These are our fellow missionaries in The Uganda Kampala Mission. Elder and Sister Barlow replaced us as the Country Directors. They have previously served in the D.R. Congo so will find Uganda a great place to be. We had an open house at our apartment so that the contractors we worked with could meet them.
This is Ronald, Emma, Eddie and Sam. They have all done great work on our water and sanitation projects which have brought clean water to 420,000 people in Uganda and Sudan.
Elder Barlow with our Drilling contractor, Ali.
Elaine and Sister Barlow with Hannington, our Project Monitor in Kamuli.
Art with Eddie and Ssimbwa at our Pineapple project in Mukono.
Our dear friends, Olivia and Mark, at the handover for the Peace and Hope sewing and gardening project. This project has allowed women to earn money to pay school fees for their children; one of the greatest challenges in Uganda.
We got to dress up in traditional Ugandan attire of Gomesi (women) and Kanzus (men). Here we are at Eddie’s Introduction which is a long, very tradition engagement announcement event. With us are Ronald, Harriett, Susan and Shaquilla.
Eddie and Winnie at the introduction ceremony.
Some of our friends from Mengo at the Christmas dinner we did for the New Hope for Africa Orphanage: Harriett, Olivia, Kezia, Tina, and Pres. Sylvester, the Branch President.
This is truly a great man in Uganda. We could not bring ourselves to say good-bye to our monitor, mentor and dear friend Ssimbwa Busulwa. We could not have done anything we accomplished during our mission without him. Ssimbwa is without a doubt “one of a kind”; he could find and do anything. We worked with the government on seven emergency response projects ranging from flood to war refugees to famine. On every occasion, Ssimbwa could locate and purchase the needed supplies before the government could mobilize transportation. Luckily, Ssimbwa will be coming to the U.S. to visit soon. So, for now, it is not "good-bye" just, “see you later”.
Now, the reason we will be going back to Uganda soon. This is Mark, a 6 y.o. orphan we met while on our mission. We have been appointed his Legal Guardians by the High Court in Uganda. He is now staying with Olivia and going to the International School in Kampala. As soon as we can secure Immigration clearance and a visa for him, we will be bringing him to the U.S. to join our family. Without the help of Olivia and Eddie this would never be possible; we owe them a lot! He is a wonderful little boy who we love dearly. We truly left a “piece of our heart” in Uganda…for now.
It was quite a change leaving the jungles of Uganda for the desert landscape of our backyard in St. George, Utah.
We spent a few days with Shanna and our grandkids in Salt Lake, bought a new car and cell phones and we were back in the world of retired people. We did get to see T.J. on his way to the prom. Unfortunately, Zack was away at college but we got to see him for a quick visit.
Then, we headed through the snowy mountain passes of the Northwest to see our granddaughter Madison in Seattle, Washington.
Along with our daughters: Mom Julie and Aunt Michelle.
Next, we drove to Washington, D.C. to meet our new grandson Lincoln for the first time and see our son Matt and daughter-in-law Nichole.
Our children have all found out quickly who becomes number one in the family when the kids arrive and rightly so; they are all little angels. It was such a treat to see them after 18 months.
On the way home we stopped in Florida to see Art’s sisters; Gloria and Wynona and families. Then, a day in Louisiana with Elaine’s brother Manny and family.
Then back to Salt Lake, St. George …and civilian life.
