Ok....i'll admit it, i'm just a lil bit excited and we have 20 hours until actual departure. Luke and I have been vigorously packing for the last 6 hours after spending all afternoon finishing up last minute errands and picking up final supplies. We are finally getting close and can rest easy tonight knowing that we are well prepared.
I'm going to try and get some sleep so that i can wake up first thing and finish packing the final items before we put the locks on the bags.
I would like to thank everyone again for all of their prayers and support. I'm looking forward to updating the blog a lot; hopefully with a lot of wonderful and entertaining stories.
I want to say that I feel so blessed to have the friends that I do. I am overwhelmed by the generosity that has turned this dream into a reality. Thank you all.
I am excited for this trip and feel honored to be a part of such an amazing thing. This village is going to be changed because of the support you all have given.
Only a couple more days until we depart for Uganda and we have been running full steam trying to get everything ready.
I got my immunizations yesterday which was a lot of fun (my arm is still a little sore from the yellow fever injection) and i received my "yellow card" which allows me to enter Uganda. It was really funny when the DR was giving me my Typhoid injection as it brought back memories of playing Oregon Trail growing up. I even got a chuckle out of the Doc when I told him i really didn't want to die of dysentery. :)
Preparations for the trip are going great and Luke and Myself are both in great spirits about the adventure. Our contact in Uganda has been helping Luke get accommodations for us and working on getting things prepared for our work on the ground there.
We were officially "commissioned" at church on sunday and i have to say that i was personally so blessed to have so many people supporting us and praying for us on this trip. Thank you also to all of our friends and family who have given donations for the people of Kapelebyong and our trip. We haven't yet reached our goal but are well on our way.
This trip has already been such a growing experience for me and i cannot wait to see what is in store for us on our travels and while we are in Uganda.
Thank you all soo much for your prayers and support.
Wow it is amazing how things can come together in a hurry... We had a couple large donations this weekend and are getting a lot closer to our goal. Many thanks to those who have donated to help make this trip a success.
I talked with our Ugandan friend Joseph and he told me that the ground is being worked up right now, which is very exciting.
The one concern I have now is that Joseph asked if I knew how to cook, you know Ugandan food. This could be good or a disaster, beans and rice cannot be too hard to cook, but the goat, on the other hand could be interesting.
I am so looking forward to seeing my adopted daughter, Abito, maybe I can get her to smile some on this trip... and meeting Esther as well.
These children are so amazing, even in the midst of suffering they can find some hope. There is so much that I can learn from them and I am looking forward to sharing in their suffering.
The ground work is taking place at a rapid rate and I have been talking with our contact over there finalizing the details.
From the sounds of it the well should be in place and operational by the time that we get there, the land for the garden is being worked up and plowed. A process that, here in the states would take about 3 hours but in Uganda they have to do it with a ox and a plow, and remove all the stumps by hand. So it could take up to a week, but we have been told that it will be ready by the time that we get there.
We have found a local source for the seeds and tools which is a big relief. Now we can focus on getting the plantings done and get the garden growing. My goal is to have the seeds sprouting before we leave.... let's see if we can make it happen.
Our lodging situation is still up in the air so we are taking a tent just in case we need to it, pray that we get something figured out because that might be a little tense for a couple nights but it is Africa. There is only so much that you can line up and sometimes you have to be willing to go with the flow.
We still are in need of support but we are a lot closer to our goal, so if you have any inclination to donate to our cause we would greatly appreciate it.
Our blog post will be almost daily until we leave for Uganda on May 1st. We will try our best to keep all of you updated while we are over there.
Wow...I can't believe that we will be taking off for Uganda in just one week!
Preparations are quite hectic but everything is really starting to come together for the trip. I would like to say thank you to all the people who have donated so far and for all of you that have been praying for us in preparation for this adventure.
We have been corresponding a lot with other people that are on the ground in Africa that will be helping us with various aspects of our trip goals while we are there. It's almost overwhelming just how much needs to be done for these people and already our time on the ground in Kapelebyong will be stretched for all that we need to accomplish. For that reason we are already organizing certain aspects of our projects to start even before we get there so that we can be as effective as possible while we are there. The land which will hold the garden will hopefully be cultivated by the time we get there which will be a huge step forward, although it would be amazing to be there to witness them work with an Ox and plow to till up the land.
There are still lots of items that we still need in order to make this trip a success and we appreciate your continued support. Below is a list of items that we still need to arrange that you can help be a part of.
Heritage Seeds for the Garden - $600.00 edit: - Seeds are Heritage seeds (instead of hybrids) so that the villagers can replant the seeds that they harvest. These seeds are more expensive than hybrid seeds but allow the village to move towards sustainability. Also, we will be buying enough seeds so that we can enable the villagers to begin their own gardens in addition to the communal food plot we will be constructing.
Food and Lodging for Luke and I (glorified camping with minimal running water) - $20.00 / Day
Daily Transportation (via a crazy little motorcycle called a bodaboda) - $500.00
Cultivation of the Garden (using an ox and a plow and tools) - $200.00
We booked our tickets to Africa today (it's like a 2-3 day journey to get there from Chicago) and will be departing on May 1st for 22 days in rural, 3rd world Uganda.
The area we are going to, Kapelebyong, has been hit hard on multiple fronts over the years. This area was heavily hit by the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army), who killed most of the men and took all the young boys to fight in their war. Secondly, this area has experienced long periords of drought and many communcable disease including hiv/aids and malaria. Throw this all together and you have a situation that creates many orphans, in fact Kapelebyong has over 506 orphans in 1.5 sq miles. Our mission can be summed up by saying, we want a better life for these orphans and the people in this area and we hope our efforts will take them from dependency to freedom and sustainible living.
While we are there we will be helping the village cultivate and plant a 3 acre parcel of land as well as teaching them how to care for the crops and training them how to harvest them once they have matured. We will also be identifying potential leaders in the village and training them to manage their new crop resource in our absence. The overall goal of our mission there in May will be to enable the village to no longer be dependent on aid to survive and to provide them with a source of income for their village so that they can have a prosperous future.
We are still very much in need of your help to make this trip a success. The trip and our effort there is going to cost roughly $8000 when it is all said and done. The money is going 100% to provide direct help to the people of Kapelebyong and will make an immense difference in their lives. To put it in perspective, a good working wage in the area is $1 / day for hot grueling labor in the sun. I have been contributing as much as i can towards this amount in order to make this trip happen but i NEED your help.
The bottom line is that without your support this trip be limited in how effective it is, we will not be able to accomplish all of our goals, we will not be able to help as many widows, we wont be able to feed as many orphans and we wont be able to effect the lives of as many people.
You are all my friends and most of you know me very well. You also know that it is very very rare for me to ever ask for anything of my friends, especially money. You also should know that in order for me to ask you for something it must truly be something that is very dear to my heart.
I know that times are tough for a lot of you as they are for me but i would like to sincerely ask you all to join me on this effort by giving a donation towards this trip. Even if you can only afford $10 or $20 dollars please know that it will help and you will be directly participating in making a child's life better. $39 in kapelebyong can feed, cloth, house and pay for schooling for an orphan for an entire month. This is real, significant change for the people here and I ask every one of you to please give something.
You can make a donation by simply clicking on the paypal donation form at the top right of this blog. Also, for those who would like to make larger contributions or would like to make a tax deductible contribution you can send your check using the information below.
Thank you all for taking the time to read this note and for your prayers and financial support as we are in Uganda.
Peace and Love,
Adam
Donation Information:
For Tax Deductible donations please send a check and the information below to the following address.
Please make checks payable to "The River Academy" and place "Uganda" in the Note section of your check.
Address:
The River Church 302 Academy Kalamazoo, Mi 49007
Please also include the following information for tax deductible donations:
Posts
