Monday, July 27, 2009

For the moment . . .

It's rather quiet here on site for the moment. Today is our semi-annual maize harvest. Our enterprise farm grows a good portion of the maize used for the posho flour to feed us here at New Hope Uganda. As a community we consume 1 ton of maize flour a week!!! (apologies to those of you whom I told 2 tons as I was having a memory black hole!!) After the harvest, our maize mill will turn it into the flour we need to feed our kids and staff.
So, today all other work stops and we as a community--primary school kids and teachers, secondary school kids and teachers, vocational school students and staff, missionary kids and teachers (parents :), administration and any visitors head off to the enterprise farm to harvest acres and acres of maize. It is a fun and relationship building time. Toby, Acacia and Kevin were so excited this morning that they jumped out of bed when reminded of the events of today. They left the house at 7:40 and the primary school kids just journeyed by our house on the way over to the farm.
We won't have any pictures to show you as I just saw the camera sitting here in the living room after everyone had already left. SO -- I'll share some photos of recent days.


Geoff had a jigger in one of his toes. It was the first time I tried to dig one out as you have to be so careful to get it all and not break the egg sac. YUCK! It's a dust flea/mite type bug that burrows under your skin and lays eggs. Is that not one of the most disgusting things ever???!! Anyway, I tried to "doctor" Geoff, but he insisted that I was "Killing" him so we stopped. The next night Uncle Mulu (our David Family father) came over to finish the job. He said, by the way, that I had done a good job and that now we had another "jigger doctor" in the house!

I think the kids got turned onto the idea of soaking their feet after the whole jigger episode that they decided it was a good way to end the day. So, they all grabbed a bucket and a good book and set in for a soak.
Here they are doing before breakfast reading in their pj.s.



This is a typical scene in our yard. Tons of kids playing--here they are having "horse races" and bicycle tire contests. The other game they love to play is a hide and seek type game that is NOISY!!!!! It's great to have a yard filled with kids! Notice in the back left is Hasan being wheeled around by Dodovico, one of our David Family boys. Hasan seems to be responding to the interaction he gets with the David Family and our kids since he's moved into HIS house on the David Family compound.
And finally, the plan is to move into the new house this Saturday. There should be no reason to hinder us that we can see for the moment . . .

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Bean Boozled!!!


This is the latest sensation to sweep through the Britton household and beyond! The kids got these from Aunt Glenda (Mary's sister). They are Jelly Belly beans that can be deceptive!!! Is it buttered popcorn or rotten egg? Cafe Latte or ear wax? Juicy Pear or booger? Caramel corn or moldy cheese? Peach or vomit? YUCK! I finally found a candy that doesn't tempt me!

The funny thing to watch is that when the kids share these with the Ugandan kids,the Ugandans just eat them up regardless of the flavor--they get candy so rarely that ANY candy is "sweet"!! Toby kept quizzing his friend, "what'd ya get? what'd ya get?" But the friend just stared and smiled as if to say, "Who cares! It's candy!" That just grossed me out, I couldn't watch anymore.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

This and That photos

Geoff and Kevin--bedtime reading
Our house worker, Jessica, holding a mango that David Family grew!!!!!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Bathroom reading rack?

Who needs a bathroom reading rack when you are given a show by God's creation?
In our bathroom window, the boys and I watched this gecko take about 30 minutes to swallow this praying mantis. Great entertainment!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

A Day in the Life . . .

At 7:45 this morning I decided to finally get out of bed. It’s Saturday after a long, busy week and I decided that a little extra sleep and laziness was in order.

As I was exiting my nice warm bed, Geoff informed me we had no regular coffee, but only decaf—ouch. We have no power this a.m. and all of our regular coffee was not yet ground. At first I thought that would not be a big deal, but about 20 min after being out of bed and not having yet had a chance to even make decaf due to people at the door, I decided that it would be necessary to call upon our dear friends the Browns and request that their son bring over on his bicycle “the real stuff”. Before I could even make the coffee I had another interruption and had to tell that person to please wait because what I was doing was a necessity. Whether or not you agree, the truth is COFFEE IS A NECESSITY!!!!!!

After coffee, and handling the request at the door, the next order of business for the morning was to get the girls from David Family started baking. We have had some complaints that our bread is too crumbly so I baked 8 different loaves of bread yesterday trying to come up with a new recipe. Together we tasted and decided on what recipe we wanted and then went to get the supplies we needed, but the canteen was closed. So, as I raided my cupboards for the supplies I also dealt out rakes for the boys in the family who had yard work to do. On the way to get the girls set up in their kitchen my neighbor asked me how to make jello. After instructing her we set off again to the kitchen, but were met by another one of the girls who informed us they were out of propane gas. So, we all turned around to help carry a gas can, but found it empty. At that point the decision was made to move all our operations to my house for baking. As we were arranging things, the manager of our guest house came over as I had invited her to taste test the new recipes. We enjoyed about 20-30 minutes of visiting over different breads while the girls patiently waited to begin fulfilling their orders for today.



While we were doing this, Geoff was moving 3 very heavy solar batteries with the help of some of the David Family boys, over to the new house--time to connect the system all together.

As I was helping the girls learn the new recipe and making them a treat of milk tea, a former student of Geoff’s showed up. Turns out he wasn’t a former student that had graduated, but one who dropped out at the beginning of this term because he thought “hands on” learning was useless. He now wanted to join the term and just take final exams. Geoff embarked on a 30 minute counseling session during which I got two boys from David Family started on the work of washing our van. As the van was being washed and Geoff was counseling the young student and I was helping the girls with the bread, Acacia arrived with her friend Anya who is staying with us for the day. Moments later and before Geoff and the young man were finished talking, someone else arrived. The young student decided to leave without finishing his milk tea. This next visitor is a young man who grew up in David Family, was trained in loom weaving and is now the instructor for hand loom weaving at the vocational school. However, today he was not here to discuss that work, but to do one of the other things he does so well---kill bats. We’ve had a small bat problem in this house which has been growing into a huge bat problem and Geoff decided to bring in the expert bat killer to get the house ready for the missionaries who will be moving in after us. As we said goodbye to the student, hello to the teacher and bat killer, the electrician wiring our solar system arrived to discuss today’s work with Geoff. Once he got the electrician organized for his day’s work and the bat killing commenced, Geoff gave two of our David Family boys money to buy meat for a special party we are having tomorrow to welcome Hasan to our family. Hasan is the boy we blogged about earlier this year who has CP and is almost about 8 years old. He now has his own house in David family with a fulltime caregiver!!!!
Geoff shortly thereafter left for Kiwoko to meet with one of his employees who had called this morning requesting to meet with him regarding something “personal”. Not too long after he left one of the young boys whom we have in an internship at the enterprise farm showed up looking for Geoff as the farm manager was looking for Geoff. I called Geoff who at this point was looking in on the maize mill operations. He said he had tried to call the farm manager, but his phone wasn’t picking up—he would leave the maize mill and find the boys and the manager at the farm. Meanwhile, there are 10 children playing in our yard and one of them is coming to me every 10 minutes about how everyone else is misbehaving and causing problems. I took time to explain “the box.” I said to, we’ll call him E, “this is a box with all of your thoughts and ideas and ways of doing things” “Here is another box of someone elses’s thoughts, ideas, and ways of doing things. Sometimes you have to realize that you are allowed to think ‘outside the box’ and that other peoples’ ideas are fine, too.” That seemed to satisfy until about 30 minutes later and 3 more interruptions from said child, I finally said, “I think you need to work harder to find a way to get along with everyone else here or just go home.” Children can be so easy to deal with SOMETIMES I thought as he said, “OK!” and trotted off smiling, problem solved.

Is this blog getting too long???? Well, I haven’t even gotten to noon yet!!!!! Acacia and Anya, in the midst of all of this, decide to paint, so I get them set up with all they need. Then we have to find a birthday present for a little girl whose birthday party they are going to at 1 p.m. The first batch of bread is now ready to shape into rolls and then I have to work with the girls on the new recipe for the wheat batch.

The bat killing is now done and the payment needs to be made, a child gets hurt playing, another gets bit by a biting ant and I think I’m getting into the low blood sugar range----but someone needs Tylenol, a drink of water and some advice on something they are cooking . . . and suddenly I realize it is 1 p.m. and the girls are late to the birthday party!!!! We jump into the car and off we go to the secondary site where the party is being held.

Now, before you think that EVERY Saturday is like this, let me say that last Saturday was unusually quiet. I had less than 5 interruptions all day last Saturday. This Saturday just happens to be unusually busy. We have to laugh though because New Hope just had an expert in time and corporate management visiting this past month. He sat down with Geoff in regards to the Maize Mill, Enterprise Farm, Church and the various committees Geoff serves on in addition to his counseling and mentoring of some of the children here. His suggestion for Geoff’s personal schedule was that he be more purposeful and diligent to minimize interruptions—“schedule” or rather be open for interruptions to happen at certain times of the day, but maintain an order the rest of the time by putting people off until later. We joked that maybe we should have set up a video camera of today’s events and send it to the expert to see how he would’ve handled, an ant bite, an empty gas can, a lost student who decides to be found, an electrician who is helping to move us into our house sooner, a bat killer who performs a necessary service, girls who need to bake, vans that need to be washed, etc, etc, etc. Maybe we don’t do a good job of juggling, but when 3 people are waiting to talk to you or need something, trying to come up with another time of handling their need just seems like more work than just getting it done. Maybe I should’ve named this blog, “Git ‘er done, ya’ll!”

Geoff just arrived back to say that there is an error light on one of the pieces of equipment, but the instructions are all in German!!!! He now needs the computer to look on the internet for more help :)
Well, until next time, blessings to you and smiles throughout your day whether it’s a quiet one or full of activity!!!!!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

The Proverbial "Two Weeks"

Today, for the first time since our house broke ground, I felt encouraged that true completion is near. I am not holding my breath for "two weeks", but I can imagine that we might actually move in to the place in the next FEW weeks.

There is a team here from Michigan that has stepped in and helped tremendously. They have painted, varnished, sanded, cleaned, etc this past week and PROGRESS HAS BEEN NOTICEABLE!!! Geoff also has been able to work a few hours a day the past few days. Today he, John and Gabe poured the cement counter tops for the kitchen. Painting is almost complete and the solar system panels were secured to the rooftop today. HALLELUJAH!!!!!

Geoff, John and Gabe setting the rocks in between wire mesh to strengthen the cement fix for the kitchen countertops.
The team from Michigan painting our dining room and living room.


Our front doors--Geoff designed them and did all the carpentry work!

Our porch with the front doors behind Toby

Friday, July 10, 2009

New Wheels

Here it is . . . the new Britton mobile is a 1996 Toyota Hiace Van that seats 9 passengers comfortably. The kids love it because it has a working sunroof. We love it because it was a good price, is in great working condition and will enable us to continue ministering by offering rides and providing cargo space. Praise God for His provision.

Thanks again to those of you who contributed!!!!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

A NEW VEHICLE!!!!

We finally found a good vehicle and we bought it!!!!! It was a great price and thanks to all who contributed!!!!! We now have a wonderful vehicle which fulfills many needs!!!!!


Wanna see a picture? Well first, let me say we debated back and forth about the whole "should we have a vehicle with a large front end for more safety????" "But, hmmm those have less passenger room."-- "So, should we get a van again which carries more passengers?" (something we love to do is give people free rides to Kampala--provide a vehicle for village ministry and haul whatever for whomever we can) . . . , but there is no front end and you sit right at the windshield -- such a dilemma. Finally we scrapped all the above and just did what we had to do . . .






What do ya think?????

HA HA just kidding. That's my uncle and me in his vintage corvette. I got that sweet ride to church the last Sunday I was in California!!!!!

Pictures of the real van will be coming soon!!!

Friday, July 3, 2009

I'M HOME!!!!!!!!



My Mom and I at LAX just before I disappeared around a corner to join a long line for security.
Ahhhhhhh . . . I’m home! I love where I am, with my kids and my husband and all the other wonderful people here at New Hope. We returned to Kasana on Wednesday during a torrential rain storm, so there was not the usual mob of greeters there to meet us. In fact, only one of our David family daughters came to give and get hugs during the first 2 hours after we arrived. By the time the rain let up, I was beyond anxious to get over and see everyone at David family. My favorite “hello” was the pint-sized Dodovico, who bounded toward me as I walked into their compound. He squealed, “AUNTIE MARY, AUNTIE MARY,” and didn’t hold back anything as he hugged me tight, though he was covered with mud from working in the garden. Muddy hugs are the stuff of bountiful life!!! What an immense joy to receive the welcome and bright smiles from the kids—I was blessed. But even more moving than all that was the letter I received from a daughter whom I’ve been mentoring for the past 3 years. She took time to write a welcome note that reveals her deepening understanding that God is our strength through all of life. I was beaming when I read it and I want to share it with you . . . “WELCOME BACK AUNTIE MARY. It is a pity, but we pray that God may give you peace and hope. Auntie Mary you are a blessing. We have been missing you so much, we are happy that you are back. Auntie Mary, this day is sacred to our Lord, ‘Do not grieve for the joy of the Lord is your strength.’
Psalm 199:43, ‘Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth for I have put my hope in your law.’
Auntie Mary I love you.
Please be blessed in whatever you are going to do this year and years to come. Auntie Mary, Thank you for being strong in the word of God and your loving heart, ‘who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.’ God cares for us in everything, just trust Him please!!” What a lettter from a girl that would not talk to us or look us in the eye the first few months we lived here! She comes from a strong muslim family, but has placed her life in the hands of God who sent His son to pay for our sins and give us REAL life! What a change!!
There is nothing that can steal the peace I have in God through anything that comes. I am thankful that Geoff and I and the kids are home here!
Jerry and Dortha (Geoff’s parents) came to Long Beach to the memorial service for my Dad. Jerry began to ask when I would be returning “home,” and tried to stop himself from saying that “home” was Uganda, but then released himself to the reality that our “home” truly is here.
Thank you God for the truth that wherever we are, we are with YOU.