Mulembe is the greeting we’ve been taught to use in this region of Uganda and it gets mixed in pretty regularly with other top phrases such as, “How are you?” The funny thing is that we receive the same response regardless of age… “I’m fine.” Sometimes children will say the question and response together, “How are you? I’m fine.” Greetings are hugely important to African culture and we’re practicing thoroughly.

Today was especially exciting for the WaterStone team. Four team members were able to meet their sponsored children for the first time since they are close to the village of Sironko. The first person, Kendra, met her little girl, Esther, at another Compassion International project site called Bubirabi this morning before traveling to St. Luke’s.

It was a joyful time for everyone. After the initial meet n’ greet we traveled to Esther’s home to meet her family.

They live in a rural area, but are blessed with several pigs, goats and a cow. We received a very warm welcome, but the visit was brief. As we drove away we passed by the rest of the children at the project. They always seem to be excited! (Over the mountains in the background is Kenya)

When we arrived at St. Luke’s there were warm greetings waiting for us, too.

I make sure I’m the favorite by always having candy, gum or games for the kids. It’s probably necessary due to the frightening beard.

After arriving we went straight to work for several hours painting and assisting with the construction of the new house (refer to yesterday’s post for more info). We were able to finish painting and I’m told the roof will be going on in just a matter of days. Afterwards, we were served lunch including green oranges!

Apparently Uganda only has this type of oranges. At most they’ll turn a yellow color. It tasted a little sweet and sour. Funny to think about oranges not orange.

We’ve been blessed with wonderful lunches made on site at St. Luke’s in a very small building that was difficult to breathe even for the few minutes I spent inside thanking the women for their hard work and delicious food.  I’m proud to say that WaterStone raised over $30,000 this past Christmas Eve service to enable St. Luke’s to build a modern kitchen capable of serving the many mouths in the community. Here’s what the current kitchen looks like.

After lunch we practiced the songs we’d sing at the Crusade and I personally believe we did a great job. The crowd was just as big as yesterday and they were dancing along. Thank goodness for the up-beat kid worship songs we brought along! Afterwards, Enza was greeted with a very warm hug.

Soon after, Enza and I joined Kathy to go visit her sponsored child, Sharon. Her grandfather passed away last night so the family visit was somber, but still welcoming. Sharon is in the yellow shirt. Sharon’s mom is on the other side of Kathy. Each visit requires at least one clergyman to come along… The gentleman in the blue shirt is a local pastor.

We had to keep the visit short due to it getting late and having an hour long trip back to the hotel. We will all be able to see our sponsored children on Tuesday in Kampala, so there wasn’t too much sadness leaving after only 30 minutes.

Tomorrow (Saturday 2/9) will be solely focused on the children at St. Luke’s. We have several donations, toys, crafts, clothes, etc to bring and entertain them with. It’ll be very exciting with an abundance of pictures for tomorrow’s blog post.

And for my favorite pictures of the day..

Kathy is modeling the handmade beaded necklaces that are a common source of income in Uganda. Each bead is a piece of paper rolled tightly and coated in varnish. The color comes from the paper used to make each one. Can you say, “Bling Bling – Sustainability?”

With chickens running everywhere it was just a matter of time until I would get my hands on one. Shout out to our first marketing video, Chicken on a Leash.

And, finally everyone has to help out pumping water…