Power outages, kids, and mud… lots and lots of mud.

Last Saturday (the 27^th) I moved into Ekisa (which means Grace)… well the Ekisa volunteer house. I got there at 6ish and the power went out about an hour and a half later….. it was off until Tuesday (the 30^th).  We had it back on for maybe 2 days then went off again (luckily this time it only lasted a few hours). At this point we have power and we have had it for 3 whole days!!!! Ahhhh…. The joys of Africa :D

The house is great, there are 5 volunteers now, and we all share a room… it feels an awful lot like camp, I’m not complaining. 

We have a lovely living room and kitchen (there is also a dining room, with a large table, but I don’t have that picture… I also assume that you guys don’t want a picture of the bathroom, so I didn’t bother with that)

 My schedule. 
On weekdays I am supposed to be at Ekisa at 9 in the morning. From 9:00 - 10:30 school, 10:30 - 11:00 snack, 11:00 -12:00 school or one on one time (I will explain in a min) 12:00 lunch. From lunch, till 3:30 the volunteers have off, we can walk back to the volunteer house or head into town, or chill at Ekisa…. Just do whatever. From 3:30 -5:30 is school or one on one time. 

For one on one time we have a schedule. The Ekisa kids (not the kids that come for school, but the ones that live here) each have one day a week that they get to go out with a volunteer. What we do depends on the child, the weather, and many things… but basically we can take the kids into town, go on a walk, take them swimming…. Whatever. We just give them a chance to get out of the house. This past week I had not yet been put on the schedule,  so I only went out twice… but the new schedule is posted (which I am now on), so I am sure within no time I will have all kinds of fun pics and stories :)  The two times I did go out were a blast…. Once to the pool (sadly I didn’t have my camera with me :( ) and the other time we went on a short walk and got sodas.

But generally I just get to spend my time playing with kids toys.... oh and you know the kids were there too ;)

…Snuggling with cuties….

…and goofing off with silly little ones.

The walk from the volunteer house to Ekisa is about a 10 min walk. The walk is not bad at all….

 

…Unless it has rained. (which it always does)

On Saturdays and Sundays we get off… we can go hang out at Ekisa or do our own thing. This past Saturday was spent swimming and reading by the pool…. There were also a bunch of monkeys (super hard to get good pictures of them).

I am absolutely loving my time at Ekisa… and tomorrow we are all going to the zoo! I am super excited! (and I am thinking I will probably have enough pictures from the zoo to do another blog update within the next week)

Thank you all for the continued prayer and support. 

Changes in progress :)

Sorry, this is long overdue... cant really blame it on anything but procrastination :P

Updates:

1. My visa has been renewed and my plane ticket booked. I leave Uganda on June 10th. I will be flying to London. There I will have an overnight layover where I will get to see my cousin who lives there. The next morning I will fly to Miami where I will have a short layover, then a quick hop down to Guatemala (arriving the evening of the 11th).

2. Baseball season has begun!!!!!! :D
"They're singing Go, Cubs, go! Go, Cubs, go! Hey, Chicago, what do you say, the Cubs are gonna win today!"

3. (regarding the boys)
No more school!!! Wooo-hoo! Wednesday was the last day of school and Thursday we got the school room all cleaned up.
A  few days ago, as I was packing up my stuff, the boys asked me if they could look at my bandannas.... in the end we all were wearing them and got some fun pictures :) 

Paul lives next door, he is a super fun kid and he hangs out at the house a lot. Saturday was is birthday, so (Sunday afternoon) we went swimming and had cake and ice cream :)

4. Since we are done with school, things are going to be changing a bit. Tonight I am in Kampala again with friends, the Broces. We met them when we were in Guatemala and they have been a huge help since I have been here. (Krister, me, Nick and Annaliese... this picture basically sums up our friendship)

5. Tomorrow (Saturday) I will be moving in to help at Ekisa (I will be there for a few weeks). I am super excited about my time there. It is going to be a great chance to learn about starting up ministries, how they run stuff (and in turn I will be able to apply what I like to my own future plans), and just all kinds of stuff. this is going to be an amazing opportunity for me! (I will try to do another blog update next week with pictures and detail about daily schedule)

6. After Ekisa I am still unsure. I had a general idea, but that has maybe fallen through, so over the next little bit I will be looking into my options. When I have plans in place, I will be sure to update you.

So, thats the update at this point. Like I said, I am hoping to update again soon, but with more detail. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers :)

P.S. On a side note... Krishauna and I took an unexpected journey this last Saturday. We had an unexpected stop at the beach but within no time, we were back on track with our travels.
This is just a reminder to stay safe and prepared each and every Pirate Paterday ;)

A Few Pictures for Your Enjoyment

Brief picture update...

I am getting out a little more for ministry. I am trying to make it out to Ekisa once a week (for all who don't know, it is a home for special needs kids... so it is a great experience).

 

   

Wednesdays are one of my favorite days of the week. On Wednesdays school ends at 1:00 (most days its 3:00) so right as school ends I take off. I head into town and meet 2 ladies and we head over to the womans prison for a bible study. I am getting to know an love the women there. One lady, Carol, made me a gift...

After the bible study at the prison, get some food and kill some time, then at 7:00 I head over to someones house for a bible study on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

I saw this one day and thought it was funny, and I have seen more like it. They will actually fine you $8 for peeing on a wall?...

To wrap this up, I shall share some picture of the kids from the area that we live...

"The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my Go is my rock, in whom I take refuge." -Psalm 18:2

Nile River

Update from Jinja

Sorry, its been a while....

Well, as many of you already know the first part of being here was very challenging for me. I was really hard for me, being so far away from my family, it got me really discouraged. But things are getting better...

I have made an awesome friend, Kendra, who had been a life saver for me. She has a large house that has a few extra bedrooms and she lets people come and hang out all the time. Her house has become an amazing get away for me and I got to spend this past weekend with her. She runs a design business here and she highers Ugandans who have graduated with art/design majors, so it is also giving me a chance to make some other friends. (1 or 2 of which are going to help me go clothes shopping in the next week or so... in need of some new jeans).

I am, also, trying to get out more and get involved in different ministries.

On Wednesday I went with 2 ladies from my church and joined them at a bible study in the ladies prison. It was really fun. The woman (and some of their kids) came in the room, the spend some time singing... and since we are in Africa, "singing" also includes a drum and dancing. Then one of the 2 ladies that I went with stood up and told a Bible story 2 times, then had the ladies tell it back... it was very basic but just what these woman need. It was a great experience and I am hoping to join them on a regular basis.

There is also a home for kids with special needs near by (Ekisa). I am getting to know some of the volunteers there, and I plan on hanging out there a lot. I have gone over twice for short visits so far, but I am hoping to get out there about once a week. It is very similar to what I want to do here eventually, so getting to know the kids and the volunteers/the girls that started it... is a great opportunity... and really fun :)

I also want people to know, I teach school to the boys every week day from 8:30 to 3:00 (on Wednesdays we end at 1:00)... during that time I often have facebook pulled up and I do stuff on there between helping the boys.... I do NOT spend all day long on facebook (well, I guess I kinda do, but most of the time in between posts and such I am grading school and answering questions).

Food for thought:
You know you are living in another country the 3 things you are most excited about for your weekend of "luxury" are... electricity (instead of solar power), a washing machine and hot showers.

Just so all know, if you want I can add you to an e-mail update list... but all that is is I will e-mail you to let you know that I updated my blog. (That way you don't have to check my facebook or blog to see if I have done an update.) If you want to be added just send me a quick e-mail and I will add you to the list... carissa@hopeforhome.org

Thanks for all the prayers :)

And so it begins...

On Sunday we celebrated 2 of the boys’ birthdays. Kenny turned 10 on Wednesday and Albert turned 9 on Sunday. Their dad was out of town most of last week, so Kenny’s celebration was held off until Albert’s birthday...one big joint celebration. We went to King Fisher (a swimming pool and park area next to lake Victoria) to celebrate. We had a picnic lunch, cake and ice-cream, and swam.

Anna

Isaiah

Birthday boys, Kenny and Albert

Monday was supposed to be our first day of school, but most of the morning consisted of cleaning up the school room. It was quite the task. (and anyone who knows me would be surprised and proud to hear… I took charge and the room is now clean. Me… I cleaned! And it looks great!) So, Tuesday was actually our first day of school. So far, it's going pretty well. It is a little difficult coming in part way through the year, not knowing how things go, but I am catching on. I am asking a lot of question... and luckily, this first week is going to be a little more laid back as I'm catching on.

Pictures of my room...

Right now this half of the room looks a little plain, but in the next day or 2 a wicker couch this is going to be moved in...

But the rest of the room is beautiful...

In case you were wondering... 76 pictures hanging up. 

Still needing prayer for a few things. 

1. Finances. (If anyone would like to help, e-mail me at carissa@hopeforhome.org)

2. Homesickness
3. That I will make a few good friends

...Until next time :)

Greetings from Jinja, Uganda

So far there is not too much of an update, but I will go ahead and do a short one.

Most of my time thus far has been spent attempting to get over jet lag and getting to know the family and routine.

There are 7 kids in the family, 6 boys (Andrew, Tugume, Kenny, Albert, Isaiah and Ezra)  and 1 girl (Anna). All of the boys but the oldest (Andrew) are in this picture below. He is spending break with some family, but he will be coming back soon. Stella (the older girl in the back) is a friend of the family and was just spending some time here. She was my room mate for the first few days, but she is on her way home now. I am going to miss her.

Anna -->
is the only girl in the family. She is quite the ham (as you can probably tell by the picture). 




I am experiencing some new thing (some I did deal with my last trip). Sleeping with mosquito nets, dealing with solar power (so only being able to charge things during the day), independent trip to an internet cafe (I sure do hope I can find my way back) and for "showers"... heat up water, and bath in a large bucket.

I start school with 3 of the boys on Monday (the youngest 2 kids are not in school and the oldest 2 go to school).  When I return to the house I will make up schedules and school plans.

Prayer Requests:
1. I am a little nervous for school starting. Prayers that it will go smoothly, the kids will listen to me, and that I will quickly catch on to the way things go.
2. I am really struggling with being awa from my family. Prayers homesickness and for jet lag (because when I am awake late at night its the worst).
2. I am still lacking much of the funds and our credit card bill will be due very soon. Please be praying fervently.

I plan on updating my blog again in about a week (after school gets going).
Thanks for your prayers and support.