i promise the next one will not be such an essay!!

Hello!!
I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to write an update on things since i arrived here in Mbale. There’s no excuse other than i haven’t been able to get my act together!! As a result this has turned out to be a bit of an essay- and as someone who has never been good at reading other people’s mission updates from abroad i have no problem if this is the last thing you want to read!! I do however promise that the updates after this won’t be so long!!

The Journey
Emily, Amy and I left the UK on Tuesday 10th with BA arriving on Wednesday at about 10am. The flight was full of crazy American & English Christians all headed for their individual mission fields throughout Uganda. It was pretty surreal actually seeing so many open Bibles, cheesy t-shirts and sandals in such a confined space!!!
We got through with no problem and were met by a very smiley Pastor Sam (who works with JENGA). After a minor emergency ‘think i might be sick’ through Kampala stop ( Anti-malarials on an empty post 8 hour flight stomach- well done tiffany!) we arrived in Mbale at about 3:30
Although I didn’t celebrate my birthday as such as we were travelling it was one i will never forget.. the day marked the beginning of an adventure that is beginning to unfold and is already exceeding my hopes and expectations!!
The House
I’m living with Jo, one of the JENGA directors and Ollie & Beth, a couple working for Oasis. The house is nice. Us Muzungos (White People!) mainly all live in a similar area called Senior Quarters. It’s the nicer part of town where all the houses are in compounds with night security, a few guard dogs and a hefty iron gate! Our Security guy is called Peter, he’s from our church and carries a bow and arrow!!! Seriously! The dogs are called Eben, Tala, Bella and Daisy.. softest dogs in the world till they around anything edible which somehow means anyone/thing new that moves!
It’s a three bedroom, two bath house, all on one floor. Massive lounge/ dining area and a good kitchen. Power is here most days but not always.
We also have a girl called Martha who works mon, wed & fri doing our washing, cleaning, some cooking etc. This was really weird at first, in fact i felt really uncomfortable but its actually very normal and good job to have apparently. We pay ‘well’ and it’s only 8 till 4.
The neighbours have a range of animals so it’s often like Old macdonald’s farm at night thus making quality sleep pretty sporadic.
The other house is where Em and Amy are living with Robby, the exec director of JENGA. They have a chef/cook who comes three nights a week.(conveniently I manage to head over on those evenings!!) For £6.50 a month we get the most yummy food ever. Fred is a a Ugandan who learnt to cook from some Westerns years ago and is basically a legend. His speciality is Cinnamon Rolls!! So yeah, i’m not roughing it exactly!!
I may move over there in a bit because Jo’s leaving for UK for 6 weeks. Not sure yet! It’s been good for me to live in the slightly quieter house without the temptation to completely surround myself with people and cook the whole time!
Weather
It’s hot!! Rainy season is about to start but it’s high 20s every day!!
Food
Mainly the local food is starch starch and more starch with a few beans thown in for fun. There are plenty of supermarkets stocked with an interestingly random selection of tinned veg and other stuff. The main vegs are peppers, tomatoes, onions, matoke (somewhere in between a banana and a potato), pineapple, avocado, carrots, potatoes and local greens. The market is stocked full and i normally make it down on a sat afternoon.
There are a few restaurants and hotels about to get good meals ...for about £3-£4 for a main!Amazing Curry with all the trimmings for £4. The portions here are absurdly huge- especially if you go to someone’s house for a meal where they will give you about 5 options and you have to eat what they give you!!
I’m eating heaps.. at this rate.. BA will have to roll me back into the country in August!
The JENGA Team
The Jenga office is about a 10 minute walk or a quick Boda/picky ride. Boda’s are bicycle taxis and Pickie’s Motorbikes. It’s about 15p to get to work, 30p to town on a Pickie. Half that for a Boda!
There are 12 Ugandan staff working for Jenga and 7 UK volunteers including us 3. There’s a lovely couple, Anna & Dave here on short term till July. Jo and Robby, the Exec director are classed as volunteers even though they run everything.
I won’t go into details of all the projects.. check out www.jengauganda.org!
What I’ll be doing!
So as expected i’ll be doing lots of admin, personnel stuff and helping with general office organisation. It feels like JENGA is being prepared for even bigger things and so there are a few things to straighten out before we get there. Part of my job will be to get alongside the Ugandan managers to look at their working methods and to see what we can streamline, what ideas can be released, general forward planning and office communication. I’ll be helping out a couple of the others with computer skills and get them going with things like spreadsheets etc. Other than that i’ve been writing up protocols, creating personnel folders etc.
My fieldwork jobs will be helping out with community Youth, Alpha, conferences, and helping with planning trips for overseas teams. We have a couple of big conference in July which i’ll be getting my teeth into!
The First Few Days
The week we arrived happened to be the busiest for Jenga in the past 6 months. They had a group of 24 Ozies here helping out with various projects etc. At first this felt really awkward, that we were just in the way and really couldn’t have arrived at a worse time. But things panned out and it actually worked well for the three of us.. it meant rest and time to adjust to the environment, heat etc without being flung into craziness. The final 2 weeks before I left were just so insane that this rest was amazing and perhaps what saved me from the inevitable cold/ flu tha,t had i kept going at the pace I was, probably would have caught. It definitely prevented me from totally collapsing in a heap!
General Overview of the past 3 ½ weeks
So those first few days were restful, chilled out and just involved the odd prayer meeting... a great introduction to the start of this adventure. I’ll admit i hated feel quite so dependant on people- think i just hadn’t anticpated this so hadn’t prepared myself.
Work is generally 8:30 till 5. Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays all start with praise & worship, other than that it’s either in the office or out in one of the local communities that we work with. Every other Thursday we have Hospital ministry and we do various prayer walks through the slums.
The evenings are quieter here, dinner and chats and we’re normally in bed by 10 at the latest.
On Sunday nights we go to a Bible Study at some American Missionaries homes. There are up to about 30 people most Sunday nights for fellowship, study and then a good old bring and share meal!
Saturdays are amazing. No work, just chill out time to read, journal and relax! I normally pop to the Internet cafe if i can and then onto the market to get some food. I cant remember the time i had a day off each week where i literally did nothing but relax!
And so to finish
It has been a very mixed time so far. The pace of life is a heck of a lot slower which has been incredible. It has been challenging to adjust out of the headless chicken thing that i’ve been doing for so long but it’s been really good for me. i had prayed that i would be taken out of my comfort zone to a place where i couldn’t rely on my own strength but had to rely on God... and that’s exactly what happened. It’s good for me i just didn’t like it so much at first!! I have however had so much more time to read both the Bible and books, to journal and to finally process life!
It’s weird being one of the few white people in quite a big town; the kids generally shout ‘Muzungoi’ whenever they see you and point. Most people appreciate that we’re here to try and do good although often when the adults see us they see money. so you come out a a shop and about 5 picky drivers are begging you to use them, the market vendors all charge upped prices or try and sell the rough looking produce and then there are just those who beg. .
It’s hard to see such extreme poverty. It’s hard to see sick people in hospitals that are filthy and packed to the brim. It’s hard to get your head around the fact that many people here will never leave this town and that to travel to the nearest city or to the airport to show their kids the planes is a far fetched dream. it’s hard to digest it all but then you see the hearts, you get to know the people and everything that has been statistical in your head becomes a reality and the desire to be a part of the change just increases. The excitement that comes when you work for an organisation totally dedicated to improving the quality of life for people who have nothing is hard to express eloquently.
It’s not hopeless by any means. Yes there is corruption. Yes it’s the 21st century and child sacrifice is still one of their biggest challenges and where rather than working, parents will sell their children to make money;but there is also a lot to be thankful for . There are people who want to see their communites transformed and believe it’s possible. There are government hospitals where treatment is free, women can come and have babies safely, and patients that would have died a few years ago now have a chance to survive. There are steps towards change. Even just last week we saw 7 muslims give their lives to the Lord. God is on the move and it is an honour to be part of his work.
I left a lot of very special people who i miss a lot to come here and in so many ways i wish i could just bring you all out here. But i know that you’re also where God has called you, to your own mission field doing your individually planned callings! Keep going, and have fun while you’re doing it. Take time out to rest and to see just how many prayers have been answered in your own lives. It’s quite staggering to realise when God has just done what you once could only dream would be possible and more!!
Thank you all for the support and prayers. Thank you for keeping an eye on what i’m doing. It means so much.
Lots of love xxx