Living here in Uganda is a great joy for our family. Of course, just as living anywhere else, there are good things and bad things. More than anything else, there are just unusual things. This post will just be some of the different random things that might amuse you.
This is Henry pumping up the car tire. Yes, that is a foot operated bicycle pump. It's a 20 minute drive to the nearest place that has a compressor.
These mason jars are a huge blessing. I bought them last time I was in the US, but couldn't get them all in our luggage, so I left them with Chris Phifer. When the next mission team came, several people carried one or two jars in their stuff. It was like Christmas when they handed me those jars. They are SO useful!! One of these actually has sweet tea in it and the other holds my homemade maple syrup for pancakes. The Ugandans still laugh when I tell them that I drink my tea cold, not hot. They just can't imagine. (They also can't imagine drinking cold milk.)
Since we buy so many eggs at once, it can be difficult to get them from any one shop, but we happened to be in town one day when the egg delivery showed up. Floyd and the man exchanged numbers and now he calls us when he's heading to Kapeeka. We can drive into town and meet him, which means we get all the eggs we need but we also save on every tray. This is the egg delivery truck.
If we leave the property at a certain time of day, we will pass many of our day students walking to school or back home. Of course, they ask for a ride and who could say no to these faces??? They pile in like sardines in a can.We just tell them to be quiet so we can hear them tell us where to stop.
Remember that we don't have a microwave and cooking is always a relatively long process, so if you end up with left overs, you don't want to throw them out. I always think of someone to take the food to because they love to try different things that I cook. Of course, frequently the food goes to Grace or Merabu (or more realistically, to their kids). Grace frequently insists on bringing back the dish with something in it. One time, her daughter handed me the dish and Grace took it back saying, "no, I'm putting something in there." So, most recently she returned my dish full of freshly roasted ground nuts (peanuts). Of course, she told me that they were still hot so to not keep them shut in the dish, but to lay them out.
Again, about food...recently Grace and I had to take a girl to the hospital in a bit of a rush. During the message at Fellowship, she appeared to have fallen asleep. When it ended, the girls were trying to wake her and she was completely unresponsive. After about 10 minutes of trying many things, we could not get her to respond to anything. We decided to drive her to the hospital. I carried her to the car and we loaded up.
When we got there, they tried many things and she didn't respond. They then gave her an injection that they said was a stimulant and the doctor prepared to put in an IV. Moments later, we just heard her make a sort of gasping sound. Her eyes opened and she looked over to see the IV needle about to go in. She started crying but couldn't really fight. After a good while, she was able to stand and even talked to us, but she couldn't remember anything since early that morning. She got fluids on an IV drip, including glucose, and by the late afternoon, she was good to go. We determined that her blood sugar level had probably dropped too low because she had done a lot of work (fetching water, washing, etc) and then danced throughout Fellowship. There were no signs of a problem and she's been fine since.
Anyway, since Grace, Tyler, and I left immediately to the hospital, we did not have any food. Kabanda, the cook's helper, was coming to town to get a repair done, so they sent food for us with him. They put the sweet potato and beans in a thermos like container. We were grateful for the food, but had a good laugh because there were no utensils. We managed with our fingers just fine. :)
Speaking of clinics, in our most recent visit, we got to the hospital for the 6th day of a 7 day injection treatment for one of our students. When we arrived, the nurse realized that they were out of the medication that we needed. She called the other person and who told her they were still in Kampala getting supplies (that is the capital, a good 2 hours away). She wanted us to come back later that evening but the roads are just too muddy, especially to drive at night, and fuel is expensive. Instead, she wrote down the medication we needed and we went around Kapeeka looking for a pharmacy that might have it in stock. Sure enough, we found what we needed and headed back to the hospital. They completed the treatment and we headed back home. :)
Now, you recall at the very beginning I mentioned Henry is a welder. Having a welder around is very helpful!
In the US, I had many crosses that had been given to me over the years. Three of them are crosses that my sister helped the kids make when they were still pre-school age. She did it as a gift to put in our new house (that's when we moved to McKinney). They always hung on the wall, but with concrete walls here, it didn't make sense to hang them. I had brought 3 crosses with metal stands from the US as well. I showed those metal stands to Henry and for less than $10 he made me 3 more stands. :)
You can see the original three and the process of making them here.
I had also been frustrated with the pans in my cabinet...baking sheets, cutting boards, and other items. I kept wishing that I had some sort of vertical organizer to stand them up so they wouldn't have to be piled on top of each other. One day, as I stood in the kitchen talking to Raegan, it suddenly hit me...Henry could make one out of rebar!! I mentioned it to Floyd and sure enough, in less than a few hours I had the perfect organization rack for about $12!
The last time we were in the city, we came across a supply of Lay's potato chips. Of course, everyone had to buy a bag (they were the smaller bags). I'll let Tyler's face speak for itself.
I'll admit, it is a little difficult to see, but here's a photo of my trail.
Do you see it?? There really is a path there.
How about now? Is this shot any better?
Well, maybe it's a little harder to see than I thought. Getting off the trail isn't too big of a deal, as long as you know a few landmarks to find your way back. Of course, you also have to look out for these fancy needle bushes.
This is Henry pumping up the car tire. Yes, that is a foot operated bicycle pump. It's a 20 minute drive to the nearest place that has a compressor.
Yes, that is a small child, definitely under two years old, walking down the road completely alone. This is the one thing that I don't think I'll ever get used to. It bothers me even more on the main roads, but even in the village I'm still surprised.
Since we buy so many eggs at once, it can be difficult to get them from any one shop, but we happened to be in town one day when the egg delivery showed up. Floyd and the man exchanged numbers and now he calls us when he's heading to Kapeeka. We can drive into town and meet him, which means we get all the eggs we need but we also save on every tray. This is the egg delivery truck.
If we leave the property at a certain time of day, we will pass many of our day students walking to school or back home. Of course, they ask for a ride and who could say no to these faces??? They pile in like sardines in a can.We just tell them to be quiet so we can hear them tell us where to stop.
Remember that we don't have a microwave and cooking is always a relatively long process, so if you end up with left overs, you don't want to throw them out. I always think of someone to take the food to because they love to try different things that I cook. Of course, frequently the food goes to Grace or Merabu (or more realistically, to their kids). Grace frequently insists on bringing back the dish with something in it. One time, her daughter handed me the dish and Grace took it back saying, "no, I'm putting something in there." So, most recently she returned my dish full of freshly roasted ground nuts (peanuts). Of course, she told me that they were still hot so to not keep them shut in the dish, but to lay them out.
Again, about food...recently Grace and I had to take a girl to the hospital in a bit of a rush. During the message at Fellowship, she appeared to have fallen asleep. When it ended, the girls were trying to wake her and she was completely unresponsive. After about 10 minutes of trying many things, we could not get her to respond to anything. We decided to drive her to the hospital. I carried her to the car and we loaded up.
When we got there, they tried many things and she didn't respond. They then gave her an injection that they said was a stimulant and the doctor prepared to put in an IV. Moments later, we just heard her make a sort of gasping sound. Her eyes opened and she looked over to see the IV needle about to go in. She started crying but couldn't really fight. After a good while, she was able to stand and even talked to us, but she couldn't remember anything since early that morning. She got fluids on an IV drip, including glucose, and by the late afternoon, she was good to go. We determined that her blood sugar level had probably dropped too low because she had done a lot of work (fetching water, washing, etc) and then danced throughout Fellowship. There were no signs of a problem and she's been fine since.Anyway, since Grace, Tyler, and I left immediately to the hospital, we did not have any food. Kabanda, the cook's helper, was coming to town to get a repair done, so they sent food for us with him. They put the sweet potato and beans in a thermos like container. We were grateful for the food, but had a good laugh because there were no utensils. We managed with our fingers just fine. :)
Speaking of clinics, in our most recent visit, we got to the hospital for the 6th day of a 7 day injection treatment for one of our students. When we arrived, the nurse realized that they were out of the medication that we needed. She called the other person and who told her they were still in Kampala getting supplies (that is the capital, a good 2 hours away). She wanted us to come back later that evening but the roads are just too muddy, especially to drive at night, and fuel is expensive. Instead, she wrote down the medication we needed and we went around Kapeeka looking for a pharmacy that might have it in stock. Sure enough, we found what we needed and headed back to the hospital. They completed the treatment and we headed back home. :)
Now, you recall at the very beginning I mentioned Henry is a welder. Having a welder around is very helpful!
In the US, I had many crosses that had been given to me over the years. Three of them are crosses that my sister helped the kids make when they were still pre-school age. She did it as a gift to put in our new house (that's when we moved to McKinney). They always hung on the wall, but with concrete walls here, it didn't make sense to hang them. I had brought 3 crosses with metal stands from the US as well. I showed those metal stands to Henry and for less than $10 he made me 3 more stands. :)
You can see the original three and the process of making them here.
I had also been frustrated with the pans in my cabinet...baking sheets, cutting boards, and other items. I kept wishing that I had some sort of vertical organizer to stand them up so they wouldn't have to be piled on top of each other. One day, as I stood in the kitchen talking to Raegan, it suddenly hit me...Henry could make one out of rebar!! I mentioned it to Floyd and sure enough, in less than a few hours I had the perfect organization rack for about $12!
The last time we were in the city, we came across a supply of Lay's potato chips. Of course, everyone had to buy a bag (they were the smaller bags). I'll let Tyler's face speak for itself.
And finally, I'll share some photos of my "walking trail." It is great for exercise and very unique.
After all, it is a special sort of trail that leaves its mark on you every time you go for a walk.
Well, maybe it's a little harder to see than I thought. Getting off the trail isn't too big of a deal, as long as you know a few landmarks to find your way back. Of course, you also have to look out for these fancy needle bushes.
(look at the white instead of the green and you'll see them)
So, there's another look at the random adventures of living in Uganda. :)
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