A Good Week of Work

We’ve had one whole week of work since we got our truck back, and I’ve seen progress like I’ve never seen here in Uganda. The workers have been anxious to get this project started for months. About 15 to 20 workers showed up our first morning of work, and they’ve been showing up consistently and working hard. Charles and Moses are doing a great job leading the work crew, and I’m doing my best to keep them well stocked with the materials they need. Everyone is happy to have a job, and I’m happy to finally see things getting done.

Below is the Warehouse foundation after one week.

Below are the footings to the soon to be home of Jeff and Renee Gunther!  :-)

Recent Village Pets

I’ve procured a few exotic pets over the past month from the local boys in the village bringing them to me.

The first one is another hawk. It’s the same kind as Gabriel, but this one is only a baby. I’ve had him for about a month so far, and he is growing fast and learning well. I taught him how to fly and come to me. He likes to hang out on my hut. He’s tame by now; and I let him fly around free and he doesn’t go anywhere. He has made his home with us. I still need a name for him though. I’m open for suggestions.

I was very surprised by the second creature that came to me.  It’s a hedgehog! I didn’t even know hedgehogs lived in Uganda. She was very friendly, and the local kids got a kick out of seeing and holding her. Hedgehogs are rare to find in the village, and most of the locals have never even heard of it let alone seen one. I kept her for a few days to show her off and then let her go.

The locals have been telling me since I’ve been here that monkeys live in Adak. Up until two nights ago, I was beginning to not believe them. One of the local farmers brought me this baby monkey and said he has a bigger one that he will bring tomorrow. I don’t really want two, I’ll let the big one go and see how the little one does growing and adapting to people. I’ve heard they can be trained, but can be a little dirty. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

We’re Officially Farmers

After more than a month of trying, and going through 3 tractor drivers who failed to make good on their commitment, we finally got someone to rent us a tractor to plow our ten acres to kick off our agricultural initiative with our first ever rice crop.

Those of you who know me, know that I have a love for the outdoors – particularly hunting. This wasn’t a very popular hobby with the kids in school growing up in Northern New Jersey. I was labeled a redneck and frequently called names like hick, hillbilly, farmer Jeff, and so on. I don’t know if this is a self-fullfilled prophecy or what, but as I was driving the tractor last week plowing our fields, I couldn’t help but think to myself, “I have finally become what all the kids used to call me. I am a farmer!”

Ssese Islands

My best man, Scott Carter, came to visit a few weeks ago. We took a few days to go to the Ssese Islands on Lake Victoria.

There is a huge variety of exotic birds on the islands. This one was really cool looking.

We went fishing, and I finally caught my first nile perch. It was small, but a good start. I made a great connection with a good fishing guide with whom I will be sure to use again.

It was a beautiful and much needed get away. Thanks Scott!

Finally Some Progress

Our truck has been in the shop for 4 months and has put our construction at a stand still. It is suppose to be finished by tomorrow or Saturday, so we went ahead and dug the foundations for a 450 square meter warehouse and a staff house for Renee and me. As soon as we get the truck back and hauling cement and bricks, we can begin building.

Above is the is the footprint for the warehouse for rice storage and our rice mill. Below is the house for me and my soon to be wife showing the beautiful view off the back veranda. 

 

Harvesting Honey

The other week, one of the men in Adak who I’ve been building relationship with invited me to come harvest honey with him from his hives.

Reaching in bare handed. The smoke and darkness was suppose to keep them from stinging.

Honey harvesting team. Minus Scott who was the photographer and visiting me for the week.

Our harvest.

You play with bees, your gonna get stung.

Butcher Shop (Small Beginnings)

It is very difficult to find quality meat in Gulu. All of the local butcher shops let their meat sit outside all day exposed to hundreds of flies and a lot of dust and dirt; and they cut the meat Ugandan style: i.e. little to no differentiation between stomach, liver, steaks, and bones. They hack everything up with a machete – bones and all. Any meat lover would cry at the sight of a beautiful tenderloin fillet being hacked up to pieces injected with bone fragments to be thoughtlessly mixed in with all of the other meat. No matter how much we try to explain meat cutting to the local butchers, they just don’t understand. Their is only one butchery that I know of in Uganda that cuts quality steaks. It is in Kampala, 200 miles south of us, and very expensive. However, many westerners living in Gulu still travel to make special stops when they are driving by to enjoy a small taste of the quality meat they are accustomed to in the US. But as for me, the impracticality of traveling that far and paying that much is not worth it.

So…My only wish-list for Christmas this year was butcher knives and a meat grinder. Jesse and I are opening a Gulu butcher shop to accommodate our need for meat and the needs of many others of our friends who are experiencing the same deficiency in their diets. Our operation is currently being facilitated by the Kroeze family kitchen. Andrea has been very patient with us as our Saturday project has consumed all of the kitchen space. Our first sale of 2 kilos of pork loin chops was delivered last Saturday night to a missionary friend of ours. Orders have been picking up and people are excited about a local quality meat supply.