More News from Kampala

Sorry for the long pause between blogs - it's often difficult to find the time to get onto your computer and the internet is often unavailable. Also, my apologies that I don't have photos of everything - all those that know me know that I'm hopeless at remembering to do that!

Friday 18 – I did some more work at Wakisa today. However, this required me to buy some extra gutter and fittings, a padlock and some extra keys and some contact adhesive. This unfortunately took up until lunchtime due to the constant haggling over prices that is required. I worked as fast as I could and managed to get all the gutters finished buy the end of the day – I was hot and sweaty as usual but it was satisfying to actually get something completed. That night, a bout of gout started in the knuckle of my big LH toe and it continued for the following week!

Saturday 19 – had a bit of a later breakfast this morning and we met a guy called Faras. He was born in Los Vegas of Iranian descent and was in his 4^th year of a medical degree. He was in Uganda to do a year's placement at Kisoro Hospital but had one day in Kampala and wanted to see the Baha'i temple – apparently there is a major temple on each continent and the one for Africa is in Kampala. In the afternoon, I was sick of the slow internet at the guesthouse and so went down the street to the internet cafe where I could plug my laptop in and get some good speed – at only a$0.40 per 40 minutes! I then investigated which bus to get to go to Lira the week after – not so easy. I went to Jaguar Coaches but they don't go to Lira – I was directed to the Kisengi Bus Terminal but it turned out they don't have buses going to Lira either & they directed me to the Buganda Bus Park – here I found out that the best buses are Fiesta and that they leave at 6am. Linda and I then decided that we wanted something different for dinner and so got bodas into the city and had Chinese at Antonio's – great value for money and quite good!

Sunday 20 – Florence, who looks after the restaurant at the guesthouse, asked us to Watoto church so we decided to accept – the music wasn't as good as usual but the message was very good & Biblical. Florence had to go straight back to work, so we decided to try and find the 1000 Cups coffee place and after about 15 minutes of searching on a boda, we managed to find it within 100 mt of the church we were just at! Trip Advisor said that they did the best coffee in Kampala and we thought that they were probably correct – they had coffee made from beans from all the major coffee producing nations of the world. 

I bought some gout medication and then back at the guesthouse, we were expecting to be collected by Henry, Vivian's driver, but instead she arrived in a car driver by Mala, a Malaysian Indian lady the she has "adopted" as a daughter. She drove us to Paul & Suzan's place to celebrate Vivian's birthday. Paul is Vivian's elder son and works as the manager on a large farm owned by Vivian's sister, Dorothy. With the gifts and speeches finished by 7pm, we headed back into town through the typical traffic jam.

Monday 21 – today I was to get Irene back to school and also visit the other girls who are studying at St Michaels High School. I first needed to see Rachel at Wakisa (she looks after the school sponsorship while Gloria is on maternity leave) to get a list of all the girls and also to collect Irene's payment paperwork (all fees are paid directly at a bank into the school's account). Christine was accompanying Irene and they were to meet me at the taxi park at 10 am. Unfortunately there was a big traffic jam on the way due to some roadworks and they didn't arrive till 11 am. We bought some supplies that Irene needed and we were off in a taxi to Sonde, a little trading centre near the school. We paid her fees at the local bank, bought gifts for the rest of the girls (cordial & biscuits) and headed off on bodas to the school only 1 km away. The headmaster was pleased to see us and it took us 30 minutes to extricate ourselves from his office. We then met Patience, Fortunate, Rebecca, Caroline & Goretti – I must say that I have never visited such a healthy-looking and happy group of girls – I was really pleased and wished them all well in their upcoming exams, especially Patience, Irene & Rebecca who will be doing their final exams in November. We then scooted back towards Kampala as I had made a doctor's appointment to see about my gout – unfortunately, I had their old address and went to the wrong place.

Tuesday 22 – long God story, but since my last visit, I had connected with a guy called Robert, who is involved in prison ministry and today I was excited to be speaking at a Luzira Women's Prison, the main women's prison in Uganda. We went with Rev. William, a wonderful Godly man who has been ministering in the prisons for over 42 years. We started by meeting the 2IC and I was asked to pray for her malaria. We then moved down to an assembly hall and already present were about 200 women in bright yellow prison dresses – they were all clean and many of the ladies had beautifully braided hair and large smiles on their faces! The worship songs were sung with such enthusiasm that I was amazed. Rev. William addressed them with encouraged words and then handed the mic over to me. I started by asking them to confirm that I was actually in a prison and not a church! I gave my testimony and spoke of the love of Jesus and it's life-changing power – I hope that it was also an encouragement to them – I was deeply moved and felt that the difference between this prison and prisons in Australia, was that the system in Australia tries to exclude God from this space, whereas He is welcomed in Uganda – and what a difference that makes.Unfortunately for security reasons, I could not take any photos.

On the way out, William mentioned that the prison had run out of firewood and so the inmates were likely to go hungry – I felt an urge to help and so asked William if it would be OK for me to provide funds for 2 days worth of timber – he said it was OK and he took it to the senior officer who was now back in the prison. Her name was Stella and what a lovely lady she was – she came down to thank me and give me a couple of gifts – she was probably in her mid-40's and was due to be married soon and I was again asked to pray for her and her future husband – what a wonderful day!

I am continually reminded that these trips are not about what I do, but about who I meet - God is always needing to remind me about that and what a blessing it is.

Not so long a wait till the next blog - I hope!

Back in Kampala Again!

Sorry for the lack of photos this time!!

The previous evening I asked if I could have breakfast at 8am – so I was surprised when the guy knocked on my door at 6.45. Anyway, I was up and ready anyway so that was OK. I then read my book on “Rwanda Before the Genocide” for a while and then went to the Stanbic Bank (RSA) to see if they would cash US$ travellers cheques – they didn't so I tried to change the last of my Rwandan Francs – they didn't change them either!

I then went down to the Jaguar Coaches booking office and bought my ticket for the following morning and I was surprised hat they were now leaving at 7.30 am rather than 6.00 am. I then thought I'd try the Crane Bank but no luck there either. While I was there, I noticed a clock on the wall said 11.15 an when my watch said 10.15 am – it was then that I found out hat Uganda was 1 hr ahead of Rwanda and it had never occurred to me.

I was supposed to greet a group of clergy that Bishop Cranmer was calling together at 11 am so I was already late. I high-tailed it down to the church, found the Bishop and walked in 30 minutes late – no-one batted an eyelid! The Bishop had been speaking about the dangers of secularisation, so I gave a greeting, told them a little about the work of Wakisa and then commented on the fact that in Australia, the battle secularisation had already been lost – they were most interested and asked a few questions.

I then called a guy called Innocent and he invited me over. He works for an organisation called Help for Orphans & Vulnerable Children (HOVC) and I got connected with them through a couple at my church and it is supported and governed by Australians. He greeted me warmly and we chatted about their work – they are now sponsoring around 135 children who are the poorest of the poor and they have also provided guttering and 1,500 lt water tanks for 118 families – availability of clean fresh water is just so important.

He then showed me around a new guesthouse that had been recently built next door – very flash and comfortable! Then on to a local secondary school to see a couple of buildings that had been donated via HOVC. You may ask why they were funding some school buildings?Well, for church, community & parents' schools, they need to have a basic set of facilities before the Government will step in and provide funding – the buildings that HOVC funded completed this list of facilities and so now government funding will flow to this school where a lot of the sponsored kids will attend – so helping the school will eventually help the kids! I was then most grateful that Innocent drove me to the border and he changed the last of my Rwandan cash for me. I spent the rest of the afternoon & early evening reading my history book and watching Kisoro life walk past the front of my hotel.

Friday - about 6.45 am next morning I walked down to get the Jaguar bus to Kampala, only to be told that the ticket I'd bought was for 7.30 pm, not 7.30 am – the problems of language! Well, I didn't want to spend another day in Kisoro so I found out that a Bismarkan coach was leaving at 8 am and boarded that. I arrived in the outskirts of Kampala about 7 pm, only to find a massive traffic jam - so when the bus stopped to let some people off, I got off as well, retrieved my bag and caught a boda boda (motorcycle) to the Namirembe Guesthouse where I will be staying for the next couple of weeks. Linda Davis (who lives in Bundanoon in the southern highlands & I met in Uganda in 2010) is also staying there and so we had dinner together (she is here to do 5 weeks training of three organisations in baby massage) – that was enough for a very long day!

Saturday – I started with a trip to town to try and cash some traveller's cheques and after a couple more failures, I was finally directed to the UAE Forex Bureau which seems to be the only place still cashing them! Even though the process took about 45 minutes, it was still good to have found them. I did a couple of other errands and then went back to collect Linda and we were off to visit Miriam's university. Miriam is an ex-Wakisa girl who I am sponsoring to do a Nursing Degree. We met at the uni cafe and we had a bit to eat with her and one of her friends, Sandra (L to R - Linda, Sandra, Miriam). The uni was just a series of lecture and tutorial rooms as no practicals are conducted there. The girls had to go to a lecture at 2 pm, I must say without too much enthusiasm.

Sunday – off to St Francis Church in Makerere University with Linda and Miriam. The place was packed and we enjoyed a lively Anglican service with joyful Ugandan singing which almost brought the house down. The lead singer had an amazing voice and personality and I'm sure could enter Australia's Got Talent and win easily. We followed that with a coffee and then went to see if we could find Florence at home (another older ex-Wakisa girl that I have kept in touch with). Turns out that she was in Juba in South Sudan working as an advertising sales rep for a newspaper – it was good to hear her voice again.

Miriam then called Christine (another ex-Wakisa girl who has just completed her Degree in Counselling) to make sure she was going to be at home, caught two different taxis (Hi-ace vans converted to seat 14) and gave her a real surprise. Irene, another ex-Wakisa girl who will be taking her final HSc exams in November, was staying with her and was even more excited to see me! We chatted the afternoon away. (L to R - Miriam, Christine, Christine's sister with Christine's baby Daniel Davis, Irene)

Monday – I joined the girls at Wakisa today for their devotional time and it was really great – two staff were there, Harriet and Rachel, and the girls are really lucky to have such Godly women to guide them. The rest of the day was spent clearing rubbish out of the back shed and around the compound and placing it in a pile for later collection. I also started investigating why a pump, designed to pump water from a large ground tank to another tank above the second floor, was continuously on but not delivering any water.

Monday evening, I met two young Australians who were about to join a World Vision Team doing all sorts of introductory work around Uganda. They were delightful and were really passionate about helping the poor and making a difference in the world.

Tuesday – I continued rounding up rubbish (a passion of mine!) and also started removing some faulty and leaking guttering on the old part of the main building. This was time-consuming as the area I had to work in was quite cramped in places and proper tools were not available. I returned to my room and had a welcome shower about 2.30 pm and then I took Linda into town to buy some material and organise the services of a tailor to make up a dress. We did this in one of the most crowded parts of the city and as always, were amazed by how many small businesses could be crowded into such a small area. We met Miriam after she finished work at about 4.30 pm and she organised to get Prosie's phone repaired for only A$30. While we were waiting, we had a bit of dinner at a local restaurant at a cost of $8 - $10 each.

Wednesday – more work at Wakisa on the guttering and also refitting the door on the shed so that a padlock could be used, and so avoid it filling up with rubbish again. I was just about to start putting my tools away when Rachel let me know that the vanities in the girl's dorm were blocked – so I turned plumber. There were a few girls hanging around and showing a bit of interest so I took the opportunity of getting them to help me, not so much for the training value but just to let them know that such things are not difficult and that they can do them if they like. By the way, the reason that the pump wasn't delivering any water was that someone had turned the stopcock off!

Thursday – 9am saw Linda and I at New Malago Hospital to see the Ugandan Heart Institute where Miriam works. There were about 50 people in the waiting room and although the facilities were tired and worn, I got the impression that the standard of care was pretty good. They also do outreaches to regional centres - they take their equipment with them, do checkups at a very low cost and then, where necessary, provide recommendations for more tests ot consultations. Then working on quite long list of errands took us up to lunchtime, but we were pleased to find everything we were looking for.

Back at Wakisa, I continued with my guttering project. I asked Henry, Vivian's driver, to get me some new parts but unfortunately he returned unsuccessful because the old style of plastic guttering was no longer available. I kept myself busy running string lines to get the levels correct so all the water ended up in the tanks.

Leaving Rwanda!

The service at Christian Life Assembly church was a good one. The preaching was good and they had a visiting worship team from Burundi – outstanding!

I mentioned that I had traveled down to the conference with Prosie, a 30-ish Ugandan lady. It was she who had invited me to church and who wanted to show me around town. We caught a bus (the bus service is very good) into town for a late lunch and just started chatting. Seven hours later, we realised that it was time to head home! In that time, we shared our stories – hers was quite sad in many ways and in some aspects, paralleled that of my wife Margaret. However, she has developed a strong faith and the wisdom to avoid those situations that would continue to damage her.

Monday morning at 8am, I was collected by Eugene from Compassion and Jean-Marie the driver for the 3 hour drive to Nyagatare – on the way, we bought some maize flour, oil, sugar, soap and biscuits as gifts for Phina's family. Compassion have 75,000 kids sponsored in Rwanda through 384 churches and using 74 staff. We went directly to the church which organises Phina's sponsorship. The church is the Comunate des'eglise lilre Pantacote en Africue au Rwanda which translates to Community of Pentecostal Churches in Africa & Rwanda. The little Compassion office is located on the church grounds & except for the local director, the others are mainly volunteers. Some details of Phina are -

She will be 6 years old on September 22

Her dad is Patrick and her mum Odith. She has two brothers, Gad (4) and Clever (2). Odith is expecting a baby in September sometime.

Phina is urimwiza umukobwa (a very beautiful girl in Kinyarwanda, the local language) and has an engaging smile.

She has lots of friends at school and in her neighbourhood – Peace, Monica, Anna, Pleasure, Mucyo, & Nziza.

She is in Primary 1 at school so gets up at 6am and attends school from 7-12. After that she comes home and does some chores.

She attends Trinity Academy and her class has 42 children. They are starting to study English even though they are still very young.

The father Patrick is a farmer but has just a very small plot of land (maybe 50 x 25 mt) . He crops twice per year and grows corn and beans. He is trying to buy another small bit of land next to his property and has so far paid half the price. He is also an evangelist to his neighbours.

They provided me with gifts and asked that we pray for them (Rivergum people see next weeks eNews). 

After 3 hours visiting, we had to return to Kigali, arriving about 5pm. After meeting Prosie again for a coffee and so that I could get a photo, I returned to my guesthouse to meet Nathan, the Anglican Bishop of Butare. He was suggested as a contact by Vivian Kityo, Director of Wakisa Ministries and was such a nice, humble man, even though he holds a very prestigious and important position. He was so gracious and gave me an hour of his time.

Next day I had to get to Kisoro in the very SW of Uganda, so I caught a Trinity bus going to Kampala and got off at Kabale. I was immediately accosted by a bunch of car owners wanting to take me the 75lm to Kisoro for prices ranging from 100,000 to 150,000 Ugandan Shillings (A$40 – $60). I eventually negotiated with one guy who was collecting two other people from a nearby camp and we agreed on 50,000 which was worth the comfort.

The two others turned out to be a French couple staying at a camp on Lake Bunyonyi. I can't remember their name but the guy had been travelling the world for a year and had a year to go. The young lady had joined him in April and they were eventually looking to settle somewhere outside of France. We had a great chat and swapped email addresses in case they got to Sydney. They were going on a little further north to view the gorillas.

Arriving in Kisoro, I called my park ranger friend Ishmael and he met me at the Coffee Pot (a place that also had internet available). I met him in 2010 and we have kept in touch over the years – we were so happy to see each other. Being a ranger and climbing Mt Muhaburra a couple of times per week, He is very fit but burdened by the cost of paying for his children's school fees as they move into secondary school. His wife grows and sell mushrooms and they also raise goats and chickens to supplement his pay. He is also hoping to be connected to town water very soon and is saving for the A$80 for the connection fee.

I also arranged to have dinner at the home of Bishop Cranmer and his wife Hope. They are a gracious couple who are passionate about their work. Hope is still teaching English and Christian Studies at the local school and has a real heart for the young girls who find themselves pregnant and abandoned – she still holds out hope that Wakisa can establish a small centre in Kisoro. The dinner and conversation were both most enjoyable and it was wonderful to see the delight on their faces as they loved their new grandchild, Adeline.

One more day in Kisoro tomorrow (Thursday) and then it's on to Kampala!

Greg

Week 1 - Rwanda!

Hi everyone! Hope that you enjoy keeping up with where and with whom I'm at.

After and initial ticketing problem (apparently my Sydney-Perth leg was ticketed for the day before), I arrived safely in Kigali, got my East Africa Tourist Visa (a single visa covering Rwanda, Uganda & Kenya), and met Pastor Aimable who dropped me at the Presbyterian Guesthouse. I ventured to the CBD (only ½ km away) and dozed for the rest of the day.

The next morning, I ventured out again, this time to try and cash some US$ travelers cheques. I went to 6 banks only to find that their was nowhere in Rwanda that cashed them.

That night about 8pm, Pastor Aimable and his wife Clarice picked me up and we traveled to Butare (150 km south) with three others, David, Prosie & Aminah, arriving a bit after 11pm.

Most of the other delegates were coming in two buses from Nairobi. It should have taken about 24 hours but ended up taking 53 hours! One of the buses broke down 40 km out of Nairobi, the Kenyan drivers got lost a couple of times and the border crossing from Uganda into Rwanda was apparently chaotic and took more than 2 hours! This meant that we lost about a day of the conference but everyone was still in high spirits.

The rooms were small but clean and had an ensuite - I shared with Pieter Snyman, Chairman of Christian Camping Southern Africa – a great guy. The conference centre was part of a Catholic Monastery established in the mid-1900's and the venue for initial independence meetings in the late 1950's. The grounds were beautiful and so spacious! The conference organisers did a great job of modifying the program, given the late start and the fact the every session went way over time.

Many of the delegates did their work with little or no resources and concentrated almost entirely on the ministry aspects of their work, unlike their Australian counterparts. At one stage, a panel shared how they came to be doing what they were doing – the stories of faith were incredibly inspiring and a great testimony to God's power and willingness to provide for His servants when everything seemed hopeless.

The teaching was quite good and Pieter's sessions were excellent – hardly surprising, given that he not only manages a large campsite but also does lecturing on outdoor recreation at a local university.

But the highlight for me were the many one-on-one conversations I had with these dear brothers & sisters in Christ. In the main, these people forgo the pleasures & treasures of this world for the opportunity to serve and serve with an incredible passion. Quite a few have secular jobs & use what they earn to subsidise their ministry activities, usually to kids. Like my Congolese friends, Lucien (left) & Pascal (right). Lucien works in the legal profession and then after work, helps at a centre that works with women who have been raped by soldiers, child soldiers, orphans and those with cleft pallets. The volume of pain, brokenness & trauma he sees is overwhelming, at least for me just hearing about it, and he says that only his faith in Jesus sustains him.

They had a cultural evening on Friday and all the different cultures did some traditional dancing and singing, the pinnacle being the Rwandan dances. Given that everyone was leaving the next day, the evening was supposed to end at 10.30pm – true to form, I I got into bed at 1.30am!

Fond farewells characterised the following morning and after a 3 hour trip back to Kigali, we visited the Rwandan Genocide Museum. Reading the information on the posters of before, during and after the 100 days when 1 million people were killed in a government-sanctioned and organised slaughter, was incredibly moving. The scale of the event was such that other than deep sadness, I don't really know what to do with it – perhaps I'll let it rattle around in my mind and spirit for a couple of months and see what comes out.

After taking over a cafe for lunch, the main part of the group headed back to Nairobi, and after dropping Pieter and Nyambura at the airport, was dropped at Solace Ministries & Guesthouse – very comfortable. I'm not sure what Solace Ministries does but I'm sure I'll find out.

It's Sunday morning and I'm having breakfast with a bunch of Americans and then I'm off to an English service at Christian Life Assembly church.

More in a few of days!

GT