Yesterday we had a really good day! Jeb took us to Jinjer, a town two hours from Kampala. We visited, yes; you read right at the top, the source of The Nile, and Nudhagali Falls. It was a really nice trip; it was good to again come out of Kampala, especially since it was raining very heavily there. In Jinjer the weather was good, and the river was really beautiful! Also the falls were really great! The sound of the fizzy water was good to just sit and listen to. It reminded me of our cabin back in Norway, in the middle of nowhere, where we only hear the sound from the forest and some small rivers, there is few places that are better to be if you want to run away from a busy life. We also saw some people rafting and that looked really fun, and there was a crazy man that jumped into the fall with only a jerrican to float on!

The water is angry!

Want a trip on the Nile?

Here does the Nile start!

There the water goes...

Leadership Summit 2006

This weekend about 150 – 200 students were gathered at FOCUS Training & Camping Centre located by the lakeshore of Lake Victoria. It was a weekend I looked forward to with something we in Norwegian call “skrekkblanda fryd”, (Fear mixed with joy). Fear: The toilets were just holes in the ground, and my stomach was acting funny last week, so I feared that it would be that way in the weekend as well, and unfortunately it was. I had to make friend with that hole and the strong smell of “hjortesalt” that hit me every time I went into the toilet. The other thing I feared was the mornings; we had to get up at 5:30 am. Joy: All the students gathered, the meetings, the worship, to swim in the lake and the good fellowship and the good spirit among everybody!
All in all it became a really good weekend! It was so good to get away from the city and the pollution and meet all the students. The worship-part was maybe the most interesting. The Africans are crazy when it comes to worshiping. I’m used to stand still, maybe clap or put my hand in the air and sing. The Africans are dancing, jumping, clapping, running around, and singing.
Surprisingly we got the opportunity to lead a bible study group each, every morning! But it went well; my group-members were good to answer the questions that the brilliant leader asked them. I’m sure of that we, because of the leader, were the best group. As you read this, put your hands together for the leader! (ME!)

On Saturday we got visitors from Norway! Kathrine and Anne-Margrete were in town to meet Eivind and some friends of Kathrine. So they took a taxi out to Gerenge to say hi and hang out. It was good to see them again and hear how they’re doing.
Sunday was just closure day, and “Team Norway” went to town a little earlier to meet the other Norwegians. And that afternoon it was really good to get the message about that we had the day off on Monday!

Another thing I learned was to drink tea. We got tea for breakfast, we had tea break twice a day and we got tea for lunch and supper. And a thing I taught someone was Ligretto! They really enjoyed the game, and finally I won several timesJ PS Marte and Aina Marie! Or others (Steinar)! Please don’t come with any comments about that I won because they were newbie’s. Please let me have this joy.

Some of th students

Norwegians!

Breakfast, one cup of tea, one egg and one smultring

An eveningmeeting

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On the move

This first month I and Kay have been lodged temporarily with our boss, Sam. But Friday around noon they came and told us that “you’re moving, now”. One of the sons in the house is here to pick up your stuff and take it to your new home before lunch! So we had 10 minutes to pack our bags and grad our things. So now we live in an area called Mulago, 15 minutes walk from the office, but far enough so we don’t hear the MuslimsJ Our hosts we can say are a couple that are well grown up, they have 5 biological sons and after the wife’s sister died she took care of her kids too. But only one of their sons and some of their nephews live here. And we have two housemaids. The wife is a nurse, something that I would appreciated very much right now if she was home, because I smashed my forehead into an open window and started to bleed, and I’m not sure if it will be ok or if I should see a doctor, but I hope for number one at the moment and will wait and see. The man is a senior pastor in the DeliveranceChurch here in Kampala, both are very busy, so we haven’t got the chance to talk to them so much yet. I and Kay share a room in the “guesthouse”, and in the main house there is a big kitchen, a big dining room and a big living room, a corridor where there is two bathrooms and bedrooms. When the power goes off, they have a big battery that provides power for light in the main house and the TV. Here is a cat, a dog, three turkeys and a cock that likes to crow around 6 am every morning.

My poor forehead

Our thin, ugly cat

The turkeys

Our dear friend and wakeupcall

Our livingroom

Ligretto!!

Today we had no special things to do in the office except from reading our books, and that was what I thought it would be, so I came up with a brilliant idea, we could play Ligretto to get a small break from the reading!! The game brought back good memories from Hald, especially of the Ligrettoqueen, Marte! Looking forward to play it again with you in April! Today’s winner was Aina Marie, but just wait I’ll beat you one day. I hope.

Evening with Norwegian food and overnight-meeting

At Saturday we had the girls over to cook food that we use to eat. The headline is a little misleading, since we didn’t make real Norwegian food. But it became a meal it will take a long time to forget! The girls did a marvelous job in the kitchen; they’re adjusting to the African tradition that the kitchen is the girls’ place very wellJ They made pizza and rice porridge, the two things that maybe are the most common things to eat at Saturdays in Norway, at least it were in my family when I was younger. It really made my heart smile!! Thank you girlsJ

After the meal we had to get ready for the overnight meeting at the FOCUS-office. It was a meeting for FATT-memebers and STEM-workers. We were afraid that we were the last persons to come, because we left home five to nine, but only one of the FATT-members had arrived at that time, and ones again we were reminded on the African-time. So at 9:45 we were almost everybody and the leader decided to start. But none of the STEM-workers appeared, except for us from Norway. It was a meeting where we were told how the FATT-members are working and a little of the history of how it started and the vision about the work. We were told that the meeting was supposed to run up to 6 am the next morning, but they wanted to be finished at 3. At 2:15 I went home, I couldn’t stay awake any longer, so I was allowed to go. Kay said they finished at 4! I thought it would be more prayer and worshiping, since I’ve heard that the name of the meeting is overnight-prayer, so I was a little disappointed, but now I know how those meetings work, and can come to the next meeting with other expectations, I think they use to have these meetings every first Saturday in the month

Us, and our friend the imam

I just have to tell you about our alarm clock. It’s probably the best alarm you can get. Oh, you don’t need to be jealous. Even though it’s a very good wakeup call, I would choose to not have it if I could choose. You see, we are so lucky to have a mosque as our closest neighbor. And our friends, the imams have their first service around six o’clock in the morning, which lasts for about 10 minutes then they have a break for about 30 minutes before the next shouting starts and lasts for another 10 minutes. Unfortunately they have a speaker that points straight to our window, a thing that doesn’t make the situation any better. As I’m writing this they just start a service. Maybe I should take advantage of the situation and learn some Arabic? I don’t think so. But if you wake up at six o’clock, looks at you watch, and thinking, “oh, I can sleep more”, please think of me and Kay.