After a long, bumpy ride on dirt roads through Northern Uganda, we arrived at the game reserve on Sunday night. We drove through Gulu and then past many displacement camps where people are still living. We saw many malnourished children in the camps as we drove through and very little farming activity in the surrounding area - the land is thick with brush after many years of neglect. The people in this part of the country spent many years in camps and many will struggle to even know where their family's land is after all that time, or have the resources to farm it.

The game reserve has offered some respite from the sensory overload we have experienced over the last 10 days! We went on a morning game drive today, seeing giraffes, water buffalo, many types of antelope, elephants, and warthogs. We spent some time drafting partnership documents upon our return, before heading out for an afternoon boat trip down the Nile River where we saw hundreds of hippos, among other animals. The day has been quite the change from the rest of our trip! We are thankful for the opportunity to enjoy a part of God's amazing creativity.

We will leave from here tomorrow morning and head to Kampala to do some work with CRWRC at their offices before starting the journey home on Wednesday

Yesterday we began the day starting on African Time. We are learning a new phrase "setting the climate". That is waiting for people to show up, greeting each other, arranging the "program" and all kinds of pre-task work. Sometimes it is hard to be patient waiting for the temperature to be right! Once the meeting began we were all seated in a traditional hut. There were representatives from both Ugandan churches, the diocese, CRWRC, and PIH - at least 15 people present. We began a draft document and all partners seem satisfied and eager to begin working together. We will share the details at home. At the end of the day we went tiredly to the hotel where Julie was approached by a waiter to see if she wanted to buy a monkey! Today we laid low in Lira, did some shopping, and tried to get internet. We did have some driving adventures and everyone is safe and the truck is in tact.. Tomorrow we go to Boro Boro for church where Pieter gets to preach twice - once in English and once in Lango. From there we become tourists and head to Murchison Falls. On the way we hope to stop at Gulu which in the past was hit hard by the rebel activity.

On Wednesday we had the opportunity to visit Otwal, the other community that is interested in partnership with us. We expected to see much devastation and perhaps a downcast spirit among the people as it is a war torn community. There was much rebel activity there in the last number of years, with most people being driven from their homes and having to live in IDP (internally displaced person) camps. Children were abducted, raped and trained as child soldiers, and homes were burned to the ground. In the last two years people have been returning to their land and beginning the process of rebuilding, persisting through famine and psychological impact. Despite all that they are dealing with, we were greeted with song, dance, hugs, and huge smiles. The people of Otwal were very gracious hosts and so excited about working with friends from Canada. We met with local government leaders, school teachers, health workers and church leaders. All were very motivated to rebuild their community and had good ideas on how to move forward. The people of the church set out a feast for us with traditional Ugandan foods, and as we set off in the evening, presented Kristin with a gift of two live chickens which they named Kristin and Pieter :) Today, we are in the main town in the region, Lira, preparing for our final partnership discussions with the leaders of Aduku & Otwal tomorrow.

Can you imagine a place where the smiles are welcoming, the people are dressed in their finest clothing, and they greet you with a special Ugandan handshake? The community in Aduko opened their homes to us and we were able to eat together and sleep in their grass huts. Our two days began with meeting the church leaders, registering our presence with the deputy mayor, visiting the medical centre, and local schools. This process is very formal as we make introductions and sign their visitor book. After this we are able to have a real discussion. These conversations have been helpful and we will share more with you when we return. In the area we are known as "munu" the white people. The children are very curious, full of smiles, and bright shining eyes. We are told that many have never seen a white person before. We were surprised to see the condition of their school. There are 1300 primary students with only 22 teachers in 13 classrooms. We wonder how can a child learn in this environment. The local food includes cassava, chicken, and rice. After our first night in the grass hut with pigs, turkey's, dogs barking, and roosters crowing we were given a breakfast of Fanta orange pop and spaghetti! We also had a good laugh at using the hole in the ground for a latrine. We set off to meet Anna and her family she is living openly with her HIV status and she was able to talk with us about her struggles and challenges. She is a very brave woman. We then went to her neighbour who is suffering from cancer. It was a very sad place to be but we were at least able to pray with her and her family. Then we heard a very encouraging story of CRWRC 's Food Security program where several farmers have been able to improve their lifestyle and have food for their families to eat. We were able to participate in this program by handing over an ox and orange seedlings to community members. It has been raining and the people praise God because they have been experiencing a drought. Many people have commented that the rains have come at the same time as their visitors.

We hit the road early this morning, a 6AM start and there were many people walking and biking through the streets already at that hour. We crossed the mouth of Nile River, the bridge was protected by armed guards - apparently to prevent the possibility of someone blowing it up and cutting off a major truck route to the coast in Kenya. We stopped for breakfast at a gas station shortly beyond this point, where Julie had another encounter with a creature - a cockroach with a body the size of a tennis ball. Pieter chose to use the bathrooms, Kristin & Julie did not.

We continued on to Soroti where we were warmly greeted by Millie, Edward's wife and his son Jesse. We had a great meal at their home including potatoes, rice, peas, chicken, beef, atap (a mixture of cassave & sorghum) and chapati (a whole wheat pancake). Millie shared with us about her work at a pre-school and with an HIV/AIDS organisation, she also showed us the school she works at. Jesse had fun playing with the toys that we had brought for the pre-school. We then started the bumpy journey north to Lira. Edward was looking forward to a quick trip on a new highway, however the highway was not yet prepared for traffic and we had to take many detours on dirt roads, bouncing through the lush countryside. We arrived at our guesthouse in the late afternoon and after a time of rest and dinner are now sitting inside as the thunder crashes and the rain pours outside. Pieter and Edward are intently watching a soccer match on tv. Tomorrow we will meet Reverend Jacob in the town of Aduku and will be staying with host families in the evening. We will update again when we can.

Thank you for your continued prayer as we begin our week of visits and partnership discussions.

After two days of travel we are here! Our first day in Kampala has been an adventure of sights, sounds, and smells. We saw men transporting wood by boat on Lake Victoria. Kampala is a place full of people busy on the streets. For some reason the taxi drivers did not think we should be walking. They were very friendly and kept trying to have us ride in their car. Edward is staying with us and showing us around to climatize to the culture. So we are in good hands. Thank-you for your prayers! Tomorrow we have a long and leave at 5am to journey by car to Soroti where we meet Edward's family and then Lira where we will meet Rev. Jacob. So far the food has been great! Julie did have an encounter with a bat and then later a salimander in her bath tub. We will post more when internet is available.

Hey guys!
Good luck on your trip. I hope all goes well. I wish I was there with you. We'll be praying for you!

Matt