Last day in Uganda
Today was our last day in kiboga. After our breakfast, we headed up to the church in order to meet with the women in the program and play with the kids for the last time. This was really the first time I got to experience "Africa time" on our trip, as the meeting was supposed to start at 10 and we really started at 12. We asked questions about how their training program was going and their different business plans. At this point, they have weekly meetings and have set their ground rules. Their next step is to write their business plan on an official template, get it approved by the CAFOCAD board (who we are partnering with in kiboga) and then the USTS board. Then they will be able to get their loans. They are very close and should be getting them soon. Some will be starting new lines of business to make income and others will be expanding their current business.
While we were waiting for the meeting to start, we played with the kids and played many of their traditional games, which included dancing, clapping, and chasing one another. We ended our time together by taking pictures. Pictures of the group, pictures of the kids, pictures of everyone! A lot of these will be printed out and brought back on the next trip, as Katie delivered ones this time from the previous trip. It was sad to say goodbye to all the women and families I have gotten to know over the past few days. While the first few days were overwhelming being introduced to everyone and learning the way of life, the meaningful relationships built the last few days were indescribable. I'm already looking forward to a trip back to see how the businesses have taken off and how the kids have grown!
Before we left town, we headed by the land one last time, which has almost the entire acre cleared now thank you to the community coming together to finish it. We were able to climb up on a rock at the corner of the land and look out over the whole acre, as well as central Uganda. Beautiful. These people, this way of life, the land and scenery...all have taken a part in my heart. We ended the day by driving back to Kampala so that we could catch the bus the next day for Nairobi. The drive seemed to go quicker than on the way out, even though we made various stops, including to buy some bananas and milk along the side of the road. Nothing like a mini snack sized banana straight off the tree :)
Travel day to Kenya
I'm serious that I can survive any traveling after this trip...so if you need a travel buddy, let me know! Today we traveled from Kampala to Nairobi. After our 3+ hour drive to Kampala last night, we got some food quick and tried to head to bed. Between no hot water, a bar TV blaring, dogs barking, and the only thing on the TV being The International and Wolf of Wall Street, I maybe got 1-2 hours of sleep before getting up at 5:30 to catch our bus. It took off at 6:30 and we were on our up way. The bus was a motorcoach with no bathroom and no air, so we opened the windows to let the breeze through. We made 4 different stops along the way, which included walking across the border and through customs from Uganda to Kenya. About 15 hours later we arrived in Nairobi! Whew, it was a long one, which included about 497 speedbumps (EVERY town has at least 3...they are everywhere!!!). Overall, it was a pretty uneventful trip since I feel like I'm accustomed to their crazy driving now, however, after patiently waiting all day, about 12 hours into the trip and right as the sun was setting, we passed a herd of zebras along the side of the road!!! We also passed some baboons and Rafiki looking things. I'm not exactly sure what I thought Africa would look like (probably dirt and rocks thank to the Lion King), but Kenya is beautiful. There is tons of green, mountains, lakes, wildlife, etc. I spent a lot of time looking out the window and pondering life. I was able to finish the prayer book I have been reading and spent some time in prayer about Nashville and what I will be facing there. I'm thankful to have a God who plans out my life and uses it for His glory so that I don't have to. I know I would mess it up greatly, so it's comforting to know that everything is in His hands.
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