Our Trip to Africa

After six years working with Aggie's Arts and three trips to Uganda without my other half.... I finally got to take Jason with me. It was a whole new experience. I cannot fully put into words exactly how thankful I am that I got to take him. On my last three trips, I literally felt as if a part of me was left behind. I loved every trip. Loved, loved, loved every trip. But, it was always difficult for me to not have Jason at my side. When we are in the US working on Aggie's Arts stuff, he is always by my side. He reads my mind, finishes my sentences, and anticipates my needs even before they arise. So, when I'm in Uganda without him I just don't feel complete.

Saying Goodbye!

   

This is a scene from one of the markets we went to looking for supplies

On this trip, The Lord blessed us with wonderful protection and guidance 24/7. On our first day, I had a To Do list of about 9 things... All of which required a different stop. I had planned to be happy if we accomplished about half of the tasks. If you've spent much time in a third world country, you understand why I didn't think all 9 tasks would be completed that day. The thing is, you can be stuck in traffic for two hours if you hit the wrong street at the wrong time. Getting lunch can take an hour and a half. And finding a store that has just what you need and the quantity you need is much like a treasure hunt. But at the end of that first day, I marked off every single thing on my list! It was a phenomenal day. We even made it to dinner and back to the hotel before dark.

Here we are buying paper. 

Since our trip was two weeks long, I can't detail every day for you in a blog post. Maybe one day I'll write a book! But, here I will give you the highlights. Our second day on the ground began our time with the Aggie's Arts beadmakers. We gave them goody bags... I always Love that part!

These were all the things we had for each of the ladies.
Some really useful stuff and some just-for-fun stuff! 

We enjoyed going through all the items with the group. One of their favorite things was the pair of sunglasses.

After going through the goodies, I shared a word of encouragement with the ladies and we discussed our plans for the week. The area where we are gathered in this photo is where we usually gather with the ladies. The home on the left is that of Mary Alonyo. She is a natural leader and takes a leadership role with the group. As our group does not have a building in Kampala yet, we simply use Mary's house as our gathering spot. This week, however, another organization that has a building nearby was generous enough to allow us to hold meetings in their building. It was wonderful to have a room to go in and be out of the sun and have room to organize our things.

Pretty things in progress...

The rest of the week was spent working on developing new products, teaching them some fundamental business skills, and making our regular bead purchases. I had challenged the ladies to come up with some new designs to show me when I arrived. I was very impressed with all that they had for me. They really did a terrific job. 

Here is a Sneak Peek at one of our new designs!

We also worked together and came up with a design for wall art and one for pocket mirrors. I am super excited about these new additions to our product line! (The full line will be available in mid-November) as we worked on these gorgeous new items and the ladies created beautiful things right before my eyes, I couldn't help but think of where they were when we met them. Most of these ladies were crushing stones in the quarry. And they have seen and experienced atrocities of war that most of us Americans will only read about in history books or in the news... They've lived it! And look what a beautiful picture of redemption. Now they are able to sit in their homes, with their families, out of the sun, and roll paper into beautiful works of art. Praise the Father God!

Here we all are in the room where we held our meetings. 

Our week with the ladies in Kampala was very productive and fruitful.  Then, we had a day off on Sunday.  We decided to take a short trip to Jinja and see the "Source of the Nile".  This is one place I had never been, so that was extra special. :)

Standing in the Nile River

There is something pretty special about the Nile River.  It holds such a great amount of history... and we got to put our feet in!  We then enjoyed lunch at a nice little hotel nearby and headed back to Kampala.






























Finally, on Sunday night we headed to Entebbe to pick up the rest of our team for our second week, Chris & Kelly Persons.

Since our friends' name is Persons, this is the sign we
held up at the airport... because we are so funny! ;-)

They arrived safely and we headed back to Kampala for only a few hours of sleep before leaving at 5:00 the next morning.  On Monday, we drove 12 hours on treacherous roads to get to Kisoro, Uganda.  This is the area where we have a partnership with a group of 7 schools.

On our way from Kampala to Kisoro, we cross the Equator.

I am very thankful that Chris and Kelly were able to be with us in Kisoro, as Chris is our director of Kisoro Kids. He led our meetings and directed our time in Kisoro. This was a welcomed break for me after having been 'in charge' for all of our time in Kampala. It was a great encouragement to visit schools where there used to be floors of dirt and lava rocks, and to now see them floored with concrete! We repeatedly had children tell us how thankful they are that now they don't get jiggers while sitting in class. 

A Classroom in Kisoro... floors cemented by Kisoro Kids! :)

Some of the teachers helping unpack the classroom supplies.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were spent visiting with teachers, parents, and students from several of the schools.  In talking with the teachers and parents, we realized their great need for classroom resources. By God's perfect plan, we had brought a large selection of resources for them. The teachers were absolutely thrilled with the posters, borders, scissors, glue, stickers, first aid supplies, pencils, notebooks, pencil sharpeners, and soccer balls. Those things were a great start, but the needs at these schools are far more than what we could hold in a few suitcases. We discussed starting a Teachers Library and Resource Room. No definite plans have been made yet, but this is certainly something we hope to get going.

It was fun to watch Jason soaking in Africa for the first time. In the first few days, most of what I heard from him was, "Take a picture of that!", "Look at THAT!", "Did you see that!?" I was very thankful that his love for the country and the people of Uganda appeared to be just as strong as mine. I joked and told him a few days in that I was glad we didn't get there and him say, "This is crazy. I want to go home!" Haha. That would have been pretty awkward! Instead, Jason adored the ladies and their families. He felt honored to spend time with them and help in the work we were doing. And the same when we went to Kisoro... He did hate the roads, but he loved the destination. :-)

Jason with Helen, Susan, and Rose.  They were
buying sodas for the group.

To all of our supporters, saying Thank You seems quite inadequate. This trip was not only a greatly productive time for the ministry of Aggie's Arts, but also a pinnacle time in the personal lives of Jason and myself. I pray great blessings to all of you who have supported us through prayer and giving.