Another Monday, by Tamra

It's Monday again and time is moving quickly. I think we've sort of started to develop a routine and living here at New Hope is good. It's nice that we do not constantly have to worry about safety and all that sort of stuff. The New Hope property has very few entrances and the few gates are all manned by men watching the coming and going. Of course, we realize that there is no guarantee of safety, it is still more peaceful than if we were in a random community not knowing anyone else.

I know Kim has already talked a bit about our trip to Kawempe to visit Victory Living Word Church. It was great to see a few friends and make new acquaintances. I for one really enjoyed our take out lunch. Hopefully I'll be able to transfer pictures from my camera soon and you'll be able to see all the great things we're talking about. 

I also greatly enjoyed our special visit from the children's choir here at Kasana.  They are very talented. All of the music they sang for us was original music written by someone here at New Hope.

I guess no one mentioned our wonderful walk on Saturday. The boys were exercising with our family, as Uncle Rukundo had invited them to join all the boys from 11-1, so the rest of us went for a walk during that time. We wondered out on the New Hope property and went to the secondary sight. We had heard there are pigs and a pond. We came upon Unlce Jay and Auntie Vickey as they were working on the banana trees outside their home. We had a lovely little visit and then Unlce Jay gave us a bit of directions and pointed us on down the trail. We did come upon a pond and lots of other natural exhibits. This was one day we were definitely ready for lunch when time rolled around, as our walk had burned some energy. 

Today has also been quite busy. Read on to see a detailed description of my Monday. At breakfast, a young man who is here with a small team from Hillsdale College told me that he would be joining me to tutor the students. Since I've already been working with the students, I was able to let him know what to work on with each of them and give him some pointers. I arranged to meet him at 9:15, then I headed to the house to do laundry. Somehow time had passed way faster than I thought and the StanClan has a ton of laundry. I was able to get all of my stuff washed in the first cycle by hand, and moved to another bucket to soak. Then I started Floyd's stuff to soak. I realized my time had already passed and I had to rush up to the school (it's an uphill walk). :)

Jonathan and I were able to tutor all of the P7 students (except 3 who were absent) before their break time at 10:40. The students all break for porridge everyday at 10:40, then from 11-11:30 they have Bible reading. We don't pull them out of Bible reading because it is most important. So, during this time, I ran back to the house and got my clothes finished and on the line and all of Floyd's washed and on the line, except his socks, which I left soaking.

I returned to the school and Jonathan and I were able to tutor all of the P6 students before lunch at 1pm. At that time, I walked to the guest house for lunch, where Floyd and Troy were already waiting. As lunch was set out, Kim, the kids and I walked over to The Forge, where we bought cold sodas to go with our lunch and Omo (the soap that they use for general laundry washing). The sodas were cold because the electricity had been on for most of Sunday afternoon and just went off around 6:30 this morning. At less than $.50 a piece, it was an affordable treat for everyone.

After lunch, I walked with Floyd back to our house to get our money, then to the business office to pay for yesterday's transportation and arrange our transportation for next week. Of course, it started to rain just as I was leaving. I knew it could rain for a while, so I decided to hope the sprinkling would stay long enough for me to make it back to the house. I got a bit wet, but it wasn't too bad. Now I'm sitting here typing this blog. Then I'll finish Floyd's socks, which are still sitting in the bucket, then I'll take a walk and after that it will be getting close to dinner time. After dinner, we'll go to family devotions with our family (Pacific Family), then we'll walk home, take showers and settle in for the evening. 

What a blessing it is to be here! 

Pray that the laundry dries quickly, as I couldn't do any of the kids stuff. There wasn't enough room on the line for anything else after I finished mine and Floyd's. I definitely won't let so many days pass before I do laundry again. ;)

Also, pray for our ministry partners at VLW Church and Christ Fellowship, as they prepare for the youth conference starting next week and the church plant the following week.