New children at orphanage

This is a picture of a new group of children at the orphanage. The older lady on the left is the mother of the two youngest children and is the sister of the three older ones. the children are from the left, Frank, Joseph, Josephine, Barbara, and Ellen. They were very quiet and subdued. The mother was putting some shoe polish on their shoes before leaving them.

Rubbish to be disposed of

We put the kids to work cleaning out some of the old stashed clothes, suitcases, papers, etc.

Most ended up in the rubbish heap. The rubbish heap is located right outside the door of the girls' hostel, next to the water cistern, and on the only road leading to the school. We hope to burn it tomorrow morning and relocate at the back of the boys' hostel, out of sight.

Rack for hanging clothes and the smaller girls' hostel

Girls' Hostel

One of the girls' hostels showing new blankets and storage shelves. There are no electric lights in the hostels.

Baby Chicks

First day in their new coop for the 306 one-day old baby chicks. They have been put in a very small partition in the larger coop while they are so young. There are hanging bulbs for warmth as well as three small charcoal stoves. The feeders are in the center. Akimu spent the night on the floor of the coop with the chicks for their first night.

New "used" bikes for ministry

Akimu in the back, Amon, who went to the dentist in the middle and Timo in the front. Three bikes in the back

February 2, 2009

I am sorry it has been a long time since the last post. Some computer problems, some travel days, some lack of time. I will try to be more regular if possible. Thanks so much for following. Last week we were still quite busy working at the orphanage preparing the freshly renovated hostels and beds for the children's arrival this week. All beds were made with new sheets and blankets and each hostel now has storage shelves and a hanging board with nails to serve as the clothes' hanger. Prisoners worked again yesterday and today digging for the gardens. Planting will begin in late February or early March. Baby chicks finally arrived yesterday! 306!! They send a 2 chick bonus with each 100 ordered. Please see the pictures showing the first day in their new coop! We are working this week on improving the condition of the grounds--Ugandans do not have the concept of No Littering, so trash is a huge problem all over the country. We hope to change that at the orphanage.
Last week we were able to purchase 3 used bicycles to assist in our bicycle ministries. We went to Kampala and 2 of the guys searched the "used bike section" of one street while I sat in the car not wanting to jeopardize the negotiations. We had taken another young man, Amon with us to see a dentist. The Rav 4 was loaded on the way home with 4 people and 3 used bikes!! We still have the need of one more bike and will try to purchase it in the next week or two. Much appreciation to the Missions Ministry at Istrouma Baptist Church for contributing the bikes!!
We met with our 4 village ministry groups last week, one Wed., one Thurs., one Saturday, and one Sunday which are not part of the now "bicycle ministry." We are progressing. It is interesting to me that we have mostly men in two of our groups which is most unusual based on my past experiences in the villages.
I had to take my car in to Kampala to have some work on Friday. I needed new shock absorbers and brake pads which is no surprise considering the roads I travel. After two different attempts, we still have not been able to properly align the tires.
We will travel to Kampala on Thursday in hopes of finding a new printing company to work with on the remaining books. The artist has completed the drawings for Books 2 and 3 and we are very excited about the illustrations and are anxious to begin printing the next books. Meanwhile
we have many requests to travel to both eastern and western Uganda to distribute Book 1 and we plan to go first next week to eastern Uganda. I will post the schedule once I have the details.