ps.

Here's a link to an article from last month's edition of the Innovative magazine. It was written by Chris Town, the senior engineer from Urban Systems who was just in Uganda in January to review the projects that ACTS is completing with the help of his company's sponsorship. Due to the large size of the file and the slow internet connections in Africa, I haven't actually been able to open and thus, read the article myself, but I've heard that it gives a good summary of the projects that ACTS does. If you read it, maybe you can confirm or correct me on that!
http://www.apeg.bc.ca/resource/innovation/archive/2009/2009janfeb.pdf

And rather than adding onto this blog, which I'd like to keep directed to the work I've done with ACTS, here's a different blog that I'll be updating during my travels eastandwes.blogspot.com.

The Road Ahead... (Sunday, Feb 15)

So, I'm really completely done with ACTS now. Our contracts officially end today, so I guess technically I've still got a few hours to go. But in all other aspects though, I'd totally done. Exit Report is written and submitted, all engineerings documents have been filed away for next year's team, and I've left Canada House for the final time under the ACTS banner.

And with that, I think this will be my final post on this blog, regarding my work with ACTS anyway. I look forward to seeing all of you again, and also the the cooler weather on the West Coast (hopefully, but just wishful thinking probably, some of all that snow will still be around), along with fast internet, Chinese food, English Church services, playing and watching hockey, reading the news in the morning, the list continues... But my plan is not to return home just yet because I don't know when I'll have the privilege to return to Africa again. So I'll be taking this chance to travel and see a bit more of the East African region. With one of my high school friends, we're hoping to bus around the Lake Victoria region, taking in the sights, and experiencing the culture of the Rwandan, Tanzanian, and Kenyan people. I'm not sure whether I'll have the ability to blog often, but I'll try and update as we move across the region if you'd like to keep up with our travels. Other than that, my return is set for April 20th so for those of you in the Vancity area, I hope to see you soon after that, and for those of you from elsewhere, I don't know when I'll be able to make it to your respective places, but you're always welcome to come visit in Van!

So, once again, I sincerely thank you for the overwhelming support that I received from all of you over the past few months. I've had a great time and a lot of that I attribute being oft encouraged by your support, which came in so many different channels. It really was a pleasure to have been able to share and partner with you in my work with ACTS.

And among the many things I've learned in Uganda is a new method for repairing glasses...


Signing off from Uganda,

Wes

And this ACT’S coming to a close! (Tuesday, Feb. 10)

Sorry, bad pun. =D We’ve just returned from Bushara Island this afternoon, where we’ve been for the past three days, doing our final debriefing sessions. So, officially, we’re now done. We’ve said our goodbyes to the Ugandan crew, we’ve left camp for the final time, and now, we’ve concluded our debriefs too. I still need to do some more handover work with Chris, who needs to follow up on some of the work that we started, and I also need to complete my exit report; but, once those are complete, and it shouldn’t take more than a couple of days I hope, I’ll be done done. Following that, I hope to return to Another Hope orphanage for another week, and sometime next week, to meet up with Kevin, from the eMi Canada office in Calgary, who is currently leading a design team near Kampala.

I don’t think of myself as being sentimental. Alright, maybe a little… =p I just find it difficult to grasp that this is really over. ACTS, GFS projects, climbing hills and testing water, driving inconceivably bad roads, the list could easily extend for awhile. For sure, I look forward to no more excel spreadsheets for the next little while; I definitely look forward to going back to Another Hope and seeing the kids again; I look forward to traveling some and seeing more of East Africa; and then, but not too much yet, I look forward to returning home. Still, I can’t help but look back on the past five months and wish that it wasn’t already over.

Certainly, it hasn’t always been a blast; there have definitely been a fair share of ups and downs, disappointments, frustrations, and a ton of anticlimaxes (read: over one hundred sources investigated, less than a tenth suitable for GFS consideration). As we discussed and examined in our debrief sessions, there is, and always will be, much room for improvement. Yet, there’s no doubt that this has been a wonderful experience in most regards. I know that I have learned a great deal, many things which I may not realize for awhile, or maybe, ever. But I recognize that I’ve been changed by the work that I’ve done, by the culture that I’ve been immersed in, and by the people that I’ve met.

Who would’ve thought that someone of Chinese heritage, born and raised in Canada, and having grown up in the big cities, could be so comfortable working and living in the rural communities of Southwestern Uganda, near the heart (or at least the centre) of that foreign and mysterious place we call Africa? This region where Runyankole is the language of choice; where the majority of people haven’t completed secondary school; where boiled bananas and mashed maize is the be all and end all of their diets. Well, newsflash, one, it really isn’t all that different, or as different as one might expect anyway, and two, it couldn’t have been done without all the support that I’ve received from home. I’ve said it before but I need to say it again. Your emails, cards, letters, phone calls, and of course, prayers, are very much appreciated. The support, care and encouragement that I received made the work lighter, the problems insignificant, and the disappointments slight. So, to you, who, just by reading this, are testifying to the care that has been undeservedly granted to me, thank you once again. Webale munonga!

Season’s over for Roving Team 2008 (Thursday, Feb 05)

In the past two days, we wrapped up the search for sources in the Isingiro and Ibanda districts, exhausting the rest of the potential sources that the two district offices had given to us. Yesterday was our final field day, and it pretty decent one, kinda... Asaph, the other half of reduced roving team, was back from the OFF and we managed to see three sources, none of which were suitable for a GFS, but at least they characterized an accurate depiction of the majority of the sources that we’ve investigated. One had too little flow, one was too low in the valley for gravity to bring anywhere, and the last was a protected spring that was no longer functioning. Haha, yep, fitting end to the tale of this roving team.

We spent today at Canada House, going over all of the documents that we’ve managed to collect over the past few months. District project proposals, community project requests, maps, population data, health and sanitation surveys, water quality test results, we perused over them for the final time, sorting the useful from the useless, throwing out a few, categorizing some, reorganizing others. So now, hopefully, next year’s roving team will have an easier time trying to pick up from where we’ve left off. The best help they have though, above al the organizing and labeling that we’ve attempted to do, is Asaph, the constant on this roving team, and those to follow. It’s been a pretty banner year for Asaph as well, he was one of the crew who ACTS put through driving school this past summer, and he’s now been driving for a good five months I think. (haha, as you might imagine with any new driver, there can be some nervous moments, when we’re rounding a corner a little too fast, or passing a vehicle a little too close, or stalling on a hill; but overall, Asaph’s probably driving considerably better than I was after just five months on the road, and on Ugandan roads, no less!) He’s also got a second child on the way, due in March, or possibly even this month the doctors tell him. We’ve now got Asaph using the GPS like a pro, and he’s even been training the other Ugandans on it, and he’s now typing at a blazing forty characters per minute, thanks to the MaxType freeware program, (haha, yea, that one will take some more time and practice). So, it’s been a good five months and a pleasure working with Asaph and Mike. Best of luck to next year’s roving team, but no worries, you’re in good hands.

Hello, Goodbye (Wednesday, Feb 4)

Well, it’s February, that’s the final confirmation that our time’s really, so quickly, coming to a close. Count, three days left of work. Two, actually, since this workday’s over, and really, just one and a half days because Saturday’s a half day. Then, we'll be heading to Lake Bunyoni, billed by the Lonely Planet as the most beautiful lake in Uganda, for three days at one of the camps that was also an ACTS project a few years ago. Three days of debriefing and wrapping up and, that’ll be it. Our contracts with ACTS officially end on the fifteenth, but, as far as we know, we’re completely done once debrief is over, less than a week from today. Crazy…

And the past week’s been just that as well, crazy. After everyone over the age of 25 had left Kasese, it was back to work as normal, except not really normal at all. It was the first time that I’d been roving without either Mike, who returned home two weeks ago, or Asaph, who was home for the monthly OFF. It was just me and Chris, who was along for the ride to get a better grasp of the process of developing a design and project proposal. He’ll also be here until May and will hopefully have the chance to tie up some of the loose ends that I just haven’t had the time to do myself. Yona, crucial piece to the roving team’s success, was not able to accompany us either because his youngest son was sick in the hospital with a serious bout of malaria (he’s since left the hospital and is recovering well). Add on the fact that, despite it officially being the dry season, it rained for three days straight, and we weren’t able to get as much done as we’d hoped for. Nevertheless, we are a respectable step closer to completing the Bughendero design, and hopefully, Chris is now well equipped enough to finish it off without too much difficulty. So, we left Kasese Saturday morning, probably for the final time for me. We first came to Kasese to do a quick one day survey for a small project back in September and proceeded to spend the majority of the following three months there. It was a lot longer than the one month that we’d originally allocated, and not surprisingly, leaving Kasese was a little harder too.

So, many thanks, to Mimi, for having us, I believe the longest stay that she’s had to deal with, and for making sure that there’s always hot water for the shower in the evenings; to Peter, for your unceasingly delicious cooking that was waiting for us no matter what time we got home; to the Bowers, for opening up your place to check email and just to chill whenever work found us near Kagando; to Yona, without whom we might still be wandering the hills looking for a project; and to the rest of the South Rwenzori Diocese team, for your hospitality, for your interest in our work, for your warm encouragement and exceeding gratefulness, and, haha, even for your unexpected appearances at the guesthouse, just to say hello. =D

Second last week! (Sunday, Jan 25 & Tuesday, Jan 27)

Well, as expected, these last few weeks have been hectic thus far. Saturday morning, Mike caught the bus to Kampala, where he flew out from Sunday morning. To quote Timone from Lion King, “our trio’s down to two”; the trio being the roving team, of course. It’s difficult to realize how close I am to the end of my time with ACTS and Mike’s departure is a definite confirmation that yes, five months has already passed. For the majority of our time here, he’s been the person I’ve been working most closely with so things are sure to be a little different without him around. However, Chris, the other engineering intern, may be joining us for some roving in the next few weeks and he’d be a welcome addition to our team. But it's been a good time working with Mike, regardless of the fact that he’s kind of a workaholic (which makes me work a little longer and harder out of guilt), and when he’s not working, he’s blogging, (which also reminds me to get on the computer and update as well), and he talks in his sleep (a little disturbing at first, but I’ve learned to tune it out now). Haha, but it’s been a pretty memorable five months, and a lot of that has been from our various roving team experiences. We’ve hiked many a hill, seen a good chunk of southwestern Uganda, met a ton of people, survived some harrowing roads (I mean, “roads”), and even managed to do some work as well!

Working as a team, not work related, but nevertheless, working as a team. (We’re actually hooking up Edward, one of the construction team foremen, for his first, and probably last, ever ride on a zipline, the first thing we engineers constructed in Uganda! =D)

Anyway, on Saturday morning, I joined David, the director of ACTS, and Tim, the regional director of ACTS, on to meet with the Ibanda District Chairperson and the District Water Officer to discuss the possibility, and perhaps, the details of how we could collaborate on a proposed massive 4 billion shilling project within their district. Unfortunately, ACTS is too restricted by the CIDA project criteria to be able do this project with CIDA funding and neither ACTS nor the Ibanda district has the financial capability to be able to complete the project without CIDA, or other outside funding. So, much of our past week’s work on the Nsasi project has been rendered of no use which is a definitely more than a little disappointing.

Today, after church, a convoy of three trucks left for Kasese to review the proposed projects that me, Mike and Asaph have been working on for the past few months. Within this convoy were five engineers - Bern, who will probably be the engineer in charge of the construction of these projects; Chris, who will be staying in country until the end of April and thus, needs to be briefed on the projects in case any changes need to be made after I’ve left; Chris Town, a senior engineer from Urban systems who is coming to review how Urban Systems funding is being and will be spent by ACTS; and Jono, a more junior engineer who is coming to help alongside Chris Town. Also coming to see the projects are Richard (foreman of the Ugandan construction team); Asaph (the other half of the roving team); David (the ACTS director); and Jayna (Jono’s wife, and a photographer who is documenting the work on the ACTS projects of past, present and future). After we’d arrived and ate a delicious meal prepared by the one and only Peter from the Agape Guesthouse, we all went over to the Bishop’s house for a little meet and greet meeting. For most of the details about the projects, I have been looked to for the answers, particularly now that Mike, the other half of the design team, has left for Canada. So, needless to say, I’ve felt a little bit of pressure to be able to provide the answers and details that people are asking about. But it’s also nice to have some more experienced engineers around (yes, once again, I find myself the youngest and least experienced among this group) to ask for advice from and to review our work to ensure that it does indeed make sense before ACTS goes ahead and constructs it.

And as I continue this now, it’s Tuesday night and everyone but me and Chris, the other engineering intern, have left Kasese. The last two days have been hectic, but at the same time, totally worthwhile and even encouraging; now that the senior engineers have seen the project designs, sources and the proposed pipeline route as well as chosen a suitable location for our camp, it’s like we have really finalized the decision to go ahead with the project if and when CIDA approves the proposal. So, this is it, this is as close to fruition as the project will reach during my time in Uganda, (we don’t expect to hear back from CIDA about the Bwesumbu project, our first proposal, for another six months.) But we’ve taken these projects as far as they can go, for now, and I’ll take a definite sense of accomplishment from that. No time to linger on those thoughts though, as me and Chris will be trying to follow up on the work that the roving team began on the Bughendero source, and hopefully complete a design for that proposal in the next few days. Optimistic? For sure, but optimism is what the roving team has worked on for the past five months, and that's not gonna change this late in the game!

So, the construction crew began construction on the new Nyarugyera project this past week. The first step, to dig back and expose the source for protection. The small hole in the ground is that source, and will soon be supplying water to about ten thousand people, crazyyy!

So, this is Africa!

As my experiences and understanding of the African (Ugandan, in particular) culture, people, and habits increase, there are certain things that I have noticed that are just, well, more different than others. So I’ve made a list, clearly not exhaustive, of things that wouldn’t go over well in Canada, but are just part of the normal, everyday life here in rural Uganda.

Edit: as I started writing, I kept coming up with more and more so I’ll cap it at ten for now, and add to them when I have nothing else more interesting to write about.

1. Throwing any garbage you have out the window of your moving car, on the street as you walk by, even on the floor of a restaurant you’re eating in. More commonly known as pollution, it is illegal in Canada and is generally viewed as socially unacceptable; however, it’s the norm in Uganda. Me and Mike have tried to explain it to Asaph, but he just laughs and continues to do it. He even points out how weird it is when he sees me put an empty wrapper or other garbage in my backpack or pants pocket rather than just throw it on the ground. And no, frustratingly, there aren’t any garbage cans in Uganda where we can throw our garbage. But why would there be? No one would use them anyway.

2. Electricity, or lack thereof. Yup, it seems that no matter where I go, there’ll be power outages. That is, assuming there is power in that place to lose. In camp we operate (or sometimes, don’t operate) on solar power, meaning that if it’s cloudy, there’s no power. In Mbarara, we amusingly watch the voltage meter on the power bar fluctuate between 220 volts (the norm here) to 110 volts to less. And sometimes, the power just goes out completely. At the orphanage in Kampala, the capital city, and the biggest, most populous, most developed city in the country, the power goes out on a regular basis, several times a week, and often for extended periods of time. Kasese? The same thing. In fact, at one point, the power was so intermittent that we actually decided to bring our incubator into the diocese hospital (has its own independent source electricity) in order to ensure that our water samples were being tested properly.

3. Bargaining, for everything (well, almost everything, anyway). Yup, from food to clothes to internet to hair cuts to bus fares, you can usually barter for what you’ll pay for. I imagine that this one’s not entirely all that uncommon though, especially if you’ve traveled in pretty much any country outside of Europe, North America, and Australia. It’s awesome having Asaph around with me most of the time cause he knows how much everything’s actually worth and basically watches my back so I don’t get ripped off.

4. You, come! So this phrase seems to be the typical Ugandan request when you want something, usually, but not restricted to, a restaurant setting. Yes, while Ugandans are generally viewed as a very polite and kind people, things like P’s & Q’s just don’t have the same significance here. In Runyankole, for instance, the local language in the part of Uganda where I am working, there is no word for please or sorry… Other common variations of this phrase include ‘You, buy!’ and ‘You, take!’

5. Using your horn, a lot. Next to your pedals and steering wheel, the horn is the next most used instrument when driving on Ugandan roads. It has quite the range of uses, many of which are not construed as being rude or impolite. As Asaph puts it, most of the time the car honking at you is just to say hi; other times, it’s a heads-up that they’re coming up to pass you or to let you know something’s coming up ahead; or perhaps, that you’re in his lane (pretty common and normal here). How do you know which one he means? Asaph says, just guess.... I’m not even going to try and explain how they use their turn signals or headlights.

6. Public Transport. Ie. 25 People in one vehicle with you. What’s so unusual about that? Well, the fact that there are only 14 seats in the minivan. I really love that painted on the door of each vehicle is the phrase, “licensed to carry 14 passengers.” Similarly, you won’t often find a passenger vehicle without at least three in the front and four in the back. It’s the beauty of capitalism I guess, working at it’s greatest efficiency possible. One van loads up with as many people as possible, and then takes off. It’s a lot cheaper than public transport back home, (the typical fare I pay here is usually between 500-1000 USh, about 33-67 cents CDN) and it runs more cost effectively, with absolutely no drain on society or taxpayers. You pay for exactly what you get. The only downside to this, it often makes for a somewhat uncomfortable ride.

7. A hole in the ground instead of a flushing toilet. This is one of the things that makes me most grateful to be a guy. I’m still not an accomplished squatter yet, but I think my legs just aren’t made to bend into that position. Anyway, thankfully, most everywhere I’ve been has had toilets when I’ve needed them, but it’s always a bit of a guessing game otherwise.

8. Wearing the same outfit for days (or even weeks) on end. And no deodorant. Haha, no joke, the roving team (Me, Mike, and Asaph) kind of have designated a certain portion of our wardrobe to be working clothes. This is necessary because we often get quite muddy and dirty as we conquer the various Ugandan hills in search of water. And I got tired of having nothing clean to wear if I changed everyday. So, I’ve got one pair of pants that I wear five days a week, sometimes six if we’re out in the field on Saturday, and if I’m feeling clean, I’ll switch shirts halfway through the week. About deodorant, scents attract bugs, so au naturale is the way to go!

9. Eating the same thing for days on end. I found that Ugandans are not the most adventurous people, particularly when it comes to food. At camp, we have rice, matooke, posho, millet, and beans, maybe some Irish potatoes or sweet potatoes, but that’s about the extent of the menu. And that’s the menu day in and day out, almost without fail. When we long for something western and make something from back home, Mike’s made Guacamole, Nancy’s made Hummus, the girls tried their best to make donuts. Each time, the Ugandans will try a bit, just enough to appear polite, and then go back to their more traditional foods. I guess they’ve grown accustomed to only eating these limited foods, and are most comfortable with them. We, on the other hand, are often encouraged to try different things, so in a sense, we’re accustomed to eating the unaccustomed.

And last but definitely not least,

10. Guys holding hands…with other guys.
This awesome picture was snapped by Chris of Bern, the senior engineer, and Gordon, one of the construction crew.

While it is the norm in Canada for guys and girls to hold hands, that isn’t the case in Uganda; rather, it is generally frowned upon for a guy to hold hands with a girl. However, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with two guys holding hands. This is even more surprising given the fact that homosexuality is still illegal in this country. Yet, and I am not exaggerating in the least, you can see guys holding hands on pretty much every street corner in any typical Ugandan town. And while some of you won’t believe this, and it was definitely one of the more difficult things to adjust to in terms of Ugandan Culture, I can now hold hands with a guy without too much distain or discomfort. No, it’s definitely not a normal feeling still, nor do I ever think or hope it will be, but I think I can do it well enough now that the person holding my hand can’t sense my discomfort. It’s just a sign of friendship right? If anything, I should be flattered… Don’t worry though guys, this is one part of the Ugandan culture that I definitely won’t be bringing back with me!

Homecoming! (Wednesday, Jan 21)

No, I don’t mean Canada, yet. But since Saturday, we’ve been back in camp, the place we called home during our first month in Uganda. It’s the first time the roving team had been back to camp since wayyy back in September and I’d definitely forgotten about some of the harder aspects of camp life. At camp, electricity is directly proportional to how sunny it is, peanut butter is a rare and highly sought after commodity, the drums begin beating at 0630 each morning, and washing is done via the classic bath-a-la-sponge. After our fourth night back, I’m really counting my blessings of the luxuries that I’ve taken for granted while working in other areas of southwestern Uganda over the past few months. And I’m also much more sympathetic of the girls, who have been in camp for pretty much their entire time in Uganda. I really do like matooke, rice, and g-nut sauce, but if I don’t know how much I’d still enjoy it if I had to eat it twice a day, everyday. Even more respect goes out to Bern and Nancy, who are retired from their engineering and teaching careers and could easily to be relaxing somewhere nice and comfortable, but have instead chosen to come to Uganda for six months and live in a camp with no running water, intermittent electricity and the same food day in and day out. Even more, they were here last year and decided to come back again this year to help out with this year’s batch of interns as well as the current water project. Bern is the senior engineer on the ground, and Nancy is in charge of the child sponsorship program; additionally, they are the official camp bosses that we turn to when we need advice or authorization about anything. So many thanks and appreciation goes to them for all of their assistance and knowledge and above all, their commitment and willingness to continue serving the Ugandan people.

This is camp! (well, the old camp in Kinyamafura anyway. We've just moved camps to our new project site in Nyarugera, but for the most part, the camp is pretty similar.)

Over the past week, we’ve been working on a source near camp (it’s about an hour’s drive away but at least it’s in the same district as the project we’re currently working on in the Nyarugyera Parish). We’ve pretty much gathered all the information and met with all the community leaders that we need to and will probably be heading back to Mbarara and Canada House (and a warm shower!) tomorrow. Being at camp is definitely refreshing though, we get to see the rest of the Ugandan crew as well as spend some time with the other interns; this time might also be our final time in camp since we have just over two weeks left of work before our once seemingly long five and a half months of work will so quickly come to a close.

In other news, a group of fourteen new arrivals from Canada just came to camp on Tuesday afternoon. The group includes David, the director of ACTS, and his wife, two nursing students, a family of six, two engineers from Urban Systems (an engineering consulting company) and the wife of one of the engineers, and Chris, the engineering intern who originally came with our team in September but returned home for a few months after his grandfather was diagnosed with cancer. The family of six, as well as David and his wife, left the same afternoon for a different ACTS project, where they will be working during their time here. The rest of the group has stayed in camp though, so there’s been a bit of excitement with a new group of faces around. Every tent is occupied, the office is bustling, and overall, the camp’s just been a little livelier.

Urban Systems is one of ACTS’ bigger private donors and the two engineers are here on behalf of Urban to see the projects that their company is helping to fund. With me and Mike being in camp this week along with the arrival of the two Urban engineers and the return of Chris, the number of engineers in camp has multiplied sixfold! It’s nice to have the more experienced engineers from Urban Systems on hand so that me and Mike can ask questions that we’ve had with some of our project proposals as well as get some verification about the overall designs. We’ll also all be going to Kasese, (yes, again) next week, in order to show them the sites of the proposed projects. One of the engineers has also worked with Kevin from eMi Canada, who I worked with in Calgary and was my project leader in Haiti last summer. What’s more, Kevin’s next project trip, which is coming up in a couple of weeks, is to, where else, but Uganda! Haha, sometimes this gigantic world just doesn’t really seem that big after all!


One prayer request that's come up is for Charles, one of the construction crew members, and among the most nicest and personable of an overall friendly bunch! But he and his family are going through a bit of a trying time right now and could use a little extra prayer. Over Christmas, his wife had a miscarriage, and just this past week, one of his daughters was bit by a dog. Charles went home for yesterday to take her to the hospital but they didn't have any rabies vaccinations available. The doctor has gone to Kampala to get some and Charles hopes that he'll be back by Saturday so that his daughter can get the shots then.

and a couple of pics from camp, way back in September...
Trying to learn to carry things the African way! I'll be sticking with my backpack though... =p

Our first engineering task in Uganda was to build a zipline in camp! It was our first weekend in camp and we think that the Ugandans thought we were crazy, but Edward and a few of them managed the courage to try it out in the end!

In the rainy season, it can really rain...

And more rain....


Finally, this is one of the skills I've learned here in Uganda. It's called slacklining, and Chris actually brought it with him from Canada. Just a couple of carabiners and some webbing, but it's a lotta fun (especially once you get the hang of it) and it's an awesome workout too. Oh, and some Ugandans are uncannily good at it!

Crunch Time! (Thursday, Jan 08)

Just a random picture of a guy, his boda, and his morning delivery of eggs... haha, this is Africa!

Back at ACTS, January’s going to be a hectic month as we struggle to complete all of our work before our time here ends. It really is crazy to realize that we have just over a month left out of our nearly six month work term in Uganda. January is essentially our last month of work; although we are not officially finished until the middle of February, all but three of those days are allocated for either travel or debriefings. I can say that for everyone on our team, crunch time has arrived, and will likely continue until our very last working day.

For the roving team, our mandate from the higher-ups was to find and submit six project proposals during our time here. And while we knew from the start that it was a lofty, if not impossible, goal to aim for, we were still hoping to get as close that number as we could. Well, we’ve got two completed thus far with another identified and to be designed. However, even with that last one, it is still only three, half of the magic number that we’re aiming for. But we’ve been able to hit the ground running in our two days back thus far. We somehow managed to meet with the extremely-busy-and-difficult-to-track-down water engineers for three different districts yesterday, and yet another different one today. From these meetings, we’ve already seen several promising sources. Now, it’s still a lot of work before each of these sources becomes a full blown project design and proposal; however, it’s definitely an encouraging and promising beginning to this last month of work. So, a prayer request would definitely that everyone on our team would be able to finish strong and really make a good push to the end, that we’d have the energy and motivation to make that extra effort. And with that, I hope, for all of us, that we would be able to see some tangible results for our efforts.

Finally, in my reflections in the new year, I was again reminded of all the support that I continue to receive from many of you. So A SINCERE THANKS TO YOU for the prayers, the emails, and the letters (I received three all at once today!). It really is a great encouragement to know that I can always share my work, my experiences, my prayers and concerns to receptive ears and open hearts, thank you.

Another Hope, another home away from home (Wednesday, Jan 7)

Happy new year everyone! I’ve also since left the Another Hope orphanage and its thirty five awesome kids and returned back to Mbarara, and to work, probably the same as many of you. As I settle back into the routine of my work, I can’t help but miss the kids, their smiling faces, even their greasy fingers after meals, their seemingly constantly running noses, and their dirty uniforms after playing in the dirt….the list goes on. I was definitely blessed to have been able to spend the past two weeks with all the kids at Another Hope and, as I promised them, I’ll be back to visit again before I leave Uganda.

On Saturday night, my last night at the orphanage, they had a sort of farewell party/send off for me. The kids sang songs, they gave a few speeches of thanks, recalling some of their favourite memories during my stay with them, and they prayed for me, as they always do for departing volunteers. It was humbling to see the gratefulness that the kids had for my efforts during my short stay with them. Yea, I tried my best to help them with math, or English, or sports, or to do simple repair jobs around the house. But really, it didn’t equate to the gratitude that the kids and staff showed for me.

Also, as I got to know each child better, I also learned more about their stories, their histories that brought each of them to Another Hope. And frankly, it hurts to think about the pain and suffering that many of these kids have already experienced, things that I’ll never be able to fully understand, things that I wish that no one would ever need to witness, let alone endure. For several of the kids, this means having to deliberately block out their histories because I just don’t know if I’d be able to treat them the same otherwise. I can’t write all their stories here, but you can ask me if you want to know.

Even now that the kids are at Another Hope and have a better home, a better diet, a better education, and overall, a better life, they still deserve more. Or, maybe, the rest of us just deserve less. Sometimes I wonder how God chose for some of us to receive all the blessings that these kids can only long for, and I feel ashamed at all the things that I take for granted. To give you an idea of how little is enough, the monthly budget for the orphanage, minus rent and school fees, is 400,000 Ugandan shillings. Translation: it costs less than 250 Canadian dollars to provide for these thirty five kids for one month, that’s less than twenty five cents per child per day. Moreover, the orphanage offers more than many of these kids have ever had, more food, more blessings, more love. How much do you, as a family or even as an individual, spend each month? Humbling, isn’t it? I really pray that we could truly learn to be content with less, and to be more generous with what we do have; I know it’s cliché, but when you see the way these children live, you realize that it’s more than just a catch phrase, it’s real.

And for all I’ve written about these kids, I haven’t had the chance to post any pictures of these beloved kids. So, here are some pictures of life at Another Hope. Just can’t get enough of the smiling faces, the funny poses, or just the deer-caught-in-the-headlights expressions. ...And the internet's cutting in and out right now so I'll post the pics up whenever I get a better connection.

And pictures!