Adventures With Mark… Home Visits

Term two has just ended. I often think of the students from the school over the holidays as I spend time with my kids. I can’t help but think of how blessed our children are in many ways compared to the students at school. I’m referring to material things a bit but also basic things like their physical needs being met, food every time they’re hungry, their own beds, a safe environment to live and play in, medical care when they need it, and Canadian passports. These are things we often take for granted. My awareness of our students’ living conditions this holiday has been no different in this regard. Every holiday the school staff spends some time visiting different homes with the focus being very needy homes or children with behavior problems. Each person of our four member management team leads a team to different areas where our students call home. This term my group of seven piles into our Prado and heads towards the Luwero area that is out of Kampala and unfortunately famous for the hardships it suffered during the war with Ida Amin in the 1970s. Once out of the city we begin stopping at students’ houses and to my surprise the first house we stop at is nice. We take our shoes off on the tiled floor and greet the mother. Children seem to be popping out of everywhere. As we sit down and visit we are told that when Catherine first joined the choir things were very different and difficult. The mother has worked hard to add much needed extra income by making paving stones for landscaping and boundary stones for plots of land. She takes us out back and we see stacks of her product that she has made completely by hand. We talk about her sales and all of us are very impressed and proud of this mother who is working very hard to provide for her family.
As we continue our visits we end up about two hours out of the city in an area that is very bushy, rural and pretty much at the end of the road. I feel like I am driving on a tree planting road again back in northern British Columbia with Old Yeller, our 4 x 4 ford 350 crew cab. However when I look around at the sparse mud huts I know I am not. Our tour guide from the main town nearly an hour away is Pete’s older brother and without him we would not have found the place at all. We pull up to Pete’s house and we are greeted by his mom. Again several small children also appear out of nowhere. Once inside we are received as honoured guests and shown a picture of the deceased father. The mom is extremely friendly but reminds me more of a grandma as one can tell that life has been hard on her. They are very excited for the food hamper of rice, sugar, posho, salt and some soap. She quickly hurries off to roast for us some local peanuts she has planted. Some cute dresses from some kind ladies in International Falls are given to the smaller girls and left over school packets from the MEI team for the older children. All are happy and once pictures are taken the goodies are put away for Christmas. We have one last food hamper and give it to Pete’s mother who prays a blessing on all of us. It is now 3 in the afternoon and the grade six boy had left at nine in the morning to run an errand for his mom. After waiting awhile we say our goodbyes and leave hoping to find Pete along the way. As we load up a chicken is given to me as a token or her appreciation.
Our guide takes us back on a different bush road and then we come across Pete. His bike from 1942 has a flat front tire or should I say a completely worn out tire and he has been walking for several hours. We pile out and he is very happy to see us as we all greet him with a hug. He does not look good and may have malaria indicated by the sores around his mouth. After some visiting we give him enough money to get his bike tire fixed and he heads on his way for the last trek home. He is excited that we came to his house and knows that most likely there will be a little extra help in regards to food for his mom and perhaps a nice supper. As we finish our drive out I see many shrines and a large compound where many people have gathered. I learn from our guide that this area is a central or ‘source’ location for witchcraft in Uganda. Many of the people there were visiting a witchdoctor and some of the visitors were even witchdoctors seeking more or specific power. We are told that more children than normal go missing in this area and this is most likely due to child sacrifices. I sense something I don’t like and think about Pete the entire journey back into the City and another hour home to my house. As I arrive home one of the first things I do is give my amazing wife a big hug and open the door to the room of my two sleeping children. I see them comfortable in their bunk bed with a soft mattress, pillow and blanket and just stare at them for a while. I give them both a kiss and pray blessings on them while adding protection for them and Pete who I have a complete new understanding for. I go to bed knowing I am helping kids that really do need help and are making the best of very difficult circumstances. I vow to do all I can to be the best I can for the school, staff, students and my family.

Adventures With Sarah... It's a ???

I see Mark has written a great blurb that I hope you have all had the time to read. His work is inspiring! I must say, I’ve done home visits and I find them incredibly challenging. It takes huge amounts of physical energy, focus, and emotional energy. Home visits also provoke many questions in my mind about God, fairness, reality, justice, eternity, and a multitude of other big issues. To be in a position to bring food hampers to needy families is a great privilege, but the desire to do more and ‘fix it all’ never goes away. And facing the fact that you can’t do that is not easy. Anyway… that’s my ‘feelings’ input on Mark’s story.
I’m going to shift gears here and pass on some very exciting news that we just found out yesterday…. It’s a girl!!!!!! All four of us went and saw a wiggling, squirming, shadowy creature on a very small screen. According to Jodie, ‘If there’s a pee-pee then it’s a boy but if there’s no pee-pee then it’s a girl!’ There was no ‘pee-pee’. I think Seth may have been a bit disappointed to be honest… maybe Mark too for a few minutes… I think they were envisioning another body to wrestle with and go to sports events with. But Jodie and I were quite elated! I was convinced from day 1 that this was a boy so I was shocked! I had predicted both of our other kids accurately so it was good for me to be completely wrong! We can’t wait to meet her!
As far as our kids are concerned… all is well. Seth is doing school from home and though he likes his friends he is extremely content to spend days on end just at home… sometimes I have to work hard to convince him that a play date at someone else’s house would be fun. Jodie is sincerely his best friend. Jodie is a little mother to all and can be extremely bossy. Her tomboy characteristics are hilarious. I have given up on dresses and fixing her hair (I cut her some sensible bangs and we don’t fuss). But she loves to play with make-up and be cooking in the kitchen. Her baby doll Kira, is never neglected and is frequently attended to with bandages and medicine because she’s sick. I love my kids!!! They’re full of adventure, dirt, laughter, fighting, and taking care of each other. What more could a mother want?
Lastly for me when we are home there are a few things we already know we are going to need. And I want to throw them out there in case any of you have ideas. As it is, our plan is to hit the thrift stores when we get home… but if there’s an option that’s more guaranteed we’d be happy for it! I’m going to need a rocking chair of some sort for this little one. Hopefully something not big and lazy-boyish but more like a glider or other non-space-hogging apparatus. Also, our kids will need a bunk bed. Anybody done with one? On this one we have nothing specific in mind and are not fussy. We’re happy to buy both of these items at the going rate, I must add! And finally I’m putting together a write up that I intend to send to Abbotsford car dealerships. I’m not sure exactly what I will say but I will tell them what our family is doing here in Uganda and the basic idea is, ‘we have three kids, are home for three months and own only a VW Jetta which will be impossible to fit three car seats into. We will have to come up with something else to get around!’ (Our Jetta will be fine until the baby comes). I’m going to ask them if they’d be interested in loaning out a vehicle to us for any length of time as part of their ‘Christmas good cheer!’ or whatever. I have no idea if any of them will respond or if I’ll be able to get this write up to the right people. But before I do that I want to mention it to all of you in case you have a better idea or possibility for us or even if you know the best way of communicating this to the dealerships. I’m not stressed about it and have no expectations on any of you so be certain of that please! I know God will provide what we need and we’ll glorify Him with the blessing!
That’s all for me….. I am very excited to be coming to Abbotsford in a few months and also very much looking forward to Grandpa and Grandma Williams being with us here for a month prior to that. They will fly back with me and the kids and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that already! We’ll keep you posted these next few months. Enjoy the Fall!!!! Love to all of you! Sarah

Adventures With Sarah & Kids… The Home Front

How is the summer everyone? We’re thinking of you there in Canada eating berries and other summer fruits and in the States buying bags of fresh field corn for only a few dollars. (Soon anyway!) Evening picnics and long days with plenty of daylight to work outside on projects or just play in the yard. That’s how we envision you these days and we pray you’re all having great family time and safe travels if you’re camping or holidaying!
We’re very fine… life here is going along as normal. A few flu bugs here and there and an unexpected exposure to a tropical parasite which everyone but mom needs to be treated for (lovely!). Otherwise we spend our days at home doing some low key home school, baking, playing trains and marbles, and cooking together almost every day. Seth and Jodie are both very good at cracking eggs and mixing without splashing. Jodie’s favourite kitchen utensil is the whisk… and she loves to say that word. And Seth’s favourite meal to make is pancakes. Then he and Mark play a fun game where one flips the pancake as high as they can and the other tries to catch it with the plate. The cats benefit from that game quite a bit. Number three seems to be growing just fine…. Squirming around lots… especially when we play monster with the kids and run roaring through the house. This one is going to come out ready to play! We will be finding out the sex of the baby in a few weeks. Fun! We’ll let you know! This is me at five months pregnant.
That’s all from us this time. We wanted to be sure that this month Mark has a chance to share plenty about the school. We’ve done lots of thinking back this year too many of the goals Mark had during his first year and we’ve seen that many of them have been reached! It’s been exciting to think about. And there’s plenty of goings on to fill you in on. So we’ll sign off and turn the computer over to Mark.
Lots of love to all of you! Sarah, Seth, Jodie, and?

Adventures With Mark… Utilities & the School Front

Where to start? Well unfortunately let’s start with the power and water problems that we are now facing. Last week began with an announcement that load shedding (power on for 12h and then off for 12 hours) was going to be kicking into high gear. Yes, the government was in the arrears with a few private generator companies and owed them hundreds of thousands of US dollars. So they said they’d generate no further power until payment. Then last week ended with no water as a result of private companies shutting down who pump the water in this area of Uganda also as a result of no pay by the Ugandan government. Needless to say things go into high gear when there is no water and the communication that it will not be there for at least a week. The only water in the area came through the local police department and to Seth and Jodie’s excitement when we paid for a water truck to deliver it turned out to be a red police fire truck with a full tank of water for our tanks and then some for the school. A second load was brought to the school for drinking water and in the meantime at the school, the children haul water from the lake for showers and toilets while even our bath water is re used for flushing. Yes, you are all welcome for a visit…
As far as the school goes I guess I’ll start with the most recent highlight at the school. We were honoured to host the national volleyball championship tournament at our school for the second year in a row and to participate in it as well just this past weekend. It was remarkable to see how excellent some of these teams were! Considering that this country is extremely focused on football (soccer) it was great to hear that in some parts of the country volleyball is actually ‘the’ sport and these teams work hard and excel! Our girls took second place! And sadly our boys were beat out in the semis. Our junior boys came in second and our junior girls came in third. It was kind of fun for me to be interviewed for the television broadcast and then get phone calls in the evening from people excited to see me on TV. Unfortunately we don’t have a TV so missed it! It was a great day all in all.
Our organization was also a finalist for the Tumaini Awards(Swahili for hope)in Uganda that look at NGO’s that are involved in helping Ugandan children. One of the categories was NGO’s involved in Education and yes you guessed, the African Children’s Choir was voted the top NGO doing education work. Later the judges said that if there was an overall NGO category we would have been it! Yes, some satisfaction to see the hard work continue to bear fruit and be recognized and yet most importantly glory to God!
Yes…. Looking back…. Having moved out into the country on the lake has been a dream come true for the school and I’ve been so privileged to be here during this time. The years we spent smack dab in the city were not the most fun. The fact that I walk to school is incredibly amazing considering the long dangerous driving I’d been doing for 5 years. God has been to protect me and all those around me anytime I drove!
And this year has been very encouraging in the aspect of the teamwork displayed by the staff. They seem to be finding a good groove and are mostly all pulling in the same direction with passion for the students and for excellence! As the principal that is extremely encouraging!
And the students are displaying a much improved level of good behaviour. I remember saying so many times to Sarah when we were there in the city, ‘If these kids (especially the boys!) just had more space we would not be dealing with so many issues of conflict and frustration from them.’ They were always well provided for but the space they have now is a really ‘feel good’ space and has been such an advantage in this area! It has been great to see that we deal with much fewer cases of anger, fighting, and bickering than we used to. And I believe the well trained staff have so much to do with this. I am so thankful!
My big challenge this year has been the soaring inflation rates. Please keep this in your prayers as we struggle to keep the school running to an acceptable standard under great financial pressure. I know this is a global concern right now so it almost seems silly to ask for prayer about it. But it’s a very real concern for our school and our staff and their families, as I believe I’ve mentioned earlier this year. You can pray for good health for everyone… students, staff, staff families, and ourselves. The added financial strain of sicknesses, whether minor or major, would be wonderful to avoid! God has provided for the school this year in many unexpected ways and some of you have been His provision. I thank you for that and more importantly I thank Him. I know the school and these students and staff are more important to Him than they are to me and I am blessed to see how He cares for them.
That’s all I have for this month. Let me close with a picture of two of my biggest supporters in my office enjoying a treat from dad. I hope this letter finds you all well and enjoying the summer! We look forward to our time home this winter!
Take care!
Mark

Adventures With Sarah!

I think it’s been two months since I’ve written… more? Maybe. Our move to a village-ish road just minutes walking from the school, (fabulous for Mark and all of us) hasn’t felt like a village move at all. We’ve been so busy that the adjustment has been very easy, considering that isolation was a small fear for me out here. But, indeed, no problem! God is good!
I’m gonna leave most of the writing to the kids because they’re so much fun and capture my life pretty well too (whatever makes them happy usually makes me happy… whatever they’re having trouble with usually bothers me too… so on and so forth).
Just one quick blurb of interest…. In November this year, Lord willing, our family will become a party of five! We made it through the first trimester (I say ‘we’ because all are impacted when mom feels gross, exhausted and grumpy). We know very little except all is well and we will have this little one in Canada as we have our other two. The only difference will be that we will not travel around this time. Our last baby delivery/passport obtaining/multi thousand dollar trip around North America fried me for good. I vowed to Mark and myself that I would never do it again with a brand new baby and I’m sticking to it! We will fly to Vancouver and plan to stay in the Abbotsford area somehow and not travel from there. I feel lots of remorse not to see so many of you but then I think of the reality and I know this decision is absolutely necessary! We’ll keep you posted as things develop! We appreciate your prayers for good health and development for the baby and a safe pregnancy. Thanks! Lots of love! Sarah

Adventures With Jodie...

I love living in Africa! It’s ‘spring’ all the time! I swim… I play outside in my underwear… I ride my boda boda (three wheel bike) every day… I help Seth plant stuff and we pour gallons of water on leafs that we plant and soon they will be trees!....I play with my cats every day (they catch rats so the rats don’t come in our house)…and I love to cook with mom. My favourite thing to make is soup and I put in all the vegetables and the meat. I even get to help pour in the flavour stuff. When we’re not cooking real food then we’re making play dough food and putting it in a drawer that is our play oven.
My brother is my best friend. I love to play with him most of anything. Sometimes he tries to boss me and tell me how to do everything but that doesn’t work with me. I tell him no way. Then if he keeps trying to boss me then I start crying and someone comes and tells him to stop bossing. So I have a trick…. Sometimes when I want to be the boss then I start crying too and people are supposed to think that he was trying to boss me. But usually that doesn’t work. I guess that’s not a good idea.
Guess what? I’m going to be a big sister! Mom’s tummy is getting a little chubby and sometimes I pat the baby. And sometimes Seth is too rough with mom and I shake my finger in his face and tell him very sternly, ‘Don’t squish the baby!’ I will be a very good helper with the baby because I have my own baby Kira that I got for my birthday when I was two and I take very good care of her.
I like to pick my own clothes. I do not like pretty things at all! If someone says it is pretty I don’t want to wear it. And I also decide for myself if I think something is pretty. Then I tell mom I don’t like it. I want to be handsome like Seth. I like comfy boy clothes and if mom or dad tells me I look handsome then I’m happy because I just want to be like Seth. Sometimes mom says I don’t get to decide what I’m going to wear and she picks and then I have a hard time with my attitude for a few minutes. Then I forget and start playing.
I better go. I have lots of playing to do. Bye bye. Jodie

Adventures With Seth...

I am such a big boy now. I turned four! Soon I will be five and ready for school. I keep telling dad that I want to be big like him and that one day I will be a dad too. There is so much to tell but two exciting things that has happened recently is that a team from dad’s old school came to our house to stay for a while and I got to go with dad on a safari with them. Us guys went and Jodie stayed home with mom… It was a long trip and we even stayed a night and saw lots of animals. Wild ones like giraffes, water buffalos, elephants, hippopotamuses, crocodiles, baboons and many other cool things. Then not too long after we got back dad had some time off from school and we built a ladder for Jodie and my bunk bed. We used lots of tools so I had my tool belt from grandpa Mike on. The ladder works great and now even Jodie can come for a visit on my top bunk. Until next time see you later and before you know it I will be turning five and also have a new little baby sister or brother.
Quote of the month: While driving by a row of electric poles along the side of the road Seth says: ‘Is that a clothes line for God?’