A Visit to Teddy's Village

Since moving to Uganda about 6 months ago, one of the things we have tried to make a priority is building relationships with those around us. Just like we would do if we had moved to a new place in the US, I guess. Anyway, one of those people that we have been seeking to reach out to is a young woman in her early 20s named Teddy. Actually, Teddy has reached out as much to us as we have to her! Mark met her when he was working at Mbale Referral Hospital. She is a nurse in the OR there. He invited her to church, and she came, and has been coming faithfully ever since.

Teddy invited us to visit her village and meet her family. Here are some pics from our day.

Here's a shot of Teddy with her grandparents who actually raised her. Apparently, her grandfather is in his 90s.

Boat ride!!

Kids in every culture like to splash in the water.

The boys brought fishing poles and tried to fish, but we didn't catch anything. Some of the Ugandan guys said the fish didn't like our big American fishhooks :-).

One of the most encouraging parts of our day was visiting with Teddy's Aunt Jane, who runs an organization called Woman of Purpose. The organization seeks to empower Ugandan women through job training. Jane has a lot of wisdom and experience, and will be a great resource.

Here is Jane (in the center in red) outside of the Woman of Purpose headquarters with some of her employees.

Tailoring training

We ended our day with a delicious chicken dinner served at the Woman of Purpose restaurant, which Jane opened to teach catering. (Can you tell Gid is watching TV?)

We are so thankful for Teddy, and the hospitality she extended to us. The Ugandan people are extremely hospitable and welcoming, and we are thankful to have this opportunity to live here.

Pets and Critters

So I (Mark) thought I would give an update on some of the animals around our house here.... with a fun surprise at the end! (warning it is a bit gross)

The chicks Gideon is raising are doing well in their new home. All except for one that passed away a few days ago. With the help of Messalamu we have them set up with their own little home. Hopefully they will grow nice and big!

Here is Gid having some quality time with the chicks.

Another new addition is a nice new puppy. Some people recommended that we should have three guard dogs since our property is on the larger side. The kids heard about this and since then have been "suggesting" that we get another dog. So we found a puppy from Jeroen- the dutch dairy farmer. The dog's name is Jack. When we brought him home, he immediately began to get initiated into guarding by our other two larger dogs. They pick on him constantly, but he is holding up well.

And lastly for the big surprise..... Silas had three bumps on his head. They all had a black center to them that was a bit like a  volcano. We were not sure what they were, but they were causing him a great deal of pain. While he was sitting on Christine's lap I tried to give the biggest one a squeeze. And out popped a mango worm that shot up about 10 inches in the air. It was super gross. Here is a picture of the largest worm and the hole that it left in his head. The finger in the picture is mine for perspective on the size. 

So these mango flies go around and lay eggs on the grass or your drying clothes. Once an egg is on your skin it hatches and the larva burrows into your skin where it grows big for about 5 or so days. Then the thing pops out if left alone. We think Silas got these from rolling around with the dogs in the grass. 

If you have survived this blog post so far I am proud of you! Thanks for all your prayers and support. Also pray as we have two young ladies coming, Morgan and Hailey Adams who are coming to work with us for the next 5 months. Pray that their trip later this week goes well and their transition also goes well.