7 July 2013

07 July 2013

Walking the red dirt road

touring some of the children’s gardens

Fred and Winne

Kiria and Pross

Today we stared our day by going to Accacia Church here in Jinja. Its a beautiful outdoor church where many of our friends go. Its a combination of westerners who are here long or short term and Ugandans that attend. There was something so special about worshipping beneath the tall trees, praising God in the country that we love surrounded by many of the people we have come to hold so dear. Pastor Terry did a great job teaching, and although he was teaching from 2 Peter, guess what verse popped up? Yes, “I am the way, the truth and the life” John 14:6. I really feel like God is telling us something on this trip through that verse.

After church we headed out to the village of Musima where our friends Fred, his wife Winnie and their family and Kiria, his wife Pross and their family live. Its a beautiful village that sits high about 20 minutes outside of Jinja, surrounded by rolling hills and even a view of Lake Victoria. In the village, Kiria and a group of men have formed a community initiative to address some of the problems they know exist. Such as poverty, poor health and sanitation, and education.

We started at Fred’s home, where we had a delicious lunch cooked by Miss Winnie and we were able to meet 2 of their 5 children. After spending time at Fred’s home we walked up the road a bit to Kiria’s home. We were greeted by his wife Pross and their 3 children. Both men are hard working men who are trying to build a home and a future for their family.

Then we walked through the village to the place where we were greeted by a group of children singing and clapping welcoming us. These are some of the 76 children that the initiative work with. Each of these children have been taught modern farming techniques and have each planted a garden at their homes. They are taught how to grow to provide for their families as well as use the excess to sell to help pay for things like their school books and other school supplies. After some songs we walked and toured 5 of the children’s gardens, seeing what they have done. Their gardens ranged from some that were well planted and doing well to others that were not. One of the men explained to us that some of the children do not have enough time due to long hours at school to tend to their gardens as much as others. Some of the older children spend up to 12 hours a day in school.

After touring the gardens we went back for some more songs and dancing, and of course they got a good giggle watching the muzungus try to dance Ugandan dances.

It was so great spending the day in the village, everyone was so welcoming. Seeing the men in the community step up and try to find solutions to the issues they are facing, and wanting to make life in the village better for all is so encouraging.