Day 5 - Lugazi

Last night we set some goals and had a prayer that all that we had talked about would come to pass and that we would have success. Today was above and beyond what we had expected. We had breakfast early, around 7:50am, and then made our way to the taxi yard absolutely FULL of taxis, it was crazy. We left Mukono and arrived in Lugazi 40 minutes later around 9:10am. Deo received us into his 2nd home very warmly as he did the first. Deo is the mayor of Lugazi and is also a polygamist, so he has a wife in Mukono and one in Lugazi. The home in Lugazi was just as nice, if not nicer than the one here in Mukono.

Deo was of tremendous help today. Not only did he taxi us around the entire town of Lugazi, but he introduced us to 3 or 4 school headmasters, 4 of his counselors, 2 women’s groups, and a women that works in the hospital. We found a house today! It’s absolutely perfect, I don’t think it could get much better. It has 4 rooms with one GIANT master bedroom, 1 1/2 baths, a kitchen, a refrigerator that needs a little fixing, a from room with couches and a TV! There is a courtyard right outside the front door which would be perfect for getting together outside for dinner and whatnot. It’s in a great central location in Lugazi, though Deo suggested that we have a guard. As a write, Ashley is on the phone with Jenn right now working out the last details about the place. I hope that we get it, it will be perfect.

Deo took us on an incredible tour of the town; it is beautiful to say the very least. I seriously felt like I was on national geographic walking with the Ugandan people up on the hill above the school. There were kids all around, most of them following us. We checked out the school and learned that it was incomplete and needed some more work. A floor needed to be laid and the walls plastered. We will be looking into our funds for that, I hope we can get a project approval through and make it happen. We continued up the hill where we were able to see the entire town of Lugazi, it was breath taking. The sky was storming in the distance, it was pure green everywhere you looked, and I couldn’t have been happier. It was absolutely amazing. I’ve never felt the way I did standing on top of that hill. I felt like I was in another world; I was. We proceeded on to find women with make-shift hammers breaking up rocks. They did this all day for about 8 hours in the hot sun. I got down and broke with them for about 2 minutes and broke a sweat immediately. The rocks are mixed with cement and sand as a floor base. They would fill a truck load in about a week and they’d earn 15,000 shillings, not very good considering. I took some pictures, we got some footage and then we made out way back. We made many trips around the town, it was fascinating and fun to wave to all of the kids. It was crazy to see the looks on some of the kids faces, as if they had never seen a white person before... funny thing is, that’s probably the case.

Deo has been incredibly helpful up to this point, not even charging us for our room and board. I have learned to love the people that works with him and I hope that they aren’t involved in his cunning works. They were extremely helpful today and I hope to work with them in the future.

We got cell phones today, sim cards were quite inexpensive. It was only 3,000 USH for a sim card which allows any and all incoming calls for free, so basically you get your own number for $1.75 We then bought a large amount of minutes for one of the phones. I thought about getting myself a sim and putting it in my phone. I tried the MTK and it didn’t work, I have yet to try the CelTel. It it does, that would be awesome.

We had a great dinner. Mashed potatoes all flavored up (and a bit salty, but way good) with some beans in a yummy sauce and of course that extra delicious passion fruit drink that we have had for three meals now. Mum has been so great to us and making us excellent food. I’m jealous of those dang BYU kids that will be staying in the house and getting all that yummy food. Meanwhile, I’ll be loosing weight... I hope that’s not the case.

Now it’s time for bed. Another day has gone by and it was a long one, about 12 hours long. I got some amazing pictures, ones that will supplement this jounal entry and help me to remember exactly what I experienced and just how I felt. Last night was hell, I sure hope I can sleep this evening. I was very tired today and I can’t be like that anymore. Until tomorrow.