Day 8: Blog Post by Peter

Day 8 - Tuesday, July 14th, posted by Peter (with help from Donna)

We woke up to a beautiful sunrise. You can see the sun rays fanning out from the clouds. After breakfast of bread and coffee/tea we gathered for morning devotion with Valene taking us through Ephesians 6, wearing the Armor of God. We all really look forward to our daily letter from home. Today, we read a letter from Jane full of encouragement written on a beautiful dragon card. We thank God everyday for our Home Team.

After devotions, we embarked on our journey to the work site -- our second day at the YCVM boarding school site. We met the workers who were already busy at work. We jumped right in making 6x6 inch squares wire cages (using the jig made with nails and a board) for the rebar framing.




Others helped unload 24 rebars (1/2” x 20’) from the YCVM pick up truck. Because the pick up truck is small, the rebars had to be bent in the shape of a U to be transported to the work site.




After unloading, each rebar had to be straightened to be used. The bent rebar had to be straightened by hand/foot as much as possible. It was held on each end and by at least 2 people, placed on the ground with the bend pointed upward, someone then stepped on the bend using their weight to straighten it. Then the workers finished the straightening by hammering the rebar on the ground. Four rebars were taken to the wall, the 6” wire frames were fed over the rebars at 1’ intervals. These were wired in place with a rebar at each corner. The bailing wire came in big rolls, kind of like a wreath. They had to be undone and cut into a certain length to be used for the wiring of the square to the rebar. Good thing Peter had his multi tool with wire cutter to help cut. There was only one other wire cutter on site. Cutting the wire was very difficult so the strong men did the cutting and the strong women gathered the cut wire. The rebars were framing the foundation with a total about 400’ of rebar work. Many of the tools used were made on site, twisting jig, bailing wire jigs and the 6” square wire bending jig. Our morning work was completed and we got on the van to go back to our hotel to freshen up and to have lunch.







After resting we headed to Ngora Girls Secondary School. When we got there we were led to the assembly hall, about a 35 x 35 size room. There were more than 200 girls sitting shoulder to shoulder flowing out into the hallway. The sound of all of their excited voices was like a giant bee hive. The students were so excited to have us and the YCVM band there. Due to the heat in the room and limited space, we moved outdoors and met the band. We started the afternoon program with Patrick leading us all in praise singing. Most of the songs were already known by the students. The motion worship songs were enjoyed by all and the drama skit was a crowd pleaser. But the best and most appreciated were the testimony by Valene and the talk about the drama by Donna. Valene relayed her agony of growing up as all young females do. Donna wearing her black drama shirt and devil horns explained the temptations presented in the skit. After the presentations and the singing an altar call was made. Praise the Lord for the number of girls who answered the call.






The school was most welcoming and hospitable to all of us. We were even served one of our favorite drinks, Krest. We boarded the van exhausted and excited at the same time.

A very special telephone call came while we were in the middle of the presentation today. It was for Valene and Dustin who were celebrating their 2nd anniversary. What a great gift to get a call from your family back home.

Questions for the day:
1. Who is the lead for having the most mosquito bites?
2. Who is called “ecokon” which means pastor?
3. Who made a friend with a praying mantis?
4. Which newlywed couple was swarmed by a band of high school girls?
5. How many girls from Ngora Girls’ School answered the altar call? A. 3 B. 10 C. 50 D. over 100

Answers for Questions from Day 7 Blogpost:
1. A chicken – a gift from Grace’s family when we went to visit their home.
2. Silver spent the night at the site for extra security even though a person was hired to guard the site.
3. Ugandans in the village eat only 1 or 1 ½ meals per day.
4. Little Baby Gecko Chu