Hope Alive! Talent Show

Three foundational beliefs of Hope Alive! are
1) Every person is uniquely created
There is no one else like you…ever. God thought about you before he created the foundation of the world.
2) Every person is deeply loved in Jesus
It is impossible to be loved more deeply than we are already loved right now.
3) Every person is specifically gifted
God gives us gifts—things we are specifically good at and enjoy doing.

Last Saturday, we put on a Talent Show. This was in celebration of the end of the school term, but also was an opportunity to showcase the talents that God has given our students. The day was filled with fun, excitement, and activity. The show was a complete success! The students wow-ed us all with their amazing acting, speaking, singing, and dancing abilities.

Here are a few pictures of some of the things the students did:



puppet show








karate demonstration











skits




















singing groups







traditional dance







And even a fashion show!























It was a great show. We all had a good time. I am so proud of these kids!

Fish Feast

A few days ago I was in Masaka, a city 2 1/2 hours to the southeast of Kampala. HOPE ALIVE! has a site there, and my colleagues and I were putting on a 2 day mentor training. We had a great time together, getting to know one another better and learning about communicating with children, what mentorship is all about, how God views children, etc.

On our way back to Kampala, my roommates and I decided to engage in an adventure.
Along the road between Kampala and Masaka are shacks that sell fish. The people that sell the fish stand there waving fish out onto the road, trying to attract customers. It is not unusual to see a cars with fish tied to the front, pass you by.
So, Megan, Holly, and I stopped at one of these stands and bargained for some fish. We bought two talapia for 22,000/= (about $15 or so). The men then tied them to the front of the hood.



The fish produced a powerful odor, so we were careful to keep the air circulation coming only from within the car :)
The drive home was mostly uneventful. One funny thing that happened, however, was that when we got into Kampala, we were pulled over by a policeman. As we were stopping, we noticed that the guy was laughing. He told us that he pulled us over because our front license plate was hidden by the fish, but we think that he just wanted a chance to talk to some mzungus (white people) and that he thought it was pretty funny that we had fish attached to the front.

Well, none of us really knew what to do with the fish, so when we got home, we asked our gate keeper, Biaggo, to help us. He scaled it for us and cut it up into big chunks. It was a nasty job because every fly in the city was attracted to us. Swarms of flies surrounded us and made piles on every piece of the fish entrails that it could.














Our neighbor, Brad, has a grill, so we "invited" him to dinner (and asked if he would grill the fish!). This turned out to be more work that we anticipated, as the fish kept falling apart on the grill.




Brad and his brother Grant grilling the fish.





In the end, we were had a wonderful fish feast, and we enjoyed our adventure!



Holly, Brad, Megan, and Grant enjoying the meal

Cooking with Friends

Last week my roommates and I invited some of our Ugandan friends over to have a cultural cooking exchange. We have been wanting to learn how to make Ugandan food, and they like to learn how to make American food, so it seemed like a good trade.

After everyone arrived, we got right to business. All of us pitched in and took part in making the different food items, so we could all have the experience.
For our meal we made:
*chapatti (similar to a tortilla)
*pilau rice (rice with pilau masala seasoning and other things)
*beef stew (which is really pieces of beef cooked in a broth)
*kalo (a dish made by tribes from the north; it is made by mixing
millet flour into boiling water)



Cutting up vegetables




Me, rolling out my chapatti




Holly stirring the beef stew



Kate pouring the millet flour for the kalo





Megan stirring the kalo








Cooking and hanging out together was a lot of fun, full of laughter. When everything was ready we sat down to enjoy the fruits of our labor, and boy was it tasty!

For dessert, we taught them how to make Apple Pie (can you get more American than that?). It turned out nicely too.



Dorothy, Shammah, and Holly putting together the apple pie






Some things I learned about the Ugandan cooking style that differs from Americans.
*Ugandans usually cook using a charcoal stove
*Ugandans cook wearing a wrap around skirt they call a “lesu” –this is specifically a work skirt.
*They don’t use recipes that are written down. They have the ingredients and measurements all up in their head, learned from experience.
*American measuring devices (1/2 cup, teaspoon, tablespoon, etc.) don’t match with Ugandan, so we used regular spoons and drinking cups to measure things out.
*Ugandan recipes are never call for exact amounts; they just eye things and add in more as needed.





Me, Kate, Dorothy, Miriam, Megan, Shammah, Holly

Refreshment in Turtle Bay

Every once in awhile it is good to get away, to relax, and have a bit of good old fashioned fun. And that is just what I had the opportunity to do. My mission organization, WorldVenture, held a Spiritual Life Conference in Malindi, Kenya at the end of March. Missionaries from Uganda, the Congo, Kenya, and South Africa all came together at the Turtle Bay Hotel located on the beach by the Indian Ocean for some refreshment and encouragement.





Each morning we met together for a time of singing, prayer, and Bible teaching. Our speaker, Brent Slater, did an amazing job of teaching us from the Psalms and the book of Jeremiah, challenging us to have a singularity of devotion to the Lord, spend time in His Word, use it correctly, and allow it to motivate and drive us.












Our meetings ended at lunchtime each day, and then we had the afternoons off. My afternoons were spent lounging on a beach chair, swimming in the incredibly warm Indian Ocean, going kayaking, paddle boating, snorkeling, playing volleyball, reading, and much more.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that I got to ride a camel as well!?!?!













Here are some more photos of my time there:



Massai tribal dancers that performed for us. They have huge vertical leaps!








After eating a wonderful pizza dinner, all the mid-term missionaries serving in Uganda got together for a photo op.







Faye and I with our Sand Turtle, Thelma Connie.









Enjoying the sun!

The Turtle Bay conference was awesome...something I really needed. I am so glad I got the chance to go!