Twelve compassionate and adventurous individuals made the two-week journey to Uganda this summer.  They are back in the US, but their hearts are still lingering in the communities of Uganda.  Chris, Anita, Emaleigh, Thomas, David and Tim joined the team from the Boston area, while  James, Sarah, Ryan, Isaac, Jim and Christian joined from various places in New York State.  Despite a rough start with a flight delay and missing baggage, Team #7 was unstoppable!

They jumped right into action!  During their first 3 days in Uganda, they facilitated a National Youth Conference in the village of Kawanda.  Approximately 200 delegates from all over the country were in attendance.   An entire day was reserved for “Stewardship and Service Projects.” The group built fences, repaired potholes in roads, painted, fixed computers, cleared a path to a water hole near a church, and even went into the village to sweep storefronts and the fronts of people’s homes.  The people in the community were completely bewildered as to why this group of young people would be serving them in this capacity.  These projects served as a tangible way to express to the folks in the community what it means to love your neighbor as yourself and likewise, to help the conference attendees learn practical ways to impact their communities.    Overall it was a huge success!

After the youth conference, the team made visits to multiple tank sites to assess the physical condition of the tanks and serve the individuals within these communities.  The Massachusetts group not only raised enough support money for their travels, they also raised an additional $3500 to have a tank installed in Nakawa.  The team had the awesome opportunity to witness part of this installation first-hand!  They finished off  their trip by spending a few days serving some of the poorest of the poor in the slums of Uganda.  Here are some highlights from their journey:

Even though the team had a very busy agenda, they still made time to sit one-on-one and talk with individuals.  They still made time to play and laugh with the children.  They still made time to impart hope into the hearts of the Ugandan people.  Because our teams build upon the outreach of the teams that have gone before them, the relationships we’ve made within each of our water tank communities continue to grow stronger. 

The Ugandan Water Project staff and Team #7 thank you for partnering with us to make this trip a reality.  The team made a lasting impact in the lives and hearts of the Ugandan people.  The Ugandan people have undoubtedly taken up residence in the hearts of the team members.  We have trips coming up in late February and May, 2011.  Maybe it will be your time to go!

Written by: Michelle C.- Trip Coordinator

For those of you who are considering joining our monthly support team to help ensure that we continue to expand our efforts in Uganda, consider the monthly support options below and how they compare to some of the things we choose to invest in everyday. Click the drop-down menu and choose to be part of every water system we install!

Contribution Amount

Dollar a Day : $30.00USD – monthly Basic Cable : $50.00USD – monthly Unlimited Cell Phone : $70.00USD – monthly Trip to Walmart : $100.00USD – monthly

Kkalwe school is a lively place! Our approach is on another nameless stretch of red dirt ribbon, textured with deep ruts – reminding us that rain can change the landscape around us. Our driver and friend, Eriab Kawuba, navigates the terrain as best he can but the old Toyota van still bounces and rubs it’s way down the road.  Eriab never spends his english frivolously and this is no exception, he glances at my expectant face as I ride shotgun, and says “Here.”  Looking ahead I see children on either side of the road waving branches and jumping up and down.  As we pull up to the school compound we are ushered out of the van in a sea of brown faces and hands and eyes and smiles.  Paul is the Headmaster of Kkalwe School and he greets us heartily as his face wears a smile so big that it has run out of face.

After exchanging the customarily long greetings that are culturally appropriate in East Africa, we walked over to inspect the 10,000 liter rain collection tank that sat next to the building.  Every Time I see one of these big black behemoths I am always amazed that love can take such a large, awkward shape.  This water project was funded by a small church north of Albany, NY called Rolling Hills Christian Fellowship. There are only a few families in that small community but they were moved by compassion for the children at Kkalwe School and provided the funds to install this tank.  Looking at the installation I noticed that despite the large cement base, the tank was overhanging about a foot on the front edge. I was concerned because the weight of the water can press down on that overhang and cause a stress fracture that can eventually split the tank.

I laughed at the explanation for this  odd placement of the tank.  Apparently the length of downspout that connects the gutters to the tank was too long and Paul does not own a hacksaw to trim it so the tank can be slid back to the center of the base.  The school doesn’t have a hacksaw either among their tools; nor does anyone else in the village of Kkalwe.   The future stability of those students and teachers was resting on a hacksaw.  What could we do  . . . . . .

Today there is good reason to celebrate.  Since the inception of the Ugandan Water Project, we have had only the three officers required by non-profit law serving on the Board of Directors.  Today we took a big step forward and welcomed six new members to the Board of Directors.  These individuals represent our expectation for this organization to grow – grow our impact, grow our participation, grow our programs – everything.

Organizations are made up of people and as new people are added, the strength of the organization grows.  Our growth potential shot up this afternoon as we gathered with this expanded group of men and women and began to sort out the activities and future plans for this organization.  Times like this are important because so often the daily tasks necessary to find new project sponsors, communicate with our staff in Uganda and keep the office running are typical daily office activities carried out by millions of people every day.  However, sitting with our Board of Directors and reviewing some of our recent highlights was inspiring – like sharing with them the recent funding of our 30th rainwater collection tank that will be installed in July when I lead our next team to Uganda.

I’ll profile our Board Members in the near future so you can get to know them but for now, join me in welcoming them to our little corner of humanity where we’re not pretending to be the best at anything, just trying to work hard to save those we can who are suffering within reach.

Started 12 years ago by husband and wife, Richard and Elizabeth who serve as Director and Head Mistress – this bustling school is alive with learning.  Our arrival has caused a stir and the students piled into a larger classroom to share songs and greetings with the “vistahs frum Ahmereecah”.

The rainwater collection tank was installed 8 months earlier and sits in an odd location – an extension pipe extends from a building and is suspended on poles for about 10 meters befre terminating at the catch basin in the top of the tank.  I asked Richard why the seperation of distance between the tank and the building and he explained that they had constructed a rough mud building to accomodate growing classes and then a storm came and washed the building away.  They now are trying to rebuild on the same site but with bricks.  So eventually, a building will stand in the 10 meter gap and the tank will be fed by the gutters of that structure as well.

Life contains Sweet Spots.

We all need to listen.

What am I listening for? – What do I think I need to hear?  Is that really what I need to hear?  What am I missing?

Sometimes, I think I’ve found the Sweet Spot and I am enjoying myself just fine and then something changes and I realize that there was something I wasn’t hearing before and I try to find the new sweet spot that clarifies the new element.

What is it that I’m not hearing that if I were to move a few steps closer or I turn the volume up I will hear it – what new thing will I hear if I turn the volume down?

Something else to consider – comb filtering.  Picture a boy and a girl standing facing eachother about 20 feet apart, each holding the end of rope.  If the girl flicks her wrist it sends a “wave” from her end of the rope down towards the boy.  If she has flicked her wrist strong enough the wave travels the full length of the rope and reaches the boy.  Likewise if the boy does the same action he gets the same result.  What happens if they flick at the same time? That depends.  If they flick at the same time and with the same strength they send two equal waves that meet in the middle where their strength combines and the rope lunges upward in a “splash”.  Now imagine the boy and girl again flick with equal strength and at the same exact moment but the girl flicks upward and the boy flicks downward – the result is that where the two equal strength but opposite waves meet the rope fall dead: 1 plus -1 = 0.   This is the same with sound – if you point your speakers in such a way that their sound will cross, the point at which they cross you will see specific sounds cancelling out as their respective opposite sound from the other speaker crosses its path out of sync.

Am I listening to more than one source? Do I think I am hearing clearly but in actuality there is comb filtering canceling out significant portions of what I’m supposed to hear?  How can I even know?

The artist who makes the music knows. So if I don’t know the artist I can’t know everything there is to listen for.

In order to keep me from hearing something – you don’t need to send a whole new piece of music through a more powerful sound system – you just need to duplicate what I’m trying to listen to and deliver it to me out of sync . . . and I am left with silence or at least a muddied mess.

What are we listening to – is it clear?  What are we missing?

Am I in the sweet spot?

“Do not withhold good from whose to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so.”

-Proverbs 3:27

At one time in my past, I thought myself to be quite the budding young Philosopher-King. During those narcissistic college years I remember coming across the Law of Non-Contradiction while studying the logic under Dr. David Bassinger. This law basically states that it is not possible for something to be both true and not true at the same time and in the same context. For example today is garbage day and I can’t both take the trash out and not take the trash out at the same time.

When I first wrestled with this idea, it forced me to consider the limited resources we have in this world and the reality that all of our choices are exclusive – that is to say that whenever I make a choice to do something, I am simultaneously choosing not to do many other things. Our time cannot be used more than once despite what today’s advertising world would like us to believe. This of course begs the question: How should I best use the limited resources I have?

From the very beginning of the Ugandan Water Project, we faced this challenge. If we have resources available that can do good in some measure – do we use them immidiately or do we wait in order to make a bigger impact or for greater efficiency or a myriad of other reasons. I remember the day when the check arrived for our very first rainwater collection tank and I realized that I held the future of a small Ugandan community in my hand. This realization was sobering because we weren’t due to go to Uganda for our first trip for another month and a half but all of the advice and counsel we had received told us to wait until we could sit face to face with our Ugandan friends before beginning any physical work. The words of Proverbs 3:27 rang in my ears – and I asked myself – “am I withholding good” from the people of Uganda by not transferring these funds as fast as possible and getting that water tank installed?!” Lives depend on the work that we do. Lives are lost when we grow complacent. My delay may cost a father the life of his daughter. It was not possible for me to send the money immediately and wait to send the money until we were present to establish the relationship . . . is it better to have bread today or cake tomorrow?Pause

Consider bread for a moment – why is it that we don’t simply sit down and eat a handful of flour, crack an egg into our mouth – sprinkle some yeast on our tongue and then chase it with a glass of water and a shake of salt? Even bread involves some waiting and a process.

We waited.
We weighted.

Language is a thing – when the writer of Proverbs penned this challenge not to withhold good from whom it is due, the implication is not simply that there are those who would benefit from some good – actually, there is the implication that this “good” already belongs to those who we are being challenged to give to. One translation that is more literal could read: “Do not withhold good from the owner of it, when it is in your power to do it.”

It takes time to bake bread – but as soon as it’s done baking – sharing fresh bread is one of life’s simple pleasures – serve it while it’s still warm.