Hello!!! Greeting from Gulu.

Wow what a different place... both different from Kampala and different from when I was last in Gulu.

So here is a brief summary of what is in Gulu: Aloysius Kazze and his wife Esther moved here a long time ago to work with displaced people from the conflict in Northern Uganda. You know Kony right? Well Kony 2012 should be more like Kony 2002.... This war started over 20 years ago and the peak of it was maybe 6-8 years ago. Anyway, their family came here to minister to people in IDP (Internally Displaced Peoples) camps and to help them return to their villages. That is where the farm has been a blessing. They use the 30 some acres that the ministry has to teach former villagers how to farm, raise livestock, and other basic public health skills so that in re-entering their villages, they can create a sustainable life for themselves.

The farm is SOOOO BUSY. I was here 4 years ago when it was just starting up. At that time they had cleared about 1/2 the land and were farming on maybe 1/4 of it. There was a dirt soccer field, a pavilion that was used for church, daycare, and other things. There were 3 mud huts, and one over hanging. That was it. It was a quiet humble place. Now it is totally changed. There are many buildings where a dozen or so staff reside, including Aloysius and Esther's home (where I am staying). There is a BIG church, a daycare which has its own kitchen. And so many plants! and so many animals! Like big fat pigs, cows, goats, rabbits, chickens (hundreds). And most of all it is bustling with people. I mean the first day we had two drop in visitors that wanted a tour. There are two teams here... one from Intervarsity campus ministry in New England area, and a Wheels for the World team from all over the US. On top of that there are 5 interns, Justin and I (who are interning for a long period of time and living in Aloysius's house) and many many people who volunteer.

Right now I am working mostly with the wheels for the world team because they have so much demand. I drove up with 4 of the leaders who came a few days before the other 16 people. Their names are Jill, her husband Richard, Pastor Greg, and Dana (who is a man). They are distributing wheel chairs to people who are disabled and it is a huge operation. They custom fit these chairs so they make cushions, put on seat belts...... I never knew there was so much to wheelchairs. There are 225 chairs, probably 40-50 walkers, and maybe 30-50 sets of crutches.

You know they saying, be careful what you wish for? Yeah....

So I asked Aloysius to put me to work... and yesterday I helped load and unload all 225 chairs. It look 8 loads and it was soooo hot. I put on sunscreen but my hands were still burning at like 8 that night.

 This is where the chairs came from. That is one of those giant shipping containers. Pastor Greg is in black, Justin in gray, and Richard in red. We unpacked this and also a whole other one. GEEEEEZ.

So this is the truck that we put them on to take them to the church where we will distribute them all next week. It looks like the truck is in the shade.... but this was the early morning.....

The one is Justin. The girl on top is called Dorothy. 

 

 This is an image of like 1/3 of the chairs at the church after we got them there.

 

This is Jill and two of the local volunteers. I know the name is named Jimmy and we works on the farm. Jill taught us how to move the chairs and use them and how to treat people who are using them. She was so good at teaching and there was so much I had never thought about before that she told us... although she has done these distribution trips all around the world for the last 10 years... I think this is her 21st time. 

Justin is also staying with me. His is an intern from Liberty College in Lynchburg VA. It is nice to have someone else with me again.... Although I dont see him so much during the day.

Hopefully my access to internet will be more frequent. I miss home, but am glad to be here.