Hard Core

I had a late night last night while Mum Betty reasoned with some of the older girls in the store house. I came back to find that the home that I sleep in was alive with conversation. Here I was thinking I would just roll into bed, but there were problems to be solved yet. I eventually went into my room, put my headphones in, and fell asleep to worship music. Its hard to fall asleep if other people are in the same house, because there is no ceiling, only the walls. The sound bounces off the sheet metal roof so you have no sound privacy, only visual privacy.

I had a guard watch the gate doors that were delivered yesterday. Someone could easily come in the middle of the night and remove them. We set one of the solar powered spotlights so that it cast a very dim light on the gate. They have been working on the gate today, but seem to be moving slowly. It has been raining off and on as well so I am sure that helps their productivity. 

The wall that extends down into the wetland, which was excavated yesterday, has been filling up with water today. We have ordered large stones, which they call “hard core”, that they place in the bottom of the trench up to the water line, then they build the wall on top of the large stones leaving a way for water to pass under the wall. We have had deliveries of these large stones all morning, while the other workers are working on setting the gate. 

Today in Uganda is Women’s Day. The schools have shut down, so the children are all home, and it makes it a little more challenging to keep track of construction. They all want my attention, and when I give it to one child, a crowd begins to form making it difficult to do anything. I wanted to teach some of the children how to make bracelets, but what ended up happening, is that all of the kids want string, but then they don't want to learn, they just end up walking away with the string. I have really been spoiled having Bruce, Julie, Susan, and Joe. Trying to do activities without help is close to impossible for me. 

Today is also Bruce, Julie, and Susan’s last day in Lira. Rachael and Daniel Graham came to pick them up and take them to Kampala. There they will stay with the Turners for a day or two, then board the plane for Portland. They dropped off all of their things that they wish to leave here at the orphanage, and loaded their things into the Graham’s SUV. As they drove away, I rode away on the bicycle that we purchased for the mums.