19-hour day in the life: March 24

7:30-8:00 Preparing breakfast for BnB guests

8:00-8:30 Open Keep, breakfast, emails

8:30-9:10 Declan to clinic for malaria test (negative)

9:10-10:30 Meet with welder about hangers and hooks for BnB, meet my friends John and Cayenne Goodman who just flew in from the US for the week. Meet with language teacher, help out Alex, an Italian dude who’s friend Vito is having problems with his iPhone. iPhone diagnosis in Italian = hard. Problem solved. Trust issue. Now I’m an Italian iPhone psychotherapist.

10:30-2:30 In the shop with our guests at the BnB, the RVA interim trip team. These guys have been great to have as our guests, and it’s a total joy to have students, teachers and friends from our kids’ school to love on. This is their interim vacation trip and our job is to house, feed and entertain them so they have a terrific time. One of the highlights for every RVA team is time in the leather shop where they can make journals and bracelets for family and friends. Everyone is having a real blast, but it’s though work as Jen, Johnson and I try to simultaneously instruct and assist a dozen eager pupils. =)

2:30-4:15 We get a surprise visitor from San Antonio. Gary is here supporting missionaries with various needs and Michael is assisting him but he’s also a hacker and when he heard that I was in Jinja, he wanted to come by and say hello. It was a great visit as we shared our challenges and I especially needed the visit because I’m really struggling lately thinking I’m not doing anything right, not making a difference. I’ve had a hard time with this lately, and these guys were great encouragers. They also told me I need to be clear about what our needs are here in Uganda. I agree. I’m way overwhelmed.

4:15-7:30 The RVA team invited us to a cruise they were taking on the Nile. The cruise was nice and they served drinks and appetizers. As we were cruising down the Nile, Declan spotted his best friends far away up the bank near their home. We were too far away to communicate, but waving was fun. The group on the top deck of the boat was drinking way too much (not soda). They provided a great deal of entertainment. And they played 80’s music the whole time. I was happy, and felt old(er). We arrived home just before the torrential rain started. That was an answer to prayer because the roads up at Bujagali are DEADLY in the rain. No joke.

7:30-9:30 The team didn’t get enough food on the cruise (teenagers, sheesh!) so they all wanted to go to the Keep for dinner and shakes. So off to the Keep we go. We have a nice meal with the leaders, and I have a good meeting with Anthony and Melissa about the IICT course. IT’s going so well and there are so many great stories. They told me about one student who was wrongly imprisoned and she was doing her homework in jail so she wouldn’t lose her spot.

9:30-10:00 The team asks us to lead devotions. And so I do. I sounded dumb, I think, but there were some good questions. They were probably tired and being polite. I’m tired.

10:00-2:30 The team wants to try to make more leather goods for their friends and family before they have to leave at 5:00am to return to Kenya. I’m their huckleberry. It’s fun helping out and in total, six of them made severn journals and a bunch of bracelets. Wow.

2:40 Off to bed, and I can’t find the night guard. I walk around the compound and find him culled up in a ball in a dark corner dead asleep. This is a temp night guard on trial. This is the second time we’ve found him asleep. The last time was at 5:45pm, fifteen minutes into his shift. He’s so fired. We are back to shuffling guards and trying to find an honest and reliable guard. A monumental task.

My mind is reeling and it’s impossible to sleep. I finally nod off sometime after 3:30. I’ll be up at 7:30 to rinse, wash and repeat.