A few months ago I was lamenting the fact that we wouldn’t have long at home this Christmas. In a spare of the moment decision we decided to change our flights from the 23rd Dec to the 19th. Four extra days means a lot when you haven’t been home all year. Well today it seems that the decision was even wiser than we thought. BA have voted to strike over Christmas, starting 22nd. I would have been so miserable if we were stuck here because our flight was cancelled. Let’s just pray we get home before the chaos starts.
December 7, 2009
I just wanted to let you all know that Chris has successfully been awarded a masters in poverty reduction and development management. It is a miracle that he has been able to achieve this over the past two years. Not a miracle in terms of the academic side but a miracle in terms of time. I think Chris actually has the capacity to work harder than anyone I know. (He just never had to when we were in the UK ~ what with flexi-time as a civil servant and then those long holidays as a teacher!).
I know he wont publicise it, so I took it upon myself as the good wife to give credit where it is due. Rejoice with those who rejoice etc. So here is a big “Congratulations” to Chris.
December 3, 2009
Check out Kingdom Come Part 2. This is the video the church team shot while visiting our projects in Uganda. The church will be partnering with us as their “Global Outreach Partner”. They don’t want to re-invent the wheel for reaching other countries with the gospel and helping to meet their basic needs. So they have chosen to support us in our ministries. The focus of the video is encouraging their church to live generously. However I think the message is relevant for all of us at any time but especially in the run up to Christmas.
And any way it gives you a picture of what we are doing and where we live. It’s much better than our home videos! Enjoy.
November 30, 2009
So much has happened over the last few weeks I haven’t even mentioned my trip to Liberia. I went to conduct a training on community mobilisation based on our experience here in Uganda. The team in Liberia is at a point where they are on board and convinced by the idea, they just need to know the how. Which was where I came in. I’m looking forward to seeing where they take it.
Leaving Liberia turned out to be harder than expected. I needed to be back and rush up to Lira in time to meet Chris and the team from Elevation Church. Is was a little bit of a race against time. However, obviously the people in Monrovia airport were unaware of this. There had been a mistake when booking my ticket and the name said BLACKHWELL. I noticed before I flew and the airline said there was nothing they could do as they don’t allow name changes after the ticket has been issued. They did however put a note on my ticket stating the correct name. Flying out of Uganda and Kenya there was no problem. Normally I would be worried that no one even opened my passport to compare it to the ticket, but this time I was just thankful. Leaving Liberia was a different story.
I checked in fine, they issued my boarding pass (with the spelling mistake). I went through immigration, they stamped my passport to say I had left Liberia. Then I went to security to scan my hand luggage. This is where the trouble came. The security guard would not let me through as the name did not match my passport. I explained the problem, showed him the note from the airline but he wouldn’t let me through. He told me to go back to the check-in desk and get them to re-issue the boarding pass in the correct name. Back at the check-in desk they were not willing to help – they just said there was nothing they could do as they can only issue boarding passes in the name on the ticket – humm…. so I was stuck.
Walking back to security I started to wonder if I would be stuck in this no man’s land. I had images of Tom Hanks in the film “The Terminal” living in the airport lounge, except he was stuck somewhere with restaurant, chairs, Tv etc. I was in Liberia. Anyway I told the security guard there was nothing the airline could do. He just stood there and refused to let me in. Just when I was starting to think that this situation would never get resolved they call the head of security. I calmly explain to him the problem and show him the note from the airline. He then turns to the security guard and smacks him around the head, tells him off for not doing his job, and explains that he should have read the note on the ticket.
I feel a bit bad for him but quickly go through the scanner and settle in to a spot in the corner of the departure gate – relieved that I wont be living for the foreseeable future!
November 25, 2009
Chris and I had the awesome privilege of hosting a team of senior leadership from Elevation Church, North Carolina. They want to film our projects as a backdrop to a sermon on generousity. We had a great time both on and off the camera. Here are some of highlights and memorable moments of the trip.
- A snake falling out of a tree while we were filming at the HIV testing clinic and Molly stomping on its head to kill it while everyone else went crazy (including Lillian nearly falling off of a bench).
- Chicken peeking the camera during a shoot ~ and the camera guy (Jared) being so “in the zone” that he didn’t even notice.
- Being introduced by a local pastor as “the wife” even though he knows me and has attended a 2-day training I conducted. “The wife” was soon adopted by the whole team.
- Due to a language barrier with my team driver (Law), between us forgetting the lunch and having one of our staff (Augustine) rush out on a motorcycle to bring it to us.
- Being asked to drive the first leg so I could be interviewed and filmed next to the pastor. During the interview I had to refrain from laughing as all I could hear were the two video guys (Jared and Adam) smashing against the windows as the roads were so bumpy. I also turned in to the driver for the whole day.
- Lillian telling Pastor Steven she could preach him under the table.
- John telling Pastor Steven that the little boys name was Gallagher and Steven wondering why “Gallagher” wasn’t responding. Probably because his name was James – John swears that when he asked him his name he said Gallagher.
All in all a great trip. Lots of new friends and we can’t wait to visit the church next time we go to our head office in North Carolina.
November 22, 2009
Words cannot describe the time we had at Kidepo National Park. So, I am going to let pictures tell the story.
View from the lookout tower
Relaxing looking out over the plains
Now, how about that for a room!
Change of location, but still relaxing and enjoying the view.
Fortunately we weren’t in the pool at this point.
All the animals moved aside for this guy.
Blocked from reaching our room.
Smiling ~ but just a little scared. Yes those are lions next to our vehicle.
What better way to end the day. After the game drive a hot bath is waiting for each of us outside our rooms, overlooking the game park. Perfect bliss. Mum really was in heaven!
November 19, 2009
So dry, this is a river
As soon as you drive in to Karamoja it feels like you are in another country. The landscape is vast and the people are unique (well unique for Uganda, they look similar to the Masai or Turkana in Kenya). As mum and dad have visited us a number of times before it was fun to let them experience this very different part of the country.
She makes it look so easy
We stopped at a food distribution and watched as women carried 50kg bags of flour on their heads!
Wonderful women
Then mum and dad spent time with Kristi and her wonderful women’s group helping them understand what it means to be a Christian and starting their journey of discipleship. What a privilege. I was off talking with local leaders about their understanding of gender-based violence. Fascinating but nowhere near as rewarding as helping people come to a decision that will affect their life for eternity.
Memories at Moon
We stayed in Karamoja a few nights. The accommodation was an experience for mum and dad but the company was great. We had a lovely time just hanging out with Ruco and Kristi and Tred. What a great team.
November 18, 2009
Next stop Sipi Falls. We stayed in a quaint little cottage at the base of one of the many water falls. The cottage was great with a few quirks. Having been told there were two double rooms we were amused to find that one was part of the lounge and contained bunk beds, there were no doors between any of the rooms and there was a staircase that led nowhere. However we had a great time relaxing and catching up and the food was home made and very tasty. It wasn’t all relaxing while we were there though. We decided to be ambitious and do the 4 hour walk to see the waterfalls. The first 3 hours were great, beautiful views, cool weather and lots of fun. The last hour was a little different ~ pouring rain. “The mum”, as our guide liked to refer to her as, provided a lot of entertainment for us all in the last hour as she slipped and slid her way down and then up the hillside! Although I have to say that we all slipped and feel at one point or another and Chris’ was by far the most amusing.
30 minutes in ~ all going well!
November 18, 2009
The first stop on the whirlwind tour with my parents was a village outside of Kampala. I was supposed to be joining them but got caught up with something at the office, so I sent them out with my staff. I knew the village was outside of Kampala but I didn’t realise it was a two hour drive on bumpy roads. Welcome to Uganda mum and dad! They had a great day seeing what one community is trying to do to help their orphans who would otherwise not be able to go to school. They are running a basic school in the local church building. They have few resources and limited space but they are providing education for these children who are so eager to learn. Mum had fun before she came gathering educational resources to donate to the school. When she saw the resources they were currently working with she was so pleased she had brought them!
1, 2, 3 . . . .
November 17, 2009
So much has been going on the past few weeks, my parents were here for 10 days, I went to Liberia to conduct a training and we hosted a great team from a church in the US. Unfortunately all these activities have meant that I haven’t had access to the internet or time to let you all in on what has been happening. This week should be less crazy so if you can wait a few days the news will start flowing again.
