An Amazing Experience

We have had an amazing first two days in Uganda! It's been a bit overwhelming to soak in all the different sights and culture, but also exhilarating and hugely gratifying. We love the people here. They are so friendly, hospitable and truly grateful to have us visiting. One of the common phrases we hear from those we meet is "You are most welcome" - meaning they are so pleased to welcome us to their country, not as we would  say "You're welcome" as a response to "Thank you".

Our first day we got started early at 7:30 a.m. with breakfast, then went to the 9 a.m. service at Watoto Central church in the city center. What an experience! What impressed us immediately was the huge line of people waiting to get in when the 7:30 a.m. service ended. The church has a service on Saturday night and 5 more on Sunday - and all of them are full to capacity with more than 700 people! The service itself was like nothing we've seen before. At the front was a stage with an energetic band (drummer, electric guitars, etc), a choir of about 70 people, and a huge screen with a live video feed of the praise band and pastor. We loved the exuberant music worship and enjoyed clapping, singing and dancing along with the crowd. As one of us said, it was truly a celebration.
The church was in fact celebrating a huge achievement of raising $1 million U.S. in only 10 weeks, as part of what they called the "Miracle Mission Offering" to support churches in Jerusalem, a church in Burundi, and to help start a new Watoto church in South Sudan - the first outside of Uganda. The pastor seemed bursting with pride that they not only had raised so much money in a short period, but also that they will be giving the money away to others - as a contrast to Uganda always being on the receiving end of aid from other countries.
We also were blown away when it came time for the offering. After settting up big African baskets at the front of the sanctuary, church members came up front in a procession to put in their money. It seemed to us like such joyful giving. We also noted that everyone seems so clean and well-dressed, with most people wearing the same type of clothes as Americans do. You would never guess that we were in the midst of immense poverty by looking at those in the service. But our host Paul told us later to keep in mind that there are many unemployed people, and even those who do have jobs often make only $1 a day or even a week. It's amazing though that the people seem so postive and hopeful, and very earnest about wanting to create a better future for themselves and the generations to follow.
After church, we got our money exchanged to Uganda shillings. (Our host got a huge kick out of Jill P. getting money from the ATM at the airport, not knowing what the exhange rate was. She got 5,000 shillings, thinking it was a lot - and it turns out that it was only $2.00, at 2500 shillings a dollar!)

Then onto a wonderful treat - going to one of the 3 Watoto villages called Bbira, where we had lunch with one of the families and got to meet some of the kids. Each family consists of a house mother and 8 kids, and 9 houses are situated together in a circle to create a neighborhood-type grouping. We divided into three groups and each went to a house for a traditional African lunch that included purple yams, some purple-colored sauce to go over it (we don't know what it was made of :), a mashed banana dish that we can't remember the name of, rice, a flat bread that looks sort of like a tortilla, and beef in a thin gravy like sauce - plus a few more dishes in a couple houses. We also had delicious pineapple for dessert. Our host boasted that Uganda has the best pineapple in the world - even better than Hawaii - and we tended to agree!

The highlight was interacting with the children. They seemed delighted to have us there and gave us many hugs. Most seemed very outgoing and friendly, wanting their pictures taken and eagerly telling us about their interests, showing us their village, etc.  The village has a primary school for younger children and a secondary school (like high school), plus vocational schools to teach practical trades to those who prefer that to attending college. There are special buildings for art, tailoring, a science lab, a library and computer lab, and also a fabrication where they make all the furniture, desks, window frames, etc. that they use in the buildings there.

Despite the personal tragedy these orphans have experienced, nearly all seem genuinely happy and well-adjusted. They definitely touched our hearts and made the long journey here seem worth every hour.

By the end of the day, we were exhausted and ready to collapse - which we did right after dinner at the Guest House. Then today the real work began, as we started building the house for a staff member who is in charge of the "baby house" where infants stay until they are two years old and move to a family home. We're working at another of the Watoto villages, called Suubi, which is the largest and first established here.

Our first task was moving big piles of heavy bricks into stacks for construction, which we did by setting up an assembly line-type chain and rotating frequently as those of us who are not so young needed to give our backs a break. Meanwhile, the "professional" crew of Uganda workers mixed the cement. Then after a quick lesson in brick laying, we starting building the brick walls for 3 rooms of the house (another team that comes next week will do the rest of the house).  Most of us felt completely incompetent to start, as we either laid the cement mortar too thick or too thin, but the Uganda crew was very patient with us and we eventually got the hang of it. They also seemed to find our incompetence somewhat amusing, and they enjoyed chatting and joking with us. Dennis was one of the most engaging. When he asked Cindy Garrett her name, he repeated, "Cinderella?" Turns out he didn't know the story of Cinderella but had just heard the name - so Jill D. graciously told the story and gathered a crowd. After their boss called them away to do something, they came back immediately and asked Jill to finish the story. The rest of the day, Cindy was "Cinderella". Dennis also took a special liking to Heather and kept asking her questions and teasing her. He also told us he plans to come to America and was clearly hoping for an invitation from one of us to come visit.

We wrapped up about 3 p.m. but stayed to chat for a while. Then on the way home, the skies turned very dark and we suddenly had a big thunder and lightning storm with a torrential downpour. We are supposedly in the "dry season" of this tropical climate, so such a heavy rain was unusual. We also lost  electricity, which we hear is a common occurence. All's well now, the rain has stopped, and we obviously are able to use the Guest House computer and Internet again.

Yesterday we couldn't send an update because the Guest House "ran out of Internet", which we found both funny and frustrating for those who wanted to send emails to loved ones back home.

It's hard to describe what the general area here is like. Words that we'd use would be "chaotic", "lots of dirt", and "overwhelming". The streets are lined on both sides with ramshackle little stores - sort of like a flea market and farmer's market combined, with everything imaginable for sale, from bushels of bananas and crates of chickens to clothing and overstuffed chairs. The roads are narrow, crowded, very bumpy, and an accident waiting to happen. In fact, we saw two accidents today en route to Suubi. The bus we're in seems to come so close the pedestrians and bicycles along the side of the road, we keep thinking we will run one over (at least we were not involved in either of the accidents!). The roads are clogged with shared taxis, which are vans typically filled with 12 or more people, and motorcycle taxis called boda bodas.

There are a few paved roads, but all the side streets and many of the other streets are dirt, as are driveways and the areas in front of the stores. It was funny to see people out in front of their shops sweeping dirt off of the dirt.

Every now and then we see a luxurious building or expensive-looking home, which are easy to spot by the gates in front and barbed wire fences - or if it's an official building such as an embassy or government office, there are armed guards out front.

We have tons of photos but haven't figured out yet how to upload them to the blog - and we are rapidly losing steam at the end of a long day. We'll work on it tomorrow when we are fresh.

If you have read through this long blog post, THANK YOU! We appreciate your interest in our trip, and we'd love to hear any comments you have, or just words of encouragement. 

Blessings,
The SS Nazarene Watoto team