week one

I must declare, it seems my time here has exceeded twenty days. But no, it has been just over a week, and the infux of new things still needs to settle in my mind. Today, me and Hannah will rest.

We went without internet for several days when our modem had expired. I will try to recap some things that have happened.

Initially, our funds for all expenses was not as fast to arrive as we were. We had to sail on faith for those few days that we had no resources. We didn't have cell phones yet and so we kept being taken places and dropped off when we didn't know the plan. Moses drove us where we needed to be taken. And Eva and Sam provided meals for us.

Eva and Sam live within the same compound as us, in the Nasuuti area of Mukono. They are originally from Kenya. Sam is a District Superintendent in the UMC East Africa Area Council. Moses, who drives us, lives nearby in Nasuuti.

I am glad that Moses drives us, because the traffic is insane:




Here are more pictures from the journey to Kampala today:

This is Moses, the driver.




There are several construction sites in the city.



Political campaign posters still remain all over the place, although the election was awhile ago.

Arrival

A poem I wrote on the airplane:
Wedged within the crevice of a fast fluorescent pipe,
I wait for landing gears to grow and make this vessel ripe.

My sense of time has has atrophied into a ticking mush
I long for longitudes from where this aeroplane does rush.

But though the clock is different where this plane is bound to go,
a sun now shines on Africa that's same as that I know.


This is the portion of the house where we are staying.

This is corn being grown in the yard.

Here is the whole Nasuuti family house where we are staying.

This is the view from the front porch.

a brief retreat

Just last night I got back from a Koinonia Community trip with Mitch and Claire. It seems that my preparation for going to Uganda has been ushered by a cold and windy weather front that prevailed even in Americus, Georiga. When we helped Sarah Beth in the garden on Monday, I had to wear my Sunday church coat to stay warm. We plucked weeds with our new friend, David, a tango-dancing bango-playing dairy-farmer who's nearly seen the whole planet already; and he could probably beat anyone he's ever met at a game of chess. We first started talking when he found out I was working for a forage grass breeder. We talked about cow food during the Sunday night potluck.
Claire, Mitch, and I bought a watermelon on the drive to bring to the potluck. I think it might have just been to make conversation in the car, but I went on about how I wished we could make melon balls. Lo and behold, we found in the Koinonia kitchen two melon ballers and a chef school graduate, Gram, a community intern who knew the trick to a perfect melon ball.
A historical event occurred at Koinonia farms on Monday afternoon. The Atkinson house was rededicated. A long time ago, there was a member of the original Koinonia community, Mr. Atkinson. He helped out on the farm until he decided to travel to Texas to get his college degree. Clarence Jordan told him when he left, "Don't marry the first woman you find in Texas." There at the admissions desk in Texas he found his future bride. Mr. Atkinson has since passed away, but the house he built for his bride remains on the Koinonia property. During the Civil Rights crisis at the farm, the Atkinson family traveled away. On Monday, Mrs. Atkinson and her children returned to attend a ceremony held for rededicating the home of her past, which has now been renovated into a community homeschool building.
Before leaving, we had a opportunity to connect with woman named Mary. She was a seeker who was willing to enjoy a great conversation with Mitch, Claire, David, and I before we left. Her biggest concern was to reconnect with her daughter, Teresa. On a different a retreat, a spiritual adviser had told her to pray for that purpose for three sets of nine days each (27 days total), then to give thanks for answering the prayer for three sets of nine days each (27 days total), even if the prayers hadn't resulted as expected. We met her on that 54th day, and we had a wonderful time together. She is very supportive of an organization called Equality Now.
During the trip we also got make a pecan wood campfire, visit Millard Fuller's burial site, watch a documentary about the community, play basketball, navigate the peace trail via tree marks (though a fire had nearly burnt all the trees up), drink fresh milk, pick peas, wander through the pecan grove at night, and enjoy the nearly-full moon.