Parting Seas Letter #2 - Arrival in Kampala! Well, here we are, nearly 3 weeks in to our time in

Uganda. We had a good journey down to Heathrow

in Graham's Street Jesus van, quite appropriately.

Unfortunately there was a delay on the flight, but

the wind was on our side, and we made up most of

the time in the air! We were greeted by Reuben and

Connie (Medad's wife - Medad was away on a

mission) but were met by 24 hours of electricity

failure and thunderstorms – true welcome to life in

East Africa!

Our first day was a day of rest, and then we went

car shopping! Painful to day the least! Firstly we

were shown 2 very nice Landcruisers - we obviously

were giving off an air of wealth! They were both far

from new, more like 10 years old, but were around

£11,000 each! Needless to say, once we realised

this we soon shifted along to the other end of the

car bond! We were feeling rather disgruntled and

thinking that we weren't going to find anything

within our budget that wasn't literally an old

banger, and just as we were walking out, there it

was! A 1996 Rav 4 which had just arrived from

Japan. It had been driven up from the port of

Mombassa in Kenya, and so was looking rather

dishevelled, but we felt that it was to be "the one",

and it was under budget (just as well, as we were

to find out 2 weeks later!) So, a patience-stretching

2 weeks followed, whilst we waited firstly for the

money to transfer from our UK bank, and then for

the paperwork etc to be done!

Our first Saturday was spent at a "Give-away", a

concept completely new to us, where the bride is

officially given away to her husband and his family.

This was a ceremony and feast which out-sized any

actual wedding that we’ve ever been to, and was

certainly an interesting event. The following day

found us at a wedding Launch: basically when a

couple are getting married, a committee is formed,

and then 5 meetings are held, whereby the

committee organise the wedding! The Bridegroom

to be, sits on the committee but doesn't really have

a say, and the committee raise the finances for the

wedding via pledges and cash-gifts made by those

attending!

The next day we were taken out by a new

"muzingo" (white) friend called Mary. This proved a

bit of an escapade. Mary was taking us to the

medical clinic in Kampala to buy malaria pills, and

then to find a fridge! Unfortunately, she took a

wrong turn, and as she swung the car round at an

intersection, a policeman "appeared" from no-

where! She’d turned into a section of road that

wasn’t allowed , and so we were pulled over, and

the policeman proceeded to start shouting at us,

telling us we should have taken notice of the sign!

When I pointed out there was no sign, he then got

even crosser, saying that the shape of the kerb

stones is the "sign". He issued an immediate fine,

and told Mary she had to follow him to the station.

Mary, however, chose to do otherwise (she’s lived in

Kampala for 4 years and is used to the wiles and

ways of the police trying to take corrupt fines etc.)

So instead she drove off! Needless to say, as we

were driving along, the policeman appeared at the

side of the car and continued shouting! We came to

a junction and he put his motorbike in front of the

car, telling Mary she was under arrest; she insisted

she was not, so he went to the front of the car, and

ripped off her number plate! We were dumbstruck!

Anyway, we carried on with our chores, and the

next morning, Mary went to the police station

where she was told she was "forgiven", cautioned,

and given back her bent number plate!

Thursday 28th, and we were at our first official

meeting with Worldshine volunteers, a long, but

interesting time. Easter Sunday found us at All

Saints Cathedral, Kampala, a church with an

enormous congregation. It was a wonderful service,

and we were moved by the story of a new project

that they have, working with people who live on

the streets. A man was invited to stand and tell his

story; he has lived in Kampala on the streets for

many years, having fled northern Uganda. He was

crippled himself, and he told us of how he met a

lady who is completely blind, who was also living on

the streets, and he made it his mission to look after

her 24/7! They are now married, and since coming

to faith in Jesus, he has been "given" the gift of

speaking clear English; something that he was not

able to do previously! An amazingly humble and

grace-filled man!

And so "car-collection day" finally arrived! A whole

other saga ensued which, cut short, meant that we

had to spend the best part of two days at a garage

having a service, and many other works done to

make the car "Africa-proof"!

Friday 5th April was then "moving" day..........we

will update you in the next newsletter!

Our love and blessings,

Jane & Alan.

http://www.parting-seas.co.uk/

http://www.worldshinefoundation.org/

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