Hot, tired, and sweaty!

We spent our first night in the Kampala Regency Hotel on a bed that feels like it is made out of concrete. I have no idea what they stuff the mattress with – and I probably don’t want to know. The beds were also equipped with a mosquito net, unlike two years ago but there is little sign yet of mosquitoes being a problem. It is still the rainy season here so perhaps that’s why. Anyway, it felt good to get a real night’s sleep in a bed.

We awoke this morning at 6am (10pm Thursday Wichita time), ate a breakfast of fruit, juice, eggs, cereal, sausage, and bread and departed for the work site at 7am. We arrived at Bbira Children’s Village by 8am and dropped off most of the non-West Heights UMC team at the children’s home build site. Much to my surprise, there was Michael – one of the worker’s we worked with two years ago in Suubi Village. We both recognized each other and had a few minutes to get reacquainted before proceeding to the West Heights teacher’s home work site. It is a fair distance from the Bbira school/homes, and from any restrooms which was problematic for the ladies. We were greeted by a concrete slab and one row of bricks outlining all of the walls. The structure is a two story 4-plex, with 2 homes on each floor. West Heights is building one of the ground floor homes to house a teacher’s family. Another team will build the other ground-level home. It has two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, and living area. I would estimate square footage at approximately 900sf. Just like last time, we spent the first hour moving bricks from a big pile into organized stacks around the site by forming a human brick line. They are smaller bricks than they use in a children’s home and are made almost entirely out of clay, which is a stronger brick for the two story design. A demonstration was given as to how to lay the bricks and then we proceeded to get down and dirty! By the way, the bricks are laid differently: the ends are facing outward and inward, not side-to-side. This makes for a wider and stronger wall. The work site is situated in a bit of a valley, providing very little wind. The sun was out in full force and it got hot! But, everyone was a real trooper and kept after it. We ate lunch consisting of sandwiches that we made and containers of fresh fruit provided by the hotel – no “from the market” pineapple this time. We worked until 4:30pm and finished the day with 5 out of a total 18 rows complete. That’s approximately 1,000 bricks. Believe it or not, we are probably ahead of schedule! Tomorrow is a rest day consisting of seeing the Watoto Babies Home, visiting Suubi Village, and then shopping for souvenirs (i.e. helping the local economy). We should be rejuvenated and ready to go for Monday! Hope all is going well back home!
Written by Dave Glover

Now we are going to give you the female perspective! When Dave said we got “down and dirty” – what he meant was – we literally got down on the ground and literally got dirty; red clay dirt just like Oklahoma – and we mean dirt everywhere – Terry even got some in her ears! And although the dirt being a reddish tint could at times pass as a bad tan - we did get lots of sun and have some crazy tan lines. Lots of hard work and when we were done for the day – a shower has never felt so good.

The hotel – much nicer than we expected considering the economic situation in Uganda. We do have air conditioning and it works – Yeah! The shower on the other hand, varies from room to room, all having problems just of a different sort. Ours has no shower curtain and only a hand held showerhead and others, we heard, have very low water pressure or worse all three problems combined. Tile floors with lots of storage complete the hotel room – if you can see them – the lighting is awful! Mom would definitely not approve of me reading my book in this dim of light. Ever tried to look at yourself in the mirror – well, then we hope you brought a flashlight so you can see more than a shadow of your face.

Traffic is unbelievable! 15 million people live in Kampala and they have only four stoplights! We have only seen one so far that works. But somehow, life goes on. There is no road rage and speeding through the city. You can’t go anywhere without the cooperation of the vehicles around you. Trying to make a right hand turn (remember they drive on the other side of the road – so a left hand turn for us) other buses, motorcycles, and bikes must stop and let you in. Our driver has done a wonderful job of getting us to places on time and safe.

Now what have we learned so far? #1 How lucky we are to live in the United States and that most of us have a standard of living that far surpasses what we see here. I knew that we would see shocking scenes but I just didn’t know how much harder it would be it see it in person. Yesterday, we were driving home from the KPC (Kampala Pentecostal Church) and we were followed down the street by beggars. Not adults! Small children would follow our bus for blocks. We were advised not to give them anything because drugs are rampant in Uganda. It was heartbreaking.
Written by Libbi Hamilton and Tamera Worman