Rosemary has given us her internet stick to use, so now we can update you all on our activities, but until now we haven’t been able to. Uganda is such a beautiful country! It’s definitely a lot to take in.
On Saturday March 26th, we unloaded our 14 hockey bags with various donations and supplies and checked into the airport at around 7:30pm. Despite our best efforts to keep each bag under the allowed weight—or a pound or two over—almost all of our bags were overweight! We redistributed a few supplies in our carry-ons, but Tim McIllravey ended up having to take a bag of used women’s clothes and new kids clothes back to the church for the next group to bring.
After about a nine hour flight, we landed in London at around 1pm their time. Because we had about a 7 hour layover, we took the Heathrow Express from the airport and went to the Picadilly Circus and explored downtown London. It was a very beautiful, clean city with an interesting atmosphere, but much like Canada. We walked down to the Buckingham Palace and took lots of pictures, but we were all surprised to note that the palace was not as extravagant from the outside as we had expected.
Once we got on the plane, we endured another 8 hour flight to Entebbe, Uganda. I think it was really good to have flown during the night though so as to ease the effects of jetlag. We got in at around 7am Uganda time, and met with Rosemary and Abdala for the first time- what amazing people! It had rained that morning, so it was quite wet and the air was humid, but it sure beat the snow in Canada! We loaded Abdala’s van with all of our luggage, which fortunately all found their way to Entebbe with us, and made our way to Kampala. They brought us to the Sportsview Hotel in the city, where we stayed last night, and then we ran a few errands; we went first to the bank, and then to a market store where we purchased hundreds of notebooks and pencils for the school with money donated by C.P. Blakely. Although the flights helped to prevent jetlag, we were all quite tired. Ashley and I decided to nap for a bit, and when we were woken for supper, I thought it was the morning and I had slept all night! Later on after our dinner at the hotel, we had a prayer session and Bible study in our hotel room. First, Rosemary and the Be. Team spent individual quiet time with God, and then we prayed one-at-a-time for each other. I can really feel God’s presence with us on this trip, and we are so thankful for all the prayers. We are all really looking forward to see the ways in which God will bring us closer to one another, closer to him, and open our eyes and hearts to the things unseen.
This morning we left the hotel with all our bags and stopped back at the bank and store to buy water. Rosemary’s friend Frances who is a board member on the T.O.U.C.H. ministries team said it was 32 degrees Celsius! As hot as it is, I would take it over our freezing, snowy winter days. Not long after, the rain started to pour down, out of nowhere it seemed, but since it has been relatively clear and extremely hot. Since having left Kampala, we are on our way to the orphanage in Ogooma- about a 6 hour drive. We passed over the Nile River dam this afternoon, which according to Abdala, is the main power source for the region.
Even just from driving we have seen many people—especially children—with a great joy. We are all so excited to see the children at the orphanage! Hopefully we will be able to check in again soon. Again, we are very grateful for our church family’s prayers, and hope all is well in Canada!
With love from The Be Team
(Delaney Moore writing on behalf of Ashley Thomas, Eric McIllravey, Carla Moore, and John Haazen)
