By: Charles L.
March 2016 – Trip Journal, Part Four
Day 9
Today starts at the school, checking out the construction site and looking at the possibility of purchasing more land. The so-called land owner walks into the room and says he wants to sell me the land and doesn’t want anybody else to have it. He says he will let me have it for 200 million shillings ($60,000US). I get up to leave the room and he grabs my hand to stop me. He then tries to tell me how valuable the land is. I explain to him that the difficulty of building on the land because of its geography causes it to decrease in value. He offers it to me for less, but still too much. I counter offer him for the land and he says he will think about it.
I have supper with my lawyer and he explains the local land purchasing processes. After hearing this, I leave word for the land owner that I am no longer interested in purchasing the land. It turns out that this gentleman is actually the tenant of the land and pays 5000 shillings/year (~$2US) just to hold the land. Neither the owner nor the tenant can sell without the approval of the other. So the tenant looks for a buyer and then negotiates with the owner to get a land title. Eventually, I would like to own this land, but I need it to be at a much more reasonable price.
Then we have an interview with a gentleman and his wife who want to be a deputy headmaster and a teacher, respectively. His name is Mitchell and he actually applied for the position of headmaster three years ago but we could not agree on compensation. It’s amazing how God works! We currently have a really great headmaster and now we might have one of the most qualified deputy headmasters in the country, along with another great teacher!
I got to do one of my very favorite things in life today – cue sarcasm – go shopping with my wife in a nearby town for some things the school needed. Honestly, it was not nearly as painful as I expected it to be!
Afterward, we have dinner with our lawyer, and he agrees to consider a seat on our NGO Board. Legally, there must be more Africans on the board than foreigners, and I think he is a good choice. He also brings good news regarding our land that someone else claims to own. Bottom line, there was some illegal action going on with the other party and when he brought this to the other party’s attention they were open to a settlement.
Day 10
This is going to be an exciting day for Carol because we are doing a clean-up of leftover boxes from the Operation Christmas Child Distribution. I can’t attend because I have a morning meeting with the medical staff and then an afternoon meeting with the gentleman who we hope will fill the position of pastor and full-time mentor for our interns under the direction of William. This gentleman comes highly recommended by Barry Wood, who has led a few pastoral conferences with us.
I meet with the medical staff. What they are doing is incredible and the facilities are really improving! The challenges and the problems can be overwhelming, but these people are just plowing forward with no discouragement. The clinic space, a solar power system, medical equipment, supplies… the needs never end, just one thing after another. The malnutrition rate in the remote villages is said to be 30%-40% – children suffering from mild to severe malnutrition.
The discipleship programs are coming along very well. One of the biggest challenges that we are dealing with is that mothers will drop off a severely ill child at the medical clinic and they are unwilling to stay with the child during treatment. This means that there is no one to nurse or feed the child, take care of the child’s needs, clean his/her clothes, or even learn how to take care of the child at home. We can’t just turn away a child who is dying, so Dr. Emmanuel says he may have to get the police involved. Apparently, local police have the ability to require the parent to stay with the child.
It’s easy for us to think, “How cruel for a mother to leave her child!” But when you’re dealing with extreme poverty just trying to survive on a daily basis… somebody’s got to work in the gardens so that they will have food. You just can’t imagine how difficult it is to live in this level of poverty.
Caring for these children is a wonderful privilege, but if we’re going to decrease malnutrition, the education part of the program is just as vital and it requires parental participation. I found out that Dr. Emmanuel is well connected to the Ministry and that he is working on a program that will allow the government to provide many medicines and food. He says he is talking with the right people, but it just takes time.
Our friend, Dr. Emma, is moving along the same direction. I’m sure that we will be able to compare notes that will help both of us. Dr. Emma has completed school for surgery and will finish his internship in January to become full-time at the clinic. At that time, we would like to introduce a dental and optical department. A friend of Dr. Emma’s, a physiotherapist, has seen what we are doing in Southern Uganda and wants to come on weekends. He relies on provision for his transportation though, which is about 120 miles of travel.
Some of these children have never learned to use their muscles or had their nerves stimulated because of malnutrition. Two- and three-year old children can’t crawl, let alone walk. It’s heartbreaking. Dr. Emma has been a doctor a long time, has worked with the UN, and has established many friends throughout the medical field who are being drawn to his concern for helping the needy and doing it for the Kingdom of God.
Carol and the gang have just returned from Operation Christmas Child Distribution and shockingly, Carol said that she didn’t have time to cry! It was a very busy event. She does say it is something that everyone should put on their bucket list. She couldn’t even describe the joy on the children’s faces as they opened their shoeboxes of gifts. Imagine.
the master cares 