Settling in to Life in Uganda

Yesterday, Saturday, I slept in until 9:30. That was pretty well-needed. It is a bit hard to sleep late here, because things get very noisy very quickly, but that's OK. Roosters must crow, children must play, Muslims must pray, and apparently they will forget without a reminder on a loudspeaker! When I woke up, after spending time with God, eating, and sending some emails, several of us interns went to a children's evangelical dance concert put on by a church we interns all visited last week. It was great, and long, four hours to be precise. I tried to post a couple videos from the concert, but I will have to try again when the internet is faster.

Mom wanted to know what my workdays typically look like, so I emailed and told her as best as I could and realized maybe someone else would like to know.

So, we work Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 5. Here's what it has looked like so far:

6:30 - wake up, run/exercise, shower, read Bible and eat breakfast

8:15 - walk over to the compound; it's a duplex with the girls' house on one side and the office on the other. we are in kind of the suburbs of the city, so it is dirt roads, and some medium size houses with walls and razor-wire around them, and then some small houses with goats and chickens running around and no walls, just to give you an idea of the environment we're living and walking around in. It is safe, but we have security guards and the walls, and we don't walk alone at night, because like any other big city, there is sometimes some petty thievery and stuff like that.

8:30- morning prayer with all staff (interns, directors, security guard, office manager, cook, cleaners). I love this. We are already seeing God answer our prayers, and it may seem small but they are still miracles. On Fridays we sing worship music, and I got to lead it this week.

9:00 - begin working. so far, I just finished drawing up some construction plans for a project in Sudan for steel roof trusses. I just drew the design in AutoCad, a drafting program. I didn't learn that program so well in college, but doing a project on it makes you learn really fast all kinds of tricks. Even though we are an NGO (non govermental non-profit), we still hold a high standard of excellence, since we are working ultimately for Jesus, so our directors are very particular and want things to look really nice. I have also just been reading up on some of the Ugandan building codes and trying to learn a structural analysis program called visual analysis. Also, we have gone out to a site in Jinja to do some work (putting nails in roof trusses and staining them) and see the staff there. Also, we went for the day to ARMS (Africa Renewal Ministries) in Gaba, about 15 minutes away, to do some surveying and help them see how to expand their buildings for a University. That was particularly interesting for me, since that is where my sponsor child, Mathias, goes to school. I didn't get to see him, but I am arranging a time when i could hopefully spend the day with him and his family, maybe even go to his church (his dad is a pastor).

1:00-1:30 - lunch. it's really good: rice and beans, or posho - like more solidified gritz, vegetables, sometimes some meat pies, always fruit for dessert.

2:00-5:00 - finish working.

5:00 - this is the time i really want to use (after work) to build relationships with Ugandans. Last night (Friday) we went to a school right down the road from us where they play soccer (it's called football here and everywhere else in the world... why would you call American football that if you hardly use your feet?) every week. It was so fun... it should be a great way to meet friends... that is still one of my biggest prayers: that God will give me 3 great friendships with Ugandans.

7:30 ~ 8:00 - cook and eat dinner, talk with interns/ watch a movie/ read (i'm reading "Let the Nations be Glad" by John Piper).

10:30 - go to sleep (with mosquito net of course, and no blanket because Africa is so hot)