Uganda Team

My son, Ryan, is a part of a team from River CIty that is in Uganda serving with one of our mission partners, J-life, Uganda.. I love that they are serving the people of Uganda and the ministry of J-life!  I also love how their eyes are being opened to the bigger world and God's work in it!

Here is a blog written by, team member, David Mcginnis.  

http://blogs.reallife.org/rccc/?p=1670

 The first thing you notice about Uganda isn’t the weather, or the smell, or the landscape, but how friendly and smiley everyone is. In Dubai they weren’t mean, per se, but they weren’t happy. Ugandans are.

Anyway, we were met at the airport by James and William from J-Life. They were extremely happy to see us in spite of having waited for 2 1/2 hours.

The ride through the city was remarkable. So many people just walking, a lot of motorcycles, and no one driving with any regard for lanes. There were some hair-raising moments.

Banana Village is very different from what I expected. There are a number of round huts and cabins. There’s no AC, but it gets cool enough at night. The shower has a bucket in it. The water is cold.
The best part of yesterday was Patrick and Samuel. These are two boys about 9 years old. They don’t live in Banana Village, their parents don’t work here, I’m not even sure if they HAVE parents. But they took to Ryan & I, he with his iphone and me with my twizzlers. We talked to them for a while, but they didn’t say much back. They just wanted to follow us around.

Eventually Jayna and Andrea came out and we played some games. Hide and seek, and baseball with an orange and a slice of tree bark. We all had fun, and explained that we’d be busy during the days, but I think we’ll keep seeing them around.

As advertised, monkeys are everywhere, especially around the entrance. They love climbing on cars and fighting each other, but they having let us get too close. I’ve already taken way too many pictures of them.

James’s four daughters are named Joy, Fever, Blessing, and Victory. Aged 7, 5, 2, and 4 months. They’re all adorable, especially Blessing, who reminds me so much of Chelsea it physically hurts.

We walked from Banana Village to James’s house, which led us through the neighborhood. The sights are very hard to describe. Half-finished buildings, kids (so many kids!) playing in the street and the alleys, or completely naked getting a bath.

We had to stop at one point because the neighborhood’s cows were being driven past. I say neighborhood’s cows because a couple guys are paid to drive them out together, and then back to their respective homes.

We met other members of James’s team, all around 30. I’ll be doing computer classes with William, a painter who I like a lot even though he’s hard to understand, and a girl named Agnes who just got her degree in graphic design. Granted, we’re just doing the most basic of computer training, but it’s nice to not have to be THE expert.

After some delicious African tea, we walked back in the dark, which was an eerie experience. We’d have to suddenly flatten to the side of the road as motorbikes went by. I hope none of us get run down this week.

Remember how I said the water was cold? It’s FREEZING. Ryan and I were miserable, couldn’t even get all the way in, and agreed that we’d simply be showering less this week…

…and THEN I discovered the wall switch that turns on the heater. Oops.