It was so wonderful to hear from all of you at Susan Lindgren! It certainly sounds like you are studying hard and having a good time. I really appreciated your questions about my life here. Here are answers to some of your questions:
*What are the newscasters like? They have two different newscasts each night. One of the newscasts is in English and the other is in L’Ugandan, their local language. They report on the issues happening here in Uganda. Recently a beloved leader died suddenly and many people have been very sad about his death. They also report on good things that are happening here. One story was about a woman who was taking care of several orphans. They also discuss world news and sports. Soccer is the most popular sport here. They call is football. They do not have American football, but they do play rugby. One other interesting fact is that there is only one newscast on one channel.
*What kinds of rocks and minerals do they have here? I have no idea. To be truthful, I have spent all my time with orphans and have not had time to look for this kind of information. However, I can tell you that the soil is a deep rusty red and is extremely fertile. Many things grow easily here, as it is a tropical climate. The bananas and pineapples are AMAZING!! Yummy!!
*Update on the turkey: If you read my last blog, you found out that a 15-kilogram turkey was given to my friend. Can you figure out how heavy a 15-kilogram turkey is in pounds? Anyway, this turkey was tied up outside my house for five days. We fed the turkey and it was well kept. Every morning at 5:30 that turkey would gobble so loud. It was impossible to sleep once the turkey started talking. This Saturday, Patrick took the turkey out to the field and slaughtered it. The only way to get meat is to kill it yourself. I am definitely not used to seeing my dinner alive and then on my plate. It is weird to get used to, but they see it as a part of the life cycle. I will say the turkey was tasty.
I hope I answered your most pressing questions. Keep sending questions and responding to my blog. I really love hearing from you!
My life this week:
This last Wednesday I spent the morning with the staff at International Justice Mission. They are an organization of lawyers who are trying to help widows and orphans get their land and property back. There are currently 16 open cases. Most of the cases have to do with land grabbing. When parents or a spouse die, as they often do here, the land or property is sometimes taken by unscrupulous relatives or neighbors leaving the widow or orphans with no where to live. IJM is seeking to find justice for these widows and orphans. They win or mediate a favorable settlement for almost all of their cases. I will be spending some more time helping them create a way to teach villagers about wills and budgeting. Hopefully, my teaching skills will be well used.
Late Wednesday afternoon, I left with other Corner Stone staff to spend the night 3 hours away at the Leadership Academy for Young Men at what is called “the ranch.” It is called a ranch because there is a great herd of cattle there. They milk the cows and sell the milk in Kampala in order to pay for the operation of the Leadership Academy. The ranch also holds a primary and secondary school for the poorest children in the neighboring villages. My church supports 11 students at the secondary school. (Tommy isn’t that great!) I was fortunate enough to meet these beautiful girls and boys. We sat under an African shade tree and I told them how much those at our church loved them. I encouraged them to work hard and to stay focused. I told them how much God loves them and that they were created for a great purpose. They asked me lots of questions about my family, about America and about my church. Then we had lunch together. It was great to be with them.
The students also told me what they were learning on the ranch. The boys and girls talked about their excitement over finding a “family” to belong to. Many of these children are orphans and Corner Stone is now their family. It is a place where they belong and are loved. It was a beautiful moment of knowing and being known!
This Sunday Veronica, the friend I am staying with, and I met with some widows who are trying to create income for themselves by making lacquered jewelry. Ruth is the coordinator of a group of about 80 widows who are desperately trying to survive in Kampala. Thirty of them are HIV positive. Almost all of them are from the north where the fighting is the worst. We went to church with them and then spent the afternoon eating lunch with the pastor who is caring for this group of women. These widows are totally dependent on God and each other. I will meet with the whole group of widows on Thursday afternoon. I am sure there will be a story to tell.
On Monday, I will meet with some World Vision staff here in town and hopefully visit the abandon babies’ home. On Tuesday & Friday I will l return to the boys home to teach English to street orphans. I first went to the home for street orphans last Friday. Many of these children have been without parents since they were in 9 or 10. After losing their parents they lived alone on the street, which was very scary for them. Take a minute and think about how challenging it would be to be alone and find food and clothes. How would you feel if that happened to you? After some time, the staff of Corner Stone found them and brought them to the home. Many of the boys are excited to have a home and a new “family.” However, many of them made it through 3rd grade and have not gone to school since they found them selves out on the street. Most boys are between 12 & 18 so they are in desperate need of an education. I am one of the teachers who will try to help them get enough English proficiency to get a good job. The picture attached to this blog is of the boys at the home.
Like every other week here, anything can happen and probably will. It is interesting this week we have had more days with electricity, but they have shut off the water. We have had two days with no water. Apparently the landlord is feuding with one of the tenants so she is shutting off the water for everyone here. For the last 24 hours the water has been on so maybe the feud is over. Anyway, I am happy. I am beginning to feel like “I am home” and I am LOVING being with my friend Veronica. Last night we walked into town and went inside a simple wood structure to get a manicure and pedicure. As we sat there the whole community lost electricity. So this man was painting my toenails in the dark. It was quite an experience. Then we walked home under the light of the moon.
Well, I love hearing from you so feel free to email me. However, I am blocked from using my slp email address, so if you have been sending messages to that account I have not received them. If you wish to email me please send it to kari.miller@usfamily.net
Also, be sure to click the pictures link to see the newly added photos. I included pictures of IJM, the ranch, the girl’s leadership school, and Cornerstone. Enjoy! If you have time drop me an email. I love hearing what is happening in your life too!
Much love,
Ms. Miller
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