Bricks, bricks and more bricks!

Good news - we figured out how to get photos posted! As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so hopefully this will help you envision what we're experiencing better than our descriptions.


A typical view of the storefronts that line the streets in Kampala.

Today was our second work day, and the house is already starting to take shape with some of the windows and doors now installed. We started the day laying some bricks to build up the interior walls, then added more bricks once the doors and windows were installed (by the professional crew of course, not by our amateur team :). Then just when we thought we were done for the day, the foreman Moses said we could help out by moving another big pile of bricks into 3 stacks. We managed to get the job done fairly quickly, but we could feel our arm and back muscles getting more sore by the minute.

Here's a view of the house in progress, and one of the many stacks of bricks we created. I don't think any of us will ever look at a stack of bricks the same way again  :)  On the far right in this photo is another big pile of smaller bricks, but we've been secretly hoping that those are earmarked for the next team to do the stacking!

We took this photo while the crew was installing the doors and windows, and the man in black (borrowing Celeste's camera) is our host, Paul. He's a gregarious, outgoing person who loves to share stories with us, and he's been teaching us a few words of Luganda, the most common local tribal language. The official language of Uganda is English, but among themselves the people at Watoto mostly speak Luganda.

The Suubi village is located in the hills, and the house we're building is at the top of a big hill with a beautiful view of the surrounding lush, green hillsides. Unlike the city of Kampala, the setting is very serene and picturesque. We hear lots of birds singing among the trees, and we've seen lots of geckos and a few frogs among the bricks. Today when we left to come home, we spotted a family of monkeys along the side of the road, including a baby monkey. So cute!

Here's a photo of the wonderful Watoto Guest House where we're staying along with several Watoto staff members who have been visiting and, as of last night, another team from England that will be completing the house we've started.



Those who have been on other mission trips to Bulgaria and White Clay said this is a huge step up from the usual Work & Witness accommodations. The food has been delicious, especially the fresh fruit served every day. The climate here is very similar to Hawaii, with the same types of tropical fruits growing abundantly - pineapples, mango, papaya, passion fruit, sugar cane - plus the most prolific crop, bananas. We see fields of banana trees everywhere, huge truckloads being transported on the streets, and large bunches of green bananas for sale along the streets. They vary in size and are so flavorful compared to those we eat in the U.S.  (but that's where the similarity with Hawaii ends).

Today did include some very sad news that one of the Mamas (house mothers) died last night when lightning from the big storm hit her house. The family was having tea, and one of the kids had just relinquished her chair to the mother when the lightning hit the house, knocked two holes in it, and struck the 35-year-old Mama. Watoto has never had a lightning accident like this before, so the adminstrators have decided to install lightning conductors to prevent it from happening again. As we were working, teachers and the other Mamas came walking by on their way to the funeral service. Many were dressed in traditional African dresses, the first we've really seen women wearing them. Needless to say, it was a tragedy for the children from that home, who have already been placed with other mothers.

On a happier note, Raelene is scheduled to arrive in Uganda tonight to join the group, and the 4 pieces of luggage that didn't arrive with us on Saturday night should be coming on the same flight  and delivered tomorrow. It's not clear to us why we can't pick up the bags when picking up Raelene, but those who have been getting by without their bags are VERY glad that they will have them soon.

Thanks for the comments, prayers and encouragement we've received. As a closing photo, here we are on Sunday before church, getting ready to board the bus that transports us everywhere we go.

God bless you,

the SS Nazarene Watoto team