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Finally...

Hello all. I hope everyone is doing well. We are quickly wrapping up our first year here. But, thankfully not before getting a few more things accomplished.

The well we began in Kacungiro (Kochoongee ro) over a month and a half ago is finally complete. We were supposed to hand it over to the community today, but due to heavy rains we have rescheduled for Saturday. This well will service over 40 families, which is more than 150 people. This was a community that desperately needed a clean water supply. This was our first time being in Uganda during the month of October, and now we know what it's like. Note to self... do not attempt to construct a well in October. It's just far too wet. But, that being said, we are so glad that we have had the opportunity to bless this village and to have been able to finish it before we return to the states.

Also, since our last post, we hosted our final HIV/Aids test for the year. We visited a village that was about 30 minutes down a dirt road. Wait a second, every village we visit is 30 minutes down a dirt road. But, seriously it was. I must admit I don't remember the name of the village, but the pastor who arranged us coming was a wonderful man. He was very grateful and he has a true heart for his community. We were able to test 126 people. We had more people show up than we had test strips. It is sad that we couldn't assist everyone, but that's a reminder of how great the need is here. Out of the 126 tested 5 were positive.

Outside of these projects we are busy getting everything in order. We are also getting Moses ready to be the go-to guy while we are gone. We are confident that he will do a great job.

In other news we had our Thanksgiving meal last night with some fellow missionary friends in Ft. Portal. We made the boys Indian hats. They had a great time and I had ham for the first time in 10 months. I was so excited. I have missed ham.

I think this will do for now. We will post a time or two again next week as we head to Kampala for Phill's wedding and then off to the airport. Exciting times ahead.

Be blessed,

Chris

Nearly completed box spring well.

HIV/AIDS Outreach.

Colby and Logan on Thanksgiving.

Kyongera - Check mark!

I am glad to say that we completed our project of hanging mosquito nets in Kyongera! This has been a project that we have been working on for many months. But this is a project that we are very proud of and feel that it has been a success. And there is something about going and taking the time to visit and look in on families. This gives them the feeling that someone really cares for them. And the great thing about it is that it is true! So many people do care! The people who took the time to raise money for the mosquito nets and blankets care, the people who give to GSM and help us do these projects care, Bringing Hope to the Family cares, and we at GSM care! That is a lot of people caring!

We personally hung up all the nets in all the homes except one. And we did not do that one because this home was taken over by wasp nests and we decided we did not want to be attacked by them. Everywhere we tried to hang them, a nest was there ready to attack. So I am planning on buying some bug spray and bringing it to her to help her get rid of these bugs. They had been sleeping outside because they were getting stung at night. I could not imagine. Their home unfortunately is on the far end of Kyongera and is about an hour drive on a motorcylce. But I feel it will be worth the drive.

We also visited a home where a women was very sick. She was due a net and I feel bad that we were a bit late getting it to her. But we gave her a net and a blanket. Which was good because she was having chills. We gave her the protection of a net, the warmth of a blanket, and love with a prayer of healing.

Another home we visited had a little boy, maybe 2 years old, with a really bad burn on his back. The story was that he was outside and the mother turned her attention for a moment and he spilled a jug of boiled water on him. It is very sad. We hung a net over him while he was sleeping trying to be very careful not to disturb him or hurt him. But I am glad we were there to hang the net so that he will not have to deal with Malaria on top of a serious burn. I would fear he would not survive.

We also finished hanging all the nets for Bringing Hope to Family's staff. I was a bit shocked by how many people did not have nets. It seems to me something that would be important to have. But then I thought about it and a net is about $6 which is half of a weeks salary. And that is a lot of money here for them. So we were glad to help them so that they can remain healthy and be able to do their job. Really Moses is the one who gets all the credit for this. He really took this project on and made it his own. We have had many people thank us for what we have done and said that their rooms look very "smart" now. Their was a pastor and his wife(she works for BHTF) and they have 5 kids and have taken in 10 orpahans. We gave them the nets about 2 months ago and they said that they have not had one case of Malaria. So praise God! I hope to have many more similar stories!.

We also had another HIV testing outreach at a secondary school(high school). It is a local school here in Kaihura. We tested 80 students and I am glad to say that there was zero postive results. We hope to do another outreach before we go to the states. It has been helpful having Georgia and Martha here to help also. They are good sports and like to get involved and help where ever they can.

We hope to start working again on the well in Kacungiro. It has been hard to progress with it because of the rain. But I hope it will begin soon. It has been so wonderful having our new motorcylce! When we went to Kyongera we just loaded up the bikes and went. We did not have to bother trying to arrange transport, because we had some. They worked great, even my little scooter hung in there. There is not a day that goes by that Logan does not thank me for the motorcylces. I guess since I arrived with them I am the one to thank. I wish I had video of him thanking me. It is really funny. And when he says it he is so sincere.

There is still a ton to do here. If you would like to get involved and help supply the needs here you can go to http://www.knowthinkact.com/. It is really easy and I garantee results. I want to say a big thank you to those who raised money for the nets and the blankets. What a blessing they are to so many families. If you would like to come volunteer here you can emailvolunteer@globalsupportmission.com. Thanks for keeping up with us.

Stay adventurous,

Katie

Mosquito Nets

Mosquito net and blanket outreach.

Mosquito net and blanket outreach.

Mosquito net and blanket outreach.

Young boy who is suffering from burns.

HIV testing

HIV testing

Logan and the new scooter!

Some children who are now better protected from malaria.

Oh Happy Day!

As promised, here are a few photos of our new bikes. We are thrilled to have them. They will make life a lot easier around here. We want to thank Benton Baptist church again for blessing us with the bikes.

Chris

Persevering in the rain

We are half way through October and it has been nothing but wet. It has definitely slowed down our progress, but we are persevering. We were rained out of our latest trip to Kyongera. We have been trying to visit the last 5 homes in this project for some time now. Hopefully we will be able finish it soon.

Our progress on the latest well has been stopped nearly to a complete stand still. The location for this well is in a very remote area with a very rough "road." The trucks that need to deliver the cement, bricks and sand have been trying for three weeks to deliver. The news I received this morning is that the drivers have given up on getting their trucks in. They have dropped the materials about a quarter of a mile back, which will need to be carried in wheelbarrows to the site. That will not be fun for the community, but that's just the way it is during the wet season. Hopefully construction will start soon.

Katie, Moses, Georgia and Martha went last week to provide more HIV/Aids testing. A nearby secondary school asked Bring Hope to the Family if they would host an outreach, which we gladly agreed to. The outreach went very well. The testing was voluntary for the students. Many did not want to be tested, but 90 students decided to be tested. Out of the 90 tested only one was positive. That is the best result we have had so far in our testing.

We have been able to hang some mosquito nets for BHTF's staff locally. At this point we are about half way through with the staff' members homes. Lord willing we will be able to finish with them this week.

We went to Kampala this past weekend to pick up our work permits and buy a motorcycle. We have been approved for a two year work permit. That's as long as they will give them for. So we will reapply in two years.

On Saturday we went to the Yamaha shop to purchase the motorcycle we were hoping to buy, but the Ugandan government has ordered 1800 of this exact bike. So, they told us it would be March before they have any to sell. We did find some at the Toyota dealer, but they wanted way more than we wanted to pay. So, we gave up on this bike and looked for an alternative. We found another bike that was decent for much less than the other bike's actual price. They also had a scooter there. Katie has dreamed of having a scooter for many years. Odd dream I know, but it would be handy for her around the village. The dealership agreed to come off the price of both of them if we bought both. So, for $150 more than we budgeted for the original motorcycle we purchased a motorcycle and a scooter! Our friend Phil will be delivering them tomorrow. We are excited to finally have some transportation. This will save us money in taxi fees and help us get around quicker. I will post photos of them once they arrive.

Katie is currently in the east of Uganda with AJ and Ana. They are visiting a community that is starting a NGO (non profit organization). They are looking to see if this is an organization that we could get involved with. They will return tomorrow night.

One benefit of all the rain we have been having is that our garden is thriving. We ate our first cucumber the other day. I just picked our second batch of green beans last night. Everything else is still coming up nicely.

I believe that catches everyone up with our current progress. I hope you have a blessed week.

Chris

HIV/AIDS Testing

Katie, Georgie and Martha.

A Bringing Hope to the Family employee receiving a mosquito net.

Beans from our garden!

I have added this photo for your viewing pleasure. I call it "Cooking with Katie."

Water, water everywhere...

Wells have been the name of the game here in Uganda lately. The shallow well that we were constructing in Kyempisi was completed this past weekend. The concrete was still drying when I took this photo. We will be having our dedication ceremony later this week. Also, here is the before photo. I would like to thank everyone who was involved in raising the funds for this well. What a blessing!

With that well now completed, we started on a new well yesterday. This well will be a box spring well, which is basically a pipe that will tap into underground springs. While we were clearing the site yesterday we discovered another outlet to the spring which will allow us to make two taps. This will allow the locals to fill their containers twice as fast, which is great since around 100 people use this site to collect water. As you can see in the photos this site is in a marsh. Their are a lot of flies and other critters. The trees over head are filled with guavas. The birds were trying to eat them, which makes it a war zone. They are constantly dropping them. One missed my head by about 6 inches. It just adds a little more excitement to the game.

As I looked around, the engineer and I were the only ones wearing shoes, which shouldn't have been a surprise to me, but this is not the kind of place I would want to go barefoot. Believe it or not there are crabs in this marsh with pinchers! I saw them with my own eyes. My photo came out blurry. I will try to get a clearer photo.

Moving on, yesterday Moses went to Kyenjojo and purchased another large supply of mosquito nets. We hope to start distributing them ASAP. Many of BHTF staff members and their families do not have nets, so they will be our next focus. It's hard to minister to others if they are sick. Sounds like a no brainer to me. With the Kyongera net/blanket project nearly completed, BHTF is going to select the next village for us to reach soon. We will keep you posted.

Katie and Moses have been busy working on the profile folders for the Home Again children. They are also uploading all of the info into a new database. A new database has been created for all the children that BHTF assists, as well as a new database for the clinic to keep track of their patients. This is going to be a great assistance to the organization.

If you have a desire to get involved please check out www.knowthinkact.com, if you haven't already. A list of current needs for this area are listed there. We will continuously add new needs to the list as they arise.

Be blessed,
Chris

Original Kyempisi water source

Nearly completed Kyempisi well.

Future site for a new box spring well.

Clearing and leveling the land for the well.

Ugandan marsh crabs (you can't really see them, but they're there!)

More work preparing the site for the well.

Exciting Times

Hello to all! We've been busy around here, which is a good thing. Moses, Kolby and I hung more mosquito nets this past week. The need is everywhere. We are quickly becoming quite popular now that the word is out that muzungu Chris has a stash of them at his house. People come up to me almost daily looking for nets.

We also started digging a new well this week. The locals were quite surprised to see 3 of us muzungus show up to dig today. We had a great time getting in the dirt. First we had to level the site and then we started digging the actual well. Tomorrow will be the truly messy day as we get deep into the mud. The current water source for the community of Kyempisi is frightening. This will be a great help to these people.

Our last remaining volunteer, Aaron, flies back to the states on Monday. We have really enjoyed having him here. Now that he has been here for almost a month he doesn't seem like a visitor. We've gotten used to him being around, but sadly his time has come to an end. Looking back over the last month, I believe he has had the opportunity to experience a lot of things here.

I must share an Aaron story with you... Last Sunday we were heading off to Ft. Portal for church and Aaron said he wanted to visit the local Anglican church instead, because they were having confirmations that day. Knowing roughly how that was going to play out I said, "Sure have a GREAT time." We took our 45min ride to church, completed the service, had lunch, took our 45min ride back, and watched a movie at the house before we even heard from Aaron. I am laughing as I am writing this. He endured an 8 hour service in Rutooro without anyone translating. The dilemma with attending these functions is that, being a visitor, they want you to be on the front row. No sneaking away for him. When he got back to the house he was drained. Now, please don't think of me as a mean missionary. Aaron has wanted to get the REAL experience while being here. And we all got a REAL good laugh, with him of course.

On another note, we started Kolby's homeschooling last week. And, I am proud to say that he is the top of his preschool class. Never mind the fact that he is the only student. He'd be the top either way. He is a very bright kid.

Also, our garden is doing great. Our cabbage has finally come up. We are still cheering our peppers along. They haven't done much yet. We also have onions growing in our compost. I am not to sure how I feel about compost veggies.

And finishing on a more serious note, last Saturday all of the volunteers climbed a nearby hill to seek the Lord. We are convinced that GOD has big plans for this area, because none of it makes any sense. Why would 5 individuals representing three separate organizations move here, which is the middle of nowhere, within two months of each other? The wild thing is that none of us knew about the others coming until it was almost time to come. Needless to say, God is up to something. I believe God is drawing us together and preparing us this year for whatever His will is. It's exciting! And, believe it or not, a young lady from Poland arrived here this week. She is going to be here for at least 6 months. Go God!

Be blessed,
Chris

New recipients of a mosquito net!

Our good friend and volunteer, Aaron.

Our garden.

This is our most common form of transportation, "boda boda!"

The original drinking source for the people of Kyempisi.

The beginning stages of the new well.