Namulonge Secondary School's first swing set

Pastor Mark and the best carpenter in Namulonge (maybe Africa) as well as teachers from the school (Isaac and David) constructed the first swing set the kids have ever seen on the school grounds. Most of the work was done without electricity (we call our friend Paul and he provided a generator from the Research Center where he works.) The children took turns swinging until late in the evening. Thank you all for all of your hard work !!!!!!!

Books for the children of Namulonge, Uganda

Loading, hauling, separating, categorizing, storing, reloading, re-hauling, and unloading again in K.C was more that worth it (see the photos above of the happy children and teachers:) Thanks to Catherine (who also handled just about all of the books) and everyone else who assisted in this worthwhile endeavor ! I am missing my family and friends in Uganda and praying that I'll be able to help Project Restore even more in 2011 and to return to Namulonge in August to be with and to help the people of the area in any way that I can. This year's team was GREAT and I hope that we can keep in touch as the year progresses and again serve in Uganda together !

7 months until August!

Hello friends!

I am blogging in the PR office, we are hard at work! It has been almost 2 months since we went to Namulonge, Uganda, and I miss it very much. Going to Namulonge was definitely the experience of a lifetime... one I hope to repeat in August! I would recommend that everyone should try to experience Africa, because there is no place like it. Their hospitality and kindness was amazing, and inspiring. Just how happy everyone was with what they had really makes you realize just how much you take for granted... like simple things: shoes, phone and internet.. The children are the happiest children I've ever seen, and they don't have video games, gameboys, cell phones, or boxes full of toys. I also noticed how greedy most of us are (or me, at least), we have to have everything but we don't really need any of it! It makes you analyze the true definition of the word "necessity".

Since I returned from Namulonge I have been trying to write letters to two very special children there, but for some reason I have been having a hard time deciding what to say. One of the hardest parts of Africa was not being able to adequately express yourself because of the language barrier. Our slang terms simply do not translate, and even words like "cute" are hard to explain.

On one hand, coming to work at the office is so great, because we all became a sort of family in Uganda, and it is nice to be around them again and remember great stories and help do some of the other work for Project Restore. On the other hand, it sort of makes me sad because we are here, in the US, and not back home in Africa.

Those are just a few pictures from Africa... who knows, maybe in a few months you will join us to meet the wonderful people there :)

-Rachel