Sunday, March 4, 2012

TIA

TIA is a something I hear quite a lot from our group.  It is an acronym for This IS Africa.  Today, the lack of power got us in two ways:  First, David (see previous post) was editing our video that we had hoped to upload to a dropbox before 8am Oklahoma time.  This was to be shown at RAWchurch this morning. We had also made one for our Advocacy Team, that has a meeting soon.   Before the editing could be finished, David’s power was out!  TIA!  
Then this evening, Jim, Joline, and Jay and I had been out doing some errands.  We had called the kids to meet us at the front parking area of our apartments.  Every evening, the Royal Suites, fogs for mosquitoes.

This is quite a site, from the man running with the machine as it is pointing behind him, at times with flames shooting out, to the THICK dense fog it leaves behind that takes your breath away.  (We’ve joked, but somewhat seriously, about the commercial that plays in the US about if you have been around asbestos and have mesothelioma call such and such law firm.  The commercial that will get our attention in 10 years will be,  if you were at the Royal Suites in Bugolobi, Uganda and were exposed to the evening fogging etc......)   When we turned into the parking area we heard and could see the fogger to our left.  When we looked right, our 6 kids are jumping nervously for us to hurry to beat the fogger to them.  We closed the doors to our van just as the fog began to engulf the outside of our vehicle.  (So, the song, Tonight’s Going To Be A Good Night runs through my head!)  We had decided to go eat at Nanda’s.  It’s kind of like Uganda’s fast food from a food court you’d see at a mall in the states.  Except there are 5 options: Bread, Pizza, Chicken, Burgers, and Ice Cream! (Those who know me well, surely aren't surprised that I have found a suitable ice cream place.)  We get there, most of us order, and power out!  I really expected it to come right back on via a generator.  A couple of us received our orders in the dark,  but an hour later the power was still out and no food.  TIA!  Those left without their orders were able to get their shillings back (money) and headed to the bread counter.  No ice cream tonight!  I am really thankful for electricity and that we do live in a place, most of the time, where we have it thanks to the generators.   TIA can have a positive connotation too, at least for me.  We are headed to Jinja on Thursday through Sunday.  While we are there, we hope to visit Pastor Henry’s church on Sunday.  We also get to meet up with Katie Davis, Kisses from Katie, on Saturday.  Also during this trip we hope to white water raft on the Nile, and a few of us might even Bungee jump over the Nile. TIA!
  Tomorrow, we head back to Gaba to begin the health screening of the cute kiddos in the Early Childhood Program of Africa Renewal.  TIA!!!!!  And, I love it!


Look up Renewal Healthcare Network page on Facebook!  Like it and you will find more pictures and updates on what we are doing in Uganda.
Jill

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