There were many gunshots last night. Around 9:30 or so there were 8-10 quick shots and then a few minutes later some return fire. A few minutes later there were more. Our guard dogs started to bark and run around the compound, and that started the dogs on the other compounds barking, all but Tya, the big dog. He was whining at the screen door wanting in, he's such a big baby!!!!!

Our guards have whistles and they began to blow them, but stopped very quickly. We don't know why they stopped, maybe they were taking cover. All the shots seemed to come from the front of the compound, out on the road. They started out sounding very close then gradually got farther away, and the last late shots sounded from behind the compound. But all this went on for a few more hours, with a few shots here and there. It was about 1 or 2 when the last shots were heard.

This morning at the clinic I asked one of the staff what all the shooting was about last night. He just laughed and said two drunk men in Kopatutum were fighting over a woman and shooting at each other and their families. Another staff member said these ones from Kopatutum are are always fighting about something, either cows or women and shooting all the time. (Even though the Army has been there and took all the guns!)

When I got back to our compound I was informing Craig about what I had heard, and he said that the construction workers told him that warriors from Moroto came and did a cattle raid on Kopatutum and got all the cows. At least everyone agreed that all this happened at Kopatutum!!!!

No body wants to tell us what really happens here so we hear all kinds of stories!!! Somebody should really be writing all this down!!!!


Some good news!!!! Abura, the nursing assistant at the clinic, and his wife, Sarah, had a baby girl on the 21st. This is number 4, all girls. I think they are going to name her Ngiro Lydia, but they haven't decided for sure yet. Cute little dark eyed sweetie. Both baby and mom are doing great!!!!! Dad is very proud, although they don't really show much emotion.

Thanksgiving day.....

It is so different to be in a foreign country and have it be an American holiday. It is hot and rainy here so I forget that it is Fall/winter back home, and that was always a reminder of what holidays were about to be.

We had a potluck dinner here in Karamoja with everyone who was here, Chrissie and her parents where at Sipi falls. That was nice and then we gave thanks for things in our lives and sang songs and talked for awhile. Monday most of us will drive to Mbale for our Turkey dinner with the whole mission, at the Proctors' house. After that we will have a mission meeting and then we will drive to Kampala on Tuesday afternoon to take Bob and Linda to the airport.

The Wrights, Amy, Donna, Chrissie and Ed will continue from Kampala on to Murchinson Falls, in the western part of Uganda, and go to a big game park for a few days. The Tricarico family and the Eldeens will return to Karamoja so we can return to work. And keep an eye on the compounds.

Speaking on keeping an eye on things, the clinic has had many things stolen lately. Over a weekend someone got on to the compound, which has a chain link fence with barbed wire on top and 2 guards, and stole all the pots and pans and knives and thermos from the clinic kitchen. Of course no one saw or heard any thing and the guards say that they were certainly awake, but yet saw nothing. The hut that holds all these supplies has a space in between the roof and the top of the wall which is less than 10 inches high, so he must have been very skinny in order to squeeze though the opening. This is the second time things have been stolen from this hut, the last time it was a full 20 liter jerry can (plastic 10 gallon jug) of cooking oil. And again the guards saw nothing or heard nothing. They paid for the oil and this time will also pay for the supplies that were taken. This hut is only a short distance from where they sit and guard at night!!!

This morning after devotions, one of the guards who was on duty last night, spoke up and told us about a tent that had been stole from a truck that was stuck on the road a few hundred yards from the clinic. A person well know to the mission and one of the off duty clinic guards were hired to watch the truck while the driver and his companion went to get petrol and repairs. Under the cover of darkness these two stole all they could from the truck, and took the tent (or canvas cover for the box of the truck) and brought it to the clinic to keep for them until they could return to take it home to their village. The two who were on duty at the clinic refused to let them in to stash stolen property. There was a period of time where the canvas was repeatedly thrown over the fence and then thrown back again in refusal. Finally the guards on the inside decided to keep the canvas on the inside and turn it over to me in the morning. When the two men showed up early this AM to retrieve their loot, the two guards would not let them in, so they left. We are now waiting for the driver to return for his truck so we can return the canvas to him. This also means I must find another guard to replace the one who stole the canvas. And the driver of this stuck truck paid these two men to guard his truck, little did he know he was paying them to steal everything they could get their hands on!!!!

The Rain.....

It has been raining for the last 7-8 days and we have had over 5 inches of rain. The roads are terrible and a lot of heavy trucks are stuck in the mud. We had a hard time just getting to Numalu on Wednesday for market day, only 12 km away. The drivers of the big trucks are not from Uganda so they don't know how to drive in these conditions. Most of the drivers in Uganda don't really seem to know how to drive anyway!!!!! But they truly don't know how to drive on muddy roads.

We are using candles most nights, as our power is down from the lack of sun to charge the batteries. I have learned how to cook in the dark or by candle light, and if we don't move the furniture around too much we can get around the house in the dark. It is bad for email, as all the computers need to be charged and our batteries are old and don't hold the charge well, we lack charging power and the main house has many people that use that source. It is just another challenge of the provisions of the Lord and how we think we know what is best. We either want the rain and therefore have no sun or we only want the dry sunny weather and no rain for the crops and other plants......so we can have power. Will we ever be completely happy??????

Later..

Bible studies and sacrifices.....

Recently there have been many raids in the area, not our close area but in villages around here. With the culture here, it demands that something be done by the village elders. So on Bible study day at one village instead of going to the study, elders from all the villages within walking distance (a days walk) came for a sacrifice of a bull.

Pastor Tricarico meets with the men under a huge tree in the middle of the area with about 6 small villages around it. That day not one man was there waiting, not even the drunk ones waiting to argue. They were all of in the distance chanting and dancing and telling stories and making speeches and smearing themselves with all the burnt insides of the bull. Some woman was running around with the head of the bull on a platter on her head. Pastor said it was very gross!!!

The next week when the Pastors went out for Bible study they found a few men there under the tree. When they asked about the raiding, the village men replied not to worry they took care of it with the bull sacrifice. These ones can be so hard to change, the culture is so important and also the thoughts of fresh meat, as this is the only time you would kill and eat the precious cattle. All are sure that there will be not more raids on their villages, so it is safe for them to raid our compound now!!!!!

Saturday night, someone cut the fence in the far corner of the main compound and tried to dig out the posts of the solar panel that is there for the water pump. Fortunately for us the posts have been put in with several feet of concrete to hold it in the soft dirt. There was a large hole cut in the chain link fence and many questions to the guards who were on the night. Every one of them said that it was raining so they could not hear anyone or see any one. That it was a good night for a raid!!!! The fence was repaired and a guard has to sleep 3 feet from the solar panel now. Sorry for him!!!!

Craig and Bob and the women from the compound went to visit in the village on Sunday. Craig said before he went that there would be nothing to do out in the village. He was wrong!!! He and Bob got in to a corn cobb fight with the village boys, and then tried to teach them how to play baseball. We even have pictures from Ed of the fight. Boys will be boys!!!, everywhere you go!!!!!

Have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

Clinic Happenings.....

We have had many sick babies lately. Out of an average of eighty-five patients daily, ninety percent are under the age of nine and have malaria. Too many of them are weeks old and are very anemic. They are so sick that they barely cry or move. So many of the mothers are so young, early teens. And they are very frightened because if something happens to the first born they will be beaten, and they are so young that most of the time they wait too long to bring in the sick child. Then they have an over bearing mother or mother-in-law verbally abusing them the whole time they are at the clinic.

There was a young mother, maybe thirteen, with a week old little girl who was very sick. The mother-in-law came dragging this young girl by the arm into the clinic to get the baby seen. This young mother never said a word the whole time she was in the clinic, which was about 3 hours, her eyes never met anyone else's and she never showed any emotion at all. Her mother-in-law did all the talking for her. The baby was anemic, dehydrated, low hemoglobin, high malaria count and was near death. Kurgat made the decision to transfuse the baby and send her to Tokora. When the mother was told what we were going to do for the baby tears started to steam down her face, they put her and the baby and mother-in-law in the ambulance and took them to Tokora.

Two days later, a very happy smiling young girl came bouncing into the clinic with a smiling little baby on her back and a happy old lady thanking everyone she met there. This time you could not shut the young mother up, she was so happy that her baby was better and she said she was so afraid her baby was going to die that she could not talk to anyone. She thanked us for praying for her baby and paid us the money she owned but didn't have with her the first day and was giving everyone the baby to hold. Praise the Lord for His healing this little girl!!!

We are starting to see meningitis cases again. Six cases in the last few weeks, all from the same area. And all of them young. And this is right with the cycle of reoccurrence that we were told about during our last outbreak. We are hoping that it will not be as bad as the last time. So far no one has died. Tokora says they don't have the medicine they need to treat the patients, so we start treatment and transfer them there with the medicines for treatment.

We are transferring around eight patients daily to Tokora. The nurses there are actually blocking the doors to the ward when we bring patients there. It is so hard for our staff when they see the patients being treated so badly and abused verbally for being ill. Tokora resents us for many reason and they take it out on the patients. We have medicines, we pay our people regularly, and have good working conditions. We also see many more patients daily than they do and do more out reach than they do even though they get paid to do it, and we don't. It is a hard place to be....

Construction.....

We need a crew to come and work for a month!!!! We have so much going on that it seems a bit over whelming at times with all that needs done.

Bob's house has a roof and they are completing the drain field today. The inside walls need to be constructed and plumbing and electrical and solar stuff needs to be put in. Windows need to be finished, glass louvers put in, doors put on, and some flooring done and a kitchen put in. Oh yeah, ceilings of some sort will be put up also. Then it will be ready to move into.

At that point someone needs to start the remodel and repair on the old house for the Okkens!!!!! And then a workshop needs to be built, which will be a major job and granaries, clinic staff housing and somewhere in all this our house needs new ceiling and a floor and the generator shack needs a new roof as the old one blew off!!!! In between all the construction, the field work needs to be done, fences fixed, and solar panel needs to be secured because someone tried to steal it last night!!!!!!! So we could really use some help!!!!! And the kitchen that singles and visitors use daily is falling apart and that needs to be repaired/replaced also.

More about the Village outreaches and Bible studies and bull sacrifices later......

Hi all,

we are in Kampala so I thought I would take some time and tell you a bit about the last 13 days we have been in Karamajo!!!

The Bonda!!!!!

It is almost done and Donna will move in in a day or so. Craig started laying bricks for it last Sat. and finished the brick work the next Sat. and Bob put the roof on and Laurie and Donna painted and are moving her in as this is being written.
The bricks that Bob had his crew make are great and the mission will be using more of them for other construction projects in the near future.

Craig was putting 3-4 rows up a day and then window and door frames went in and the up to the roof. They tried something new for roof supports, instead of wooden poles Bob welded a metal frame out of pipe and rebar support for the thatch to be tied to. No termites can eat the support (just the thatch)@!!!!! Ed welded the door and window frames and made a door and welded hinges and Donna painted. Ed put screens on the windows and when he has some spare time he will make a screen door for her.

Donna will be in her new home by Wed. this week!!!
Later electricity will be put in, but she will use a kerosene light for now.
Let's see if I can post some pictures for you!!!

Back in Karamoja

We have arrived back in Karamoja safe and sound. Although jet lag caught up with us on Thursday night. Friday we both hit the ground running--so to speak. Craig put in a full, hard day of setting bricks for Donna's bonda. He hopes to have all the bricks up in 4-5 days. But he found out how much his vacation time in the States has affected his abilities. Too much ice cream and couch time has made it a bit hard to jump right back into this hard physical labor that he had been doing prior to vacation. Pray for his back!!!!

I spent the day at the clinic just catching up on all the stories of the Army/warrior gun battle in front of the clinic and examining all the bullet holes in the clinic. Praise to God for His mercy and loving care for the staff. Several bullet holes were in places that had the staff been doing their normal routine they would have been injured. There are several holes in the walls and one in the upright scale and one thru a wall which pasted thru the outlet used for the microscope. No major damage done!!!!

Numbers at the clinic are down to about 30 patients a day. Patients are coming for things other than malaria, which is good. But last week there were 3 cases of meningitis again. We have been expecting this, as it fits into the cycle of people coming forward who avoided the immunization programs. Warriors and shepherd boys coming from the mountains, and those who feared the shots.

Last night at 3AM we awoke to women screaming and many rounds of gun fire. We are thinking it was a raid. No word yet on who or if there have been any injuries. They often avoid answering such question for fear of what we will think of them.

We are back as though we have never been gone!! Amazing how life goes on daily.

Faith's birthday party.

Nov 8th was Faith's 3rd birthday and her parents, Elizabeth and Kyalo, gave her a celebration. Elizabeth and Kyalo are from Kenya and both work at the clinic. Elizabeth is a lab tech and Kyalo is our accountant.

Now a celebration is different from a party. It is a fellowship with the Lord and friends. So we had food, prayer, scripture reading and singing. They had invited 36 people and prepared all the food themselves, with a little help from the mission families. Martha Wright baked cakes, Laurie Tricarico brought Kool-aid and chopped salad, Amy and Chrissie helped with the set up and cooking of the meat,and we gave snack crackers. The menu was goat in a soup broth, roasted/fried chicken, rice, chapati, cabbage salad, kool-aid, crackers and cake and sodas.

We all sat with our chairs in a big circle, outside of their house. The oldest were given places of importance at the head of the circle, so to speak, and were fed in that order. Speeches were made by the proud father, Kyalo. The family was dressed in some of their best Kenyon clothes. Very brightly colored tie-dyed and plaid materials. They all looked very Smart!!!!

Faith was very much over whelmed with all of this. We, of course, had to Americanize her by singing Happy Birthday and having her blow out the candles on the cake, although she didn't understand why we wanted her to do this, she was happy to comply. She sat in her chair and looked at us all like we were a bit crazy, but she loved the gifts she was given. And soon after the cake was served Faith was sound asleep in her mother's arms for a short nap and then she was ready for the next round.

Faith is an amazing little girl of just 3, she can speak 3 languages, loves to dress up in fancy dresses and loves her kitten, Baby. She has also become the big sister to Lee, who is the son of our clinical officer. She takes him everywhere and watches over him like a mother.

We had a great time, and enjoyed a Kenyon style celebration.

-Kris

We have arrived back in Karamoja safe and sound. Although jet lag caught up with us on Thursday night. Friday we both hit the ground running--so to speak. Craig put in a full, hard day of setting bricks for Donna's bonda. He hopes to have all the bricks up in 4-5 days. But he found out how much his vacation time in the States has affected his abilities. Too much ice cream and couch time has made it a bit hard to jump right back into this hard physical labor that he had been doing prior to vacation. Pray for his back!!!!

I spent the day at the clinic just catching up on all the stories of the Army/warrior gun battle in front of the clinic and examining all the bullet holes in the clinic. Praise to God for His mercy and loving care for the staff. Several bullet holes were in places that had the staff been doing their normal routine they would have been injured. There are several holes in the walls and one in the upright scale and one thru a wall which pasted thru the outlet used for the microscope. No major damage done!!!!

Numbers at the clinic are down to about 30 patients a day. Patients are coming for things other than malaria, which is good. But last week there were 3 cases of meningitis again. We have been expecting this, as it fits into the cycle of people coming forward who avoided the immunization programs. Warriors and shepherd boys coming from the mountains, and those who feared the shots.

Last night at 3AM we awoke to women screaming and many rounds of gun fire. We are thinking it was a raid. No word yet on who or if there have been any injuries. They often avoid answering such question for fear of what we will think of them.

We are back as though we have never been gone!! Amazing how life goes on daily.

-Kris