Second Week in Africa....and PICTURES!!

                                                                       Lake Victoria!

                     The view of Lake Victoria about 100 feet from our campsite..it was so serene!

A deserted boat on the edge of the lake.

Nancy and Redding [Pictured] ( And the rest of the kids) all decided to draw beards on their faces....of course I had to join in with them!!!

The journey continues...

The last place I left off on blog was that I was going to visit the community based orphanage called Jordan House. I went there on Wednesday morning and was very impressed with it. The founders of the orphanage are from Australia and New Zealand, they have lived here now for 3 years. The orphanage is based about 15-20 minutes outside of Kampala. When I called it a "community based orphanage" I say that because that is their mentality. They have a sort of  "always open doors" concept. Most orphanage that I have seen, have been rather secluded from society . They have chosen to shelter the kids and (maybe?) protect them from outsiders. But as I was talking to Jenny Barton ( The wife of Russell Barton, the founder), I found their vision so refreshing. Someone told me the quote, " It takes a village to raise a child." They had mentioned how that phrase must have come from Africa, because it is so applicable! The Jordan House encourages the community to come in during the day , volunteer and interact with the children. Obviously, there is some sort of structure and schedule, but I was refreshed by their perspective. Also when I was there, I met two great girls, Susan and Chelsey, from Oregon! They are living here for 9 months volunteering at the Jordan House. I had the privilege to walk through the village and also meet the Ugandan staff of Jordan House-very charming people. :) 

On my way home, I took a bota bota (African motorbike) with the two new girls I had just met. We ended up spending the evening together and had a delightful conversation over dinner! I found that they were very similar to me and we just hit it off. On the way back, I made the awful mistake of getting off the motorbike on the RIGHT side ( mental note to all you future Africa travelers). We had been driving for over 25 minutes and the exhaust pipe was steaming!!! I accidentally put my leg up against it and burnt it quite badly!!! When I got home, I made sure to clean it and get it all bandaged up! I laugh about it now, just because I am glad that I did it right away, so I know better to not do it in the future!! :) Minor injury! Thank you Lord! ;)

This weekend was great.

FRIDAY: I spent the morning just hanging out with little Annette. Then I went to the kid's swim meet in the afternoon. The evening we went to a bbq hosted by a middle aged Kiwi ( New Zealander). In his house-also a guest house-there was a volunteer mission group of young people from New Zealand. Great people and so interesting to meet. They had spent 3 weeks in the country rebuilding a church building. 

SATURDAY: I had a meeting in the morning with Lexi Smith ( a friend of the Micklers) and we discussed a volunteer project for me while I am here. It's called African Style. It's a ministry that involves village women making jewelry, place mats and woven baskets. Right now I am asked to go into the village this coming week and visit the ladies, talk with them and help to organize the program at little bit. It's kind of neat to come here and not have a specific schedule. I am eager to meet the ladies and understand who they are and maybe be able to make some sort of impact.  African Style basically "hires" the ladies to make jewelry, then packages it up and sends it to some where in North America, where someone else has a "arts and crafts" party and tries to sell it. It's kind of an interesting ministry. If any of you are interested in more information, just drop me an email and I can give you the website and some more specific details.  My email is annettevantil@gmail.com .

On Saturday afternoon I took the 5 kids and went with them and Bobby to the mall and out for lunch. Downie was at the house doing some recording for an upcoming worship cd, so the house needed to be quiet! :) It was a fun and busy afternoon! When we came home, we enjoyed a great bbq with some of the Mickler's close friends!! After that, I headed out the the Food for the Hungry guest house and hung out with some new friends that I had meet a few evenings before. It's been great to get around and kind of be a neutral person ( meaning no specific organization that I'm with). I've enjoyed getting to know all these new people around my age who ar love to travel and love Africa!! :) Around 11:30pm , I went over to a Susan and Chelsey's (The American girls). house and spent the night!

SUNDAY: This morning I took a bota bota ride to church ( In a skirt!! Believe it or not!!) with Susan and two other young people I had just met! Aaron ( who is doing a music program in Jinja-located about an hour away) and Megan ( who was on her way out to the States after 5 months). We went to Calvary Chapel Kampala and I absolutely LOVED the music. So spirited and uplifting. I felt like I was at a concert! It had a perfect balance of meaningful lyrics with a great African beat!! This afternoon I had the privilege of meeting a Korean couple named Oliver and Ellen. They had us over for lunch. It was such a great cultural experience as we were able to eat authentic Korean food!! One thing that Oliver introduced me to was the art or drinking Chinese tea! It's like a 4 hour ordeal with a leisurely setting, relaxed conversation and many different kinds of teas! One that I tasted had been aged and was over 10 years old! It was a very delicate and interesting event! 

So all this to say, I have been having such a variety of experiences and having been immersing myself as much as possible in the culture!!

I miss you all though...if you would like to send me a more personal message, my email is annettevantil@gmail.com!

Until later....