The morning started off with a really bad migraine. I got up, showered hoping that would help, went for breakfast, asked for a piece of French toast, took one whiff of it, gave it to Haji and went back to bed. I knew I was not going to be a part of anything at least for the near future. With that I slept until 2 at which point feeling better I called Haji and headed out to Bulubandi. On the way I stopped at the school that Lochoro Evaline (Esther and Evans child) goes to and spoke with the headmaster. She needs a new uniform (hers is torn in inappropriate places) and wanted to know how I could buy her a new one. I also talked about how to fund her education for next year. Even something as simple as buying a uniform is not easy. I have to go to a bank and deposit funds, get the receipt, give it to the school and then they will provide what she needs. So Wednesday I am set to do that. I will also pay the funds (around $20) for her to get to eat lunch at the school every day so she doesn’t have to walk back to the kid’s house and possibly miss some classes. The school paperwork made it seem like it was a Muslim school but as we drove in though the gate there was a Muslim greeting immediately followed by a Christian sign. Turns out it was founded by a Muslim but now is being run by Christian ownership. I was really glad to see that! Evaline and I talked to the headmaster together. I gave the headmaster my email information and asked her to contact me when the new-year began so we could be sure her educational fees were covered.
Then it was off to Bulubandi. We were going to start the First Fruits program today by giving two hens to the families in the most need. Well this didn’t turn out quite like we planned. Judy had brought with her 200+ canvas bags and so we decided to put the chickens in the bags to carry through the community. Nothing like having chickens hanging on your shoulders.
As we started our journey it soon became apparent that the whole idea had not been communicated very well as the gentlemen who were leading us (the pastors were busy and thus had assigned someone to help with this plan) were in no way stopping and delivering the chickens to those in need. The first several houses were very nice and there appeared to already be chickens in the yard. The question of do you currently own any livestock or chickens was always answered with a no and we had no idea if the chickens wandering around were theirs or their neighbors. That is until the question was answered no and there was chicken feed sitting right there at their feet. Fortunately at this point (about 8 chickens into the process) the skies started to open up and we saw lightening. We quickly decided to scurry back to the school. I am so glad we did as it gave us a chance to re-evaluate how we want to do this again tomorrow. What we have decided to do is to limit it the two schools. This is a 100% change from what I was thinking yesterday. In this way we can know that the kids we are giving the chickens to have never received anything along those lines from their sponsors. We can also look at all the students including the non-sponsored ones and pick the ones most in need, which accomplishes what we originally set out to do. We plan to select 4-5 kids from each grade level and bless them with the chickens. I’m hoping this will work better. I guess I will find out tomorrow. Meanwhile both Jaimie and Liz spent the day at Musana. They spent time making beads with four other women in the craft room. They were really proud of themselves – they made about 30 beads (which in reality does not make even one necklace!) In the afternoon they worked in the donation room organizing all their stuff. In between the two projects they had a chance to eat beans and rice with the teachers. They both loved the day and are looking forward to going back tomorrow. Andrea has told them to bring their toothbrushes, as they will be on latrine duty! That I would pay to see.
For dinner tonight, Andrea, Haril and Pat (Andrea’s mom) joined us at the Mum. The service was not very good (I think they had to go out and catch the fish and chickens) but the company was great. I don’t think we’ve laughed that hard since we’ve been here. And by the way, I would not have been a complete idiot on trivia night. She repeated some of the questions and I actually knew the answers. No one was more surprised than I was! When it came time for praying over our food we couldn’t even get the prayer out because we were laughing so hard. It’s the first time I’ve ever had to use a back up prayer person. I’m so glad God has a sense of humor. We did give Haril several bags of beef jerky and gave Pat and Andrea each a bag of peanut butter M&M’s. It was like Christmas in October. Liz and I still have enough food left over on our snack shelf that we could open a small grocery store.
So now it time to sign off and consider getting some much needed rest. Tomorrow is another busy day. We will be heading to Top Hills and then to Bulubande. I hope all of you are doing well. I love you guys.
This is Liz with Paul Losiya:
This little girl is too cute:
Then it was off to Bulubandi. We were going to start the First Fruits program today by giving two hens to the families in the most need. Well this didn’t turn out quite like we planned. Judy had brought with her 200+ canvas bags and so we decided to put the chickens in the bags to carry through the community. Nothing like having chickens hanging on your shoulders.
As we started our journey it soon became apparent that the whole idea had not been communicated very well as the gentlemen who were leading us (the pastors were busy and thus had assigned someone to help with this plan) were in no way stopping and delivering the chickens to those in need. The first several houses were very nice and there appeared to already be chickens in the yard. The question of do you currently own any livestock or chickens was always answered with a no and we had no idea if the chickens wandering around were theirs or their neighbors. That is until the question was answered no and there was chicken feed sitting right there at their feet. Fortunately at this point (about 8 chickens into the process) the skies started to open up and we saw lightening. We quickly decided to scurry back to the school. I am so glad we did as it gave us a chance to re-evaluate how we want to do this again tomorrow. What we have decided to do is to limit it the two schools. This is a 100% change from what I was thinking yesterday. In this way we can know that the kids we are giving the chickens to have never received anything along those lines from their sponsors. We can also look at all the students including the non-sponsored ones and pick the ones most in need, which accomplishes what we originally set out to do. We plan to select 4-5 kids from each grade level and bless them with the chickens. I’m hoping this will work better. I guess I will find out tomorrow. Meanwhile both Jaimie and Liz spent the day at Musana. They spent time making beads with four other women in the craft room. They were really proud of themselves – they made about 30 beads (which in reality does not make even one necklace!) In the afternoon they worked in the donation room organizing all their stuff. In between the two projects they had a chance to eat beans and rice with the teachers. They both loved the day and are looking forward to going back tomorrow. Andrea has told them to bring their toothbrushes, as they will be on latrine duty! That I would pay to see.
For dinner tonight, Andrea, Haril and Pat (Andrea’s mom) joined us at the Mum. The service was not very good (I think they had to go out and catch the fish and chickens) but the company was great. I don’t think we’ve laughed that hard since we’ve been here. And by the way, I would not have been a complete idiot on trivia night. She repeated some of the questions and I actually knew the answers. No one was more surprised than I was! When it came time for praying over our food we couldn’t even get the prayer out because we were laughing so hard. It’s the first time I’ve ever had to use a back up prayer person. I’m so glad God has a sense of humor. We did give Haril several bags of beef jerky and gave Pat and Andrea each a bag of peanut butter M&M’s. It was like Christmas in October. Liz and I still have enough food left over on our snack shelf that we could open a small grocery store.
So now it time to sign off and consider getting some much needed rest. Tomorrow is another busy day. We will be heading to Top Hills and then to Bulubande. I hope all of you are doing well. I love you guys.
This is Liz with Paul Losiya:
This little girl is too cute:
So sorry you had to deal with a headache, so glad you were smart enough to go to bed and sleep it off. Sounds like you're cramming as much as you can into your last days...enjoy.
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for next week when we can have a real conversation, have really missed you.
your seester