Gifts

Two friends who live in Eureka send gifts of clothing, toys, candy, etc each year to Ali, a father of 4 children. Cindy and Dyann shop for new or nearly new items to match the current sizes of the two girls and two boys in Ali's household. They also find wonderful, colorful clothes for Takia, their mom and for Ali as well.

Each year they mail the boxes out in August or Sept timing the arrival here by the end of October. Ali loves to open the boxes and examines each item, thinking about which of the children it should go to. He is so excited to see these things from America, especially when items such as Strawberry jam or powdered milk are included.




Ali finds a way to carry all these things home to his family, where they immediately begin their Christmas.

Here in Uganda at Christmas time, the biggest focus for each person is having new clothes to wear on Christmas day. Wives have been known to leave their husbands if they aren't provided with new clothes to wear to church and to be seen in. The cost of outfitting each family member with a set of clothes is huge.

This blessing from America and from people Ali has never met is just one of the Christmas miracles that he likes to talk about.

Thanks and blessings to each of you who reach beyond friends and family to make a stranger's heart warmer this season.

Christmas gift

Sounds of crying from a young animal and sounds of beating filled the air. Grabbing my shoes I hurried down the road to intervene. By the time I'd reached the spot, the young men had gone back to work, laughing. In a corner, huddled down, was a small golden brown puppy, about 3 months old. There were spots of blood on his coat and he growled as I moved nearer. With soft word and time, he let me pick him up and we went back to my place.

After a little food and water, and one small encounter with the cat, he seemed less fearful and willing to explore. The two big dogs, Simaba and Tiger were tied up at their house. Taking Tiger with her chain to the front porch, we began the introduction process of this baby to a new auntie. After a few hours, it was clear that Tiger could manage him and he was willing to obey her. Simba wasn't quite so sure about this new addition and barked every time he saw this little intruder in our yard. (Today he is much quieter about it all.)

Here is shot of Tiger, coming to see what I'm doing.













Here is Siraf dozing in a corner at the back door.




I know I don't need 3 dogs, especially since this little guy might grow to be bigger than Simba. But for the time being, he is gift to us for Christmas. By the way, he has some Rhodesian Ridgeback genes, evidenced in the fur strip along his spine. These were the dogs used to hunt lions in southern Africa.
Hence his name, Siraf, meaning fearless.

Mail

It used to be, here in Uganda, that mail was "delivered" by people tossing the letters or parcels into the round-about at the center of the town. People near by would collect and give to the addressee when next seen.

Currently, in Uganda, mail is hand delivered through friends, bus drivers going to the destination or through the post system. Many people have post office boxes, and any business of any size has one too. In Kampala there are two post offices, one downtown and one nearer to where I stay.

There is no home delivery, and no junk mail!! Since living here I have received mail in each of the following ways:
-delivered by interns or staff coming to eMi EA
-from the eMi EA post office box
-from my own PO box
-from Heritage School

It still takes 3 weeks to receive a letter posted from the US to here, and about the same for the return. Good thing there is email and the fb chat and blogs to keep us well connected.

Next time you are at the Post Office or see you mail carrier, be sure to thank them for the good work they do. I certainly appreciate the staff at Clock Tower Post Office where I have my box.

School staff

Florence had 5 of the students present gifts to each of the volunteers and teachers too.

Kara, wife of an eMi EA staff, volunteers twice a week, to read, teach and play with the students. Her daughter, Leah, sometimes comes along.














Brittany, an eMi EA intern for this past 9 months, has been teaching one morning a week for the past 4 months. She will return to Uganda in March, hopefully on staff.













Frances, wife of the American Embassy's Head of Maintenance, has come on Friday mornings for the entire year. An experienced foster mom, she has a heart for kids as strong as Florence's.














Miriam teaches the middle group of students and works with them on the letters and numbers. (She is studying accounting!)














Rachel has charge of the "baby" class, the 3-4 year olds. But one of them can already read!












Each child had a gift bag containing: a pencil, eraser, exercise book, 8-10 pieces of candy, 2 candy canes and 2 toys. Every one went home very happy.

King of Kings - Florence's School

Florence is a teacher with a loving heart to teach children: about letters and numbers, about Jesus, about tying shoes and washing hands and sharing toys. She and her two daughters, Miriam, 24, and Rachel, 23, work hard to make schooling interesting and fun for these children, ages 3 to 6. Sometimes they share their frustrations with me.

Some of the kids have health issues that haven't been recognized, i.e. one girl who finally had surgery to remove a piece of metal that was in her lung or a youngster with a serious ear infection. Some children are sent only intermittently by their families, especially when there is no money to pay the fees. There have been times when the child has no snack for mid-morning or even juice, so the teachers share out whatever they have brought.

This one room school, with a latrine behind, is full of kids having fun learning and playing. There is room outside for running around and kicking balls, or riding small bikes, when the tires work.


At the end of November, the end of last term for the year, there was a wonderful Christmas party for the children. Volunteers who have worked for the past 4 months brought pencils, exercise books, candy, and erasers. Another volunteer made carry bags to put things into. Because of generous donations from friends in the States, there were small toys for each child and foods to eat that they had only heard about but never eaten: pasta, sausage, watermelon, apples and ice cream.

Wow

Oh My Gosh,
It is almost the end of the year! Where has the time gone??

Since Sept's blog, I've been to CA for 3 fun-filled weeks, hosted Tony v here coming and going from his trips to western Uganda, completed teaching the SAT preparation course at Heritage International School for a class of 11 students, and committed to continue the class with 1 hour a week beginning in Jan.

Recently it has been cookie making time. This is one of the Christmas traditions I really like, making a sharing fancy cookies with others. I've tried making some simple candy, but what a mess that usually comes out to be! That's one skill/talent that hasn't improved with age.

My friends from Ukiah United Methodist and from Redwood Coast Regional Center blessed my housemate Florence abundantly by buying the potholders, and other items that I "hawked" when we were hanging out together. Florence used all the raised funds to buy more teaching materials for her school, provide a great Christmas party (with the help of some of her volunteers here) and has enough savings to expand her school building to 2 rooms for the next term. God is very good, all the time.

This entry is more like a Christmas letter, as it brings my heartfelt wonder at what miracles still happen when we let God run our lives, all parts of our life, and the blessings that can be poured out for the good of others.

May this season and your next year be full of blessings, so that you can continue to bless others.

Shalom