Sunday, November 4, 2012

This weeks happenings


Having a Hero
These 2 little boys got capes and t shirts from the used clothes market. I am surprised they still look this good coming from America. My boys wore theirs out. They have been flying around the yard all month. They do share with the others.They do like to head up the concrete road that has a pitch next to our house and run down it so the capes will fly behind them. They have a cement block that they all congregate on and the other afternoon they had the capes on with their buddies and were singing the Ugandan national anthem


Oh Uganda! May God uphold thee
We lay our future in Thy hands
United free for liberty
Together we'll always stand
Oh Uganda! The land of freedom
Our love and labour we give
And with neighbors all
At our country's call
In peace and friendship we will live.

Oh Uganda! The land that fees us
By sun and fertile soil grown
For our own dear land
We shall always stand
The Pearl of Africa's Crown. . They all have beautiful voices and it was a precious moment for our collection of memories here.

The next photo was the big news here on the compound Saturday
“Kennedy got a really big pig. And it is at his house”
House here at the Hospital quarters means different things for the different staff. Kennedy lives in the nursing quarters which are a long row of 4 room apartments that open in the back to an open roof kitchen as the cooking is done over a charcoal segeri. There was the pig. He was huge too like the ones that are in the hog barns back home. The “free range” pigs here are the small more like the pot belly kind. And because the town has a large Muslim population there are no pigs in the township itself and no pork sold. So he may have had it in his kitchen to protect it from his Muslim neighbors and from thieves. Which is a problem for livestock here. That is why chickens are kept in kitchens at night so this is a picture of the gang and us going to see the pig .....



Next pic is for mom...
You always said when we were kids and being loud that we sounded like fish mongers...I never knew what that was until walking in the fish/clothing market last week. At 3 pm everyday the fisherman from the Nile bring the catch to the used clothes market clear out the first 6 stalls and set up shop and as you walk in flys and men are asking begging telling you to buy. They put out there sign and I took a picture. I should have taken a pic of the fish too. A nile perch can weigh up to 100+# they get as big as tuna and the meat is really good cooked in coconut milk with spices that I make. But they are a plague. Brought in to rid the lake and river of a predator fish they over produced and now eat the talapia that are the best fish. 

Couple weeks ago we rode out of town to this ministry to have fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy with the couple that have been here 11 years and run it. We stopped for shade on the way and this is a drinking circle.

 The ladies make a home brew in a large jug and the men buy it and sit with straws and drink in the evening (sometimes in the day as they don't have a lot else to do). So this is a drinking circle. It had a sign posted on the tree but was in Lugbara and our skill could not translate. These people stopped and wanted their pic taken too so you see some of the locals too

. Sorry no pic of Marvn and Jewel. I will leave that story for another day. But the chicken and potatoes were so delicious... Tom thought he was in heaven...With no fridge meat is hard to prepare and keep until time to cook. And you have to think ahead so you can get a bird and get it plucked and cleaned and then prpare... I don't think that far ahead...
Last picture I leave you with is Noel or Joel never sure what I am hearing sometimes. He hangs out with Herbert and brothers I think he is about 5 as he is over here at 8 every morning so I don't think he is not in school yet. He is sweet and Friday he was here without the other boys. He came to the back door and sat on my fire tending stool while I cut up pineapple for the guests that night. The cores here are so sweet and soft that you can eat them like the outer part but I cut it out and give to the kids. He got all the pieces and sat with juice dripping down his arms just enjoying the day and the time with me, or the pineapple.... (kids don't get a lot of fruit unless it is mango season and they climb the trees) 

 That is all for this week. Next week we are in Kampala at our mid service conference for 2 days and then I am hosting a craft show to showcase the West Nile tribes crafts that are different then the other areas of the country. Home on Saturday to sa good bye to a good good friend who is returning to Germany to be with her mom as she lives out her days with pancreatic cancer. Will send pics. Love to All from Uganda the Pearl of Africa's Crown