The blessings keep coming...

Well, tonight officially marks the half way point in our time here. The first two weeks have flown by and I’m sure the next two will go even more quickly.

Today was spent doing more training and going on a “field trip” to the CAT dealership here. Many of Watoto’s generators are purchased from CAT and they have one of the most advanced facilities in Uganda. Safety is very important in the facility and that is one of the major topics we have gone over repeatedly with the team. Many of them had never thought about the consequences of an injury. We have stressed repeatedly how an injury affects not only the injured party, but also their family. There is no Workers Compensation Board here. An injury here could mean that an entire family, often extended family, would be completely without income. There are no food banks here and no social programs either. Without income, the children would not go to school and there would be no food. We have much to be thankful for in Canada. Take some time today and thank God for His blessings, many of which we often take for granted.

After work we headed to Ed and Phina’s home to take part in their cell (Bible study that takes place every Wednesday night).  It was a wonderful night of praying together for the church, the country of Uganda and for each other.

Duncan is one of the facilities team members that I met for the first time on this trip. He is a part of Ed and Phina’s cell so it was a huge blessing to have some time, away from the office, to get to know him a little better.

Isaac was a team member in 2013 when we were here. He and his wife Hope, along with their three children attended cell last night. I have only met Hope once before so it was wonderful to spend some time together and get to know her a little. We had never met their children. It took some time for the older two to warm up to us because we are their first ever mzungu, but we got there (photo below).

After we were done praying together, we sat and visited. Just when we think we are beginning to understand Ugandan culture, we are introduced to a whole new layer! The more I know, the more I realize I don’t know!

We also shared some amazing fresh fruit. I now realize that I have not talked about the fruit yet! Unfortunately, it is not mango season so we have not had any mangoes- it is sad, but true. But there are plenty of pineapples floating around here and I believe we have had pineapple (fresh, juicy pineapple) nearly every day since we arrived. Last night we also had paw paw (papaya), water melon and fresh squeezed orange juice. I also can’t forget about the little baby bananas that are so very yummy. Can’t get fruit like that in Saskatchewan! Then again, they don’t have saskatoons here.