We just got back from taking Rachel and then Gerald to their first day of school for this term. Rachel who’s still in what we’d call kindergarten, will be home this evening when we get back. Gerald goes to a boarding school in Iganga, about a 45-minute drive away so we told him goodbye. David gave him a watch as a gift, bought him new black leather school shoes last week in Kampala, and we’d already given him a soccer ball. He’s such a nice kid and a lot of help with the younger children. He’ll be missed.

This afternoon, David and Jeff have gone with Roy and Ricky to the Njeru Parents’ School where the ISAC kids are enrolled. It’s their first day back to school after holiday also and David was taking pens and soccer balls as gifts to the school and teachers.

Yesterday was a fun but busy, long day. We had already made plans to spend the whole day with Irene and the kids after getting back from church (around 3pm) in Musima. So we went swimming at the Palm Tree Guest House overlooking the Nile and then got to visit for a bit with Surj and Danyne and hold baby Jag. We didn’t get to the pool til 4 so the sun was no longer shining on the water and it was a little cool but the kids wanted to swim anyway so David took turns taking Zach and Tyler and Rachel into the big pool. There were even times he had all three of them at once I think. Then we all met Bobby and Candice at the Sunset On the Nile Hotel/Restaurant for supper.

Now, let me describe just a little bit of Super Sunday at Musima. I suppose there were people from maybe 4 different village churches and the Jinja town church. People start gathering under the pavilion near Moses Kirya’s house around 10 am-ish. So we got there at around 11 and most of the benches were full. Zach had already fallen asleep but woke up. There were only seats left that were actually in the sun but that was too hot so I ended up squeezing in next to Candice. Rachel went to sit with Bwana and Alex and we took turns holding Tyler and Zach since they were both tired. Bobby did a great job preaching! He picked some volunteers out of the audience to act out Luke’s story of the Good Samaritan. Thankfully, Gerald was chosen as the hurt man, since Gary Selby, the Pepperdine prof, was chosen to get down on all fours and be the donkey. It will be a great visual for such a profound but simple message of caring for our neighbors/all of

God’s creation. Then we had communion (fanta and chipati) and then lots of singing, introducing visitors, dancing, clapping and afterwards everyone had a meal of posho and beans. It’s absolutely exhausting.

I know I’m sorta going backwards but….. Saturday morning, we drove with Joan Talibow and Ronald Mugulusi to Mugulusi’s village, Magogo about an hour or so from Jinja. It was a blast. Saturday was Jeff’s favorite day in a village. We got to Mugulusi’s auntie’s house around noon, greeted everyone and I do mean everyone—12 to 15 of the auntie’s grandchildren who’ve been orphaned, mostly due to AIDS, another man who’s a cousin to Ronald, and a couple more of the auntie’s daughters who are still living nearby. After a bit, Joan and I went to sit with the ladies as they were preparing this huge pot of steamed matoke. I’d never actually watched anybody put the peeled bananas all together in this pot lined with banana leaves, then it’s covered and mashed together in the leaves before they steam it. The cousin was showing David and Jeff all about the new ‘cho’ (pit latrine) that was being built. The workers had dug a pit of about 10 feet (it will eventually be about 40 feet deep) and were laying local bricks and cementing to build the support/foundation around the actual pit. It’s hard to describe but I have pics if you should actually be interested in such things.

Ronald decided we should go ahead and visit another widow before we ate so we drove to a nearby trading center and to the lady’s house nearby. It had gotten windy and started to get cool like it might rain. When we went inside this lady’s house, her orphaned grandchildren had a couple of songs prepared to sing to us. It was just wonderful and it’s all very moving. Overwhelming at times. Oh and we were such big news that the whole trading center cleared out and came and peered through the windows into the house. By the time we left, it had started to rain but we got back to the auntie’s house before it started to storm. Oh my goodness, what a storm—the rain was beating and the wind was just whipping the trees and pounding the crops!! I’m just so thankful we were inside the house—at one point, I ducked and screamed because I thought that flimsy tin roof was going to cave in. It was actually a big branch of one of the trees behind the house that had hit the roof and bounced off. The top of a jackfruit tree at the front of the house broke off, too, and as Jeff was filming. David says it’s the worst storm he’s ever been in. We didn’t eat lunch (matoke, rice and goat) until after the storm about 3and thankfully the area is pretty flat so we could still drive on the clay/dirt/mud roads back to the main highway.

As soon as we got back to town, we took Irene home and then went to the Bugembe trade center where Grace Nyanga was waiting to guide us to his house for supper and to visit. I’ve mentioned this before, but Grace and Goretti have two of their own children and then take care of somewhere between 15 and 20 orphans, some of them are children of Grace’s two brothers but others are just kids they’ve taken in. Edith, their oldest child, is about 10 now and she still has a crush on our Zach. When I mentioned that I’d brought a picture to give her of Zach and Ryan with their girlfriends, she was so embarrassed that she just took it and hid her face. Today, I gave her another picture to keep for herself since I think her baby brother, Emmanuel, had bent that one. Goretti had been working at a craft market all day so some of the older children had made the final preparations for supper. The food is always wonderful at Goretti’s place. We had great cabbage, beans, rice, watermelon, sweet pineapple, chipati and small irish potatoes that were battered and fried whole. Really good food!

So we’re wrapping things up here. I’ve been shopping for some gifts today and hanging with Irene since we have to leave in the morning. Bwana just came by to tell me that he can’t take me bike riding today like he wanted, but we’ll go tomorrow morning. Spencer Bogle just brought us the last of our malaria medicine. I buy some to get started in the states but buy the rest here. DJ and I have to keep taking the weekly pills for four weeks after we get home. Jeff is taking the daily pill that’s supposed to have fewer side effects. I don’t know how long he has to take those. Irene and Joan are totaling up my purchases in the craft area. David and Jeff just got back from their trip to the school and DJ is meeting with Roy and Ricky again. Then we’ll go by to see a gentleman’s rental property that’s near Bugembe, not too far from Irene’s, and we need to go get one of our suitcases at the Garners’ house. We’ll fix spaghetti tonight and pack our bags then have a terrible crying time at the house in the morning when we leave Tyler and Zach and Rachel. I have gifts to leave them but they’ll still cry. Irene is riding with us to Entebbe so I can delay that goodbye for a little bit. We don’t usually have internet access in Entebbe so Tuesday morning here is probably the last time I’ll check my messages. So, write me if you need to know anything before I go, I’ll check in the morning before we leave. We get in to Atlanta on Thursday around 1:30 Eastern so we should be home to Montgomery by 4 or so. I just got an email from Emily that she’ll be flying in on Friday from Ohio and that Ryan will be coming to our house probably by early to mid-afternoon on Friday. Can’t wait to see them! Then as soon as I get home, we’re gonna start looking at getting Zach and Julia back to the States for a visit or longer.

Love to all, mj