Community requests, water well fun and a hair cut.

So far there has not been anything majorly new during this week, so I thought I would just write a short post and put some pictures up.

Everything is running fine at the moment, all programs are going well and I am enjoying daily life.
Farook and I are in discussions of trying to start up an agriculture program for young men who need a source of income, so they can start their own cultivating business.

The other day I was awoken at 7.00 am to an old window outside my house. The school guard had let her in as she wanted to talk to me.
I really didn't know who this women was, but I am guessing she knew me. She then proceeded to tell me (through the school guard translating) that she was an old widow who was looking after many children and had a teenage boy who needed help in sponsorship for high school. Over here there is a steady flow of children who can not go to school and need help in school fees, and basically if you tried to support them all you would run dry of any money very fast. It can be hard to simply tell them you can not do it, but at the same time you don't want to give false hope, so you do need to be direct, but with empathy. It really is hard, because I already have people I personally sponsor here that I am committed to, and I simply can't sponsor everyone.
Some days you just have to offer prayer and tell people you are sorry but you just can't help. The best I could offer this woman is that the boy may potentially be able to enter the agriculture program so he can work in a small business for maybe a year to raise money for his school fees.

The other day I had another similar experience where someone I know here sent their young cousin to come and see me. The teenage girl goes to a local high school here and is doing her exams, but has been refused to sit them as she has not payed her final fees. She came to ask me if I could please help. At first I did the usual routine that I have become used to, explaining that I don't have the money at the moment, only to see her eyes well up with tears and then thank me as she turned away. I stood in that moment for a few seconds and realised what I said was a lie. The money needed to pay the exam fees was really not that much (in comparison to a sponsorship like the old widow had asked for) and although my monthly budget money has been running low, I do have savings in my bank account. Knowing that she would fail this year and all her effort would be a waste got the better of me, so when I went to town that day I had to withdraw a little bit of money and then go to the local school to pay the exam fees directly.
Although I do not have a lot of money, in comparison to these people I am filthy rich .. and to say I just don't have anything really is a lie ... perhaps we can be fast to do that, justify why we can not help someone because we think we don't have the resources. But in the end we will find that if we are willing to sacrifice some things, we really can help others.
It still is a balancing act on where do I help out, and where do I just say it is not possible. The demands and requests from living a community like this are in your face, and although back in Australia poverty is only really in front of you on the TV or computer screen, here it greets you every morning.
There is also a real need to be careful with handing out money. Handing out money can do more damage then it does good some times and can create dependence, so a balance of paying things directly to school institutions, or creating micro finance programs that empower people to be self sufficient is important.
Needing the wisdom and discernment in all these matters leaves me needing to rest in God. I am just a human who is weak and can make mistakes, but by setting myself on God, he can use me in a way that I trust is right.

Otherwise life goes on here, I feel very much a part of the community here and I have lots of fun times as well.
The other day during our film making program, me and a friend took some young children from local organisation Nurturing Uganda to have some fun at the water well.
Below is a link to a short film I made using my Go Pro.

I also had a hair cut the other day, which was fun .. and scary. Agnes and my friends Juliet and Anne Marie from Australia all had a crack at cutting my hair (I am glad Anne Marie was there to supervise, as Africans are not the best at cutting Muzungu hair).

Enjoy some of the photos and God bless.

                                          
                                                           Avocado Helicopters

       

                                                               
                                                    Hair cut time (feeling scared)

       

                                                                The result!

Check out the link to the short film I made here..
https://vimeo.com/79699226

Weekly life

Another week goes by in Uganda and I have been busy as usual.
I have been continuing to run different programs in the community, at the moment I am running two film making programs with a mixed group of guys and girls.
This program has been really interesting as we have been looking at local issues in the community. One of the group has decided they want to make a documentary focussing on alcohol and drug abuse here in Uganda.
There is a local alcohol brew here called wairagi which is basically bootleg moonshine. Its made from sugar canes rejects or fermented bananas and is a very powerful drink. There has been huge amounts of social problems as a result of the addiction to wairagi, and most people in the communities here would know of someone who has been affected by it.
A few years ago the world health organisation even did a report on alcohol consumption around the world and labelled Uganda as the number one country for alcohol consumption per capita.
That is a pretty big thing if you think about it ... and mixed with extreme poverty, can cause some devastating effects.
The group of young guys and girls I am working with here are really passionate about making a documentary that can be played in schools. They have even begun researching people they can interview, including community workers, alcohol brewers, young people who are drinking and elderly people who have overcome alcohol addiction. I actually see this little documentary becoming a very interesting project, and the passion and interest the young group are showing in initiating the film is great to see.
Young people here really have talent and ideas, they just need the resources to bring it out.

                             
                          Some boys get together to practise using the video cameras


On the topic of drugs and alcohol, I had an interesting incident happen in one of my drug and alcohol education classes on Monday. I teach one hour lessons at a local school here on Mondays and I have been going through the different year levels. The senior ones and senior twos have been great ... now that I have reached the senior three's though, things are a little tough haha.
This is the year level that the headmaster said need it the most, they are really the most rowdy, and it doesn't help that there are about 60 of them in one class ... you imagine what that would be like to teach.
In my classes on Mondays, before I run my program on drugs and alcohol, I always make it very very clear that no one is to judge others or start calling out classmates name. Of course some of the boys couldn't contain themselves, pointing to class mates and saying they take drugs. When this behaviour happens I instantly become very stern with these people and make it clear it won't be tolerated. But about 15 minutes into the program two boys started punching on near the back of the circle (I get everyone to come in and make a circle when I teach). I managed to jump in and pull them apart, and luckily it wasn't too serious. One of them was quite upset, because the other was provoking him about his drug use. After talking with the boy who was upset and having him cool down, and asking him if he still wanted to join us in the program, we managed to get back into it and finish everything relatively unhurt haha.

Even though this class is very rowdy, the students are still very interested in the program and have so many questions to ask ... they basically have had no education on alcohol and drugs, and are very ignorant around the facts. All the students ask me to please come back as they really enjoy the program, even once it is finished. Living in the community here I see a lot of the students in the villages around here, so they are always keen to stop me and have a conversation. Many times I get personal questions asked to me, and quite often they are phrased as "so I have a friend of mine ..." haha I am sure I have heard those kind of questions before.
Many of the students who see me here call me pastor .. which is funny .. because I am not a pastor, some even saying they thought I was about 35 .. maybe it's time to shave.

Everything is running smooth otherwise, it's been great fun to invest into the young people here. I still run a devotion group every Friday night with a group of boys, and we really look into the deep topics of life. These Friday nights have actually been a growing experience for me. I notice as they ask me to focus on a topic for the coming night, I spend some time in the week researching and preparing for the Friday night class. Often I will end up learning something myself.

I have been having some good lessons in organisation as well after having some interesting hiccups with the tailoring group. Small things like students taking home the office pens and not bringing them back, or people inviting friends into the class all need to be addressed. The class has also been getting messier and messier with the girls just throwing their material offcuts on the floor. We never really laid down some guidelines and ground rules, so Agnes has been helping me in suggesting I write up policies for students, for teachers and for the class in general. We held a meeting with the class on Friday and Farook explained all the new rules (including cleaning rosters) and we had the list laminated and placed on the wall.
All a learning experience and it has become apparent that guidelines, policies and expectations are so important, even for something that doesn't seem like a big project.
It has been great to have Farook and Agnes by my side with this stuff. Agnes has a very practical, logical mind and can help me with organisational stuff, and Farook is great at delivering and communicating rules and guidelines to the young people we are working with.

Damele, one of the tailoring class girls

 

I am looking at starting up two new groups for teenage boys, mainly focussing on agriculture and brick making as small business ventures, as well as incorporating social issues education within the projects.

I am enjoying life here very much, and there is certainly a very big sense of home. I love all the lessons in patience and humility that God is always teaching me as well. When living in a community like this, there are constant demands, requests and unexpected visits .. you can really begin to see how inpatient and selfish you actually are. When you set of on something like this you can have this passion and vision of sacrifice and suffering and helping the poor and being like Jesus. But I know since being here for the last 3 months, I have noticed how much selfishness I can actually have in my heart, I am certainly not a Mother Theresa haha. The constant demands, and things going wrong really help me in growing in patience and grace, and to hopefully become more like Jesus. It's not like I am blowing up or getting angry over here, more that I notice that many times I need to take a breath and pray for grace. This mission is just as much about my own sanctification it seems, as it is about loving and helping others in need here.

In saying that, I love it here so much. And I love this way of living so much. I wouldn't trade in all the little problems for anything ... It's all apart of the mission, and after a long hard day, it really is satisfying to be going through this for my God. It puts everything in perspective for me. As I once heard bible teacher Tim Keller say:
"Aim for holiness, and you will get happiness thrown in as well. Aim for happiness, and you will most likely end up with neither"

God bless

A visa scare, horrific accident and finding love.

Another week has gone by in Uganda, and so another blog post is due.

I managed to get a 3 month extension on my visa .. but it came at a large cost. Me and Robert (Uganda HopeBuilders director) went to the Jinja immigration office together, where Robert had some contacts. Everything seemed like it would be fine and after Roberts friends rang the immigration office, they said that I would be able to get at least a 3 month extension with no problem.
So we went down to immigration and saw the woman attending at the desk. A problem begun when she informed us that my visa was expired, this of course shocked us all because I had not been here for 3 months yet, and when I came into the country I paid the standard $50 US for the 3 month visa. After trying to explain it has not been three months yet, the woman told us that I only had a 2 month visa.
When I had arrived in Entebbe I had approached immigration with my $50 US and asked for the 3 month visa. The man simply asked my intentions in Uganda, which I told him that I was planning to go to Kampala to apply for the NGO visa. Nothing more was said and he simply said no problem and handed me back my visa. I didn't think anything of it, but he had not written in the expiry date on the visa ... so I just assumed I had a 3 month visa. What I never realised is that he had scribbled, in barely readable writing, VP 2M ... which apparently stood for Visa Pass 2 Months.
So I had been staying in Uganda illegally for 10 days.
This was very serious, as there is a very large fine that comes with this, as well as the risk of deportation. I have even heard stories of the same thing happening to people who thought they were given a 2 month visa .. with the consequence of not being allowed back into Uganda.
You could say that me and Robert were a bit worried.
So after running around to the bank to get money out, Robert gave my passport, with $350 US inside of it, to the woman at the desk and asked her to please go to her boss to pay the fine and get an extension ... no questions asked kind of thing.
After waiting and stressing in the car for 10 minutes, the women came back with my passport and a new 3 month visa inside it ... we gave her what Robert referred to as "a tip", for her good service and we where on our way.
To say I have been having lots of issues and stress over this visa stuff would be correct. But it seems things had to get a little worse before they got better.
What is interesting is that last week when I went to Kampala they got very angry at me and refused to give me the visa extension, or to give me the working visa ... If they had accepted they would of looked at my visa which was expired (and I was unaware of). Being in Kampala by myself with no Ugandan to vouch for me, and considering the foul mood of the immigration officers I dealt with there, things could of gotten very bad if they had seen the expired visa .. perhaps including being told to leave.
I had been so disappointed that day, not being able to get the visa extension ... but perhaps what I saw as something very bad, God was using as something good!
I really thank God that it all went ok, because it could of been a lot worse.

On a tragic note there was a terrible accident just outside where the YSU office is this morning. I had just come early to the office on my bike to find farook sitting on the seat in the front yard looking a bit stunned.
He then started to tell me about the horrific accident he had just witnessed. Farook had been digging in his garden (just near the office) that morning when he heard a large crash and people starting to yell and scream, so he ran to the site of the crash to see what had happened.
Apparently a taxi van had a head on collision with a truck. The taxi vans here are usually crammed full with about 20 people.

 

The taxi van got completely obliterated, flying through the air and then crashing into a ditch. Farook then explained the horror of what he went through.
Instantly five people had been killed, and everyone else was rather near death, or missing limbs. Farook explained how he had to help carry the dead mutilated bodies out of the car and try and help save the dying people. One young boy was completely missing his head, which Farook and some other men tried to look for but could not find. Another man lay dying while his torso had been ripped from his body, Farook said it was something that human eyes are just not meant to see.
Farook also explained that straight away after the crash many people ran into the van, amidst the blood and bodies, and started stealing money and mobile phones from the dead, and dying, people. This was later reported on the news, which has made it very hard to identify people, as their faces had become beyond identifiable. Meanwhile Farook and some other men, who were all disgusted at these acts of theft, were trying to save lives and comfort the people dying. Farook explained that he had pulled an old man out of the van who was missing his arm and screaming, while Farook tried to comfort him and stop the bleeding.
Talk about bringing out the worst and the best sides of humanity.
I had a good chance to sit with Farook and hear him talk it out and tell how he was feeling, as well as pray with him. He was feeling pretty down as you could imagine. I saw the place where the crash was, and there was large amounts of blood stains on the road.
About an hour later it started pouring down with rain, some of the heaviest rain we have had in a while. In some sense, it almost felt like God was washing away the stains of a horrific accident.
It really makes you think about life, as well as having a number of deaths happen else where around the community this week. It makes you revaluate what you do, and makes you think about how you are living ... are we really making the most of our time here .. and our we ready to meet our maker?

Life does go on here in Africa, amidst the pain and the suffering, there is also hope. People who have barely anything are able to smile and live with Joy, because they cling to hope ... the hope and promise that God has given them ... to be around so much death and life can change what you view as important.

After writing about some of the hard realities of life here, I would like to leave you with a piece of good news.
After being a single man for a long time, and growing in my faith walk, I have found myself in a relationship with a lovely woman here in Uganda (I write 'found myself' as if I didn't play any part in keeping an eye open for it haha).
Her name is Agnes, and she is a local woman who I have been friends with for over a year or so now, and have been talking with everyday for about 7 months, developing our friendship. She is a lot of fun and also a community development worker, with a passion for social work, especially amongst young girls.
The best thing about her is that she loves God and has a real heart for missions and ministry.
I don't take a relationship like this lightly ... I am not the casual dating kind of guy, so you can say we are both taking this seriously and pursuing something lasting.
Otherwise we are very happy, we are great friends, love working together in helping youth, and very much in love.
So amidst the troubles and sadness, there is always happiness and joy ... I guess that is life.

So let me leave you with a picture of our lovely faces!

                             

Thieves in the night, class room fun and visa troubles

It has been a while since I last wrote a blog post, due to having lots of things to sort out and being busy here in Uganda (which seems to be the case all the time).

The tailoring class has been running great, the young women are all so enthusiastic and continue to come to class half an hour early, cleaning the office space. During their one hour lunch break they tend to hop back onto the machines to keep practising, it has been amusing to see how much they want to learn. Farook and I joke about having to drag away the girls form the tailoring machines once the class has finished up.
On the first full day of class we had four extra girls turn up to the office asking to join. We had to let them know that we are full and not beginning a new class until April next year, and since then we have had so many requests from young women. It seems word has gotten out around Wairaka about the class, and many young women are keen to get in on the action. There has been some amusing confusion, where people have approached us thinking we are running some sort of trade school, asking if they can enter into a driving course, hair dressing course, computer skills course etc. After some explaining they realise (somewhat disappointedly) we are not a school institution and we only have this tailoring class running. It can be funny how rumours can spread throughout the villages around here.
All in all it does show the willingness for young people to learn a trade, and it shows the lack of opportunities that they have, I pray that God will be able to use YSU to be able to address some of these needs. God has been so good already in helping out these nine young women to be empowered.

Last Saturday night I had an interesting situation happen. I awoke early in the morning to the sound of walking around on the front porch right outside my window. I was a bit groggy from waking up and it didn't really register that people were outside so I rolled back over to sleep, checking my phone and seeing that it was 3 am. About one minute later I heard the night guard yelling and running up to the house, and then calling out for me.
After nervously unlocking the front door and walking onto the veranda, I noticed my nice blue sports bicycle, that always sits under the light on the front porch, was missing. It seems a number of thieves had surrounded the property on the outside of the fence, and had played around with the night guard, by throwing rocks and flashing torches at different points around the compound. They managed to lure the night guard to the furthest point of the property, and then jumped the fence close to the house I am staying in, grabbed my bike and threw it over the fence, and then were gone. I have to admit they were very clever about it, and were very stealthy and fast.
The night guard certainly seemed more upset about it then me, feeling like he was a failure. It took a few days of reassurance that he did his best and he did nothing wrong. The night guard really takes his job seriously here, and I know he doesn't sleep on the job because I often wake in the night hearing him walking around the house at one, two or four in the morning.
So my lovely bicycle was taken. Many people here have suggested that the thieves would of been watching me for well over a week, stalking me and timing everything to be right.
I do have a new bike now, and I have learnt my lesson .. the bike gets locked in the store room every night.
The other day a few little children that I sponsor here were asking me what happened to my bike. After I explained to them what happened they told me that "You forgive those thieves, Jesus tells us to love and forgive", to which I told them I certainly had forgiven them, and even prayed for God to bless them the next day, after it had happened. After hearing different reactions, even suggesting that "those thieves should be killed", I love that it is little children that are preaching love and forgiveness (Jinja Christian School, you seem to be doing a good job with them).

All other projects have been going well and I have started to finish up the social education programs in the schools here. The students have been hassling me to sing them a song throughout the program, so I promised them on the last session I would bring in an instrument to play for them.
So my instrument of choice was my didgeridoo (that won't surprise those who know me). To squeals of delight I played the didge for this class of high school students .. often having them in hysterics to the strange new sound that was coming out of this weird instrument. It would of been a great sight to see 50 Ugandan high school students banging a drum beat on their desks and clapping their hands, while I stood in the middle of them playing along on the didgeridoo. A few of the other classes and teachers heard the commotion and all inquisitively came to peek through the windows to see what was making this strange sound. I guess I caused a bit of a stir.
It was really sweet to be able to tell the young people at the end of the sessions that I really care about them and want them to make wise decisions in their lives, sharing a little bit of my own journey with them. It is rewarding when afterwards they all yell out thank you and that they have loved the classes so much, asking me to please come back to talk to them. Often after the classes young guys and girls have come up to me in private asking personal questions around things in their, or their friends, lives. As much as the micro finance side of things is of huge importance, it is quite clear that the guidance on the social side of life here for young people, is extremely important as well.

I went to Kampala the other day to try and obtain my volunteering visa. I didn't really know what to expect, I was trying to go exactly by the book, and doing everything that I had been told to do, but you can never really know for sure how it will work out.
It ended up going very badly, with the immigration officer yelling at me saying that "I am lying about my intentions for being in Uganda, and that I have jeopardized my chance of getting a visa extension". It is a lot of detail to explain but basically the frustrating thing is that as much as I can enquire before hand about getting the volunteering visa, and following all the directions I get from the emails I got back from the immigration office, and also the Ugandan embassy in Australia, when I get to the immigration department in Uganda, I get told I am doing it wrong.
Sometimes it all depends on who you know, or what kind of a mood the immigration officer is in at the time.
It also is annoying because I could of easily lied and said I am not volunteering, and easily got an extension on my tourist visa, saved myself $200 and made things a lot easier for myself, but I thought I would do things the right way .... which doesn't always work out in Uganda.
So after feeling very flat and coming back to Jinja, I revaluated everything with some guidance from friends here and in Australia (thanks Andrew and Robert K).
Basically I will try some different tactics, and this time going with Ugandans with a bit of pull and authority.
I have faith it should be ok ... and whatever happens I trust God is good and in control, and what will be will be.

Robert Kafeero (director of Uganda HopeBuilders) was explaining to me that immigration officers are very tight and stressed at the moment, as there has been a lot of problems with foreigners working here illegally. Especially amongst the Pakistani community, including a horrific incident of illegal Pakistani workers, kidnapping and gang raping a young Ugandan women for a few days, leaving her in a wheelchair and with a fistula .. it has been all over the news, and the immigration department have been copping all the blame. Robert suggested this is why they have been very tense with people coming to Uganda to work, even if it is volunteering, and it really is a case of going with Ugandans who have a bit of pulling power.

Things are never really dull here, there are always challenges, stories that you hear that can make you cry, moments that can give you a bit of a fright, and the risk of theft or worse. On the opposite side there are great moments of joy and beautiful moments where God shines rays of light onto situations and people here.

Thank you for all those who have been praying for me, it is most appreciated and I really feel the love.

I will leave you with two photos I took when I rode my bike down to the lake yesterday (to sit amongst all the rasta's and youth gangs blazing up on weed while staring at me suspiciously with bloodshot eyes, and then cracking big smiles when I waved to them warmly).
It started to rain as I rode back on my bike, and on one side the sun began to set while on the other side a big storm cloud rolled in causing a rainbow to form from the sun shining onto the clouds.


God is good.