Day 5 - Microenterprise

Day 5 – Microenterprise Clean water isn’t the only thing Water Missions provides to the communities they work with. There has got to be more. We’ve only been to five villages, and two of them have had water systems implemented in the past that have failed, leaving those communities with a sense of failure and abandonment. If you were to go to the doctor because you were sick and they gave you medicine, you’d continue to go back to that doctor to seek healing for your sickness. But, if the doctor taught you how to avoid getting sick, you’d be more apt to protect yourself from sickness in the future. In the same way, Water Missions isn’t trying to prescribe a pill and leave it at that. They’re addressing the root of the problem, and they train the people of the community to avoid...

Day 4 - Musubi

Day 4 - Musubi12/7/2011As I woke up yesterday morning, I didn't know what my day was going to be like. Our program for the day said we were going to Musubi, the community that received a water purification system from the Change for Change fundraiser. Mixed emotions jumbled my mind as I thought about what everything was going to be like. It's been such a humbling experience already, being in Uganda, but the people Darryl and I were about to meet were given a new chance at life because of the water system we helped provide.On our way to Musubi, we rode on some of the WORST "roads" I've ever been on. It was a two hour drive of my head bouncing and bobbling. As we pulled onto the dusty path that they call "Musubi Highway", I was just overwhelmed...

Day 3 - Into the Villages

12/6/11 Day 3 – Into the Villages Yesterday, I got to worship with the Water Missions team, before their weekly meeting. It was awesome to stand with believers in the faith and sing I surrender all and Amazing Grace. The team of people working here are awesome. There’s four Mzungus and 14 Ugandans! After lunch, we traveled into some villages along Lake Victoria. If you’ve never looked at the size of the lake, you’d be surprised how big it is. There are hundreds of villages around the lake. We only had to drive about 30 or 40 minutes out of Jinja, to get to Ntinkalu. It baffles my mind how close these villages are to civilization. We drove most of the trip on a dirt road through sugar cane fields. Along the way, we saw women picking...

Day 2 - Arrive in Jinja

Day 2 – Arrive in JinjaLast night, Darryl and I stayed in a Motel in Entebee. We didn’t get to bed until about 2 am. After breakfast this morning, we packed up and met up with our driver, Shalvin. Leaving the Sunset Motel, we drove back down the muddy clay road that we drove on the night before, only this time I could see everything. Buildings were all very run down and their yards were overgrown. Walls and barbed wire surrounded most hotels and restaurants. Along the side of the road I saw a small produce shack, where a young girl was waiting for customers. Another common occurrence was seeing goats and cows on the side of the road. Their owners will take them to a place to graze, tie them to a tree and leave. Our drive from Kampala to Jinja was about two and half hours. Kampala was...

Day 1 - The Trip

Day 1 – The Trip:12/4/11As I type, it is currently 2:03 am, Sunday morning. In the states, it’s about 6:00 pm, Saturday evening. I’m typing to the serenading sounds of an oscillating fan that’s sitting about 2 feet away from my bed, and I’m currently surrounded by a mosquito net that hangs from the ceiling. It’s been over 24 hours since we left Charleston.Yesterday, Darryl showed up at my house around 8:30 am. His car was full with luggage already. I added mine to the mix, then we headed into work. Our morning consisted of answering questions about our trip, how we were feeling, etc…We then took some pictures and left. As we arrived at the Delta check-in counter, we were concerned about how heavy our bags were. Darryl and I packed 3 military duffel bags full of clothes, soccer balls...