Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Today began with a few weary eyes from a late night of watching the world cup final, yet a tad bit of excitement was in the air as we started our last full day of building!  It’s been encouraging to see the walls of the house coming up increasingly quickly, and with the addition of two extra team members the progress has been even greater.  It’s really easy to visualize 8 beautiful children living in the house now, and it’s been an antidote for aching muscles as we build.

On Friday night we were joined by Lucky and Juan, who came straight from climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for HopeBuilders and the Village of Hope.  After hearing of the work of HopeBuilders, Lucky began a campaign to raise money and do what she could to support the programs in Uganda.  Together with Juan she conquered the summit despite altitude sickness and freezing conditions to raise a whopping $4,700 for the Village of Hope!  They have now joined the team for 5 days to experience what HopeBuilders do and to meet the kids that they have done so much for. 

Another morning in the hot sun consisted of building our muscles by throwing bricks in our now well-oiled brick chain, majenga making and climbing on African scaffolding to build the walls of the house.  As usual Stan and Sue slaved away welding to finish of frames and window frames.

Lunchtime was especially special today, as we shared in a pork lunch with the builders to celebrate Nicholas’ (one of the builders) 21st birthday and spend some time with the guys.  It has been such an encouragement to grow relationships with the builders, and has been the highlight of building for myself and a lot of the team.  Just chatting and learning about their lives has been a real privilege, their joy and happiness each day is amazing to see.  They have so much less than us yet their vitality and love for life has been a blessing.

Tonight we tasted traditional posho for dinner for the first time, which is a major part of a Ugandan’s staple diet.  It’s a mashed potato look alike made from maize flour and water.  Paired with beans we can all officially claim to be Africans now.  It’s an early night for most, so that’s all for now.

Nat.  
Jen the builder.. can she fix it?

Getting into the pork!!!

Look how far we are!


After a pork lunch .. all of us..



   

2 comments:

Glenn said...

Woo Hoo - great work team!! I love reading of your adventures each day. May God continue to show you his ways with divine appointments and faith to step into them.

Johann said...

WOW - great pic of the group.. love seeing the house nearly complete and the formation of a united team including our UGHBI Builders... awesome that Lucky and Juan could also be there and share in this experience... I am sure the pain of the climb was overtaken by the joy and smiles of the kids - you are all AWESOME!