Eat what you kill

What a great week.  It is so stinking hot here the last month and we still have a couple of more hot months to go.  It really isn't too bad as long as you have a fan to keep the air moving.  We are just enjoying the journey and loving the difference it is being in a different county and experiencing all the culture, activities and scenery that comes with not being at "home."

I still stay in touch at home with Skype and keep up with events with the online editions of the newspapers.  I did read one of the popular Mormon podcast creators is going before a Church disciplinary court today.  I don't have the background to talk about this specific person other than he no longer believes in all the doctrines of the church.  He has been making a good living talking about all the things he doesn't believe in to his audience.  I was listening to Spencer W Kimball's book The Miracle of Forgiveness and he pointed out that it is wrong to make a living arguing against the religion you belong to.  I don't begrudge his beliefs but I do have a problem with using those beliefs to make a living against the faith he belongs to.  Just me...

In the same book he gives this quote "No one in this Church will ever go far astray who ties himself securely to the Church Authorities whom the Lord has placed in his Church.  This Church will never go astray; the Quorum of the Twelve will never lead you into bypaths; it never has and never will."  I firmly believe that we have been put here on earth but we have not been left alone.  Our loving Savior has sent Prophets, just like he has throughout the life of this world, to lead and guide us safely back to His presence.

Time for the pictures and there are a lot this week.  As we were driving back from Busia, where we spend most of our Sundays now, I thought how boring it will be driving around Layton, Ut when we get home.  You see so many things here in Africa just driving around and most of them just make us smile.  Are we together (African saying to make sure everyone in class is listening)?

Once again my life is filled with strange creatures and the need to save Sister Squire from certain death.  A man's job never ends.

After battling the T-Rex I worked up an appetite and the restaurant staff were so impressed with my masculine abilities they named a hot chili sauce after me.

Hot wings African style; they were really good and not so hot that Sister Squire had a couple. They are called wing pops.

When you live by the source of the Nile River you have to eat by the source.

We got a call from our old Branch President in Lugazi and his wife Beatrice had delivered and were hoping to avoid a crowed taxi with the new baby.  Here Sister Squire describes it better. 

Her husband had us go check on her on Monday afternoon because he couldn't get a hold of her and he was at work in Lugazi.  The Lugazi Hospital had her come to the Jinja hospital because they were concerned that she had been contracting for so long and this was her 5th child.  As we were waking around the hospital we went through the labor and delivery ward and there were 50 ladies filling every bed and many on the floor.  Anyway, we found her and she had a member friend with her who is a midwife/doula.  She had her 4th girl.  Yesterday, they called to see if we could drive them home so they wouldn't have to go home with a new baby in a crowded taxi with 15 other people crammed in so we were able to take them back to Lugazi about a 45 minute drive.  When talking to Harriet, her doula, she said that they were worried about her taking so long and she was in so much pain.  I asked if they give anything for pain here and she "oh sure, they gave her some Panadol (Tylenol)."  Serious? Yeah right!  That should help!  NOT!  Anyway, the doula said that someone had delivered twins right before Beatrice (the wife of the Pres.) but they had "passed on."  She said that the baby born after Beatrice's had also passed on.  Wow, reality smacks you in the face.  1 out of every 10 babies born here die.  What to do?  This doula had a baby who would have been 3 years old, who passed away.  It didn't breath at birth so they worked with it.  It lived about 1 week.  She had to have it c-section and was sure that almost all babies die who are born c-section.  She has had one baby since who survived, but was born c-section so she was very worried. Maybe a lot of c-section babies do die here, because they do the c-section because the baby is in trouble.  They don't monitor the fetal heart rate during labor, but I think they listen on occasion.  The labor ward (just one large room) had over 50 women.  Every bed was full, so when Beatrice delivered, they just put her on the floor to recover.  No other place.  Sure makes you grateful for modern medicine and good hospitals.

Here is mom and the new little girl who is not named yet.  The sister in the back is the midwife and friend who helped her deliver.  She had previously interpreted as I interviewed a sister who didn't speak English very well for baptism.  It was embarrassing because I saw her and I knew her but didn't remember where or why.  Embarrassing when we remembered and her name is Sister Harriott.

Home with the family, four girls and one boy.  That poor baby all wrapped up in this heat!

We had one of the most humbling experiences while here in Africa.  We went to an orphanage where people will literally drop off their kids if they are deformed or have severe disabilities.  The sister who runs the place had a child born with a disability (cerebral palsy), who died last year at the age of 14, and took in five other children to care for.  Now she has 35 children and I can't believe the capacity of love some possess here on earth.  She has a 24/7 job for the rest of her life.  These are kids that cannot feed themselves, bathe or wash.  There are some other men and women who help and a physical therapist to help those that can to learn to walk or do basic tasks. These wheelchairs are outside after being washed. 

Here is the sign outside the orphanage.

This is the playground and home.  In the background is the neighborhood school.  Not for these kids but kids who live in the surrounding village.  We saw kids carrying wood siding as we were leaving to help dry in their school.  They had blackboards up and a few benches in each room.

Sister Squire made a new friend (Joseph) while walking in the morning.  Here she has delivered some fish samosas and some g-nuts.  He gave her 1/2 of a jack fruit.

We have to go to the market once a week or so for vegetables.  Here are a couple of pictures and you can see the variety of foods for sale.  Big bags of different types of grain.

Fish, fresh from Lake Victoria.  You can see the cat under the table. That has to be a good life living in the fish market where they clean and prepare the fish.

Dried fish.

Again, driving around Layton is going to be quite boring.  I have no idea if the goats (there are 2) have to pay a separate fare so don't even ask.

Another view.

The kids were out of school since December and last Sunday as we drove home from Kampala we saw many bodabodas with the kids that are going back to boarding school.  One of the things we would like to see change here in Africa is having families keep their kids home for school so they can still attend Church and be with their families.  Here are all her worldly possessions for the next several months.

We saw this bodaboda with a stack of fresh skins.  I guess they will be part of some future drum set or something.

We bought a couple of mangoes from this young man.  They do whatever they can to earn money.

As we were having lunch a large ruckus was going on outside.  Whistles were blowing and some shouting.  I walked out that the military was marching down the street.  There must of been 200 or so.

Sister Squire had a busy week preparing for District Auxiliary Training.  She taught in the large meeting and then in two of the breakout session.  Here is a sister with the cutest kids.  That is a little boy in her arms but he is very cute.  You cannot assume gender based on what the kids wear.  She has two very adorable daughters that also carry the cute gene.

This is the YW breakout and she is teaching Individual Worth (Red) to the sisters.

Now she is teaching singing time to the primary leaders.  Bad turnout, only the two District leaders, HC and Treavor who is leaving on a mission in April.

Where we turn off the main road to go to Busia, we usually have baboons along the road.  Here we had mom and baby that needed a picture.

On Sunday we were invited to give a the second counselors child a blessing.  It was a good drive out to his home and he has to walk it every Sunday with his family.  You don't just go and give a blessing, when you have visitors the mom prepares a drink and something to eat.  Here on the table we have hot cocoa, fresh roasted g-nuts and later she brought out some rice.  All the cooking is done outside and you can see the teapot warming the water and the gnuts that will be roasted.  I told her not to make and effort because I have to leave and she looked me in the eye and said "you be patient" and so I was.

I felt bad because I had a pre-missionary I had to interview so we had to cut the visit short (still a good 1/2 hour).  President Emmaual is the Branch President in the red tie.

Wesonga's family minus one daughter who lives 1 hr away with an uncle as she goes to school.  He has a beautiful piece of property with lots of food growing on it.

 

 One final picture outside the home

You never know who you will meet in your travels along the road of life. Nancy calls this a humpty back cow.  Sounds like a good name.

I make it back to Iganga and brother Benjamin was patiently waiting for his pre-missionary interview.  I found out his mom is the RS President.  Nice family.

This sister came in with her cute baby and was shaking the baby to wake it up for a picture.  I told her it was OK to just get a picture with the baby asleep.

Speaking of families, while trying to rid the sisters apartment behind us of rats I opened one of their drawers and found this cute family getting ready to grow into adulthood.  Unfortunately, they picked the wrong place to raise a family and are no longer with us.

I did find two more and as a scoutmaster I always told the scouts they had to eat anything they killed.  I didn't think it would be appropriate to not eat these two rats that were poisoned.  Don't ever let anyone tell you they taste like chicken, they don't.

One more because I live to pose.

One last little story.  I set apart a sister going to the Ghana Accra Mission and she had her sister with her on the way to Kampala.  I asked if they were the only two siblings of their mom.  She said "yes, we are the only two from my mothers womb."  I love some of their expressions.

Peace be unto you.