Homestay

From Oct 8:

Tonight is my second night with a Ugandan family in the village. A caravan of missionaries on the Mbarara team took Lou and I out to this beautiful rolling African countryside. Earlier, at the team meeting, they all tried to give us a picture of what to expect from a homestay. Mike, our team leader, is a very good friend to Johnson and felt that, as a father of daughters our age, he could entrust us to this family.

Believe me, we are safe and stuffed. My belly is happily full of food. Usually when I'm this stuffed, I regret eating so much because of the discomfort. Surprisingly, that isn't so now. It seems every time we eat, there is a feast: matoke, beans, g-nut sauce, millet bread, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, cabbage, eggplant that is small and round, and green beans, and I think that's it. Oh, except tonight we had beef, too. At lunch we also had matoke (baked plantains, a staple here) and millet. Between lunch and dinner, we snacked on sugar cane Joy bought at the market, enjoyed tea with a banana and jam and bread. \even after dinner, we drank more tea. African tea is steeped in hot, whole milk. When we finished tea, it was past 10p. That means dinner must have begun about 8:30 or 9. Breakfast consists of the same spread as tea time: bananas (bogoya), bread, butter, jam, honey peanut butter, tea or hot chocolate.

Oct. 10th:

It is 5:40 a.am., and this is the second morning my bladder has woken me. It is rather an inconvenience, because there is no indoor plumbing at Rev. Johnson's house. I definitely take toilets for granted in the States. Instead of the sound of a flushing bowl, everyone in the house can hear me creak open the locked metal door as the iron bar screeches through the sliding hinges. Whew! Once unlocked, the bottom of it scratches against the concrete stairs as it swings open. After all that resounding noise (note concrete walls and floor means you hear a lot), I'm free! Free to take my "torch" (aka for us from the U.S. that's a flashlight) to guide me to the right of the kitchen, past the drying racks for dishes, and to the outhouse. These wooden doors don't make any sound. Inside the cubicle is bare concrete, except for two foot-boards on either side of a narrow slit in the floor. That is the challenge. For a man, maybe it's not, but for a woman...
(Note: I later realized the reason Joy gave me a a plastic basin in my room--for those needs exactly)

Oct. 11:

Although you have been forsaken and hated,
With no one traveling through,
I will make you...the joy of all generations.
You will drink the milk of nations
and be nursed at royal breasts
Isaiah 60:15-16

This morning was the usually early morning after all the tea from the previous night. Once I was outside, though, I saw they were milking the cows, so I walked down to watch. One man held a bucket and pulled in a consistent rhythm. But before milking, he tied the hind legs together with a braided rope and allowed the calf to nurse a bit. After a few seconds, someone yanked the calf away. Once the man filled the bucket with frothy cream, the calf could nurse. When I first arrived, there was a small black calf tied up out of the pen making all sorts of disgruntled noise. Then the mother, who couldn't see the calf over the living fence but could it its whining, shuddered and belted out a loud "MOO." They were the last pair to milk and nurse. The cows are milked twice a day, morning and evening.

Last night, Rev. Johnson told us some exciting news. Having already given Lou a Runyankole name Mbabazi, meaning one who is kind, he had promised me a name. Last night , he named me Mugisha, meaning a blessing. He shared how blessed he and Joy are to have us in their home and how much they have enjoyed us being here. From the way Johnson shared from his heart, it would seem to an outsider that we had hosted him! The exciting news is that since we came, two of their cows gave birth. Now they have two heifers! God has blessed them indeed, as cows are prized possessions for Runyankole people. Ankole cows are beautiful creatures with long horns. They give sweet milk. I am praising the Lord for answering my prayer. When I was coming, I asked God to bless this family for showing us hospitality and patience. And he did! He has affirmed the power of prayer in my mind, and I know this is just the beginning of my time here.