The Crew

Our smallest construction worker. Don't worry, we don't have child laborers on site. But when school is out a lot of kids come hang out on site until we make them leave (its a dangerous place). This guy likes to come out and try to help, and we have to chase him of the site sometimes so he does not hurt himself. Still, I catch him every now and again with a shovel trying to help mix mortar. He is a really cool kid.

The masons taught me how to dress stone. Here I am with the fruits of my labor. Took me about an hour to shape an 11 inch stone. Then the masons helped me set it in mortar and plumb it. Benson, one of our Kenyans, dresses up to 60 feet a day with nothing but chisels and a hammer.

This is God (the nickname here for Gordon). We have become pretty good friends. He does contract labor for us now and sometimes drives me up a wall. But we get along ok.

This is our crew on the site right now. Foreman, two masons, and three masons assistants. For digging and concrete work we hire out contract labor. I am getting better at negotiating contracts, but its not my forte. This was taken on April 21st, Texas Independence Day. I made everyone an honorary Aggie so we could have muster. The flag flew proudly over the site for a few hours, until i needed my handkerchief back.


And here I am with my crew.

The Buildings

There are a total of four buildings going up on the site. A kitchen/dining hall, babies home, and two nursery school buildings. Info on the project is at www.iloveorphans.com.






Here are some pictures of the construction of the babies home, one of our 4 buildings. I came right after the slab was poured and now we are about to put the roof on. Exterior walls are dressed stone, interior walls are brick with plaster.




These 5 pictures are of the first nursery school building. John and I started the building layout a month and a half ago, and we are about to pour the slab. The Second nursery school building is nearby and at about the same stage of construction. The masonry will be a job for the next intern.

My Summer Skin

So its been a few weeks. The internet in our Jinja office has been out. Also, I think my body is acclimating to the mefloquine, because I am not having the same vivid dreams as I was before.

Some things I have done in the past weeks:
- Travelled to Lake Bunyoni for Intern Retreat (really good experience)
- Repaired my chacos with binding wire
- Rafted the Nile River (class 5 rapids, pretty sweet)
- Poured a Concrete Ring Beam
- Poured a Concrete Strip Footing
- Eaten Italian Oatmeal (parmesan cheese and olive oil, delicious)
- Driven John's Land Rover off Road on the site. The thing is a beast. Dont worry mom and dad, I would never take it out on the road with other drivers. The roads are really crazy round here.

The rest of my time in Uganda has been planned out. On may 16th I will come to Kampala and from there we will go on a project trip to Tanzania. I will be there roughly 10 days. Then I will finish out the rest of my time in Kampala. So only about 5 more weeks of construction managment left. I need to make the most of it, I am getting attached to this project and I want to see it through as much as possible. That being said, project trips are the EMI staple, and this will be a great oppertunity to see what a project trip is like and do some engineering.

Last wednesday we had the emi office prayer day. It was really awesome, and we listened to a life changing message about prayer by John Piper. It is called "Put in the Fire for the Sake of Prayer" and I think you can find it online.

I have been working in Kampala since Wednesday, hard at work on the water system for the babies home. Its hard work, and its brain work. Managing is emotionally draining. Engineering desing is hard on the brain.

Jennifer (in Kampala) has Deathcab for Cutie on her Ipod, and I love it so much. Hence the title. Also my skin is very dark now from being in the sun all the time.

Silent Night, Holy Crap

Alec Burnter-Abt, my best friend from middle school, is treating me to dinner for my birthday. Only his parents are there, and his mom looks just like my grandmother. In the middle of the meal everyone starts quietly singing "Silent Night". Slowly the whole restaurant joins in, and we are all singing together. Our voices sound exactly like the kids from "Charlie Brown Christmas".

This week was long, and interesting. Here are the Highlights.

Monday - While riding with a cement truck out to the site, the lug nuts pop off of the front drivers side tire. Apparently our driver was trying to make it on 3 nuts. He knew he was trying to cheat the system though and was driving very slowly when it happened. So there wasnt any kind of accident. Thankfully we are in the middle of a village, so our driver hops onto a boda-boda (motorcylce taxi) and drives all the way back to Jinja to pick up more bolts. 3 hours later we are back on the road. A potentially frustrating experience but i did have a good time talking to the other transport guys and the village kids.

Tuesday - We start pouring a foundation for the nursery school. All concrete here is mixed by hand, and we were only 1/4 done by 5 PM. So We cut a deal with the laborers and worked until 2:30 AM, by moonlight and lamplight.

Wednesday - I killed a snake with a piece of reinforcing steel. Caught the sucker eating a toad. Like shooting fish in a barrel.

Thursday - Had a great talk with one of our carpenters about the Kingdom of God manifesting itself here on earth. One of the singularly most encouraging moments of my life.

Friday - we are supposed to be pouring a beam in the afternoon, but the carpenters are running behind on the formwork. So John decides we are going to stay and pour on Saturday. I am not happy but decide not to complain. The masons and carpenters were pretty upset. We were in the middle of a meeting discussing the terms and conditions of a weekend pour (and facing a potential mutiny) when we get a call from the head carpenter. He has decided to go home, and we can't pour without him. So we went home early after all. Turns out God is in control, not us, and the pour is moved to Monday.

Next week is a short week. Our intern weekend is next weekend. We are travelling to Lake Bunyoni. A popular resort/camping spot to re-connect as interns and discuss our first 1/3 of the time here.

I appreciate your prayers and emails so much. This past week was a homesick week. I miss family, friends, cold milk, and beer. But not to equal degrees.

Ferris Bueller's Other Day Off

I am Ferris Bueller's best friend, so I assume that makes me Cameron. We are trying to break into at room at his high school to steal back a banner that was confiscated from him by the principal. As we are opening lockers, we keep finding jeans that were taken for being too baggy. Eventually the banner turns up. It is one of the impact banners from when I was a co-chair.

This past week at the site was tough. The workers have been putting in a lot of energy, but things seem to be moving a lot slower than we had hoped. Some big potential problems are cropping up. If the Kenyan stone dressers decide to go home early, we won't have enough shaped stone. And even if they stay, we might not be able to squeeze out enough stone from what we have on site. Also, it has been tough to sleep out there. The rats are really active and I woke up with one almost in bed with me two nights in a row. Almost killed the little blighter with a sharp stick, but it got away. At least it associates my scent with the fear of death now. Investing in some traps tomorrow.

All that said, I have been learning some of the best lessons about faith that I have ever learned. Faith seems more real when things are bleak. Faith is choosing to believe that the Lord can make this building go up even if the Kenyans go home and rats carried all of our stone off in the night. Faith is believing that if I imitate Christ in the way he served, then that is enough, regardless of what I see being accomplished.

On a different note, Lindsey and I went with our British friend to a Catholic church in Bujagali Village. As I sat in the service and listened to the fiery Italian priest tell Ugandans in English (translated to Lusoga) that Christ forgives sins through the priesthood. He made sure to emphasize that forgiveness comes by Christ's blood acting through a priest. Then the congregation sang some songs to Jesus and Mary. It struck me how wrong I thought some of the doctrine was. But the Holy Spirit was working in my heart during the service. The Priest said a few key things that I want to point out. First he said that we are saved through the blood of Christ. Secondly he exhorted the congregation to serve the poor, because that is the same as loving Christ. The Scripture says that no-one can say "Jesus is Lord" apart from the spirit. It also says that pure and faultless religion is to look after the orphans and widows in their distress. So we have the important things in common. It always upsets me when I hear people differentiate between "Catholics" and "Christians". Catholics are Christians. Some are anyhow, in the same way that there are plenty of Baptists and Methodists who aren't. I disagree wholeheartedly with a lot of Catholic doctrine, but anyone who claims the Blood of Christ as their sole justification before the Lord is my brother or my sister in Jesus.

Its not letting me load pictures right now, so I will try again next weekend. I got a great one of God (his actual name, I found out is Gordon, but poeple call him Gordy, which sounds like "God" in an African accent)

Super Pine Cove 64

I am on a date with someone I don't know. But I seem to know her in the dream. We are eating dinner at a hotel restaurant, but the hotel is the castle from Mario 64, and run by Pine Cove (A Christian Camp in Tyler, Texas). A lot of friends are working there, but they all have strange hair and beards. A friend from school has long wild hair and is taking care of the two kids of the missionaries I work for here in Jinja. For some reason we keep having to switch tables.

Hopefully these pictures will Load. The first is the team in London. Lindsey is standing to my left, he and I are staying in Jinja together. The rest are working in Kampala. Next is me at Bukaleba. Lastly, the building I am working on. I will keep posting pictures so you can see progress.

Work out at the site has been moving along. We are bringing on more laborers next week and it should speed things up and help with morale. Right now the three guys we have are being run ragged. There has been plenty of work for me to do, I help with the layout and setting windows, and when there is nothing technical to do I put my hand in moving stone and bricks, mixing mortar, or fetching water. The house I stay in is nice, but no plumbing or electricity. I caught a bat on Thursday, but decided to let him go. I spend most of Thursday thinking that if I only had one of those round straw Chinese hats, I would be perfectly happy. I started trying to make one but the grass out here is no good for weaving.

The Ugandans tell me that I look like Peter Crouch. A football player for Portsmouth. Football (soccer) is a really big deal here. Apparently it is very important that i pick a team to support.

Benson, one of the Kenyan masons, made a Chuck Norris joke on Tuesday. We were trying to move a 10,000 Liter water tank and he said that Chuck Norris could do it by himself. God taught me how to say “Do your work, with energy!” in Swahili. “Fanya Kazi, Nabidi!”

Money and skin color are two things I struggle with. I have lots of money, I am white. Ugandans know I have money because I am white. I have been told at least 4 or 5 times by someone that they are looking for an American sponsor to help them, and asked if I knew anyone who could help. I don't know how to respond.

Lindsey and I are going to go watch Lost at a friends house. The Mzungu missionary community is pretty tight knit here. Even after being here for years, these folks need at least a little “normal” time.

Japanese Football at Kyle Field

For some reason, the Japanese National Football Team is coming to play the Aggies at Kyle Field. Some friends and I are excited to go see them, but when we arrive, it turns out that the Japanese team plays “soccer” and not American football. Also, the Japanese team has arranged itself on the field like a foosball table, all in rows. Each player is wearing a yellow trucker hat and broad silk tie. Somehow they are playing a combined version of American football and soccer, but everyone is staying in one place. The result is a lot of people standing around and frenzied activity surrounding the ball.

I just got back in from the bush. Construction on the children’s home is going very well, but there is still a lot to learn about Ugandan construction. I am getting to know the workers a little better and finding the best way to help out around the site. Mostly my job is to helping to lay out the floor plan and keeping the stonework level with the transit. John has me doing some other small projects in my downtime, and I am able to pitch in with the workers some as well. I am hoping to get to know the staff that is working out there with me because it is pretty lonely after all the workers go home.

The house I am staying in is fairly spacious for one person, with a gas stove and tin roof. So far the rats have been active, but well behaved. The food and dishes stay locked up and I sleep on a top bunk. I haven’t seen the bats yet, but I can hear them in the rafters. Bukaleba has a pretty mild climate and not many mosquitoes so far. The rainy seasons just started and it gets fairly cool after the rains. I have seen 5 new different types of birds every day here. It is pretty incredible. To summarize, I was enjoying myself a lot by the end of the week, but was also very relieved to have John come fetch me back to Jinja for the weekend. There is a team of 28 short term missionaries from Virginia staying at the guest house, and it is a big change from Lindsey, a Welsh woman named Anne, and myself being the only residents.

I am able to get in the word a lot, and have been reading in Joshua and Mark since coming here. I am learning a lot in Mark about service, and servant leadership. I think living out at Bukaleba will force me to do a lot of adjusting, quickly. Culturally speaking, I mean. Language is coming along well though. Soon will come the time when I have to focus on either Luganda, Lusoga, or Swahili, because people here switch fluently between the three.

Oh yeah, one of the construction worker’s name is “God”. It makes for really funny journal entries. “Talked to God today about setting door frames” and “God and Julius got in an argument today”.