A TRIP TO THE MARKET

Well, today we went to the Market to see the food buying process for the kid's former orphanage. They feed 65 kids and that many staff too- 3 meals a day, 7 days a week. It takes a lot of food. But they've got the system down to a science. Today we got to observe the purchasing and gathering portion of it.

Uncle William- the house manager took us around on his usual route today. Every Monday and Friday he does the exact same thing. Here's the Monday plan of attack:

1. Stop for bread. In this case, it was not there yet, so they pay for it, and then it is delivered to the van later that day.
2. Stop for sugar, salt, and oil. It takes 50 kilos of sugar and 4 liters of oil a week to cook the food and to keep the food tasting the way it is intended.
3. Go into the market and walk through a maze of food booths and pay for various items from various people. He goes to the very same people every week. He pays for the very same thing from the very same people and then somehow pays a man to go and get it all and bring it back. I never did see that particular exchange happen, it was crazy how it just sorta happened. We just paid and then walked away without a thing in our hands. I asked William, "how do you know you'll get all the right stuff you just bought and are now expecting to supernaturally arrive at your van?" He said, "It is all on trust." Some of them might not have another customer all week. They know I am faithfully here every Monday and every Friday and therefore, they do not want to lose my business. I never get cheated.
4. Wander out of the maze and wait for the van to get loaded up by some guy who magically appears from seemingly no where.
   
5. Get back in the van and go to another market location for a few other fruits and vegetables.
6. Go to the super market for what we could not find in the market. (ie, pesticides and such).
7. Go to the orphanage and unload it all.

Here's a few pictures of the process as we experienced it...

This is the woman they buy some grains and beans from.

She measures out the amount the old fashioned way- with a scale and lead weights. She did show him the total on a solar powered calculator though.

We bought cabbage from this man.

Carrots, papayas, and tomatoes from this man. He already had it bagged up and waiting for us.

Bananas and matoke came from this woman. There are 2 kinds of bananas in Uganda. The long ones which we are used to in the states, and some shorter and sweeter ones which I have never had in the U.S. These ones are the short ones (about 4 inches long each). We found some sets that were so fat and happy they were busting the peels open. These bananas were so dang good and sweet that we bought 2 large extra bundles just to eat ourselves. Oh boy were they good. I so wished I had a blender to mix them up with some pineapple and maybe some coconut milk. Dang that woulda tasted awesome.

Matoke being loaded into the van. It looks like green bananas and tastes a little like potatoes. It is a staple in Uganda and can be seen traveling on almost every road and by the semi full on the highways.

Jim and the head cook, Godfrey, helping to unload the loot at the orphanage.

Fun day. I learned a lot about how Uganda works and how the orphanage operates today. So fun to be a part of the process. There's a few more pics of the kids and such at the market on facebook.

Next post: a cooking lesson with Prossy, our guest house cook. I'll do 3 posts actually, one for each recipe/dish we made tonight: cabbage, beans, and chapati. Such a cool day.

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TIMOTHY IS MY HERO

One of the greatest joys of being back in Jinja is the chance to love on my friend Timothy. Everytime he sees me and everytime he calls me on the phone, he only calls me "brotha". I love this guy.

Yesterday I had the chance to join him in his church and to teach to his congregation. He looked at me last week and said, "Brotha, the people know you are in town and they keep asking if you are coming. I told them you are here for another reason, but really... can you come all this way and not feed my people?" Yeah.... um, how do you say "no" to that teaching invite? I'm glad I went, it was so much fun and so out of the "norm" for me. I loved it.

Here's a few differences from our church to theirs.

1. COW DUNG VS. CONCRETE: There is cow dung intentionally spread on the floor. Yep, the spread it around and let it dry. This keeps the dust down and acts like a natural concrete I am told.
2. NUDITY IS OK: There are nursing women all over the place. At three separate times I made the mistake of looking in the direction of 3 different women while I was teaching only to find them pulling out their boob to nurse a kid. Boobs are not a big deal in the villages. I am told butts are. But boobs, not so much. Additionally, there are lots of kids, many of which have a shirt and nothing else. Their butts and such are clearly not an issue. If nudity is innocent, then this is where that's true.
   
3. SINGING IS LOUD: Praise and worship involves everyone. Everyone sings. Everyone. They dance, they laugh, they sing, they have one accoustic drum. No one sits and looks bored. I think God likes their worship better than what I experience most Sundays with the crowds I'm in.
4. TESTIMONIES ARE FREQUENT AND SHORT: people in the audience stand and give a testimony of the work of God in their life. Not forever, just a few sentences from a few people to remind one another that God is alive and well in their community. So cool. I think I'm stealing this idea for home.
5. CELL PHONES: Crazy as it is, cell phones ring in both rooms. In my high school ministry, we fight to keep cell phones and in constant texting from being a ridiculous distraction. I think we lose that battle more than win it. But in Uganda... while I've never seen someone text in church, I've seen a cell phone ring and get pulled out of a pocket on countless occasions.
   
6. NOT MUCH TO IT: there is no electricity, no windows, no doors, no sound system, no carpet, no padded chairs (just a few hand made wooden benches), no lights, no coffee cart, no food, no cars in the parking lot, no parking lot, no pretty much anything we have. I don't think we should stop all those things in America, but the practical differences in the communities and cultures are endless.
7. SAME BLOOD: I love how my brother Timothy introduced me. "I want to welcome my dear friend and brother Brian to come and teach the Word to us today. He has traveled all the way from America to be here with us. He has white skin, and we have brown, but I'm here to testify that the blood is the same. It is the blood of Jesus that makes us one and the same Holy Spirit that lives in Him is in many of you as well." I love people who are color blind.

In my time with Timothy these past two weeks, I have learned more about his family and I got to enjoy them some more this Sunday at his home after church. His wife cooked us a lovely meal and we ate it on the floor of their home. Beans, rice, matoke, greens, some lamb, and even a coke. I love watching his family interact together. His daughters led worship in the service. His sons were helping and cleaning around the house.

I have learned this week that his wife and he have 7 children via natural means and another 5 they have adopted from their community. This guy lives on less than I do and I think he does more with it. He has planted over 80 churches in both Uganda and Kenya. He is a humble, gentle, genuine, honest, sincere, passionate for those far from God, compassionate for those in need, respected in his community.... dude flat out lives like Jesus. If you spend enough time with him, you might think he is Jesus. If I could grow up to be someone, I want to be Timothy.

here's a few pics of my experience in Busaana, Uganda... a small unknown village in the world that God has speed dial I think.

a fresh cow dung covered floor and hand made benches:

a woman who sings louder, has less, and experiences more joy than many "christians" I know. She rocks. I'm gonna see her in heaven and I'm convinced she's gonna tell me everything I missed in this world.

this is Timothy and his family of 13 and a couple little munchkins who followed us to lunch in front of the house that Timothy built from the ground up. This is a sweet family pic:

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OVERHEARD

FROM OUR NEWEST KIDS THIS WEEK. MOST OF THEM MULTIPLE TIMES:

"Mommy and Daddy are Muzugu (white). Jake is Muzungu. TJ and Tyler is muzungu."
"Yes, what are you?"
"Brown."
"Yes. Mommy and Daddy love brown."

"Zues is munene and not sileeka." (our dog is big and loud)

"I want to go to America and go to school."

"Daddy, you get soda and ice cream."

"I want to go to America, sleep with Jake."

"When we get home, it's time for susu, showers and teeth and bed."
"And stories and prayers and kissing and lips".
"Yes.. you are right."
[Nightly routine: Take off clothes. Go pee or poop or both- try and keep them from doing it at the same time in the same toilet. Stand in cold water in shower. Get soaped up. Go back into cold water to rinse off. Dry off with towel. Lotion up while attempting not to giggle. Get dressed for bed. Brush teeth. Pick one book each. Read the books with Mommy while trying not to get too silly again. Listen to them point out stuff in Lugandan to one another in the story while wondering what these two kids are saying. Hold hands and pray with Daddy. Kiss everybody. Chapstick. Bed. ]

"caca not coming" (I told you I wanted to poop, but now I'm sitting on the toilet and nothing is happening.)

"Daddy, don't want film. Want ball." (ie: let's stop watching this movie after nap and go play ball outside.)

"Want puzzle."

"Want tickle."

"Want jangu" (I want you to say "yangoo" so I can run to you and you can pick me up and kiss me like crazy when I run to you on command like you asked)

"Want run". (ie: let my hand go so I can run ahead of you... eventually to play jangu some more.)


"And me." (the answer to anything my brother or sister just asked for and I want too.)

"Red for walking. Green for running." (ie: Walk on the red bricks and red dirt covered asphalt roads. Run on the grass.)

"want to go for aeroplane"

"want my konfila" (I want my hat)


AND FROM THE MARKET YESTERDAY:

"Hey muzungu. I give you Obama price." (because they are friends with him evidently)

"Hey muzungu. You take this one home too. I don't want her." (woman referring to her infant daughter who she probably struggles to feed and care for)

"We like these shoes. How much are they?" (sandals we found and had tried on our daughter)
"Let me see them.... 20,000" (about $10)
"Ha. That is too much. You are giving me muzungu prices. We paid 12,000 for these ones. We will pay you 12."
"Long pause. How about 13?"
"12 or we go."
"ok... 12." (we are getting good at this bartering thing.)

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WEDDING PLANS BEGIN

I was sitting in the guest house when we heard this loud noise coming.  Heather says, "Is that a marching band?"  I say, "yeah, sure. It's a marching band. [tongue in cheek]"  I then go outside to check.  And much to my surprise... it is and someone tells me the mayor is coming.

So I run back to get my camera.

When I arrive, just in time for the band to go by, I find out it's not the mayor- IT'S A WEDDING.

So, in honor of this experience (though I have not even officially adopted my only daughter yet)- like a good father- I have started her wedding plans. 

There will be a maching band.

A mercedes with the wedding couple's name on the plates and a big bow.

Every other identical mercedes that even exists in town will follow the bridal party with matching bows on their cars at a snails pace.

We will make a lot of noise as we go through town.  Forget the horn honking.  Marching band it is.  Only thing they were lacking was a drum major.  We will have one of those with a baton that has fire on both ends.  This I decree.

Better start saving my shillings- er dollars- now.

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A TRIP TO THE CAPITAL

Well, today is a new day as our friends on the West coast end theirs.

Yesterday we went to the city to see the judge. Now we go back next week to get a ruling. Then it's off to the Embassy for paperwork and visas and passports and then home. Feels like forever. We have had another family here with us and Andrew is headed home today. So it's hard for our kids to understand that his time is now, and our time is later. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Regarding my post yesterday, I had further confirmation of the Obama craziness on this continent. Here are three pics to prove my point:

• this sign on the road was in like 100 places.

• this was a bumper sticker on a local car that has been in support of Obama for quite some time. Yes, he's a local hero of sorts around here.
  

• all three local newspapers here had his picture on the entire front page. This is the government sponsored one and has reactions from around the world, commentary from people on the street, and even the entire text of the speech. Crazy. I'll post some of the local opinions in it soon. But we're off to go swimming and have lunch.

Oh.. and while in town I found more floor puzzles for my son. The kid is a puzzle maniac. I couldn't bear to watch him do the same puzzle for the 100th time. We now have like 10ish options, one of which is numbers to 25 and is 16 feet long!!! I think I might need to find more as we have still several weeks to go and these are done like 10 times a day in the morning and early evening.

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INAUGURATION AFRICA

Watching Obama be inaugurated was historic all around the globe.  Watching it from Africa has been quite the experience.  We have the speech DVR'd at home to watch again upon our return to the U.S.  But for what it's worth, here's one American's observations from this part of the African continent.

• OBAMA CAN DO NO WRONG... YET:  So far, Obama has done nothing other than get elected and he's already the best president we've ever had from the street level East African viewpoint. 
  

• THE NEWS ANCHORS ARE FULL OF WHOOPS:  Just after President Obama was elected, the local news congratulated the 34th president of the United States.  Whoops.  They regularly mispronounce names and get their statistics a little screwy, but it's kinda funny actually. 

• HE MIGHT BE PRESIDENT OF AFRICA ACTUALLY:  His face is on billboards, painted on the side of buildings and t-shirts, and he is a household name. Passing by on the street, it is not uncommon to hear two phrases tossed my way:  "hey muzungu" or "obama!".  When my brother-in-law and I went through the market this summer in Kampala, virtually everyone we talked to asked us about Obama.  I think the average person on the streets thinks Obama will cure the ills of Africa single handedly.   The day he was elected and his inauguration were both declared National Holidays in KENYA!!!!  There is even a parade and concert here in town on the 23rd called the "Obama Concert".   I fear they will be sorely disappointed 4 years from now.  I also pray that president Obama knows that money alone cannot solve the problems of this continent or any other for that matter.
  

• HISTORICALLY, THIS IS SURREAL FOR ME:  It is crazy to watch Obama's speech in the presence of my two African kids.  I praise God for what this means for them growing up in the U.S.  Add to that the fact that I was watching it in a guest house with both African and American adults in front of a t.v. tuned to the Aljazeera network (showing the CNN feed) and you get a crazy soup of ideals and opinions and a very cool opportunity for my family and our country.  These are epic days we are living in.  I pray the future is one of unity amidst our diversity.  I pray that those who follow Jesus will lead the charge of change that is rooted in the leading of the Holy Spirit.
  

• NEWS IS BIASED EVERYWHERE:  Watching on Aljazeera is funny cuz you get to see what quotes the Muslim press highlights in a speech.  There is no such thing as unbiased reporting- in the U.S or otherwise. 

• WE LIVE IN A GLOBAL COMMUNITY: I had several posts about the fact that I voted for Obama and some back and forth comments on this blog as a result.  But regardless of who you voted for or why, it is crystal clear to me from this vantage point that who we elect to be the president of the United States is no longer merely a North American issue.  It's a global decision and I voted intentionally in this regard.  Time will tell if that was the right decision, but regardless of the outcome of the future, I have no reservations saying that the actions of the U.S presidency have HUGE global effects.  I cannot ignore this in my influence on the democratic voting process.  I'm praying that we as a people have a global influence that honors God and respects all of His creation. 

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