Day 5: Blog Post by Becky

July 11th, 2009

Hello! Greetings from the Kumi Team. We enjoy reading letters from the Home Team at our daily morning devotions. You’ve asked about our accommodations and food, so I’ll take a little time talking about that first. Our hotel in Kumi is simple, but quite nice. It is fairly new, and has hot showers (when there’s enough water in the tank!) Most rooms have private baths, but some of us share a bath. I was surprised to find a TV in each room, though I haven’t turned mine on. The staff, and everyone we’ve met in Uganda are most polite and hospitable.

The grounds are spacious, actually located in a very rural area. We are surrounded by farms with chickens, pigs, and cows next door. Houses range from mud and bricks, to thatched round houses, or simple corrugated-roof abodes. Motor scooters and bikes are plentiful, but most people just walk. The terrain is very flat, with lots of tropical plants: fruit trees (fig, banana, guava, mango, avocado), flowering hibiscus, bougainvillea, and agricultural crops: corn, groundnuts (peanuts), cassava, potatoes, sugar cane, rice.

We have ample meals for lunch and dinner, but it is very starchy, with maybe rice, spaghetti and posho (cornmeal) all at one meal, with a small dish of stew to pour over the starches. Breakfast yesterday consisted of 3 small squares of fried bread and a glass of fresh passion fruit. Today we got a hard-boiled egg. The food tends to be salty, so we are asking the management to lighten up on that, and try to serve more fruits and vegetables. But they are experiencing a drought here, so these things may be scarce. In fact, our orange grove project was not faring too well, so they put it on hold due to the drought.

Today was a day of fantastic blessing as the van, crammed with instruments, props, water, and about 25 people (band members and us) headed to Miroi, a village where Grace Among (YCVM leader) is from. We drove through miles of agricultural land, and it was amazing to me that the driver found this narrow “trail” which we turned down to find the village center.






Miroi consists of groups of clustered thatched-roof huts on cleared –off patches of hard-packed red dirt. Can you imagine they sweep the dirt every day, because it keeps the snakes from approaching the houses? As we arrived, curious people and many children stopped to stare and surround the van. They followed us as we walked to a shaded area set up with chairs for us, but of course the people all sat on the dirt. The children were dressed in all many of what looked like donated Western clothing in various stages of disrepair----some so torn they were practically falling off their little bodies! About 200 people were already seated quietly, with wide eyes staring as we got settled. The team was struck by their almost total silence!

Did I mention that the folding chairs looked like they were made from cast-off scraps of wood, but pieced together so we could actually sit semi-reclined? As the band was setting up, more and more people began coming in….they seemed to come out of nowhere, and the crowd was definitely growing, but still, with very little noise. The children seemed subdued and almost afraid to smile----we were probably the first Asian (although the leader called us “white”) people that many of them had ever seen.
But as the introductions were made, and the band began to sing and play, the audience began to warm up. If you haven’t seen the YCVM on the video clips, let me tell you, they literally “jump for joy” with their worship music! Eventually some of the Kids start singing, clapping, swaying, and dancing, as they should their “Amen” and “Praise God” responses. The women let out cries of “Yi-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi” whenever the spirit moved them.

Then we began our skit of “Noah’s Ark, which was simultaneously translated into Ateso . A group of kids delighted in being the animals (thanks to Jane for creating the animal props), and the kids loved doing the motions of “Rise and shine” to the Arky, Arky Song we taught. Dustin was an admirable Noah, as well as orchestrating the entire VBS production…. look out Hollywood!!! The David and Goliath puppet show was equally well-received, although we thought we might need to go over the meaning of the stories when we see the kids again next week. The beaded Noah’s Ark necklace craft must have been a hit because we used up all 796 kits, and ended up cutting more lanyard right there on the spot! We couldn’t believe that the crowd had swelled to probably almost a thousand people!

The blessings for us were tremendous----just feeling the quiet JOY of the kids as they proudly wore their necklaces ( a few mothers even wore them!) And then they came to shake hands, kneeling respectfully, as is their custom. Donna tried to teach some kids the animal sounds, which amused them. At the end of the program, there was an altar call, and quite a number of kids stood, said a prayer of confession, and invited the Lord Jesus to be their savior----Hallelujah!

The clan leader shared some of the background of the village, telling of hardships and violence during the civil war in the 1980’s. As a result, there are many widows and orphans, many of them lacking a decent education. In addition, they must walk a mile and carry back water in 20-liter jugs on their heads----even the children do this, and the water is not very clean. We found out that they need a well, which would cost about $7,500, but they are too poor.

The team meets for evening devotions after dinner, and we reflect on our experiences and pray. We all feel tremendous admiration for the YCVM Team, their vibrancy of worship, and sincerity of prayer. They have so little, yet they have GOD and believe GOD is there for them in every situation. They continually thank us for coming and partnering with them. And we are witnessing daily the presence of God in all of us together, as we proclaim God’s goodness as brothers and sisters. Amen.

Questions to pique your interest:
1. Even though Richard prayed for protection from the animals, Becky was attacked last night by a critter. What do you think it was?
2. What did a Kumi resident try to sell us as we were riding the van back home today?
3. Who is the Team bug expert?
4. Where did we sit while eating lunch in Miroi?

Here are the answers to yesterday’s blog questions:
1. Burt locked himself out of his room. Maybe being without Jane has disoriented him somewhat.
2. Apparently Ben has put on some weight in the last couple years, since Martin Odi (retired bishop) didn’t recognize him at first, and then mentioned that he looked “3 months pregnant”.
3. To quench our thirst during our stay in Kumi, bottled water was purchased to avoid health problems that the local water might cause. It turns out the host team bought 45 dozen 1.5 liter bottles, which is 810 liters! (roughly 200 gallons)
4. There was an old Casio keyboard left in Aeri’s PSR office, and nobody knew who it belonged to. After a couple of years of collecting dust, we decided to give it to YCVM. Within minutes of setting it up, the YCVM band was activating the built-in drum machine, and playing music with it. If you have old keyboards for giveaway, Uganda could be their next destination!

Becky