Uganda - A pleasant delight!

Sunrise over Kampala
The school and humanitarian project
Talking with the staff at Kaboya
Paul Kavuma and his mother, they weave the mats behind them

It’s now Tuesday night as I write this, and we are in Kampala, Uganda. We left South Africa and made it here with some considerable degree of trouble. Our tickets were not honored at the Johannesburg Airport and we had to scramble to get replacements. But we made it here late Monday night.
Today was another terrific day. The reason we came here (in addition to our love of travel, adventure, and desire to experience new exotic places) was to visit a young Ugandan boy who we have sponsored for ten years through Compassion International.
It was emotional, beautiful, interesting, humbling, and inspiring.
We had to get up early and travel a few hundred kilometers – three hours - to a small village called Kaboye, out in the Uganda countryside. Uganda is a very beautiful place, very tropical, banana trees everywhere, and is located right smack dab on the Equator. In fact, we crossed the Equator today while driving, and took a picture.
We arrived at the “project” as they call the church school facility. We spoke for a while with the Compassion International staff. These guys are all local Uganda people and these guys are good. They really care. They really do a fantastic job and would be a great partner for Andando to hook up with. Very impressive operation and a great heart for the kids.
Then we went to visit Paul Kavuma, “our” student. He was waiting for us in his house with his mother. It was an emotional meeting, since we have supported him for over ten years and have never met before. In those years, we have exchanged letters, pictures, and news, and it was a treat to meet him and spend time with him. He is actually grown up now and is nineteen years old.
We talked a lot and shared pictures and gifts. His English is not so good, but the Compassion people were there to spend time as well and interpret. It was a fun and a touching time together.
Then we went back to the “Project” and shared a fantastic lunch with all the staff and Paul consisting of rice, cabbage, beef, noodles, cooked banana, chicken, potatoes, pineapple, coffee (they grow it there) tea, and bananas for dessert. Wow, it was a feast!
This is a major effort in this town and it making a real difference in the children there. For example, one of the interconnected ministries is Child Survival Project, and it is an outreach to all the babies being born in the area. The child mortality rate is very high and in addition, the maternal mortality rate is high for mothers giving birth. They are involved in “intervention” as they call it and have saved many lives and improve the quality of life in their town.
And they operate all over the country in other projects like this. They are involved in a ton of ministry endeavors and they have a lot of initiative. Again, it was all very, very impressive and a true joy to meet Paul - and the staff. It is encouraging to see this kind of effort going on to help humanity.