I get a lot of entertainment when we go to serve lunch. Three boys try to imitate how we talk. It’s hard to hear because of the laughter. But they crack me up!
Month: October 2019
Eeew Posho and Beans!
Today was our second time feeding the kids at Global. I heard they were all excited about getting rice again but on Wednesdays we make posho (which is maize flour made in the consistency of mashed potatoes) with beans on top. Not a favorite! So we added an orange in each box. Man! That made a big difference in attitude about posho! There was excited screaming and many thank yous! I told them I knew they would t be excited about beans and posho so I gave them a treat to go with it. Then I told them beans and rice are on Friday’s it was pandemonium! I just love being able to do this! We also gave them wash stands with antibacterial liquid to wash their hands since they were eating oranges. It was a good day!
The Spoon
I want to tell you about the spoon you see in the boys hand. As we were getting ready to pass out boxes the head master asked someone to get water to wash hands. I asked if they needed us to get washing stands for them and he said that would be helpful. Then Salima said “no, there is a spoon in each box so their hands will not touch their food. The headmaster raised an eyebrow and said “Really? We will be teaching something new”! And because we have a good relationship with him I said “Yes, today they learn how to be civilized”. He laughed and laughed and said that was a good thing. About half (especially the little ones) have never used a utensil and had to be shown how to use the spoon. I’m not saying this with any kind of mean spirit, but in our village most people don’t use or have utensils. And that is a very real cause of the spread of many diseases when hand washing isn’t available or the hand washing is just well water poured over the hands. This doesn’t kill the germs. So there was more thought behind “the spoons” than teaching them to be civilized! (But we will be gifting them with wash stands and sanitizer that can be put in the water for them! Especially by the latrines).
I know I have followers on The Mandate Uganda FB page and some on Instagram and here so you will see some stories more than once. Some stories that are more personal I post here. I am thrilled to say that my post on FB on feeding the children reached 3450 people this week and over 300 clicks to http://www.themandate.com so we pray that out of those there were some donations made so that we can keep up the work God has for us here!
Lunch Success!
We fed the children at Global School. Everything went so smooth, didn’t even need the restless night of worry the night before! Everything was finished early, kids fed on time and God blessed us with extra – there turned out to be less kids than we were told – so we were able to take food to Ms. Joyce’s family! Just like I would say to every classroom as we went in to see them eating “God is good” and they would say “all the time”! And He is!
I am thankful also that my advice to the cooks about soaking beans overnight worked out. They don’t always think us Mzungus know much, and we do learn from them. And they were skeptical at first but after cooking they were so excited that it took half the time to cook them! I was relieved they saw the difference!
Ms. Joyce’s family
A Big Challenge
This Friday we will start feeding lunches twice a week to two hundred fifty plus children! I’ve had a rough time sleeping the last few days thinking about this undertaking! I know that once we get a system down we will be fine.
I am so thankful to our board and to all that donate that we are able to feed the children at the school across the street. They get porridge in the morning but these children go to school until 5 pm. This lunch may be the only or the most food they get all day. Definitely the most nutritious. I am excited and nervous and praying that they will see that it is not The Mandate but it is God that supplies ours and their needs. We are just His tools.
I know my cooks are quite nervous – they’ve only cooked once for this many people and they had a lot of help. Salima and I will be helping the first few weeks and then Salima will help each week. I will help some, I also have to keep an eye on a certain student to make sure she does her work.
This week we have a praise report about some of the women in prison. Two had court dates and will be released next week. They need a lot of prayer because after being on, their families have abandoned them, they have no homes to go to and one doesn’t even know where her children are. I love it when I am with them, and they say that they feel loved and not forgotten when Salima and I come but it is extremely hard for me some days to get up and go. It hurts, I know some are innocent and are victims of the culture. But I go and let God speak through me and even though many times I cry most of the way home I am still blessed to be with women who truly love Jesus. My prayer for the ones released is that they take with them the things we’ve talked about, keep reading their Bibles and when they get their children they raise them to walk with the Lord.
Today is Independence Day here so the gates will be locked after 9 am – woohoo! We can stay in our pj’s all day!
Goodbye Ms. Joyce
Sunday we lost a dear lady that we have loved and who has been a constant at Bible study. Her burial was yesterday. She did t make it to study Sunday because she wasn’t feeling well. She had been fine all week but by the time study was over and Christian was going to go pray with her she passed away. We are going to miss her and we are sad but we can also rejoice that she has gone home to be with her Jesus and has no more aches and pains. My favorite memory of her will be her asking for a job and jiggling when we gave her sugar money for her tea. Please pray for her family, her son lives next to her and cared for her very well, he is really taking it hard. She had many children and many grandchildren and great grandchildren.
His Grace For The Journey 