Internet!

Finally! We have internet! They are not kidding about things taking longer in Africa! This past week has been so full, I do not even know where to begin, so lets start from the beginning.

We arrived in Uganda on Wednesday and were greeted by Tim and Angie Sliedrecht and two of their children; Elliana, and Zulea. They brought our van to the airport, so Chris was able to test out his driving skills/dodging skills right away. We brought our stuff to the guesthouse in Kampala and from there braved the streets in Kampala to exchange our money for shillings, get a SIM card for our phones to work, buy some of the foods like cheese, oreos, and apples..things that are hard to find in Soroti and drop off paperwork that for NGO status that will hopefully get us a 3 year Visa. We had pizza and ice cream, a little different than we are used to, but still great. Then back to the guest house to sleep, under mosquito nets, with the sounds of Africa out the windows.

We started our trek at 9am Thursday. Kampala is seriously crazy. You need to watch out for cars, bicycles, pike drivers (motorbikes), cows, goats, people walking, potholes. Needless to say, it was an adventure. It was much better once we were out on the open road. Uganda is beautiful, green, and lush right now. There are always people on the side of the roads carrying water jugs, sticks, sugar cane, or herding cows. We were able to get out and take some pictures at the Nile River which the kids loved and shortly after that we saw a bunch of Baboons and monkeys! Half Way to our destination, we stopped for lunch at a little Ugandan Restaurant in the middle of nowhere. Angie shared that not long ago one of our team members was eating there when Prince William pulled up to eat after a Safari he had been on! After a stretch of horrible roads and lots of prayers, we arrived at our home in Soroti! We were greeted by many of our teammates which was so great! They had made welcome signs, filled our frig with food, and had our home all cleaned. What a blessing for us WEARY travelers!

Our last few days have been spent unpacking all of our things, spending time getting to know our teammates, figuring out how technology works in Africa, hooking up a frig, stove, hiring a guard, playing with the neighborhood children in our compound, killing some giant cockroaches, being taught how to shop and what to buy at the supermarket and open air market, practicing driving (me)....which isn't easy seeing as you are driving on the opposite side of the road AND the opposite side of the car while manuvering around all the people on bikes and motorbikes.

We feel that God has us in the right place! We have a second gate in our backyard, that has a 4 inch square peep hole. On the opposite side is a nursery school with LOTS of children who love calling our childrens names. There is also another school behind us that has 600 children and 150 of them are living there.

I will share a story of just one of the many children we have connected with. Her name is Josephine. She is 11 years old. Her Father and Mother have both died of Aids and she also has HIV. She is on meds, which allows her to live as a normal girl. (more on HIV later) She moved in with her aunt, was cooking and cleaning for her, but her aunt would not let her eat with them. Finally her aunt started chasing her away and told her that she would beat her if she came back. Josephine has been selling oranges to pay for her school fees and sleeping at a home of someone else she knows. Now the difficult thing is that this story is most likely true, however, we are praying for wisdom because sometimes children here can be in such difficult situations that they will say anything to be helped.

Our family has been adjusting well. We have had a few tears from missing home and family and friends.

Our first few nights here were without a guard, so our kids had a hard time sleeping with all the different noises. We now have a wonderful Christian guard names Urias. He is trying to find a home for his wife and two little girls so they can live nearby, because he has to bike 6 hours to go home right now, yes that is 6 hours it takes him. We are in the kitchen right now writing up his contract and showing him the proclaimer (solar Bible in Ateso) You should see his eyes light up. We have a proclaimer with us because the children at our church are collecting their offerings to purchase the proclaimers, in order to start Bible listening groups here in Soroti.

God is at work here in Soroti and we are excited to join Him.

Pictures will have to be on the next post! Sorry!

Love,
The Fishers