Saturday, September 22, 2007

Flooding in Uganda!


The thunder is rumbling, the lightning flashes in the sky – and the rain comes and goes. It’s quite fascinating, yet there is another side to all of this.
The situation here in Uganda is quite severe. The Northern part is pretty much disconnected from the Southern part. As you can c in this picture from the newspaper, taken on the 18th of September – the bridge is non existent. 300 000 people have been affected, and some have been killed. “Experts say the rising waters may hit as yet unaffected areas in the coming days, such as Uganda’s central regions.” (quoting from The New Vision) People are filling bags with sand, and dirt so that they can build up some flood fencing here in Kampala….

A friend of mine in Rackoko, in the Northern district Pader said: “Please pray 4 the end of flood, it has made things difficult”.

Quoting from the newspaper The New Vision. “With camps for the displaced fast swelling in countries across the center of the world’s poorest continent, experts say the threat of disease is mounting quickly”. They are afraid of diarrhea and cholera outbreaks.

My plea to you is, pray for the people that are affected by the floods, not only here in Uganda – but also the other countries that has been severely affected. Sudan, Kenya, Niger are some of them.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

First days in Uganda

After a long trip I came to Uganda. Some friends of mine came to the airport and picked me up which was a huge blessing. Wasn’t up for any public transport that day…lol

The next day Kateh, one of my Ugandan friends and I took public transport up to the Children’s home in Busota. This is the place I stayed b4 going back to Norway in April. The children didn’t know I was coming, which was part of the surprise. Kateh and I came from the bush way, so they wouldn’t be able to c me right away. But they were doing some dancing at the end of one of the houses, so they saw me. It took them a split second to see us – and they came running like a huge wave toward me. What a welcome. They screamed “Mama Inger” and almost pushed me over wanting to hug me all at the same time. It was awesome. Some of them came over several times, just to make sure that it was for real.

Christine one of the caretakers, didn’t know what to do – she told the children not to joke with her, saying Mama Inger is back. When she saw me, she came running leaving her shoes behind – knelt by my feet and said: “God is so good, you are back.”

Maria, one of the girls at the home is quite the evangelist and prophet. She is talking about God to her friends, preaching the Good News. When they are having worship her countenance is changing. She has some white spots on her face, but they go away and are gone for hours after worship is over. Maria is also a listener and she hears God talking to her. The other kids have understood that, and are coming to her to ask different things. She tells them: God hasn’t spoken to me today, if He hasn’t. And if God has, she tells them.
One of the boys came up to her and said: “Since God is talking to you, tell me what we are going to ear for Christmas? “ She looked at him and said: “God has not sent you to me to ask me that, this is you asking.” A bold one she is, about 7-8 years old.
I’m looking forward to spend more time with the children… There are more stories to tell….

Sunday, September 2, 2007

The big family!

This is my family; mom and dad - one sister and two brothers. They are all married - my sister has 4 children, my oldest brother has 3 and my youngest brother has 1 child.
We have been together this weekend, to celebrate my nephew Kristoffer's confirmation. It was a big dag and many guests - and lots of food.
The next time we'll be together is when we all go to Madagascar which will be next summer.

And now the journey continues - my family will go back to their work, school and pre-school - while I'll head back to Africa!! Yuppie!