May 14: Busy Days (as they say here) 'Moving Up and Down'

Sunday I unwittingly found myself in the midst of a high voltage health and wealth gospel service, that refused to end, at the Jinja Miracle Center.  Half way through, when I thought it was nearly over, I went out to try and generate some blood supply to my brain.  When I came back it was another two hours before the preacher relented.  Each of us sat emanating heat like glowing charcoal so that the collective body heat hung like steam until the odd gentle breeze would rescue us.  It created a Sunday stupor in me but it generated a fervent hysteria in the pastor.  Her words flung like horse shoes promising riches and a long life if only one would pray earnestly enough.  She made note of her large girth as an example of what the Lord can do if you are faithful.   “Once I was small and skinny” she said, “but now I am big and fat” as the congregation looked upon her with admiration.  Her rotund figure was draped in a vibrant dress as she wore out three microphones while wiping sweat from her face with a large white towel.  Behind her the choir sang and danced like their lives depended on it.  The congregation prayed earnestly along with her like starving people lining up for food.  In this case it seemed like God’s kitchen had tight security.  It felt like the odd one would find the blessing kind of like winning a lottery.  If I lived under the conditions that people here do I'm quite sure I'd find this gospel enticing. 

walls going up on the latrine

Then I arrived at the Railways to see how the latrine construction was going.  At one point I was inside one of the stalls together with three others, one of whom was not fully lucid, discussing how big the hole should be.  Arguments were made on all sides.  To reduce our cleaning costs we are very keen on maximizing the success of those who use the latrine to accurately find the hole when relieving themselves.  

doors, plastering, roof, now remains...size of the hole

In meeting up with our dear friend Lillian who has helped us a great deal in the ‘Railways’ community I learned that my friend Michael, who is prone to partake in the drink, had been fervently looking for me.  Apparently, he had heard me say that I was leaving soon and he knew I had promised him some sort of compensation for the janitorial work I’d asked him to do.  So, Saturday, clouded by effects of the drink, he told Lillian that I was leaving today and that he was going to find me at my guesthouse.  He said he had packed his bags and was going to come back to Canada with me.  Somehow he was confused about our agreement, which was that I would leave him responsible to clean the latrines.  Anyway, he spent the whole day looking for me, which was not surprising because he had no idea where I was staying.  He walked all the way to the bridge, because he thought he heard me say I was staying near there, carrying two big bags one being on his head.  Having failed he returned back to the Railways well after dark exhausted and fell in a heap in front of Lillian’s veranda and promptly went to sleep.  When making a verbal agreement I guess it is important that both parties be sober. 

Abdu, our farmer, showing us his farm

From there I had a couple more meetings with people who have asked for time to show me their homes and to tell me some of their story.  We are also in the midst of working out an agreement with a model farmer who will help us get a nutrition for children’s initiative off the ground.  We will invest money into his farm and in return he will pay us back in the form of eggs and milk which will go toward feeding children in primary schools.  Once he is part way through paying back his loan he will contribute a certain amount which will come off his debt to help two other farmers develop their farms.  As his repayment decreases the new farmers will begin paying back the loans also in the form of eggs and milk.  I am excited to see if this can work.  We have found a terrific model farmer to invest in and our hope is that it will have a rippling out effect.

Adbu has 1100 layers

Monday after a very long day of meetings with people trying to get our projects completed I was taken to a program in Kakira where there are groups of women who have banded together to form business communities.  These women are very isolated and would rarely if ever have the chance to get out of their village and see the world outside.  Their husbands for the most part are not particularly helpful in making money for their families and do not allow them to venture out of the village.  In meeting them I was overwhelmed by their determination to fight against the obstacles that they faced and to do it with energy and passion.  I was so impressed by their organization, their hospitality, and their desire to make a better life for their kids.  Over the year of being together they've made contributions to the group each week and from that pool of money each member gets a sum of money to enhance their business.  If one falls in difficult times with a child being sick or a death in the family each group member will contribute toward helping that person out.  It is entirely their group.  They have been helped by a local leader who took us to see them but only in terms of mobilizing and organizing them.  I’m not sure I’ve ever received a welcome like this one.  It was not hard to come up with words to encourage them.

all ladies in the group except for one man (behind me). Paul (next to me) helped start the group