Go Riders Go!

Hi All

We are finally back- sorry that we were not very good at posting in the last two weeks. We were spending every single moment with our children and it was amazing! God has blessed us with such amazing kids who have grown into responsible adults who walk with the Lord. What more could a parent want?
So last night we took our kids to the airport and it was an awful trip. First off, when I say “we took” that means we hired a Watoto driver to take us all to the airport and then drop us back at our apartment. People seem surprised when we talk about hiring a driver, but it is very much needed. The road to the airport is very dark and neither of us is comfortable driving that road at night. Another reason is related to the way vehicles are insured here. Our vehicle is insured to carry five passengers so that basically means that is all we can carry- no cargo, just people. We do haul our groceries, etc home in our vehicle and have had no problems. However, if we had four or five large suitcases in the vehicle it would just be one more reason for the police to stop us and we try to do what we can to avoid that! Also, we had an additional person come to the airport with us last night- Amy (a friend from Australia) came with us to the airport to see our kids off. Now that we’ve discussed the reasons we use a driver for airport pick ups and drop offs, back to the awful trip we had.
Friday nights are very busy on the streets of Kampala and we should have planned a little better for that. Our driver was nearly ½ hour late arriving as he was caught in the jam on the way to pick us at our apartment. Travel through Kampala was very slow as many people leave the city on Friday night causing an increase in traffic. Many others are out socializing on the streets of Kampala so the foot traffic is also very busy. All of our kids tend to get carsick so the constant speeding up/slowing down, going around curves took its toll on Courtney and Charissa- they were pretty nauseated by the time we arrived. The traffic and nausea helped to keep our mind off the fact that they were leaving so there were less tears in the van than expected! We arrived at the airport two hours before their scheduled flight so there was not much time for long good-byes before they had to head into the airport (only passengers are allowed in the airport).
It has been brought to our attention that we never post pictures anymore. That is true and the reason is simply because we never take pictures anymore. We will try to be more diligent in doing that. In the meantime, you could check out our daughter Courtney's blog. She is a photographer and has posted some great pictures. It will also give you a view of Uganda/our ministry here from another perspective. Check out her blog  http://www.courtneyliskephotography.com/category/blog/
Now, it’s just the two of us again. We will get back into our routine this week, but it will be a new routine for Lorenda. Starting on Monday she will be working with the guesthouse staff helping to work on some of the administrative work. Both of the building teams from Faith know Peter- Lorenda will be working closely with Peter. It will be a great change!
It is football season in Canada and we are excited! For Christmas our children bought us a Slingbox. For those of you who don’t know what that is (like us when we received it)…it is a “gadget” that connects to our satellite receiver at home in Regina and also connects to the internet. We can then go to the Slingbox website and voila- it is just like we are in our own living room. We can watch TV live, set it to record, watch what we have already recorded. So tonight while we sleep the Saskatchewan Roughrider season opener will be taping and tomorrow after church we will be watching it. The chicken wings just got done cooking, the hot wing sauce will be made tomorrow and cooked onto the wings- then we’ll be set. Go Riders Go!

Shopping and rioting (they seem to go together!)

Thanks for all your prayers over the last few days. As many of you know, there was some rioting in Kampala in the last few days- political differences. The newspaper today said that two people were killed and others were injured. Police had to use tear gas and water cannons to subdue the rioters. This all happened within a few blocks of Watoto Central (where Greg’s office is). Fortunately we were away on safari with our kids so Greg was not at Central while this was going on. Thank you so much for all your prayers for us. Unfortunately, this type of thing happens all too often here so the Ugandan people don’t get as “freaked out” about it as we do.
We have been having such a great time with our kids here. The only part that has been less enjoyable is the traveling- to go 250 kms in Uganda takes at least five hours. We had planned to take a trip out to Jinja tomorrow, but our children boycotted and said they wanted to have a “down day” instead. Jinja is about 80 kms away, takes two hours to get there and we were recently told it is the second most dangerous highway in the world. We’re OK with just having a down day tomorrow.
Today we went to “Friday market”- the best place to get African crafts at the best prices. Sounds like a great place to go for someone who loves to shop- of course, that is not me. I did buy a bracelet and my kids (especially the girls) bought a lot of things.
Our next stop was the Living Hope center to buy a few things that the girls have been eyeing since they arrived. I have gotten to know many of the Living Hope staff and a few of the ladies so we have stopped in often to look at the merchandise or just to say “Hi” in their air conditioned surroundings. The girls got some great stuff at great prices and at the same time supported a great cause. If you are not familiar with Living Hope, go to www.watoto.com and read about this amazing ministry to vulnerable women.
After that we went to the part of Kampala where all the fabric stores are. Remember in a previous post, I told you that you walk a few blocks from Watoto Central, go through a walkway and come out on another planet. Yep- that’s the place and my kids agreed with me that we had just arrived on another planet. We didn’t stay there very long!
However, Charissa still needed to spend a little more money before the day was done so we headed to a craft market that is near Central. Carlen just stood with me while Courtney bought a few things and Charissa bought many things. Thankfully, after that trip, our shopping day was done.
My kids are not sure how I am going to cope when it is time to come back to Canada. I have become quite skilled at telling people when I think they are trying to charge me too much. Often I will walk away and say, “I will not pay.” (the price they want me to pay). Often my kids remind me how little I am actually paying, but I still don’t want to be taken advantage of! On our way home after safari, we stopped to shop at several roadside markets along the way. By the time we were done we had 3 large pineapple, 1 watermelon, 4 very large avocadoes, 12 large mangoes, 33 small mangoes, 2 bunches of bananas, 32 tomatoes and 15 cobs of corn. The total cost for all of that was $9.04. The kids assured me I will not be getting that kind of deal at home and I just might get thrown out of the store if I start bartering or refuse to pay the price they want. It was a learning curve coming here and I think it will be another learning curve when we go home.
Tonight Greg, Courtney and I are enjoying a nice, quiet evening while Charissa and Carlen are out with some friends they have met working at the babies’ home. We have been enjoying every minute of our time together and plan to continue to do so.
Thanks again for your prayers.

Fun times with Family

We have been very busy for the last few days showing our kids the sights in Uganda. As many of you know, we are a very warped family so we have had a great time traveling together and mocking each other endlessly.
On Saturday we went out to Suubi  (a Watoto Children’s Village) to show our children around there. We toured the woodworking shop and the metal fabrication shop and then off we went to see the mother that we sponsor. We have met her before, but we wanted to introduce her to our children. We also had the opportunity to reconnect with one of her boys who had been on tour in Canada, sang at our church and stayed with friends of ours.
After that, we headed off to the babies’ home to visit with some of the children. Shortly after we arrived in Kampala in February, a new family of children came to the babies’ home. Lorenda had the opportunity to bond with these three children who needed so much love. They have since been moved to Suubi  so there was a great reunion on Saturday as the girls recognized Lorenda and came running to her yelling “Mommy, Mommy”.
After our visit to the babies’ home, we proceeded to the goat barn to check out the operation there. Watoto is also in the process of getting a huge chicken operation up and going at their Buloba farm. We drove over there to show our children the progress that is being made. Buildings are up, feed is being stored and they should be ready to purchase 12,000 chickens in September. Once the operation is up and running, they will have enough eggs to feed all the villages. The plan for the future is to build more barns and sell the eggs at the market. When we first heard about Watoto a number of years ago, we were very impressed by their sustainability plan. After viewing two of Watoto’s sustainability projects, our kids said the exact same thing.
When Greg’s brother and his wife were here, we felt badly that we had not taken them on a trip to the equator. So on Sunday afternoon, the five of us piled into our Rav 4 and off we went to the equator. When something is 83 kms away, that is just a nice little drive in Canada. However, that “nice little drive” took us over two hours as we braved traffic, road construction and the ridiculousness of Ugandan drivers. Upon arrival at the equator, we took about 10 pictures and turned around and drove back. Yah- we’re not feeling so guilty anymore- it really was not worth the trip!
Yesterday we went to Gulu. Some stretches of the highway are OK and others are quite brutal. As we were driving on one of the good stretches we came upon an accident that had just happened. As we drove up, we saw a man carrying a child who was covered in blood. An SUV had blown a tire and rolled. Charissa and I dove into nurse mode and did what we could to help- mostly just assess, provide assurance and get them water. Fortunately, there did not appear to be any serious injuries- some cuts to the head and face, which bleed a lot, but didn’t appear as serious as we first thought. They then headed to the clinic in the next village. Please pray for our new friends- the dad had a more serious cut on his head, but the bleeding was controlled. The boys have some cuts and bruises and are very shaken up, but OK.
As we continued up the highway, we then went to the Rhino Sanctuary. We had never been there before so we were very blessed to see four rhinos. We were a little nervous when we realized that we would be leaving our vehicle and trekking rhinos on foot. We got a little antsy every time one of the rhinos would move or stand- it makes one a little uneasy to be standing in the wide open only 25 feet from these huge beasts!
Our time in Gulu was great! Courtney got to meet the boy that she and her family sponsor. We toured the Living Hope Centre. The guesthouse staff spoiled us and then we headed to Paraa Lodge to take our children on safari. We saw many animals before we even reached the lodge and many more (including lions) while on our game drive. We are looking forward to see what God will bless us with tomorrow!
Have a great day. We love you

Kampala walking

The last few days have been so amazing. It is so good to have our kids here- I can’t even put into words how great it is.
In the weeks prior to our children’s arrival, we had been telling our friends and co-workers that they were coming so many people were eagerly awaiting their arrival. Ugandans are very warm and welcoming people who love to have others visit and want to make them feel at home here. Occasionally you will just get a handshake (Ugandan handshake is a skill that must be learned), but most often it is accompanied by a hug. Sometimes the hugs are very long and lingering as Courtney and Charissa found out when one of Greg’s co-workers hugged them and then turned to Greg and said, “Why did you give both of your daughters away? Why didn’t you save one for me?”
All of you who know Carlen can only imagine how much he is loving all the hugging and touching. He has coped so far, but no one (since Joe at the airport) has held his hand while walking beside him. We’ll see how he does when that happens.
Carlen came to the babies’ home with us girls today. He wasn’t too thrilled when he spent a little while in the youngest group- holding and feeding a baby that weighs 4 or 5 kilos was a little outside his comfort zone. He spent more time with the older boys (around 12-18 months) playing outside. The boys absolutely loved Carlen and he had a lot of fun with them. Courtney and Charissa went back to the same room they were in yesterday and cuddled gorgeous babies- they already have their favourites.
The walk from babies home to Central was very eventful today. Part of the journey includes a long, gradual uphill walk. As we were going up, a truck decided to make a u-turn in the middle of the street and cut off a boda boda (motorcycle cab).  Rather than brake, the boda driver attempts to take evasive action and gets as close to the curb as possible- sparks were flying, boda driver and passenger were panicking and four Mzungu (us) had to dive against the fence to get out of the way because we thought they were coming up and over the sidewalk! Fortunately, everyone, the boda driver, boda passenger and the four of us all came out unscathed!
As we get closer to Central, the traffic gets heavier and heavier and so begins the Frogger game. You take a step out onto the street and jump back, then you get to the middle of the street where traffic is going by on either side of you. Eventually, you get across the street and walk down the block until you get to cross another street. This was not really part of the eventful day- it is just everyday walking.
However, as we neared the church we had another interesting experience. We had just survived another Frogger intersection and were feeling pretty proud of ourselves when we heard this crash sound. We looked over to see that a car and boda had collided- they were at 90 degree angles to each other and the boda collided with the front of the car and ripped the bumper off. We looked over just in time to see the boda speed off down the street. Did I mention that this all took place right in front of the police station with four police officers standing watching?
Oh the adventures of walking in Kampala.

Family

Thanks everyone for your prayers for our children as they traveled. They arrived on time, tired, but with all their luggage accompanying them. Those last few hours seemed like days awaiting their arrival.

In Uganda it is not unusual to see two men or two women walking down the street holding hands. It does not mean they are in a relationship- it is just part of the culture. We have grown used to this and are no longer surprised when someone walks up to us and takes our hand as we are walking. For those who know my son though- we knew he would not be OK with this. We warned him about it ahead of time and told him not to freak out when it happens. So, as we were leaving the airport, a young Ugandan man walks up to Carlen, says hello and takes his hand. Carlen, knowing his parents, looked at the guy and said, “You must know my parents.” That was quickly followed by Carlen calling his mother a name (a term of endearment in our family) and then some patented Carlen hand flapping. We all laughed and that was our kids’ introduction to our driver Joe.

Now that they are here, we plan to thoroughly enjoy every minute we have together. Yesterday Carlen opted to catch up on some sleep and spent most of the day doing just that. The girls didn’t want to waste any potential “cuddling time” so after staff devotions at Watoto Central, a trip to babies’ home was in order. Charissa has already picked out the babies she would like to take home with her. It’s simple really- she wants them all!

Last night we had the first supper together that we have had in a long time. It was amazing to pray together as a family and of course, cry together as well. We are looking forward to what today will bring. Carlen will be going to Central with Greg so he will be getting all the hugs the girls got yesterday- wish I could be a fly on the wall to watch that!

Crazy!

When my kids were small there was a song that one of the popular kids’ entertainers sang. It describes me right now as we are sitting here waiting to go to the airport to pick our kids.
I am slowly going crazy. 1-2-3-4-5-6 Switch
Slowly going, going crazy. 1-2-3-4-5-6 Switch

Hello again

Hi all- thanks for checking in with us.
It has been a long and exhausting week. Greg has put in some very long days making repairs at the one of the Watoto churches. Lorenda spent Monday and Tuesday working on guesthouse facelift and the rest of the week at the babies’ home.
When you live here for a while, you begin to feel like you have seen everything, but last week we saw something new. We were at a friend’s house and she called us to come into the spare room because she wanted us to see something. There in the track of the window were the tiniest little eggs we had ever seen. Turns out they were gecko eggs and that is the second time she had laid them in that same place. No word yet on whether they have hatched, but we can always use more geckos to get rid of the bugs!
Every night we have several geckos, and usually a few preying mantis, surrounding the lights right outside our apartment door. They are cute, very quick and great at catching bugs! We haven’t found any in our apartment yet, but it is likely just a matter of time. Our friends who have the gecko eggs frequently find gecko tails around their house- seems the geckos just lose their tail at some point (not sure if it is the whole thing or just a part of it). We’ll let you know if we find any!
Tomorrow Greg is going to be working most of the day again and we need to stock up on groceries for when our kids arrive on Monday night. It will be a busy weekend and then before we know it, they will be here!
Thanks again for following our journey and for all your support and prayers- we appreciate it very much!

Food

What a great topic I have chosen today. I pretty much love everything about food- the look, the smell, the taste. I love to cook food and of course, I love to eat food!
When we first arrived in Uganda, the “I love to cook” part was fading very, very quickly. Nothing was familiar- the brands on the grocery store shelves were all foreign to me, the meat doesn’t taste right and there were a lot of vegetables that I didn’t even recognize. We were thinking that it was going to be a long, lean ten months with a steady diet of chicken and rice.
Fast forward to today- 3 ½ months later and the story is beginning to change. We have found some brands that we like for particular products and we are still searching for the “right brand” in other products. The problem is that the soup we like can only be purchased at Embassy Supermarket, the soya sauce we like is at Uchumi, we buy our bread at Brood, our yogurt and popcorn seasoning are at Shoprite, the coffee Greg likes is at Game, our meat comes from Quality Cuts and the rest we buy at Nakumatt. Most of you know how much I love shopping so having to go to seven different stores, which are not really close together, just to buy groceries, is not fun. In addition to that, one nearly needs to create a computer database to remember where to purchase which products. Oh Costco, how I miss you! The up side is that we have found products we like and eating has once again become an enjoyable experience. We are even getting used to the taste of the beef!
Of course the fresh fruit has always been one of the huge bonuses of Uganda. Today we took that to a whole new level. A few days ago my mangoes were getting over ripe and needed some attention. I peeled them all and used my Pampered Chef Manual Food Processor (the only kitchen gadget I brought along- no kitchen should be without one) to make mango purée. One of my favourite treats at home during the summer is to go to Fiesta Filipino (it’s on 13th Avenue- everyone should try it) and have a mango milkshake. Today I decided to make my own. It’s simple- ice cubes, a little bit of milk, mango and a little sugar (my mangoes were so sweet I didn’t need sugar)- blend it up and yum yum, yum! Have I mentioned before that I love mangoes?
We are already starting to have anxiety about what we will do when we go home. Saskatchewan in December- no fresh mangoes, no fresh pineapples and only bananas that don’t really taste like a banana should! In three months we have gone from wondering how we will survive with the food here to wondering how we will survive without the food we have here!