It's funny how in life, you randomly meet people you need to. Especially when your involved in something A lot bigger then yourself. The people of Uganda are so social and greatful that a "westerner" even cares they exist. As we talk to people in town, they seem to know somebody with the skill sets we need to produce sustainable results for our projects. Speaking of projects...we have learned so much about what works and what doesn't in developing communites. Last week 5 of us took of for Kampala (capital) to meet a local friend of HELP, and he introduced us to some possible solutions with side slope farming in the mountains and soil management activities. We had a great time, learned a lot to brind back to Bunabuyoku village. Were planning a 3 day workshop of Agriculture, health and sanitaion, and teacher training courses within the next month or so.
Our team has also done a great job with community outreach programs teaching sanitation and handwashing. We have starting building whats called "Tippy Taps" in schools/orphanages and have had a great time teaching the locals how to build a unit using all local materials we have here in Mbale. The Namatala Slum water project is taking some time since we have had some political issues in the village, but were hoping to fight through coruption and the red tape to find some solutions for clean water.
Lets see...Another recent partner has been God's Grace organiztion. They are aimed to teach skills to the youth to fight for employment. We are planning a 3 day workshop here in Mbale to teach money management skills,long term goal setting, and basic business skills. One challenge we have found in East Africa is the lack of creativity and long term thinking. When you have nothing but survival on your mind, it's hard to think about tomorrow because you may never see it. My goal is to help people understand the mindset of "investing for the future." It will be a ton of work but we have several youth interested and excited.
Things continue to gain momentum here in Africa. First Wavers are leaving this weekend and were getting 8 more to join. Were excited because there will be 2 young school teachers coming and we have a ton of work for them. Life is wonderful here. Thanks again for your support. I couldn't be here without you. Thanks you!
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