We have been here just over a week now, and we are already experiencing something new to us. Raegan woke up with shaking chills in the middle of the night; then this morning had fever, was feeling cold and nauseous, and tired and achey. I looked on the computer and it said that malaria can show symptoms as early as 7 days after the mosquito bite. We knew that Raegan had gotten a few bites last week, and a few of them caused a painful, stingy sensation she had never felt before. Of course, I have no reason to believe that those weird feelings were due to any specific reason, but they were unusual none the less.
So, we called Tal, the manager of New Hope, and he said to take her to the clinic as soon as it opened at 8am. Admittedly, we are even more blessed to be at New Hope because they have a clinic on site. So, after breakfast I took Raegan to the clinic. We did find out something that new. Because we are taking Mefloquine, a medication to prevent malaria, the disease will not show up on the malaria test available at the clinic. It seems that we don't know exactly why it doesn't show up but through experience they have learned that the negative result us not accurate when an anti-malarial is being taken. We did know that it is still possible to get malaria while taking anti-malarials but that it usually makes for a milder case.
Because of this fact, they determined not to give Raegan the test for malaria. Rather, based on her symptoms and the time-frame, the recommendation from the clinician was that Raegan begin a 3 day treatment for the disease. She will take 4 pills at a time, twice a day for 3 days. The pills are best absorbed with fat, so we were told to try to give her milk or fried food (just a little interesting info for you). :) I asked the clinician if we may be over-reacting or should give some time to see if she just has some other bug but she did not think so. She said that we needed to give treatment now because with malaria, the sooner it is treated the better and all of the symptoms fit.
So, for those of you westerners who may be unaware, let me give you a little info to help you see that it is no cause for panic. There are 4 strands of malaria, one of which is severe. There are several reasons that Raegan's symptoms do not point to the severe strand; one of which being that it has shown symptoms so quickly. The more severe usually takes longer, up to several months, to show and has symptoms like jaundice and hypoglycemia. Raegan doesn't have any of those. So, we'll keep you updated. For now, it is similar to having the flu.
Troy and Tyler are at school, as well as Kim, and Floyd is at the office. For today, I will stay at the house with Raegan in case her symptoms change or she needs anything. It is about 9:40am (1:40am Central time) now and she has been a sleep since we returned from the clinic.
On a side note, we still don't have power, so we can't pump water. The boys experienced their first chance to takea a Jerry can to the nearby water source. Later we will try to share video of them trying so hard to carry the larger jug back to the house. For the record, I did go once myself before they even got out of bed. ;)
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Ugandan Meetings - The Long And The Not So Short Of It
Hello everyone. This is Floyd.
Having spent a good majority of my time at New Hope in the business office, I have been able to experience how Ugandans (at least these Ugandans) manage the operation and conduct business on a daily basis. As with all businesses, meetings are an essential and at times necessary part of business communication. I have found (to this point at least) a vast difference between American meetings and Ugandan meetings; both in content and duration.
American meetings can go long. As a rule meetings always seem to go longer than they should and there is many a businessman who spends the vast majority of his day bouncing from meeting to meeting. In fact, one the most annoying and perplexing facets of American business is the continuous need to have a meeting simply to discuss and prepare for another meeting that is scheduled (or not yet scheduled). It is this monotonous drudgery that can make a businessman collapse at the end of the day. Meetings for meetings just seems a bit ridiculous. But American meetings can be extremely short and to the point if run by people of certain personality types. For them, they don't need to know you nor do they want to. They just want to get down to business.
But things are quite the opposite here in Uganda. Meetings can take hours upon hours. I have only been in the business office for a total of about 3 and half days and have already witnessed multiple 4-6 hour meetings and was part of a rather long meeting myself. The meeting I was in was only an hour and a half but it should have only taken 30 minutes. There is so much time spent in the relationship process that there is absolutely no hurry to get to the business part of it. It is so funny to watch the Americans (yours truly included) in the Ugandan meetings. You can see so clearly how badly they want to "get down to business" while the Ugandans greet each other and discuss how the family is and how their evening was, and how the morning meal was, and how the weather is, and how much they enjoyed their porridge at 10:00 this morning, and how the crops are doing, and how someone's uncle left a heater on and almost burned the house, and so on. All of these things that would be considered "water cooler talk" in American is common discussion in the meeting room in Uganda.
Also, Ugandan conversation is much slower and reserved than American. There can be great pauses as the person considers carefully what they want to say and how they want to say it. This can go on for long periods of time as there is a careful consideration not to say anything that can or might in some way be found offensive to another. Ugandans can say "no" in such a way that you never realize you were just told no. They were so darn nice about it, you really don't even mind that they said no....without saying no.
Anyway...I thought is was interesting and certainly a change from things in the States. Things are so peaceful here. I have always wanted to live in the country and have some land that I could stretch out on and hear nature every morning. Africa certainly provides all of the above. More to come...
Having spent a good majority of my time at New Hope in the business office, I have been able to experience how Ugandans (at least these Ugandans) manage the operation and conduct business on a daily basis. As with all businesses, meetings are an essential and at times necessary part of business communication. I have found (to this point at least) a vast difference between American meetings and Ugandan meetings; both in content and duration.
American meetings can go long. As a rule meetings always seem to go longer than they should and there is many a businessman who spends the vast majority of his day bouncing from meeting to meeting. In fact, one the most annoying and perplexing facets of American business is the continuous need to have a meeting simply to discuss and prepare for another meeting that is scheduled (or not yet scheduled). It is this monotonous drudgery that can make a businessman collapse at the end of the day. Meetings for meetings just seems a bit ridiculous. But American meetings can be extremely short and to the point if run by people of certain personality types. For them, they don't need to know you nor do they want to. They just want to get down to business.
But things are quite the opposite here in Uganda. Meetings can take hours upon hours. I have only been in the business office for a total of about 3 and half days and have already witnessed multiple 4-6 hour meetings and was part of a rather long meeting myself. The meeting I was in was only an hour and a half but it should have only taken 30 minutes. There is so much time spent in the relationship process that there is absolutely no hurry to get to the business part of it. It is so funny to watch the Americans (yours truly included) in the Ugandan meetings. You can see so clearly how badly they want to "get down to business" while the Ugandans greet each other and discuss how the family is and how their evening was, and how the morning meal was, and how the weather is, and how much they enjoyed their porridge at 10:00 this morning, and how the crops are doing, and how someone's uncle left a heater on and almost burned the house, and so on. All of these things that would be considered "water cooler talk" in American is common discussion in the meeting room in Uganda.
Also, Ugandan conversation is much slower and reserved than American. There can be great pauses as the person considers carefully what they want to say and how they want to say it. This can go on for long periods of time as there is a careful consideration not to say anything that can or might in some way be found offensive to another. Ugandans can say "no" in such a way that you never realize you were just told no. They were so darn nice about it, you really don't even mind that they said no....without saying no.
Anyway...I thought is was interesting and certainly a change from things in the States. Things are so peaceful here. I have always wanted to live in the country and have some land that I could stretch out on and hear nature every morning. Africa certainly provides all of the above. More to come...
Monday, June 17, 2013
Expectations and Turnouts, surprising.... and enjoyable
Hey everybody. It's Raegan.
This is my first time blogging. I wasn't sure what to blog about because my mom and Kim were blogging so much, I figured there wasn't anything left. That is why it has taken me so long to post anything. To be honest, I hadn't even read any of the blogs until today!
New Hope isn't what I thought it would be. I knew there was a school and a church and places for the children, staff, and guests to stay, but I didn't know what it looked like or how it was designed. For some reason, I imagined it as more like an apartment complex with a chapel and a warehouse-type building as the school.
I also never imagined I would actually go to school. I thought I would observe a little, perhaps helping out with the younger students. But I am actually going to class and getting the full experience of it, tests and all!
I guess I didn't really know anything about New Hope or what it was going to be like. I had absolutely no clue as to what I would be doing all day. I imagined it to be more like the church planting trip, fast paced and busy, eating and going to bed late at night, and only being able to speak English with the interpreters and having to speak Lugana the rest of the time. It has been the complete opposite! The trip has been slow and I never feel rushed. I seem to have more than enough time to do whatever I need to do. The meals are very 'western' and we eat at around 6:00-6:15 (unlike the church plant when we ate at 9 or 10), and we are in bed around 9:00 every night. We are almost always speaking English, and the few times I do say something in Luganda, I get weird looks or they don't reply. They are very surprised to see that I even know oly otea (how are you). It makes it easier to communicate (for us), but I am not really improving my knowledge of the language. It is very different than my expectations and my experiences in the past. But it isn't a bad different. I have enjoyed New Hope so far and I know God has put us here for a reason, so I will continue the trip with high spirits and look to the future with confidence in God's plan, whatever it may be!
Ekitimbwa kide eri Mukamma (glory be to God)!!!!!
This is my first time blogging. I wasn't sure what to blog about because my mom and Kim were blogging so much, I figured there wasn't anything left. That is why it has taken me so long to post anything. To be honest, I hadn't even read any of the blogs until today!
New Hope isn't what I thought it would be. I knew there was a school and a church and places for the children, staff, and guests to stay, but I didn't know what it looked like or how it was designed. For some reason, I imagined it as more like an apartment complex with a chapel and a warehouse-type building as the school.
I also never imagined I would actually go to school. I thought I would observe a little, perhaps helping out with the younger students. But I am actually going to class and getting the full experience of it, tests and all!
I guess I didn't really know anything about New Hope or what it was going to be like. I had absolutely no clue as to what I would be doing all day. I imagined it to be more like the church planting trip, fast paced and busy, eating and going to bed late at night, and only being able to speak English with the interpreters and having to speak Lugana the rest of the time. It has been the complete opposite! The trip has been slow and I never feel rushed. I seem to have more than enough time to do whatever I need to do. The meals are very 'western' and we eat at around 6:00-6:15 (unlike the church plant when we ate at 9 or 10), and we are in bed around 9:00 every night. We are almost always speaking English, and the few times I do say something in Luganda, I get weird looks or they don't reply. They are very surprised to see that I even know oly otea (how are you). It makes it easier to communicate (for us), but I am not really improving my knowledge of the language. It is very different than my expectations and my experiences in the past. But it isn't a bad different. I have enjoyed New Hope so far and I know God has put us here for a reason, so I will continue the trip with high spirits and look to the future with confidence in God's plan, whatever it may be!
Ekitimbwa kide eri Mukamma (glory be to God)!!!!!
Back in the Classroom
Hi Everyone! This is Kim. Tamra, Raegan and I are sitting in the house right now listening to the rain outside. It has now been raining for over an hour, and it is absolutely wonderful. There is a lovely breeze, and the weather has cooled significantly. We were entertaining several children that didn't make it home before it started pouring. Tamra was taking pictures and video of them on her I Pad so that they could see themselves. Let me just tell you that it was quiet entertaining!!!
I love seeing the huge smiles when children see themselves in a picture!
Earlier in the day I was able to spend time in the P4 classroom I'll be working in these next few weeks. Unlike Tamra, I did not actually begin tutoring any students today, but mainly helped the teachers grade a math test, hang multiplication flashcards on string, and other such tasks. Hopefully tomorrow I will have an opportunity to begin meeting with students. Speaking of grading, let me just tell you about my experience of receiving a red grading pen. One of the teachers, Auntie Maple, asked me if I already had a red pen. Since I'm not in the habit of carrying one around with me, I told her that I did not, so we walked to the office to get one that I could use. As we walked into the office, she explained to the receptionist what I needed, and I was then given a very large book, opened to a page titled "Red Pen". As I was looking at this book I noticed a sticky note for "Blue Pens", "Black Pens", and other office supplies. Apparently each time a teacher needs more supplies, s/he has to sign the book. For just ONE red pen, I had to write the date, my name, my signature, my reason for wanting the pen, how many pens I needed, and what class I was working in. WOW!!! After I used the pen the first time, I set it on the table and was quickly reminded that I needed to hold onto it so that I would always have it to use. I would guess so! There's no way I want to go through that again!
But really, it was a great day, and since I mainly worked with the teachers, it was fun to talk with them about things they do in the classroom, and how things are similar or different from our schools back in the states. I'm looking forward to getting to know them and the children much more in the day and weeks to come!
Well that's all for now. I've got my red pen, and I'm ready for whatever tomorrow brings!
I love seeing the huge smiles when children see themselves in a picture!
Earlier in the day I was able to spend time in the P4 classroom I'll be working in these next few weeks. Unlike Tamra, I did not actually begin tutoring any students today, but mainly helped the teachers grade a math test, hang multiplication flashcards on string, and other such tasks. Hopefully tomorrow I will have an opportunity to begin meeting with students. Speaking of grading, let me just tell you about my experience of receiving a red grading pen. One of the teachers, Auntie Maple, asked me if I already had a red pen. Since I'm not in the habit of carrying one around with me, I told her that I did not, so we walked to the office to get one that I could use. As we walked into the office, she explained to the receptionist what I needed, and I was then given a very large book, opened to a page titled "Red Pen". As I was looking at this book I noticed a sticky note for "Blue Pens", "Black Pens", and other office supplies. Apparently each time a teacher needs more supplies, s/he has to sign the book. For just ONE red pen, I had to write the date, my name, my signature, my reason for wanting the pen, how many pens I needed, and what class I was working in. WOW!!! After I used the pen the first time, I set it on the table and was quickly reminded that I needed to hold onto it so that I would always have it to use. I would guess so! There's no way I want to go through that again!
But really, it was a great day, and since I mainly worked with the teachers, it was fun to talk with them about things they do in the classroom, and how things are similar or different from our schools back in the states. I'm looking forward to getting to know them and the children much more in the day and weeks to come!
Well that's all for now. I've got my red pen, and I'm ready for whatever tomorrow brings!
A quick update from Tamra
This morning I began my adventure in tutoring some students at the primary school. The P7 students were testing, so I won't get to begin tutoring them until tomorrow. I was able to tutor 14 P6 students. I have 16 that I plan to tutor but 2 were absent today. I called the kids in 2 at a time to work on fractions. We started with a basic question of what a fraction represents.
It was fun trying to think of real examples that they could relate to. I found the best example to be a loaf of bread. If we have this many people in our family, what fraction of the loaf do we get? If we invite over this many guests, how does the size of the piece change and what part of the fraction changes? What if we need a certain size piece? How many loaves would we need for different amount of people?
We also added fractions with like denominators, and with a few kids I got to adding with different denominators. We will continue to work our way through all operations with fractions and see how far we get before my time here at Kasana is over.
Please continue to pray for God to give us clear direction for our time here and regarding long term missions. While there is a specific position here that Floyd could do very effectively, and I'm certain our family could adjust to this life, we really just want to do God's will. If that is to serve Him through New Hope Uganda, then we will. If that is to serve at a later time in smething not yet known to us, so be it. Or if it is to remain in Texas...the bottom line is that we just want to be in His will.
It was fun trying to think of real examples that they could relate to. I found the best example to be a loaf of bread. If we have this many people in our family, what fraction of the loaf do we get? If we invite over this many guests, how does the size of the piece change and what part of the fraction changes? What if we need a certain size piece? How many loaves would we need for different amount of people?
We also added fractions with like denominators, and with a few kids I got to adding with different denominators. We will continue to work our way through all operations with fractions and see how far we get before my time here at Kasana is over.
Please continue to pray for God to give us clear direction for our time here and regarding long term missions. While there is a specific position here that Floyd could do very effectively, and I'm certain our family could adjust to this life, we really just want to do God's will. If that is to serve Him through New Hope Uganda, then we will. If that is to serve at a later time in smething not yet known to us, so be it. Or if it is to remain in Texas...the bottom line is that we just want to be in His will.
Sunday, June 16, 2013
A Lesson I Learned About Deodorant - The Hard Way
Hey guys it's Floyd. It's about 5:30 am here and I have been up for about 45 minutes already. I thought I would share about a lesson I learned about deoderant.
After getting a staff infection in both of my under arms a little less than a year ago, I was told by my doctor to switch to a deoderant that was a spray and had no anti-perspirant in it. Apparently anti-perspirant contains aluminum and after a while that can block the pores, allowing bacteria and infection to set in. Prior to this revelation, I had used the same deoderant with anti-perspirant for over 10 years. (Just to be clear, it was not the same stick of deoderant for 10 years, but the same brand).
So after taking medication and changing to a spray variety minus the anti-perspirant, I have been issue free. (For those that are interested, I have been using one made by right guard that comes in a copper can. When you spray it, you will feel like you are back in your junior high locker room, but you get used to it after a while). For this trip to Uganda, I thought I might need something a little stronger as I didn't want to be sweating in abundance. So I acquired a "high endurance" type of stick and began using it the day we left. And there in lies the issue - I probably should have spent a few weeks testing this new deoderant before taking it with me to Uganda. As it turns out, I have had an allergic reaction to this deoderant with side effects including severe itching, skin peeling, and redness.
Now I know what most of you are thinking. I should just switch back to the spray can I brought with me. Oops.... I might have inadvertently left it out of the bag. I have a memory of looking at the can and saying, "I don't want to forget to pack that". Well I guess I forgot to pack that...
Anyway, I did learn when I was researching how to control teenage body odor, as I have two boys that are constantly producing it, that Listerine can be used under the arm to eliminate bacteria. Apparently it works the same under your arm as it does in your mouth - it kills the bad stuff. And I must say that after having the boys do it prior to putting on their deoderant, it makes a dramatic difference in the amount of spare oxygen one needs when around them. So I decided to try it in order to help with the reaction, since I didn't have any kind of allergy cream or anything. Surprisingly, it removed the issue within 24 hours. Now this was great but I am still left being in Africa minus a deoderant I can use. So I am now having to use an extra one my daughter brought and I guess getting closer to my femenin side at the same time. No reaction to it so far so.....lesson learned I guess.
Our new family
This evening we finally received a family assignment; which means that we were matched with one of the families here at New Hope and we will join them for family devotionals every night and also for any other random things that come up. Since they are here in their own, Kate and Beth are joining us with our family. I realize now that we haven't mentioned them specifically. They are twins that were here when we arrived and are staying until Thursday. We'll have to share about them in another post. :)
Since its Sunday, the devotional time focuses on what they learned in church today. At the beginning, we went around the group and every person shared what they learned from church today. One young lady, who I later found out is 15, shared that she learned that she can wait and trust God to match her with a boy some day. I don't remember her exact words, but I felt that it gave even more testament to the method here. This young lady doesn't feel cheated because she's not dating around, nor did she feel hopeless to find a life partner. Rather, she was encouraged and reminded that God does have a plan for her and He knows all of her desires and will provide just what she needs.
We had a great time with our family. After devotionals we spent some time just meeting everyone. The boys all enjoyed some arm wrestling and a game of slaps. If you know the American version where you hold out your hands and the other person slaps yours until they miss, the Ugandans had a slightly different version where you hold your hands up vertically, similar to praying. The boys enjoyed playing but Troy's hands were as red as I ever seen before. Floyd and Uncle Rukundo enjoyed a few games as well. They weren't slapping, rather they were seeing who could make the other laugh first. If you know Floyd, you can imagine that this was quite entertaining for the rest of us. Kim and I agree that Floyd has met a good match. Unlce stayed in the game longer than anyone else I've ever seen.
We are settling in for the night after a long and enjoyable day. Tomorrow Floyd goes back to the office, the kids go back to school, and Kim and I begin tutoring. Continue to pray for us and let us know how we can be praying for you.
Have a blessed day. May we bring Him glory!
Tamra
Since its Sunday, the devotional time focuses on what they learned in church today. At the beginning, we went around the group and every person shared what they learned from church today. One young lady, who I later found out is 15, shared that she learned that she can wait and trust God to match her with a boy some day. I don't remember her exact words, but I felt that it gave even more testament to the method here. This young lady doesn't feel cheated because she's not dating around, nor did she feel hopeless to find a life partner. Rather, she was encouraged and reminded that God does have a plan for her and He knows all of her desires and will provide just what she needs.
We had a great time with our family. After devotionals we spent some time just meeting everyone. The boys all enjoyed some arm wrestling and a game of slaps. If you know the American version where you hold out your hands and the other person slaps yours until they miss, the Ugandans had a slightly different version where you hold your hands up vertically, similar to praying. The boys enjoyed playing but Troy's hands were as red as I ever seen before. Floyd and Uncle Rukundo enjoyed a few games as well. They weren't slapping, rather they were seeing who could make the other laugh first. If you know Floyd, you can imagine that this was quite entertaining for the rest of us. Kim and I agree that Floyd has met a good match. Unlce stayed in the game longer than anyone else I've ever seen.
We are settling in for the night after a long and enjoyable day. Tomorrow Floyd goes back to the office, the kids go back to school, and Kim and I begin tutoring. Continue to pray for us and let us know how we can be praying for you.
Have a blessed day. May we bring Him glory!
Tamra
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