Moving the football field

As I get closer to the end of my time in Lira, I don’t know what to write; I always have mixed emotions. The construction should be over by now, but it isn't. We have placed 5 out of 30 rolls of razor wire, the remaining 25 are split between two shipments on their way from Kampala. One of those shipments was supposed to be today, but it wasn't. I have become used to this. Henry still showed up, with one mason, and two helpers. The boys from the orphanage that have been working, Bonny and Walter, were here as well; they put in another day of work. I felt like most of the work today was unessential. but we did finish up the wall. There was one corner that I found that was not connected to the original wall which was built by out first foreman, Nelson. We closed that gap, and then Henry and the others worked on the wall by the main gate. He told me that one side of the wall was lower than the other by almost 3 courses. This was true, but I didn't think too much of it. He wanted it to be right, so they spent a good portion of the day removing the razor wire that we already had placed, and adding a few courses of brick. The project will now fall into Felix’s hands, and he will be responsible for completing the razor wire. 

We placed some more tile at the water tap, the tiles that Henry placed are finished. He picked up some broken tiles for the trough that carries filtered tank water into the gutter, and put Walter to work on that. One of the girls, Alum Sara, decided that she wanted to try her hand at tile, so she and Walter finished laying the broken tiles. 

I kept busy of course, I took down my water bottle gutters, and started to clean things up. I took Uncle Francis down to the pump house and trained him in the ways of the pump. When I spoke with Betty last night, we agreed that Francis should be the one to pump the water. We met with all the children as an assembly by the pump house and explained to them that from now on, the water in the tank is for drinking only. That means if we see you using this water to wash your clothes, or bathe, we will punish you by making you collect rubbish or “slashing” (cutting the grass). We explained to them how clean the tank water is, and how the tap water makes you sick. We explained that the water in the tank is very expensive, and when we use a lot, it costs pastor Jackson a lot of money. The children all nodded when asked if they understood, then went back to playing their games.

I showed Francis the charging stations that Joe and I installed, and told him how I was doing it. I also showed him where to place the chargers at night so that the rats don’t eat the chargers. I also made him in charge of the chicken coop. I collected some scaffolding that was around and set it inside the coop so that the chickens could perch on the steps of the scaffolding. It worked out perfectly. I wanted to go down and see the chickens perched on the bars, but it is raining, so I think it is more important that I don't get wet. I cleaned more rubble from the construction, there is so much more than I can clean alone. I even convinced the boys to move their football playing to a different side of the orphanage. I had them walk around in the grass and collect rocks, and broken bricks. I removed small bushes, and filled divots in the ground. The boys got really excited and wandered out into the wetland, cut down several trees and brought them back to make goals. We set the goals up, and the playing started. I then had opportunity to go do some things without distraction. 

After the sun started to go down, I had a few of the P6 kids from the other day in my house, and started to help them understand more of the math problems from the previous night with Mum Betty. I was having fun being the math teacher. I now see why the math teachers were so anal about having you show your work. I really want them to understand what they are doing, so when they do shortcuts and don't show how they got their result, I would tell it was wrong because they didn't show their work. 

I ate dinner at Mum Lydia’s house, she made some delicious pork with cabbage. It puts the regular beans and posho to shame. Last night Matoke, tonight pork and cabbage; I am becoming spoiled. 

Filters installed, last brick laid.

Soon, I will not wake up to the sound of children laughing, and hurrying off to school. I wont have children come up to greet me as they come home. I wont see Henry’s smiling face, I wont get the satisfaction from working and sweating out in the african sun. I wont be able to wander around in flip flops, shorts, and a cut-off. I will miss very many things, but will be relieved that the project is over; bought and payed for by God. The children are safe. 

The last few workers. 

I went to pump shortly after I woke up. I opened the pump house just as a child came up to me and told me that Uncle Francis was calling me. I thought to myself, “Okay, Ill go in just a little while.” Another child came up, then another; all telling me that Uncle Francis was calling me. I closed the pump house and made my way to where he was. He was sitting with a boy on the foundation of one of the homes. As I walked up, I made a big deal about how he sent so many people to get me. He said, “I am sorry to have disturbed you, but there is a matter that I wanted to bring to your attention.” The boy that was sitting with him had been pointed out by some of the other boys as a thief. This boy was not taking another boys petty socks, he was taking materials and equipment from the storage and selling them at close to nothing to a man in the community. After questioning him, he pointed out several other boys that were involved. There were nine of them all together. They moved as a group and took whatever they could. The tools that they stole were close to brand new, and they sold for 700 shillings each (8% of the original cost). They are responsible for dismantling the solar system that I mentioned before. I don't understand how someone from this orphanage, a child, could be the thief. They were basically stealing from themselves. I pity the man that was taking advantage; causing them to stumble. Last I checked, God doesn’t much appreciate those kinds of people. Felix came and talked to the boys for the first half of the day. He told me, when I came up to greet him, that he had come prepared with his beating stick. He thought that we had caught an adult thief from outside, not an orphan. While they took care of the situation, I went back to taking care of the pump house. 

I cleaned the top tank today and gave it the same treatment as the bottom tank. It was very clean before I began, but I was able to rid the tank of debris, and frogs. I then installed the carbon filter and filled half the tank. I spoke to Mum Betty, who came late last night, and told her that since the construction is finished, the tank water should be restricted for drinking water only. It should cut back on the water and electrical bill.

While I was on top of the tank, I felt a little splash of water hit my feet. I pulled my head out of the tank, and looked down. Irene and Sharon were cupping their hands with the siphoned water and tossing it up trying to get me wet. That was it. I started pulling the broom out that I had been using to sweep the sediment to the drain in the bottom of the tank and flinging it on them. Once they got a cup and started tossing larger quantities up on to me, it was war. I climbed down the tower, took the main line from the tank, and turned it wide open. It has plenty of pressure. They could not hide, they could only get soaked, and they did.

I showed some of the kids what a siphon was, they could not believe their eyes when they saw it. they thought that I had some sort of machine in my hand as I held the tube, pumping the water out. They asked, “How does it do that?!!” I would just tell them gravity, but it still seemed a little unrealistic to them. 

The bricks were actually very strong.
I climbed all over them. 

I rode with Henry during the lunch hour to see a machine that makes brick using manpower. It emphasizes leverage to generate “8 tons” of compression. Clay and sand compress with a small amount of cement into brick. I took pictures of the machine, and then pictures of the wall that it makes. It is quite impressive for something that does not consume some kind of fuel. He then took me to his home. He keeps telling me that he really wants me to know who he is. He was very proud of the poster of Jesus that adorns his living room. He is a single man, and he is single, he says, because his wife was growing tired of how often he talked about Jesus, and she told him to choose between the two of them. 

The brick machine.

Back at the orphanage, the construction workers were placing their final bricks on top of the wall in the wetlands, and Mum Betty had taken over the main room of my house with all the children in primary 6. she had noticed my blackboard and asked me if she could help the children with their math using my blackboard. “It isn't my blackboard, It would make me feel good to see it used though”, I told her. I got to go in and help her teach some basic, basic algebra and geometry. It was a little difficult; some of the terminology is completely different; I say, “obtuse angle”, they say “outside” angle. 

Mum Betty teaching the P6 class math.

My evening ended with a delicious meal of Matoke and pork. It was very good. I just wanted to keep chewing, and not swallowing; keep all that good flavor in my mouth. I had a nice conversation with Betty while she helped the children write their letters. She kept asking them what they wanted to say to their sponsors, and then writing exactly what they said. She was telling me about a time when one of the children said, “I love you like ice cream”. I told her if I read that in one of my letters, I would be happy all week. I spoke to Pastor Eve on the phone about maintenance, and then ducked out into my room where I am crawling into my bed with clean sheets, and my clean, but somehow sweaty body. I hope I get tons of sleep and have some amazing doxycyclene (Malaria medicine) dreams. 

Razor Wire

My time has here, as you may have noticed, has not been without frustration. I believe any missions situation comes with a certain level of frustration. I hate my human nature; to dwell by default on things that are not so good. Unfortunately, I tend to use my blog as a mild form of venting, which I think is therapeutic for me, yet at the same time is all that people who read my blog know, and I wish this were not the case. I apologize for that. There are many things that happen in a day which are good. Perhaps this is why you typically see long term missionaries as couples and not as singles. One can lean on the other and lift him or her up when they are frustrated. Yesterday I suggested a team coming and teaching a basic accounting course. I was serious, yet I have not asked to see what system they have in place and put the cart before the horse because I am sure that they have something of that nature. I have had delinquent bills before, and I don’t have 60 children to look after, so I apologize if it seemed harsh. It is simply a reality. I do not wish to portray anything that happens here in a bad light, yet because of my frustration it seems to be that way. This orphanage is constantly growing and changing, and many changes have been made; many changes will also be made in the future. It is not right for me to highlight weaknesses for the world to see, only to help them strengthen those areas. The work that Christian Life Ministries is doing here is wonderful.

The last few days when I have glanced out the window to see what was happening in the mornings, I have seen some of the mums outside with their hoes. They have been doing small amounts of work around the orphanage. They have noticed the retaining walls, and the places where I want to fill and have been caring for them. It makes me very happy to see them taking ownership. Yesterday I had a conversation with them about burning garbage. They were burning a large pile of garbage just a short distance from the houses. I mentioned to them that from now on, it would make the orphanage much more beautiful to burn the garbage outside the gate. The mums all agreed. Hopefully this is the last garbage heap that will be burned inside.

When I went to clean up the termite mound that was inside Home 8, I noticed a large pile of dirt right next to their garbage mound and asked if this were from a termite mound. Mum Tabitha told me that this was the dirt from the termite mound in home 8. The mums had gone in and dug it out before I could get to it! 

We have reduced the number of workers today due to the small portion of wall remaining to be built. There are 5 Masons, and 8 helpers, with a total of 13 workers instead of 29. I paid the workers that we did not retain and went to double check my numbers. Still there were problems with workers not being marked on Henry’s roster. They would say they had worked for 3 days, yet the roster showed 2. I recognized the people that were saying this and agreed with them. I have seen them for the last 3 days. When I got these issues sorted out, I went to make sense of the money on paper.

I was looking in my bible for the proverb that talks about money sprouting wings and flying away like eagles. I found it, it is Proverbs 23:5. I read on and saw a few rows down, “Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.” There is no need to worry. If our neighbors have done any wrong against this place it is on their own heads; having God to answer to. God is perfectly just, and if he is the defender, then we are fortunate indeed. I was thinking of ways to encourage myself. And had an idea. I erased my blackboard, and started writing verses that I would come across in my bible that made me feel happy. I moved in no particular order, but found many verses that gave me strength. I asked some of the children and mums what their favorite verses were, and wrote them on the board. Standing back and looking at the board I started to notice a theme to the verses. Each verse reminded me of an event that took place here in the last 2 months. God is good. 

I worked a lot on the water tanks today. The bottom tank was so disgusting; when the water was off, the children were leaning down in with their buckets to get water for washing their clothes, dropping things in while at it. Many of the boys seem to have a thing for throwing garbage into holes. I saw this a few years back in Seta for the water collection system. I removed the drain plug on the lower tank, and got a broom. slowly as it drained, I began sweeping the gunk from the sides of the tank. The water was black with debris as the muck swirled around in black clouds. The broom would vanish in the darkness immediately after setting it in. It was hot and smelly inside. As the water got lower, I put Henry’s pair of rubber boots on, and squeezed my body down into the tank, being careful not to touch the sides. My broom had removed most of the gunk, but was afraid of what might still be living on the surface. When the water drained to the level of the intake for the pump, I noticed something sticking out of the pipe. At first I thought it was a piece of mosquito netting, I had seen some in the tank before. I built up some courage and using only my pointer finger and thumb, pulled a bag out of the pipe. Inside the bag were four AA Batteries; nice and corroded. I thought to myself, “that must have been a very logical decision by some child; to discard their old batteries into the water that everyone drinks.” I grabbed some of the hose that we had been using to move water on the construction site and created a siphon in the tank; vacuuming all the sediment. When I finished it was as clean as it could get. Jumping out of the tank I cut an old mosquito net and created a screen which I duct taped to the top of the tank, then closed the lid and screwed it shut. No child is going to open it again. No frogs, no mosquitos, no batteries, soap, sticks, rocks, mosquito netting; nothing is going to get in. I drilled two very tiny holes using self tapping screws just below the lid so that when the tank was full you would see a tiny spout of water coming from the side of the tank. I did this to the top tank as well so that as it fills, the water does not come raining down on everything as an indication of it being filled. 

After the lower tank was filled, I started back to work removing construction debris from the orphanage. I take old and broken bricks to low elevation spots and fill. I backfill my retaining walls with excavation dirt, and collect garbage. Henry worked with Walter and Bonny installing razor wire. I am very excited to see the razor wire go up on top of the wall. This signals the end. It is the final touch on the wall. The orphanage will now be protected. As I cleaned up debris, Mum Unice came out to help me remove the rubble from in front of her house, and the chicken coop. Then the rain came, and I filled everyones buckets with the tiny little water bottle gutters.

Thieves and termites

Last night I woke up in the middle of a rain storm. I went to check on my collection system to see how well it was working, when I felt something bite my ankle. I moved my torch to my ankle to see a very large ant dangling from my skin. I quickly and almost fearfully swatted it from my leg when I noticed some more ants crawling across the floor, up the leg of the table and piled on top of the spoon that I had been using to stir my tea that evening. They were sugar ants, and I could not believe the amount that were there. I just prayed that they wouldn't climb the leg of my bed and attack me when I was sleeping. I climbed back into bed, and tucked my mosquito net in, then fell back asleep.

I feel a little dirty, and am becoming ripe because of the water being disconnected somewhere down the line. The water that I collected with my water bottle gutter, I saved for drinking for the children, and for cooking since those are two necessary items. I have suffered on the other hand with not bathing for the last few days. I have become used to bathing every day out of a bucket, but having no water makes even that a challenge. 

No words.

Mum Tabitha called me over to one of the homes; Home 8, Esther House. This house is empty at the moment. Mum Tabitha decided that it should be opened to allow some of the children to go inside where they can read under the solar lights, since they cant concentrate in their homes. Shortly after going in, it was reported back to Tabitha by one of the older boys that the lights were not working. After a closer look at the lighting system, all of the wires, battery, regulator, fuse, bus bar, almost everything was gone. The light bulbs, the fixtures, and the solar panel on the roof remained. I am puzzled. I asked how and when, yet no one seems to know anything. They said that the locks that they use are cheap, they are easily picked, and then replaced to look as though they were never opened. They handed me a lock, and I had to scoff.. It is little more than a tiny suitcase lock that you would expect to find on a new set of luggage. As I looked through the house, it also became shockingly obvious that there was a termite problem due to the giant termite mound that is forming right there in the middle of one of the rooms. I can not understand how things like these happen around here. To me it seems very simple to monitor all of these things, yet as an outsider looking in, it appears that they are trying to juggle several things in the air when they don't know how to juggle. I told Mum Tabitha to not buy cheap locks ever again, and I told Henry to get me some Termite and Ant pesticide when he went into town. The pest killer is 8,000 shillings ($3) per bottle. That is easily affordable. This makes me wonder what kind of accounting system do they have here? Is Tabitha given money to take care of small problems like this, or is each Mum responsible on their own? I cant do anything about the stolen property, but I will go into the house and tear down the mound. 

Henry finished off the tile for the faucet.

Just as I got my total water collection system rigged up, the sun came out, and the water came back on. I think I will dismantle it and move it to one of the other houses so that they can use it when the rain comes back. There were several men here when I walked back up to the house after checking on construction. They were from the water bureau. It seems that a water bill has been unpaid for some time and they were ready to switch off the water. We explained to them that it has been off for two days. I inquired about the amount of the bill, and for how long it has been unpaid. It was for 280,000 shillings ($107) and has been delinquent for 2 months. Again, my little red flag goes up concerning the accounting and accountability structure. Perhaps a great project would be to send a number of accountants to Uganda and help them setup an easy accounting system? This amount does not reflect the construction. Talking with Mum Lydia, she told me that the water bill will most likely reach somewhere in the 600,000 shilling ($230) range. I have no doubts this is true. 

I stood on top of the water tower today to take a nice picture of the wetlands wall. There is one small portion to finish on the green wall, and about half of the wetlands wall to construct. I do not see them finishing this today, but perhaps Henry will surprise me. Concrete is being mixed, mortar is being mixed, bricks are being moved, and strings are being adjusted. The gate columns will be poured today; if they are not I will just say the exact same thing tomorrow, so stay tuned. 

Water Bottle Gutter

As long as I can remember, I have been a big time day-dreamer. I got in trouble for it all through school. In college I didn't get punished for it until I had to take tests, but somehow, I passed. Perhaps it is actually a gift that God has given to me. I think I have an ability to imagine things and come up with creative ideas that give me a great desire to do those things. Today I was thinking about a space in the orphanage that I am calling, “The Rhino Dead Space”. It is an area between the wall and the Rhino that is irregularly shaped, it has terrible soil, and is in a remote place in the orphanage. I love being in people’s back yards where they have taken weird spaces and turned them into something that makes you feel very comfortable, or something very useful. The first thing that I thought of was privacy. This dead space is already away from everything in the orphanage. There is really no action anywhere near it. My thought was to wall it off with an opening to serve as a doorway with an arch made out of brick going over the door. I could level the dirt in the space, bring in some good soil, plant grass, and have a comfortable area to relax. This would be good for visitors, or if the mums or children just wanted a nice place to escape and read or something. Then the thought of mission teams came to mind. I thought of the numerous times that the mums have been crammed into a house to do their lessons with our team. I had the idea of having some of the masons create a very smooth surface on the wall on which we could paint a blackboard. This would turn this funky space not only into an outdoor private space, but one that could be used as a classroom during the day time. I believe the bottom of the foundation of the wall is higher than the top of the foundation of the Rhino, so I thought I could build a small retaining wall that would hold back the dirt supporting the wall’s foundation, and fill the retaining wall, making a space for flower or herbs that could be used for cooking. With the ground leveled, and the blackboard in place, I think that this would be a very pleasant place to spend an afternoon, or to hold a bible study. 

I did not do very many things today. I felt very tired all day, and eating too much beans and posho seemed to send me into a coma. I try not to sit down here after I eat, but today I did; and it took over. I removed some of the dirt from our water hole for the workers, and did a small bit of tilling some garden space. This morning I saw several of the Mums down by the construction site with their hoes preparing the soil for gardening, it gave me so much joy. Though this wall cut off much of the land that they were used to having, we have opened up a good portion that will now be used for gardening. The odd shaped spaces that the wall has made I think can be made into places that will be very comfortable; more so than normal shaped spaces. I keep thinking of Italy, where there are old walls and buildings everywhere. There are tons of ridiculous little spaces that make you wonder what drugs the planners were taking, but they are some of the most wonderful places around. They make you feel good simply standing in them. I am excited to change some of the spaces in this place, but I am sad that I will not be able to do that this time, perhaps in the future...

Today is day two without water. I am starting to feel bad, because I have a few boxes of bottled water sitting in my room, and as people are starting to get more thirsty, they keep asking me for a drink of water. The water that I was holding for tonight’s drinking water in the bottom tank was removed by the children last night. They needed water for washing their clothes, so they opened up the lid and leaned down into the tank removing basically all of the remaining water. Tonight I think they will be very thirsty. I tried explaining this to them, but there are too many in too many different places. The ones that did not hear me got the water anyways. I believe there is some construction going on in another area which has cut our line. I don't know if it was by accident, or on purpose. The rain, however, has come this evening; God has provided water. It has been raining for a good hour and a half now. I quickly devised a system to efficiently catch the rain water. Rather than setting the bucket down below where the most water falls from the roof, I attached with duct tape, some hose to an empty water bottle that I cut into a funnel with my knife and wired it to a nail that is just above the valley of the roof. I have been filling up buckets very fast. It makes me happy. Now while it is still raining, I am storing all the water in a very large cooking pot that is sitting under the table in my main room. Every now and then I check the buckets, and dump the full one into the Pot. 

The workers progressed well despite the lack of water. We have formed up the columns for hanging the gate. These will be poured tomorrow. We did everything we could to get enough water for the mortar team. We almost dried up the hole that I dug, and had to move down the road to the next closest water hole, which is about 100 meters away. We finished the green wall, and have moved everyone down the finish up the wetlands wall. Having the gate columns poured, and the wetlands wall finished, the last order of business will be the razor wire. I don't know how much it will cost for labor, or how fast it will move, but I am thinking it may be a day job. This means that the Wednesday estimation will move to thursday. This is all pending on when the razor wire arrives. 

Wetlands Gate and Tree Starters

Every day I get a surprise, some days more than one. We have been without power for a few days. Today it returned. I quickly plugged my computer in and started charging all my electrical things. The mums flooded to me with their cell phones; as did the workers. The pump house looked like a spiderweb of wires strewn all about the place. I have to be careful of the rats though, I have found that their absolute favorite food is cell phone chargers. I am telling you, I think if you want to catch a mouse, use a cell phone charger on your trap instead of peanut butter. You will catch them like crazy. It is irresistible to them. 

New mango tree to replace the old one
that didn't make it.

I went out to the tap to wash off my hands. I turned the lever to find that there was no water. I thought, “this is a new low for the water pressure.” I looked at the water meter to see that it was not flowing, no water coming out the faucet, no water flowing into the tank. Another surprise! Earlier in the day I had pumped 1500 Liters of water and was now realizing that this was all we were going to get for an uncertain amount of time. The workers got their water from the hole that I dug for mixing mortar, and since the children were all at school it was not a huge deal to not have water. I told a few of the mums to go and collect their drinking water, because soon, there would be no water. I tried to limit everyone who was using the water; they have a tendency to leave the water on full pressure and not watch their bucket or jug many times way over-filing, or missing the container all together. It drives me crazy, so I stood there and regulated the water consumption. if it was for drinking, they had an unlimited amount that I was willing to give them; if they had a container. for washing or anything else I rationed it. As soon as I left my post, they went crazy and used all of the rest of the water. Children then kept coming to me telling me that there is no water. It was one of those moments where there wasn't anything I could do, so I would just nod my head and agree with them. I have left a small amount of water in the lower tank. If there is no water tomorrow, then it will become drinking water. 

When I first started the work here I was surprised to find that food is provided by the contractor, who charges the owner for it. So a cost I had not expected to pay was for food to feed all the workers every day. This meant I had to but them plates as well. There was no need for forks, they use their hands. I have run out of food before, which causes a big dilemma because I have to borrow from the children until I can buy more. I just wish someone would tell me before I am out. Right now, I am praying that God will stretch the food for this last week of construction. My next surprise for the day was when someone came up to me and told me that there were no plates on which to serve the workers their food. I didn't know what to think. I have purchased over 60 plastic dishes which is twice the number of any crew that we have had. I asked them, “Where did they all go? we had enough on saturday... what happened to them?” There was no response. They only told me that they weren't there. I did not have the time to go into town to buy more plates for them, nor the desire, so I started to ask the mums for plates that I could borrow. Slowly, I collected the 26 that I needed to feed the workers. While I was collecting them, Francis the cook told me to go and resume my other work, that this was something that I should not have to worry about. I looked at him and asked him if he was taking over, and he replied, “Yes”. So, I decided not to worry about it and went back to what I was doing. Later this evening, the mums came up to me and told me that they did not get their plates back. ...sigh.

I took some mortar and used more broken bricks to make another small retaining wall today. I do not know how long this one will hold up, but it should help with some erosion. I find that there is also something pleasing about laying brick. I can be very anal, and make the lines very straight. I decided to play with my string today and make a curve in the small wall. 

Mum Lydia and Mum Kevin doing
a little labor planting trees.

I went into town and purchased some starter trees today. I picked up some Avocado, Mango, Jackfruit, Orange, Papaya, and Guava trees. I brought them back and recruited some of the mums to help me plant them around the orphanage. The taller trees I tried to plant in locations where they would shade the homes in the evenings or around the perimeter, giving the orphanage more privacy. The shorter trees I planted down below where they are in the wet soil. The mums asked me if this was good for the trees, and my general idea is yes, if they have access to water constantly, I would think they would produce larger fruit, but I am no horticulture guru. 

Of course, the gate is delivered on a bicycle. 

We received the old gate from Henry's metal shop that had been repaired. We set it into concrete on the wetlands wall, and the masons continued to build up from the waist-high wall. We have 15 workers that are mixing mortar, moving mortar, and moving brick, and we have 11 masons laying brick, and we are about to move to scaffolding due to the height of the wall. It is all coming together down there. 

Keep praying for the project’s completion. It is getting close, Henry says he is shooting for wednesday for the completion of the project.

Palm Sunday

This boy's name is Nicolas and he used to cry
when he saw either Joe or I.

I was startled when they brought the first person past me; practically dragging her. The man dragging her had his arms around her torso, grabbing hold of her wrists. Her feet were scrambling as he drug her through the crowd of people to the front of the room where he placed her on the floor and let her go. There she lay, flailing her arms and legs and wailing loudly. I was so shocked I didn't really know what to think. Then the next one came. This one’s ankles were being carried by one man, and her torso by another. One by one they were brought up to the front of the room and the preacher shouted at the top of his lungs, “In Jesus’s name” over and over. Then he began to shout, “Fire, Fire, Fire” over and over. I sat and prayed to God that if this were real, that he would carry the demons, or whatever was wrong with these people away, but if not, may they just stand up and return to their seat. I am not used to this sort of thing. I could not help but disbelieve that it was happening before my eyes. They eventually got up and walked back to their seats as if nothing had happened. This went on periodically throughout the service. The minister talked about when Jesus entered Jerusalem briefly, and then talked at length basically repeating the same thing several times in several different ways. My plastic chair chiseled into the hard packed dirt that made up the floor of the church. The sun beat down on the tin roof that shielded us at the cost of sweat. There were tiny holes throughout the roof and walls casting circles of light throughout the sanctuary. The chairs were crammed in so tight that shoulders were touching, and a mild body odor drifted past my nose constantly. The speakers were projecting at capacity causing me to wince every time the pastor made a sound that sent air from his mouth.

Henry wanted so desperately to bring me to his church. He walked to the front of the room and announced to 150 people that engineer, Adam Neil was in attendance. My head ducked down slightly as I heard my name. Every head turned to look at me; it was obvious who Adam Neil was. He told the congregation that I had given the church 1,580 bricks. The church started cheering and clapping. People were touching me and saying, “Apoio”, which means “thank you” into my ears. Henry was talking about a portion of wall that we constructed before our surveyor had come out to tell us where our property lines were. When we finally were shown the location of the boundary stones, a portion of the wall extended into someone else’s property. Henry told me that we should break the wall down brick by brick and use them on the wall in the wetlands. I told him, “Henry, time is money. It is cheaper to buy more brick then to use a worker breaking the wall down.” He asked me if we were going to leave it where it was, and I told him yes. He then asked me if he could have the brick if he were to demolish it himself. I said yes, so he replied by telling me he will break the wall brick by brick, very carefully and donate the brick to start the construction of his church. “After this project is finished, you can break the wall as carefully as you want.”, I told him. 

The service ended when one of the pastors brought out a Rooster and said, “In an effort to contribute to the building fund, this cock has been donated and will be auctioned today.” I never carry a bunch of cash with me, but sometimes I wish I did. I would have bought the Rooster for the children. We need a good rooster for the hens. It ended up selling for 25,000 shillings (almost $10). Then the preacher dismissed the congregation, and asked for people who needed more prayer to step forward. Henry ran up to the front along with half of the people in the church, so I just waited in my seat as several people came up to me and asked for my contact. 

I took zero pictures today, so
this is from a few days ago.

After church today I put my shorts and cut-off shirt back on and went outside. I found my wheelbarrow, hoe, and shovel and went to work backfilling my retaining wall. As I worked, the children came up to me; bursting with curiosity. Many of the younger kids just wanted to try and swing the hoe. I asked them if they wanted to help me, and many of them said, “Yes.” So, I had a crew of child labor working for free digging and moving dirt. There were about 10 of them. It was very nice to simply point to where I wanted the dirt to go. However, working with kids is much more frustrating than working with someone that knows the plan. They have more energy then they know what to do with, and end up being overly hard on the tools. I had to explain to one of them how much one wheelbarrow costs so they understood what it would take to replace one when it breaks. When we finished for the day, I was glad. I feel that I have been getting short tempered with some of them. There are definitely a few that like to push buttons, and don't know when to stop. My problem is that I started as a buddy, and now when it is time to be serious, they can not make the switch. 

This is day 2 without power. Still no drinking water for the kids, no cell phone charging, and I will not be able to send another update until it returns, because my computer’s battery is down to 10%.

I have 1 week in Lira starting now. Then I return to Seta for 1 day, then back to the USA.

The Garbage Dilemma

One of the girls here that has been following
me around; just wanting to hold my hand.

There are two things that I really love to do when it comes to work; sweeping, and digging. Both of these tasks produce results that you can see and feel good about immediately after you finish them. Typically while the workers are laying brick and mixing mortar, I will sneak away with a hoe, shovel, and a wheelbarrow do do some digging in another corner of the compound. There is plenty of places that need care around the orphanage. When they excavated for the wall, they left big mounds of dirt that are becoming more compact as it sits. I have been removing what I can from these places and taking the dirt to the retaining wall. I am concerned that if I do not finish backfilling this place that it will remain the way it is. The Mums and the Children don't seem to have very much time or desire to beautify the place in which they live. 

I can clean up garbage, even make it into a fun game, yet it does not catch on. They simply have no trigger in their brain that tells them to throw garbage in the garbage can even though they are standing 10 feet away. The garbage is discarded onto the ground and left for the morning when the Mums all come out of their houses and literally sweep the dirt floor and collect the debris. All the children love to get my empty water bottles. I thought this was great at first. They can have their own water bottle and drink good water when they want it. The only problem is that they either think of it as a toy, or as soon as they set it down another child steals it from them and it then becomes a toy. I find an amazing number of water bottles on the ground and in the bushes. I can not go out into the wetlands and dig without hitting a discarded jug, plastic bag with garbage in it, an old piece of clothing, or a destroyed shoe or sandal. The place in which they live is not a garbage dump; garbage is not supposed to be everywhere. This becomes very frustrating. The problem is not that they have no place to throw their garbage; we provided burn barrels, it is a lack of education. Their mums do not teach them to throw trash in one place, because they don't do it. I used to think they littered because they had no pride in their home, but the more logical conclusion is that its just the way Uganda is. How long ago did the USA begin fining for littering? Uganda does not have the infrastructure to enable garbage collection yet. However, in my head I think, “Is it still possible to make the people living within these walls throw their garbage away? Is it possible to control and monitor 60 children who barely speak my language if their mums don't even do it? They don't care. Garbage is a part of their lives. This is one thing Americans need to understand when they come. Here, garbage isn't a big deal, even though it kills me that they don't care. 

You can see the clothes lines with
poles in the background

I got my satisfaction. Yesterday the mums washed a huge pile of clothes and bed sheets while the children were in school. They placed them all on the clothes lines. The rain came shortly after they placed them on the lines, but I like to think about the short time that the lines were being loved. Pants, Shirts, Sheets; all blowing gracefully in the mild breeze. Picture massive drops of water falling from the sheets onto the thirsty ground. Across the orphanage I could see the pant legs waving in the wind; as though they were on a ride in an amusement park. ...Then the rain came. There was a flurry of panic and chaos as the mums scrambled to rescue the clothing from the attack of the rain clouds. 

Because I have 1 week remaining here, I told Henry I wanted to increase our workers and push the project forward. I told him, whether the project goes 1 week more after I leave, or we hire twice the workers and reduce the duration of the project by one week, I still pay the same for Labor and Materials. I would love to be here for the completion of the project. The workers completed the portion of the wall that stands in front of home 9 and 10 and turned the corner extending into the wetland. The wall that is remaining is waist-high, making the amount of work half of what it would normally be. 

Because there are more workers, more tools are needed. When I take a hoe, shovel, and wheelbarrow, I place strain on the workers; forcing them to use less than what they need. I have been keeping busy with what I can, but my activity during the day has been somewhat reduced. 

We have 1 gate to place, and we have approximately 1000’ of razor wire. I handed over another large portion of cash to Felix for the wire that will be placed on top of the wall. When coiled, it will go 10 meters, which means we need just over 30 rolls. Each roll is 120,000 shillings ($46) bringing the total to 3.6 million shillings ($1400). We have paid for the razor wire, and purchased the remaining brick. Hopefully, this will be enough to complete the wall. 

The Wetlands Wall

Today was productive, I became a mason. We have moved the masons and the workers down to the wetland corner so that tomorrow we can set the old gate into the wall. I say that now, but I feel like I have said something similar before. It is like when Henry tells me that today we will do something, but then when he afternoon comes, he tells me that we will do it tomorrow. Then tomorrow comes and he tells me we will wait until the day after. One example is this moisture barrier called “DPC”. It seems to me that he has told me several times, “we need more DPC”. The last time he told me we were short, and needed to buy two rolls, I asked him, “Are you sure this will be enough? I don’t want to buy any more for the project, so make sure that we get all we need.” He assured me that it was enough. Today, he came to me and told me that we are short again. Not wanting to hold up the project, I purchased more.

Every day many of the workers and mums give me their phone; wanting a fresh charge. I pump water in the morning, and in the evening, supplying the project during the day, and the children during the night. ...except when there is no power. Typically I have seen the power out for some time, but this is my first for the power to be out all day in Lira. I have no clean water for the children to drink, so they have been coming to me asking me to pump water because they are thirsty. I don’t know what to tell them. It is the same as when they come with some feeling of pain, yet no visible wound. I don’t know what to do; I am not a doctor. I have to stand there and listen to them cry and turn them away because there is nothing I can do. Having the power out and children telling me they are thirsty reinforces my desire to see the pump move to solar.

Projects

I have been working on several projects as the wall is being constructed. I typically tell Henry what I want to see, and then Henry makes sure that it happens. I thought that I would share briefly about each project that I have going on right now, besides the wall.

Retaining Wall

A few weeks ago as I was sitting on top of the water tower looking at the orphanage, I saw that the property lines have left us with one area in particular that is an odd shaped area. As the wall is being built, I am noticing more and more... There is a gap between the house and the wall that makes a nice triangular shape, in which I thought to make a retaining wall. If I could backfill and plant grass, this could turn out to be a very nice place to be. It is shaded much of the time, and being between the house and the wall, is not a thoroughfare for foot traffic. I recruited two of the boys at the orphanage, Bony and Walter to help me build it. We have dug the line for a foundation, poured it, and using only broken bricks; constructed it. We placed whole bricks on top of the short wall to give a nice appearance when the dirt is brought up to that level. When I tell workers to use broken bricks they look at me like I am crazy. Joe and I started to tell them this a long time ago, because we purchased each brick. when they are careless, they break a brick, that costs us 100 shillings. You don't have to have only whole bricks to build a good wall. When I told Walter and Bony that I wanted them to use only broken bricks, they just started doing it without question. Then I started telling Walter; “Do you ever notice that in this world there are people that are rejected because they are disabled? When you are walking you see many of them. They are turned down because they have a deformity. They are lame, blind, or can not speak well. How many times in the bible did God choose to use someone who was imperfect? He decided to use people that would have a difficult time performing a task, because everyone around will see that this person is great; having no reason for their success other than God. This is how I want you to treat this wall. Choose only the bricks that the masons reject.” Walter looked at me and said, “Thank you for the lesson.” 

Now that the wall is finished, the task is backfilling. 

The Clothes Lines

As I mentioned previously, I removed the barbed wire fences that were the clothes lines for the children and mums. I had Henry fabricate some new poles for me so that I can give some of the clothes line space back. The poles are very weak, but I am hoping that they will accomplish what I need them to do. I have set the two outside poles to have an aggressive lean so that it will compensate the tension in the wires when the clothing is hanging on them. I have strung the new lines and now I am just waiting for satisfaction when I see the clothes hanging, although, because of the weakness of the poles, I think I will need to tie the two end poles into the ground with some kind of anchor.

Tank and City Water Faucet

Some time ago, Henry came in the morning with something he wanted to show me. He had in his hands two bags, and a tile scribe with which to cut tile. He pulled open the bag and revealed white tile. He told me that he wanted to do the orphanage a service and place tile where the children and the mums get their water. He said he wanted to provide the materials and his services at his own cost because he believes in Christ and knows that when you do things for God, he will take care of you. That seems to be what he says every time he does something out of his own pocket, and its true. God will care for you; whether it is comfortable, or painful. He used the help of Walter and Bonny; breaking the surface of the pad which is there currently. They re-leveled the pad and placed a layer of cement, then mortar to smooth out the surface. He will place the tile later today. 

Tree re-location

Well, I don't know that our mango tree is going to make it. I was so excited that it would work, but i am afraid that the roots got chopped too drastically. It did bring me some joy when we moved it, but either way... the tree had to move. So wheter it lived or died, it could not remain where it was. We did what we could to keep it going, but the African hoe is just to efficient. 

Grass Planting

I started to transplant grass, and everyone kept telling me that it is too dry. I keep telling them, “All you have to do is water it every now and then. There is a supply of water, it is only a matter of getting the water to keep it growing. Once the grass takes hold in the ground, it is only a matter of time before the grass starts going everywhere, because the wet season is starting to move in. In places around the orphanage where we have backfilled from the erosion, I have tried to plant grass in locations that will limit the flow of dirt. For example, around corners, or where the washouts funnel between two houses. The other day, a young man came to me and asked if he could plant some grass. I told him if he wanted to work, he needs to speak to Henry. He told me that he does not need to be paid, he wanted to simply do the work. This young man is the same young man, who a month ago was working for me when we had a nice conversation about serving the community. I said to him, “So you are going to work all day doing this grass planting, and then come to me and ask me if I cant help you and give you some money, even though I told you that I can not hire you unless you go through Henry.” He said, “No, I only want to do this to serve this orphanage. I promise I will not ask for money.” So he took after my example and started to place grass in some of the areas that were back-filled. 

Last night during our bible study the topic was about placing memorials. The example was of Joshua when they crossed the Jordan and placed the 12 stones on the riverbank when they entered into the promised land. That brought us to memorials of our lives. Our tomb stones represent our lives for everyone that comes after us. Usually a life is summarized into a short sentence, etched in stone, and then left to the elements for a slow chemical and mechanical decomposition. Generations that pass by will look at the stone and wonder what this person was like, having only the few words on which to base a lifetime. The question was asked, “What do we want written on our stones?” I heard many responses. Some said things like, “Servant of God”, or “She went to the Nations”. I had a hard time because so many things that are written on gravestones are in reality, self-serving. Do I want my life to bring me glory, or to bring God glory? if it is for me, then yeah, I can pat myself on the back and say how Godly I was, or how much God loved me. What can you place on your gravestone that is a testimony to your life, and gives glory to God?

Fixing Clothes Lines

I woke up today feeling more excited than the last few days. My dreams have been intense since the day I got here. If I dream about something good, then I usually wake up in a good mood. This is surprising because last night I was in a bad mood going to sleep. As I was trying to sleep, the church, with no thought of the neighbors, had its speakers up all the way again. They were rehearsing, or practicing or something. I was hearing the same thing, over... and over... and over; it was terrible. I saw one of the kids that work at the church; he came to the orphanage today. I asked him if they were practicing last night or something, and he said no, they were in prayer. “We are now fasting”, he said. I asked him why they are fasting, and he told me that they are about to begin a program so they are fasting for the program. All this prayer and fasting equals really loud, repetitive music, all night. I am so excited to lay in my bed and listen to it tonight. 

I show an illustration of this all the time, I know.
I am just proud of my work, that is all. 

Henry always comes in with a smile on his face in the mornings. Today, he told me that he was in prayer until very late last night, and he gave a bag of cement to God as an offering to begin the construction of the church. When he told me this, I wondered, “Did he take one of our bags and give it to his church?” Later I went up to him and said, “Henry, so the bag of cement that you gave to God. Did you go and buy it with your own money?” 

“Yes! You know, when you give to God he takes care of you. That is why I always want to give to God, because every day he takes care of me.” I was accusing him in my head before I even spoke to him. I felt bad, but I had to know the truth. He has impressed me as I have been working with him. He does many things that make sense to Americans, and he takes care of tools that you give him. 

One of the girls came out of her house today, talking to someone, or something. I looked at her in a very curious way and said, “Are you talking to me?” She looked at me, smiled, laughed, and said, “No, it is this!” She held up a little information booklet that read “Watchtower”. I looked at the book and back at her, and I said, “Do you know what you are reading?” She said that she was reading good material, and then I told her all about Jehova’s Whitness. There is a little Jehova’s Whitness church just down the road that has been giving the children pamphlets to read and because it seems to be very Christian in character, they think it is good. I began to tell them about demons masquerading as angels, and how even the devil himself was once an angel. Many will call God’s name saying, “Lord, Lord!” and he will tell them he never knew them. I then told them to be careful what they read, and ALWAYS refer back to scripture. Mum Christine, was looking at me like she was looking at a ghost, as she took the pamphlet and tore it to sheds. 

One end of clothes line with it's killer angle. 

I strung up one wire for my clothes line poles and gave it a little tug. I think I was a little aggressive on my distance between the poles. I had made 4 poles originally, and only installed 2 of them, so I placed the other two in between the two outer poles making space for 3 sections; each 21 feet apart. I dug two more holes, getting more blisters on my hands. I dig all the way to the rock, and only seem to get about 1 or 1.5 feet down before I hit it, so I have to get creative the way I reinforce the posts. Tomorrow I will string some more wire, but I may have to go in to town, since the wire that I purchased  seemed to disappear when all the workers came asking for tie wire. They told me that they only needed a little, so I replied by telling them to bring back to me what you do not use. Of course, I never got anything back. 

I worked on my little retaining wall project today as well. Now I can go collect all kinds of dirt and dump it between House 3 and the wall. It will create a nice shaded, level, comfortable place to be in the evenings. It will also catch rain water with the grass that I am going to plant there. I noticed today that someone had decided to poop right there where we were working last night. I really hope at some point they start to use the bathrooms. I can see the burden in running all the way to the bathrooms in the middle of the night, but seriously. Children; please poop in the toilette, and not where everyone has to walk every day. 

The rain has come back tonight. I think the rainy season is now here. The clouds usually roll in in the afternoon, and the rain comes at dusk. I think it will be nicer for me, but the children all complain about being too cold. I have to chuckle when I see them all bundled up in their coats. I still have a small desire to take my shirt off. When it rains, I think the temperature here is perfect. 

You can see the water filling the hole. 

The corner of the wall that was started in the wetlands was built upon today. The workers dug a trench that connected the base of the wall to the giant hole that I dug yesterday, so the water that is between the “Hard Core” is flowing out the lowest point. We have started to get our water from here to wet the bricks and mortar. Walter and Bonny, two of the boys at the orphanage here have been on the crew for the last 3 or 4 weeks, so I purchased trowels for them and set them up as apprentices. I think it will do them good to have some experience with bricks. Walter seems to be picking it up very fast; Henry is excited to use him on future projects. “He will listen to you when you speak, and learns very easily. I like that kind of person to work for me”, he said. 

I have made the rounds around the orphanage; lock the chicken coop, turn off the pump, lock the pump house, lock the Rhino, and lock the main gate. Now all that remains is to go to sleep. 

Still, the thieves come.

Last night I heard some movement outside my window. There was what sounded like a gate latch, and sliding metal across the ground. The old gate has been leaning against the wall right across from my window since we removed it. I thought as I listened, perhaps a child is trying to go out of the main gate, but the sound was too strong. Even if it were, the child would be doing this against the rules. I pulled the mosquito net back, snuck to the window, pulled the curtain, and looked out the open window to see a very dark figure sticking up over the wall, looking down the road. He was using the gate as a ladder to watch for something or someone. As I looked at him and waited for him to move, I thought to myself, “he’s wanting to steal the gate.” Then I spoke to him in a tone that said I was accusing him of something and said, “Hey!” They boy moved in the darkness, and turned to see my face looking at him through the window. There was a pause as he processed what was happening before he very quickly fumbled his way down the gate and ran towards the back of the orphanage where the wall is unfinished. I thought to myself as I stood in the dark, “that had to be a thief.” Still feeling tired, I got back into my bed. It is a good thing that the gate is so close to my window, but still; I should have gone out to see if the thief had stolen anything. This morning as I went to see what was there, the gates remained, but the poles that set the hinges were gone. The clanking that I heard was the boy tossing the poles over the wall and looking for the truck that was coming to fetch the gate. Not only are orphanages in Uganda required by law to have a wall, but they are also required to have an armed guard. To think that that boy risked being shot to steal a piece of damaged metal...

Rita eating her beans and posho

It makes me happy to see our new chickens around. As I mentioned before, Dr. Peter had been keeping some of them until it was safe to bring them to the orphanage. There were 3 hens, and 3 chicks. Dr. Peter had told me there were more, but they had been killed and eaten by animals in the area. it makes me happy to see them scavenging around the orphanage showing their chicks where to find food. 

We ran very low on materials today, so this spurred on another big purchase. I took measurements of the portion of the wall that is still unfinished, and based on previous consumptions of brick, estimated the cost. I ended up handing Felix and envelope of 3.9 million shillings. We are getting 10 loads of brick, 1 rock, 5 sand, and 40 bags of cement. The 10 trips of brick should bring us very close to the end, and the cement about half. We have yet to purchase the razor wire for the top of the wall. Trucks were delivering brick all day, there were six in all, so 4 are remaining of brick. I did not see any sand or aggregate. 

The foundation extending
down to the wetlands. 

Henry brought the poles for putting up the clothes lines. I spent some time digging post holes; with no post hole digger, there is a lot of bending down and scooping out dirt with my hand. The dirt is ridiculously compact here. I fought for every inch. After digging the holes, I placed two of the poles and set them so that they lean back at an extreme angle rather than at a 90 degree angle, this way the tension in the lines will not put as much strain on the poles causing them to bend.. They are not the thickest of gauge. Also, I went back and checked the concrete maybe 4 hours after I poured it and shoved my thumb in up to the knuckle; it was probably the worst batch I have seen yet. Concrete is not supposed to be brown. 

I went down to where all the builders were and spoke to Henry. He was commenting on how the moisture in the ground is too great, and they will have to place another moisture barrier in the wall. I think that is fine, although water just makes cement stronger. If this were a house, then I would be a little more concerned because of mold. 

The wetlands corner as of 3/17

Henry and I have been talking about digging a big hole outside the wall so that we can use the ground water for construction rather than the tank water that is to be used for drinking. Today many of the children were home, which surprised me, and were complaining about not having any water. I did what I could to get them drinking water, but as soon as there is water in the tank, the construction workers suck it up and use it for concrete and mortar. The system works well when the children are at school. Turns out they were chased away from school by the teachers because their school fees were unpaid. I went and complained to Tabitha about this, because many of us in the US pay for their school fees. Seeing them annoyed me very much. So tomorrow I will be talking to Betty to see what the issue is. Back to the Water; I took the opportunity to start digging my hole. I worked digging for nearly an hour before I my head was below ground level, but i dug into so much clay and sand, that the water was not seeping in. Tomorrow we will extend the walls so the ground water that is flowing under the wall into  our hole.