I'm actually at Providence House on the bakery computer - got fixed last week....it works pretty well, tho' you never know when it's operative and the mouse is shot....but who cares!!! Not as much news this week. Want to go to Kampala tomorrow to the PC office to check on some grant ideas - first, is a piggery - and I need information on pig raising in Uganda. Should be interesting!!! Monday, I went with the Dutch girls, Evelyn and Tessa to Kampala to get the beds they'd ordered from the money their parents raised. As usual, it was a circus!!! The beds had been sold...they didn't leave a deposit, but they were able to put together 15 painted and 15 unpainted and Sister Juliet showed up with the hired truck just in time! They are metal, three high bunks. Then we went to another place to get the foam mattresses...but they close from 1-2 for lunch and the bakery truck which was supposed to pick them up on it's way back from their morning run was impatient becasue they had some meat for the convent and they took off. Sister J got them to come back with some loud conversation. She rode back with the big truck because the driver said they'd get stopped because they were overloaded - and they did - but she talked her way out of a ticket!!! She said the officer was smiling! I went along that day to see how it works....and to loan the girls some money from the ATM since they were having problems w. their cards. Then we went downtown to order a special swing for disabled kids to go w. the swing set they donated...it's supposed to come Saturday - BIG EVENT. We were way down into Kampala and I had to stay w. the truck to guard it!!! Got paint for the beds and then had to wait for a sister who was at a meeting - got home about 9, dirty and exhausted. The girls are so much fun tho' - if you can't laugh at the circus every project becomes you'd go crazy! Tuesday was "to work". Christine's final Community Based Rehab day....I'm really getting nervous. I don't know what to refer, our funding source has stopped for the present and there were a lot of people. One was a lady w. a 4 mo. old w. a cleft palate....found out they do the surgery free in Kampala, but she has to get there which is a real hardship for most people. I am back to the word "overwhelmed"....but everyone had to start somewhere I suppose. Wish I was more up on services and contacts....but I'll have to find out. Tuedsay afternoon we had class (since I was gone Monday). The big kids didn't get the message (Shari was going to teach them American), so she helped w. the little kids - thankfully! We did ABCs and it was really fun but they were WILD at first. There were a few P-4 girls who really helped out with our few Lugandan phrased (they do some English in the early primary, but don't teach in English until P-4). And their ABC song is different than ours...they stopped at M and we thought they didn't know any more, but we were singing it wrong!!! At my next language class w. Janet on Weds. I learned how to say "stand in line", "no hitting/pinching", and some other useful phrases in Lugandan. Wednesday I met with Christine, the retiring PCV, to go over the computer files she had saved and review the job.....made me feel even more overwhelmed. Wish I was better on the computer, but it doesn't work all the time either, so I can make lots of excuses!!! I'll have to learn Excel now. Don't think Gail wants to come and do all my projects for me! Kids got the beds painted and we got them into the new dorm...very nice. They were so excited about the new mattresses. Today (Thurs.) they are spraying the girls' dorm for bed bugs....they big boys were doing it and they were really enjoying watching the bugs run!!! It's funny how lax I'm getting on my personal care routine - I still brush my teeth, but am wearing my clothes several days, haven't shaved since I got here, haven't gotten my hair cut (it's curly)...said I'd do better when I move into my own home, but I don't know! But, I'm staying healthy and sleeping well, so it's working!! I do bathe every day, too, so it's not SO bad. This a.m. Sister had the kids out "digging"....clearning the grass from the area for the swing set. The ground is so hard and the grass is really hard to get out. Ugandan hoes are big and heavy and they use them w. a motion almost like you'd use an ax!! I really enjoyed the a.m. tho and the kids helped. The ones who couldn't walk sat on the ground and piled up the grass we'd hoed up!! Think it makes them feel good to be useful. There's one boy (think w. CP) who has very little muscle control, but he's so cheerful. At the ABC class he wrote out the letters a-e (that's as far as we got w. writing)...he knows them all...very bright, but in a body that's betrayed him. I'm starting to recognize personalities (and remember names) and it's getting to be a lot more fun to be around. Am still working on my painting project - I now have a plan (and maybe a painter)....am working on getting paint, etc. Won't start till May 12 - Christine moves out the 6th and I want to scrub first and Maria called the other nite and invited me to get together w. her (and others) for Mother's Day...I'm excited about that! Holly and Shari may come, too. Don't see them a lot, but it's good knowing they are there and we do keep in touch. Holly had a scare with her sister going to the hospital last week, but she's fine now.....you just feel so helpless so far away! I'm going to see if I can get some paint in town...apparently there's a "hardware store".....I do like to shop in town (you know how I feel about small town businesses)....plus hauling the stuff on the matatu is really not sounding like fun! Evelyn's parents (from Holland) are coming to Uganda Sunday and out to Nkoko on Tuesday....she's making them ride the matatu out (they agreed) so they can really experience life here! I'm looking forward to meeting them. The girls are here till May 26, but there parents are here for a week or so...they are doing all the parks out west....I'm anxious to hear how they are. Hear the animal life is good - lions and elephants and giraffes, oh my! Will close now. Thanks again for your interest. Did make it shorter this time, but a short week too.
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