts of creepy crawlers around (especially at night).


The next photo is the women's bathrooms on Llolwe Island. It was quite a hike up to the bathrooms so in the middle of the night we just went out back of our rooms and squatted in the grass. Primitive camping, anyone???

A discussion several of us had one morning on the way to the bathrooms was really funny. We always had to carry toilet paper with us since there wasn't any in the bathrooms. Jo mentioned that in the States we would have been horrified to carry around our roll of toilet paper but on Llolwe Island it just wasn't any big deal. See what I mean, no privacy. You weren't going to sneak off to "go potty" because with that roll of toilet paper in your hands everyone knew your "business".


This was because the Island babies didn't wear diapers. They just squatted wherever they were and went. I saw two little girls run out of the children's meeting we had, pull up their skirts, pull down their pants, squat and pee. They then ran right back into the room and resumed whatever they were doing. Men just stopped on the side of the path and went. My what a culture shock that was.

Now, for those of you who have back or knee problems which would prevent you from squatting, help was there. Rex was kind enough to carry it for us.


The island girls, however, must not have realized what it was since they begged for their pictures to be taken with it. This was taken after our time on the island. YUCK!!

When we reached the lake to leave that day she even offered it to me and said, "Sit". I told her, "No thanks, we will be sitting on the boat for a long time. I'd rather stand." Awkward!!! Although, as this next picture shows, it was always the last thing loaded on the boat because we also used it as a step ladder to get into or out of the boat. Getting out could be a little tricky since not only were we wearing skirts but you had to watch your step so as not to step right down into the middle of the seat!!
The restrooms on Buvuma Island was quite nice. They even had toilet paper in them. This was quite a surprise since we had just finished lunch where we had to eat with our hands because they had no utensils for eatting on the island.

I must tell you that American Port-a-pottys will never be a problem for me again. They are like the Ritz Carlton bathrooms in comparison.

This trip was such a God inspired trip for me. Any of you who know me know I am all about my comfort. I don't like tent camping and never have, although I have done it. My favorite way to camp is at the Holiday Inn. I'll endure an RV if it is completely self contained with shower and my own toilet. Heat and air-conditioning are a must. I have been quoted OFTEN as saying, "I don't like to sweat". But I didn't even hesitate when I was told of the conditions we would be encountering on this trip. I KNEW I was supposed to go and go I did. It was an experience of a lifetime and I hope to never forget a minute of it.

I will never be the same....and that's a good thing.

Thanks for stopping by. More to come!!
(Several of the pictures shared today were from team members Deb, Michelle and Hannah. Thanks girls!!)

Taste and Touch of Uganda

You feel the constant sticky heat and excessive humidity and wonder why the people of Uganda wander around in winter coats. You are pressed on every side by the wall of people in the city or the scurry of never-ending traffic mostly consisting of taxi vans overloaded with people or Bota Bota’s (motorcycles used as taxis) carrying two or three passengers along with their belongings. You were surprised as the sudden rains of rainy season drench you as you go about your day or the dusty roads that don’t seem to even acknowledge the rains. The many dirt roads that rattle your bones to your very core necessitate a visit to the chiropractor once you return home.

The native fruit trees were in abundance in Uganda but I was told by a native Ugandan that they didn’t know what to do with it all. It was not possible to use it or keep it from spoiling on a daily basis.

The picture below is a piece of jack fruit. It tasted like a cross between pineapple and something citrus. It was very good but sticky. You had to peel away the small fibrousy strands to get to the "meat" of the fruit. The outside of the fruit looked like a watermelon(about that size also) but with a prickly texture. Very odd looking and it grew on trees.

The delicious fruits we experienced were bananas, pineapple, mango, papaya, watermelon, oranges, lemons, limes and jack fruit. Also, in abundance, were avocado, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes (which, by the way, were white also), greens or several sorts and cabbage.


We had fish, fish and more fish, rice(the yellowish mound on the red platter), beans, posho, chapotis, and mandazi’s. Posho(bottom of picture on blue and pink plates) looked like a very thick mashed potatoes but tasted nothing like it. It was made from the cassava plant ground up into flour with water added. The Ugandans used it as a utensil to pick up other foods. Utensils are not always in abundance or even available on some of the Islands.








Chapotis reminded me of flour tortillas and mandazis were like a fried doughnut only not sweet. Unless, of course, you dipped them in sugar (made from sugar cane, another abundant crop) which we did!!

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The children carried around sugar cane as a snack (just chewed for the sweet juice – not swallowed). Tim (the missionary) stopped and bought us some from a street vendor on our way home one evening. Here we are all trying to look like the locals. HaHa I don't think we fooled anyone.

We especially enjoyed the sugar in our tea. Hot tea, that is. I don’t think I saw a piece of ice the entire time I was in Uganda. Tea is grown right there in Uganda. They do have British roots, you know!

Tea was served every afternoon with sugar and milk available and ground nuts(peanuts) to eat.

Don't ask me why I was so taken by this "can" of mixed fruit jam except that I've never seen jam in a can. It was really good though. I had it on bread or chapoti's most mornings for breakfast.

Thanks for stopping by! More to come!!

The Sounds of Uganda

You are assaulted in the city by a cacophony of sound. Horns are honking, people talking or shouting in any number of dialects from English to Swahili to Ugandan, children playing or crying, and music blaring from the many shops along the road.
Children were everywhere you looked. Over 50% of the Ugandan population is under the age of 16. Over 80% of the population is under the age of 30. Those are hard facts to get my mind around. Poverty and disease are truly wiping out generations or Ugandans.


They chased the van once we left the Kasubi school.


After arriving on Llolwe Island we thought we would take a walk out to a rock formation to have a bit of "team time". As you can see below, we were always surrounded. We never failed to draw a crowd everywhere we went.

Here in the States we are quick to respect the "personal space" of those around us. We can get really uncomfortable if someone enters our "personal space". Not so in Africa. They are a close people.

The shouts of “Muzungu” (which means “white person or whitie”) by the children as you pass never failed to bring a smile to my face. You see, the term is one of honor and the Ugandans consider it a blessing when “visitors” come to them.
They peeked in the windows where our tents were set up while on Llolwe Island.

Or, on the other extreme, you experience complete silence and the beauty of God’s creation on the islands in Lake Victoria. The waves lapping along the shores, breezes blowing through the trees, the beautifully colorful birds, the monkeys playing in the rocks or trees all spoke of God’s presence there. Rainbows greeted us one morning on Llolwe Island and another evening while on safari.

Whether experiencing the silent beauty of Africa or the constant chaos of the children crowding around, the diversity of sound that was Africa to us was beautiful.

Thanks for stopping by! More to come!!

Smells of Uganda

Just as quickly, you are greeted by the smells of Uganda. The diesel fumes flooded our vans, raw sewage and trash piles ran down the ditches on either side of neighborhood streets,fish dry in nets to be sold for a daily salary, body odor from the constant crush of people(personal hygiene a constant battle with dirt floors in their homes and dirt roads slinging mud or dust depending on the season; and washing themselves

and their clothes in the polluted waters of Lake Victoria),

and foods cooking on almost every porch or at street vendors everywhere constantly bombarded systems.

Goats and chickens are left to roam at will in order to feed on whatever they could find which also meant they would leave their droppings at will also. The mixture of smells was completely overwhelming.

One smell, however, I didn’t miss from the US was cigarette smoke. The people of Uganda don’t smoke. Whether it is from lack of money to buy them or the desire to use all available space to grow foods to eat rather than grow tobacco, it was a welcome change.

Thanks for stopping by! More to come!!