Welcome Tucker!!!

A Big welcome to Tucker Michael Skluzacek born Sept. 11 at 7:09 a.m. weighing 7 lbs. and 14 oz. and 20 1/2 inches tall! Gail and Jesse went in at 3:30 and so it was pretty fast. He joins Riley (3 1/2) and Emma (1 1/2)....each baby has gotten progressively bigger!!! It was really an exciting moment. Greg, thanks for going over at 3:30 a.m. and Jessica for keeping the kids - it's difficult not being there!!! Gail called me about 11 when they were going in - hard to get much done that day!! Sisters were all praying for them!!

I'd actually gotten up early that a.m. (as usual) and was writing in my journal about how bummed I was to not be there and helping out - wrote 9/11/08 and all and didn't even click that it was "9/11" until I heard the news on BBC Africa! Really feel a LONG way away - physically and emotionally (guess, I am!).

Last Sat. as Holly and I were coming back on the matatu and bemoaning the absence of fall I noticed that the red dust had coated the leaves by the road very heavily - so we do have orange leaves!!! Really appreciate the occasional thunderstorm to wash things off and settle the dust!!! and cool things down.

Sunday went to a 3 hour church service - several adults were inducted into the Order of St. Francis - included the part time handyman at Providence Home so we went - the choir sang "I, the Lord of Sea and Sky" - I nearly lost it....remembering all of St. John's sending services!

Very quiet Sunday otherwise..didn't even go down to Providence Home. Worked on the agenda for the teachers' meeting, lesson plans and a schedule for the term....quite a project! I'm glad I live away from PH at the convent and have the luxury of a quiet day! Once school starts next Monday things will speed up tho'.

Our teachers' meeting went 2 hours and was certainly interesting. They want things to be like they have always been - wanted me to re-do the report cards and I'll make some modifications - they think people won't understand % (and may be right) so it has to say "out of 100"...more traditional! Maybe faculty meetings are like this everywhere - not enough money for salary and supplies, etc. I got frustrated arguing over every little thing and felt bad for Sr. Goretti since she's just here temporarily!

Got a surprise call Monday at 7 a.m. from one of the UC Davis group - is sending some money collected we can use to get food before the kids come back - YEA! Also, the stove people started Monday - it's a big project. Will send some pictures to Gail - could send via internet but it takes "forever" to download and I don't have the patience! Sorry.

Sr. Goretti had a funny story about an older man who came to PH on Monday and wanted to stay. He said he was sick and they took him to the hospital (couldn't find anything), the sisters got him a wheelchair but then started to question him - he looked pretty prosperous so they asked him what he could contribute. Guess he got out of the wheelchair and called a boda to take him home! "Resurected" Sister Sara said!!!

I was at the Monday market with some of the girls during the above circus. On market day all manner of people come and unload their merchandise on mats on the ground around the regular vegetable market area...sell clothes, food, fabric, clocks, pots and pans - anything you can think of. An amazing array of merchandise - gathers a lot of people more to socialize than buy. It hurts our shoe sales however, since they sell cheap shoes (often 2nd hand) for less than we can sell ours (but ours are WAY better quality).

Even got an ABC class squeezed in on Monday = smaller group but more one on one time - they are really trying to master the ABCs. Hope it sticks when they get back to school!

Tuesday was CBR day and not too busy, but we got a lot of organizing of files done in anticipation of an outreach the 21st at a local village and (hopefully) getting people notified of the orthopedic doctor's visit in October - I don't have a date from him yet, but hope he'll call this week.

I'm amazed at the stove construction - it was expensive but seems very nicely made and well reinforced. It's hard to moniter costs - did they really bring 10 bags of cement? Considered asking him to save the bags (we do use them for paper patterns for shoes), but got to him too late and some had already been taken by residents for starting cooking fires!

Got some cucumbers from the sisters and took some up to Holly and was sidetracked by a big thunderstorm with hail! Hope the new beans and sweet potatoes are O.K. Had a great time enjoying tea and popcorn at her home during the storm.

I'd been thinking for some time about sending a box of locally made baskets to St. John to sell at the Fall sale (they are made by a local women's group by ladies affected by HIV)...have poked on it, but Holly challenged me to get it done so I went back down to PH after the rain and got a box from PH (from a big boom box Nelson got for the elderly) and went down to the ladies store and got 21 baskets, and added 12 beads Holly had at her house and I'm done!!! Sisters are going to Kampala Weds. a.m. and I want to hitch a ride w. them to the P.O. in Mukono and avoid hauling the box on the matatu. Good to know I can move if I want to...have been pretty slow lately.

Weds. the 10th I really started to get nervous about Gail and the baby (her due date). Got the baskets mailed and picked up the money at Western Union in Mukono and checked some e-mails. Shari is working very hard to get the RASD internet cafe open - hope she succeeds soon. Is so nice to have it available!!!

Thursday, was Tucker Day!!! Hard to get settled...did have a fun ABC class tho' in between waiting for calls! Didas, the shoe making teacher and I went into the BIG storeroom to look for another shoe stitching machine - we have three in the classroom but only one works - guess at some point in the past someone came to "fix" them, took out some parts and never returned! Anyway, we found the machine, and some shoe making tools that we hope to clean up and give to students who will finish the two year course this year...had hammers, leather punches, etc. that are just a little rusty from no use. I'm determined to see some kids who've finished their 2 years graduate this December - they like to hang around. PH is a nice safe place for the disabled. It's not easy to go out and try to make it on your own, especially when you're disabled and your family lives in a village and can't help you at all...

Lots of other really neat stuff in the storeroom - Sister G. took some gardening tools, brooms, and said we'd have to go through it someday. There are two new electric typewriters....even an old court steno machine!!! Such an array of things that have been donated to PH over the years. Am thinking we could use the typewriters to teach keyboarding - not exactly the same but it's a start.

Anyway, we had a man come from Kampala Thursday to look at our two non-working shoe machines and give us an estimate to fix them...it's high but the machines are expensive to replace...very heavy duty w. big motors. We'll get the one out of storage and see if it works and may have one of the others reparied so the kids can really get to work.

Also,found some paper cutting scissors in the storeroom - the classes use them for cutting paper patterns so it was a neat find! But, I used them in ABC class - the kids aren't good cutters - don't think they have scissors at school - can you imagine 86 lst graders crowded in a little room with metal, pointed scissors??? I got into cutting paper dolls and paper doll chains and the kids were fascinated - simple pleasures.

Know this blog is sort of random - blame it on Tucker!!!

Another funny story about PH....on Monday, Nelson (the OT) came to Sister w. a boy, Mulgerwa, who ran away before Sister G came....somehow he came back. Looked like he'd been living in the bush and was really skinny. (he's done this before). He has epilepsy plus some other mental health problems and a very unhappy home. Sister got him a haircut and they cleaned him up and by Thursday he was on the run again! Also, have a deaf/mute boy who now goes to a school for the deaf in Mukono but was around for the break - he was missing several nights and someone found him sleeping up in a tree in town!!! You just never run out of stories at PH!!!

Thanks for hanging in there - know this was long. I was thinking I should do more descriptive prose, or talk more about feelings,but when I get done w. just the basic story (and it's all true),it's long enough!!! Hope you all enjoy it....it really is a wonderful place....very hard to explain and to manage - Sr. Goretti is counting the days (hours?) till Sr. Juliet returns! But, she said if she could have a 2 week rest she'd come back!!! I was so nervous when Sr. Juliet left but have also enjoyed Sr. G - she's got an amazing sense of humor and is always laughing at situations and herself!!! We're hoping to go to Sr. Juliet and Veronica's graduation on Sunday,but we'll see.

Sunday is also Olivia's baptism - I will really miss that too. It's hard being here sometimes - I knew that would be the case, just didn't know how hard at times. Thanks all for your thoughts, prayers, packages, letters, etc. Really helps a LOT. Providence Home thanks you too!!!