Stef and Jared's beautiful home was originally built by a Westerner who wanted to be comfortable during his five year commitment. Stefani's own creative touches make if feel warm and inviting. And then you have the lush backyard, which ends at the Nile River! After our busy week in Kenya, I was very happy to relax in their backyard, and watch birds from their deck. Did I mention this trip was the first time we've ever been away from our children? As a result, we spent quite a bit of time just looking out over the Nile while enjoying the silence! Over the course of the week, I identified over 60 species in their yard, plus we had sitings of Nile Monitors, River Otters and beautiful lizards.
I'm familiar with Belted Kingfishers in the US, which are predominately solitary birds. Here we were in Pied Kingfisher territory, and they live in small family groups. It wasn't unusual for me to spot 4 or 5 of these black and white birds perched on a single branch together. I could easily spot 20 at any given moment while looking out over the water!
One evening as the light grew dark, I stood in the yard watching as hundreds of bats emerged from their daytime roost and went out in search of food. Suddenly I heard a light thud and at my feet was this little guy. I believe he hit the electrical wire above me and it knocked him right out of the sky. He was stunned but a short time later he had recovered and moved on.
The Source of the Nile Bridge was under the final stages of construction
while we were there, and is now open. It's a structure that begs you to look at it.
One morning we stopped at the Kombi Koffee VW bus on our way to pick up milk.
...and then we were off to buy milk from these gals!
We watched as they separated the cream from the milk. (on table to left)
They also have these giant jackfruits growing in the yard! I found out jackfruit is the largest tree-growing fruit in the world. The fruit averages 25lbs, but can grow as large as 100lbs!
This is the main street where the grocery and other stores are located. Picking up groceries isn't as easy as we're used to. Here, it's necessary to stop at two, sometimes three different stores to find what you need.
Walking thru the three-story Jinja Central Market is a sensory overloading experience! 7000 vendors compete for your business with tons of fresh food, clothing, really, just about anything you could need. on the second floor are rows and rows of women sitting at antique sewing machines, some making new items from fabric, others are taking apart old clothing to create something new. It felt a bit like what I assume a "sweat shop" would look like. But when talking to Stefani about it, she was quick to tell me, those women are the success stories. It takes training to become a seamstress. These women have completed training and are now able to make money to support themselves and their family.
On Sunday we attended service at Arise Africa. As we stood outside, a tent shielding us from the sun, we worshipped God together. Then we listened as the pastor recounted an event in his life where we felt the most vulnerable to his circumstances. Throughout that desperate situation he still chose to fully depend on the One who made us and cares more than we can fathom.
This was taken before the service, all seats were filled by starting time.
Jared gave us a tour of Ekisa Ministries, an organization that exists to improve the quality of life for children living with special needs in Uganda. Here, children with disabilities tend to be isolated and marginalized. Some even believe their disability to be a curse. Ekisa strives to help families and communities see the value of every person. They mainly serve children living with Hydrocephalus, Cerebral Palsy and brain damage resulting from malaria or meningitis. While Ekisa does care for 22 children in their residential care program, they have nearly 100 in their community care program. This provides services and training for the families so their child can remain at home with them. Those in the residential program are either working toward being reunited with a family member or adopted into a new family. Ekisa runs a school for children from both the residential and the community care group. Ekisa's empowerment programs provide business and financial training courses plus start-up loans for families who want to open a business to be able to afford medical care for their child. Jared has already begun to see a shift in the acceptance of these children in the community. They're now gearing up to participate in their 4th Night to Shine, a prom experience for people with special needs, created by the Tim Tebow Foundation.
<--------- click NEXT to see more of our time in Uganda.
