To the Islands

Bryan and I have been back for three and a half weeks now. We had a bit of excitement coming into Uganda, as our bags hadn’t arrived with us that fine Sunday afternoon. Fortunately, we kept on calling Entebbe Handling services, and we got our bags back on Thursday. A bit of a tea coating on the toy cars my brother bought for the kids, but otherwise everything was fine. Thank you God!
I must admit it took a little while to settle back in after the joyous time we spent in Australia. But I rediscovered my groove, and I do appreciate being here. My groove became that much better when I was allowed back out in the field at the end of last week. Three days straight!

To the Koome Islands

A large group of us left Jinja on Wednesday afternoon. Myself, micro-enterprise officer Fred Muwanguzi, WaSH trainer Ritah, WMI work Andrew, WM Haiti worker Josue, new visitor Danish Dan, and fellow Aussie working with Allan (Living Water Development) Adam.  We stopped in Mabira Forest for a community meeting in Najjembe for a few hours, but the main reason we were all there was the island endeavour. This involved a night in Entebbe so we could catch the boat at 7:30am on Thursday.

We are working on two projects in the Koome Islands, which are a two hour boat ride from Entebbe, using both project models. We are doing a Safe Water Project (community owned model) at Myende landing site, which is where I spent Thursday and Friday; and a TradeWater project (WMI owned) on Kimmi Island. Myende is a peaceful place, with a good number of people showing smiles and greeting. Kimmi is not. The greetings I got were from the prostitutes who were getting high. I say no more.

At Myende, I joined in the Safe Water Committee (SWC) training. My main purpose was to get lots of photos and interviews to give feedback to WMI and the donor. There were a couple of hindrances, as some people didn’t know the difference between safe and unsafe water. As my acquaintance Veronica said when I asked her what was bad about the lake water, “it’s not bad; water is good”. Then on Friday we spent the morning waiting for the rains to pass. They did, and then I had enough time to interview most of the SWC members.

Veronica is an 18 year old who had only been in Myende for a week. She had come looking for her sister, all the way from Soroti (north-eastern Uganda). Veronica is a single mother of a seven month old boy. The father of the boy ran away when Veronica became pregnant to avoid having charges pressed, as Veronica was underage and still in primary school. Veronica finished school in year 4. Unfortunately, her sister was nowhere to be found. A kind fellow tribes-lady, Mama Asia, has taken her in.

It’s good for me to be out in the field. One, because I just like it; I like the people interaction, and I like the hands on work. Additionally, I was grateful to have field time with the community development staff again. A couple of us argue pretty regularly in meetings, because of our differing views on development mechanisms and implementation. Differences can be constructive but also wearing in their challenge. Being in the field makes us interact in a broader way. It also puts us on the same team, because field time is about helping and training and differences are left behind in the meeting room. I really appreciate God for that time we had. May I continue to grow in kindness as I interact with my colleagues!

 An excellent bonus of our time in the islands was that WMU’s contact into that area is the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust. So I slept on an island with chimpanzees! 

                    

Our Resignation

Just before Bryan and I went to Australia, we resigned from Water Missions. Our last day will be August 21st. Five weeks to go. We’ve known for a while that WMU is not the right fit for us, or at least not how our roles have turned out, although we agree with water development whole-heartedly. The truth is, we were waiting for the next thing to do before resigning, but then reversed the order so that we are open for whatever is to come next. I still love development work, but we are both craving the relational side of working in Uganda. Life’s too short to do something half-heartedly. WMU was right for its time, and we’ve learned a lot and contributed to the work. We appreciate WMI for their professionalism and the heart behind the work. Furthermore, the aim is to have a local director for each country program. This was announced to the staff last year, so it made Bryan’s position unofficially temporary anyway (from our perspective). Apparently WMI has received a lot of good applications, so we look forward to transitioning in the next CPD. Maybe an existing staff member will decide to take it up?! I know Bryan would quite like to see my manager given that opportunity, if he applies. Please keep the change in your prayers.


On the social front, we’ve caught up with most of our friends here since returning. We’ve seen Clarice, including sharing in her 21st birthday lunch, and I went to CARE4Kids on our first Sunday back. Steve, Kelly and Amulet invited us to Salt and Light Academy (Amulet’s primary school) sports day, where Amulet competed in the brick passing game. The teachers were impressively enthusiastic, and every triumph was celebrated with cheers, hugs and dance. I want my kids to go to a school that dances whether you win or lose! So cool! We brought our visitor Dan, and Ashley came with her girls Diana and Agnes too. Jude had pneumonia when we returned, but is recovered and back to work – back to work and then recovered to be precise. She’s one strong lady. Adrien, who runs his own Omuana organisation, and whom I have known since my first trip to Uganda in 2004, is back for a couple of months before starting his Masters in Development in Geneva this September. Then he’ll leave, and Steve and Kelly will leave with Amulet as soon as the court cases are over (the next and potentially final one being next month)... but we won’t think about that just yet.

Thank God for:

- A fantastic time in Australia, though short and many friends were missed
- The return of our luggage
- My booster field trip last week
- A good court outcome from Steve and Kelly’s first court case, although there were some major frustrations (like a translator who didn’t know the language)
- Jude’s healing
- Esther is doing really well, although I don’t have the full update it seems she’s okay

Please pray for:

- That Bryan and I will be a blessing to WMU and the staff over the next few weeks
- WMU to find the right CPD, and that Bryan will be able to pass over the roles efficiently
- Steve and Kelly’s court case next month
- Bill as he gets used to functioning without his foot. He’s been doing the physiotherapy exercises with his dad/uncle, but gets pretty demoralised. We had a nice chat on the phone the other day

Good to be back in contact with you!

Emily