Let the Work Projects Begin!

One of the purposes for our trip to Uganda was to build two houses. We were supposed to begin construction on two homes for some Kenyan missionaries who are part of the SLAM leadership program. Well- TIA. Apparently the land that SLAM had purchased is now tied up in the Ugandan court system. There are squatters on it, and the issue of the squatters must first be resolved before any building can take place. Yeah. Good luck with that. I am certain there will be no hurry to resolve that, and many palms will have to be greased before resolution occurs. Everything governmental in Uganda, like most African nations, is horribly corrupt.


So- Plan B. Visiting prisons. Visiting schools. Organizing a carnival for the children. And working on improvements in housing for some Ugandan friends/partners of SLAM. SLAM has a partnership with several local families in Bombo town. The way they operate is this. Slam has a presence in both Kenya and Uganda. They are currently training teams of people thru their parent organization G.O.D (Global Outreach Development) to become full-time missionaries in Bombo. Several of these young people- Christina, Josh, Jordan, Kendace, Liz, Canan, are all training and preparing to move to Uganda eventually. They were currently in the country for 3 months learning their roles, meeting the people, learning their way around. Currently two SLAM families are living much of the year in Bombo. Adam is the leader of the team.


G.O.D's philosophy is one of biblical teaching first and foremost. They are there to spread the Word of God. Beyond this, they believe in equal partnerships with the Ugandan people. They live like the people there live. Their homes are in a modest compound that has in the center a courtyard that is always strung with laundry on a line. They do have a water catchment system and showers. But their bathrooms are cho's. They live with sporadic electricity like the rest of the people in Bombo. They shop at the local market and eat local food. Their vision is one of equal partnership across the board. They believe that imperialism and paternalism have caused most of the misery on the continent of Africa. They do not believe in throwing money at problems, nor in handouts. They don't want to be seen as the Great White Rescuers. Instead, they seek to educate. To empower. To give a hand up. To teach biblical principals for living. The story we were told about how SLAM came to be in Bombo is that Pastor Tom, a local pastor, had been praying for a long time for someone to come and help him spread the Word of God. Greg, the founder of G.O.D felt drawn to Uganda but had no contacts there. He nevertheless got a team put together and flew over, not knowing where he would end up, but trusting God to lead the way. God guided him to Bombo and to Pastor Tom's church. When he arrived Pastor Tom asked him " Are you the ones God has sent?" And yes, indeed, they were! That was many years ago, and the partnership has been in existance ever since.


SLAM partners with several local men who serve as Bible teachers and mentors to the local youth in Bombo. These men- George, Peter, Francis, Lawrence work closely with their American counterparts. And as such, the Americans are working with them to make practical improvements to their lives, and to those of their families. Improvements to their homes. Improvements to their sanitation. Improvements to their ability to catch and contain fresh water when the rainy season comes. Helping to fund school fees for children. Teaching them improved techniques of gardening and farming. Teaching them how to keep themselves and their children healthy. These are just a few of the practical ways that God uses His people to spread hope and joy in the world.


Our teams were assigned work for three of these families. Lawrence and Josephine would receive improvements to their existing home. Francis and Annette would receive a vastly improved and much expanded garden so that they could grow enough food to feed their family of 5. George and Margaret would have their existing home enlarged and expanded. We dug and built the foundation for 3 new rooms to follow. These were our work assignments.


On Monday I was assigned with a team to work on Lawrence's house. It needed gutters, because when it rained, water was coming into one of the rooms. We laid gravel and sand pathways all around the house so that during the rainy season the outside of his home would no longer be a mud field. We finished up work on his Eco-toilet- a vast improvement to the Cho. Sewage and sanitation is a huge problem in the third world. Water is always a problem. Consider the frequent droughts in East Africa. Bill Gates and German engineers are currently researching and developing a waterless toilet for the developing world. The Eco- toilet that the SLAM folks had built at Lawrence's house is something we put the finishing touches on. This new and improved toilet is still in an out building. It has 2 stalls if you will. For one year you use only one side of the system. After one year, you switch and begin using the other side. The waste products drop into a pit about maybe 10 feet deep that is filled with straw, etc. After each solid waste, ash and wood chips are dropped into the pit. Heat from the hot African sun beats down thru the steel covered doors over the pit. After 2 years, the waste is considered fully " composted" and the pit is cleaned out. The composted material is safe to use around trees and bushes, but not around food plants for consumption. The beauty of the Eco- toilet is that it does not contaminate the ground water source. A Cho is dug 40 feet into the earth. Every family has a Cho. All that run off from human waste seeps into the village water source- the community pump. So all these people filling their Jerry cans with water are filling them with contaminated water. They have to haul it home and boil it before consumption. And if not, children and babies will die, typically of severe diarrhea. Death in infancy from water borne pathogens causing diarrhea is a leading cause of death in the developing world. And it is preventable. Hurray for the Eco-toilet!


We were quite the sight at our work site. We attracted quite a crowd. A bunch of mzungus getting sweaty, dirty, hauling rock, shoveling dirt, etc. The Africans don't get this. To them Americans are all the like people on MTV "Cribs". They think we live in mansions with swimming pools lined with gold. They believe that once a person has status, wealth, that one hires a laborer to do anything physical or manual. They don't get why we would leave our country, come to Bombo, and do this kind of work. This is not how wealthy people act. This is not how white tourists act. Sorry- we weren't tourists! We were a perplexing puzzle to them. Still- they all smiled and said how nice it was that we were making Lawrence's home so beautiful. One watching woman expressed how she wished we could make her home better too. We wished for this as well.


After working for 6 hours, we knocked off and walked over to a village common area- a big dirt and grass field between multiple primary school buildings. By 4 pm school would be out and there would be hundreds of kids to play with. This became our routine. Work all day. Play with school kids from 4- 6:30 pm. Walk 2 miles or so back to camp followed by hordes of children. Grab a 5 minute bucket shower. Prepare for dinner. Eat. Do dishes for 70 people. Gather at the campfire. Sing worship songs. Share The Word. Play games or have small group discussions. Have a team meeting. Have an adult team members meeting. It's now pushing 11pm or later. You have 2 choices. Try to crawl onto your tent and sleep. Or hang out at the fire pit with the Kenyans and the Ugandans talking till all hours. I swear the Africans never sleep. They stay up half the night. They then rise at 6 am beating their drums and singing praise songs. We were regularly awoken by our African brethren yelling at us at 6 am to "Get up! Do not enjoy your sleep! It's time to worship the Lord!". Thus begins and ends another day in Africa........ Shalom!