WANDERINGS AROUND UGANDA

Pres J took all the Senior couples out to dinner at a very nice place.  It was so fun to visit because most of us serve in different cities we/re somewhat isolated from each other.

This is the BP going to work at the new Bugembbe chapel.  He is the plumber.  As usual, by the time my camera gets turned on, my shot has turned the other direction.  I wish you could see his shoes that he works in and his clothes.  He looks so much nicer on Sundays in his suit and tie.  The chapel should be finished by December.  The Branch has already outgrown it.

There are goats everywhere.  This one is the biggest, fattest and cutest one I have seen so far.  He would win the blue ribbon at the fair, if...(there was a fair).  They always have one leg tied so they won't wander away.

sometimes you just have to share the road

Harriet came to us a few weeks ago looking for a job.  We made an appointment with the  Employment Specialist in the Branch and discussed different ideas for her.  So now she has started a new business of door-to-door sales of fresh passion fruit.  That gave me an idea.  I think I will hire her to do my shopping!  She delivers to the door!

There were 7 baptisms in Njeru branch this week, including these two sisters.
 I thought they were so beautiful here on their baptism day

This pile of trash and rotting food was piled right at the entrance of the Market.  It smelled so bad, and you had to walk through it to get anywhere.  Notice the little girl in the front of the picture holding a baby on her back.  I think she was hungry and didn't have any money.

She had to look through the pile of trash to get something to eat.  It is hard to give these little kids money because then a lot of others come running up to you

I meant to take a picture of this little goat who was playing King of the Hill on the tree trunk but by the time I got my camera warmed up the entire scene had changed and the mother came out to clean up the trash

We do breakfast and scripture study with the Elders every Wednesday morning.  There are 6 missionary districts, and transfers are every 6 weeks, so we get to all the districts each transfer.  These missionaries serve in a town called Iganga.  They are very good dedicated Elders.

This guy asked me to take his picture, but then he didn't act like he was going to enjoy it

More of these guys sitting at the market.  They are either selling stuff or hanging out.

Here is the same little girl trying to retrieve food from the pile of trash.  It is common for children to care for the babies

This couple lives in Lugazi.  They have been members of the church for many years.  There isn't a church or even Missionaries in Lugazi where they work in the sugar mill there.  They travel an hour or so every Sunday to attend church in Kampala.  They have a very sweet and humble spirit about them and we really enjoyed meeting them.

Geoffery and Grace with E. Ballstaedt

With Sis B

These people were just walking by and wanted to visit.  I don't know what is in his hands, some kind of straw

The children always want to visit.  This jerry can on top of the little girls head is 40lbs when it is full of water.  It is generally the children's job to fetch the water for the family

The kids are always wanting to say hello

okay, come'on

Elder B got some takers

This is serious shoe shopping

I don't know if there is a contest for who can balance the biggest load on top of your head, but this guy is in the running

I was very glad to see that they celebrate valentines here.  You can plan ahead and buy your cards early

I am loving the shoe shopping...a beach combers dream come true.  And these are probably new

This is the chapel in Bugembbe.  The BP is teaching a lesson on Temple Prep.  He did a fantastic job

The good humor man is somewhere around here

If you have had a busy day,  you can go shop for a new sofa and chair.  They are already worn in for you because they sit out even in the rain and sun

The bustle of life and commerce

No, they haven't been out shopping at the mall.  They are selling clothes

Look how nicely they have arranged their produce - you can buy things by the kilo, or by the basket usually

I am always fascinated by the advertising

Random

RANDOM KIDS

Everywhere we go the kids run up to us and want to touch our hand or talk to us or something, maybe just to look at us.  They LOVE to have their pictures taken

When we stopped at his house, he was peeling his piece of sugar cane.  His name is Smith, and he was trying so hard not to smile or look at us, he is a little shy.

Trying hard not to smile

We had stopped to visit some members for family home evening but the parents had not come home from work.  We were just loitering on the back porch visiting another member who was in the shower.....The showers are not in the house though.

Here is the shower in the front yard by the road.  You have to bring your own bucket of water to wash yourself with, and then go to the tin shower.  It only services those who own or rent the property.

These kids were following us around the neighborhood in their village.  The tall girl in the back is Mary who we visited and last week I gave her an assignment to read in the BoM and have some questions.  I also asked her to teach her siblings a primary song, and she did it!  She also came to church the next day with her dad.  The mother is not active.

Thomas belongs to our housekeeper.  He is always climbing on everything, and when I open the car door, he scoots himself right in the car.

Random kids hanging out on the street

Some of these are Christine's kids, and the rest are the neighbor kids who always come running when they see our car pull up.  It is rare for kids to see cars, and especially to see white people.

random child 

This is our YSA committee.  All but three of the girls are returned missionaries.  I actually am missing a few of them.  We are trying to plan our next activity

Emily is the District Primary President and she often visits different branches with me and helps with primary lessons.  She is pretty good teacher.  She is also a returned missionary, but not married.

This is sharing time in the Walukuba branch

Rock and I went exploring one day to look at schools.  This one has the name of Liahona, so we thought (correctly) that it was owned by a member of the church.  They took us on a tour.  These are the boys dorm rooms.  Most schools here are boarding schools.

another view of the dorm

the water tank supplies water to the school.  Otherwise, the children would have to go fetch it in a bucket or jerrycan and bring it back to campus.  The church does water projects all over Africa

The school classrooms

I didn't go inside but this is the girls bathroom

These houses belong to people who live by the school.  These are very typical looking homes in Uganda, most of the population live in homes like this

This is the kitchen for the school.  They serve all three meals to the children

The woodpile in front is for the cooking of the food.  Generally they burn the wood into coals and put the coals under their pots

Here is the cook making posho.  They generally will have posho and beans for every meal.  This pot has coals under it.

here is the pot of beans cooking

They burn the wood down to coals, the pot is cooking on a pile of coals.  All the cooking here in Uganda is done this way.  Everyone has an outdoor kitchen and a cook pot.

I have a terrible habit of forgetting to turn my pictures around, but here if you turn your head hard left, you see the cook stirring the pot of posho.  Posho is ground maize mixed with hot water and cooked.  It has the texture of mashed potatoes mixed with Elmers glue.  But it is the staple food.

Rock talking with 2 of the teachers at the school.  Both are members of the church.  They make the equivalent of about $60/ month and work 6 days a week, 12 hours a day.  They both have families to support.

a student at the school

class is out

the courtyard at the school

students after class

The boys shower

The boys restroom.  The squat holes are what they have here generally instead of toilets

A nice Mormon name for a school.  It used to be a mormon school, but now it accepts all students so they had to drop the seminary course.

one of the classrooms after class