Unfortunately, lightning does not capture well with a normal camera - but clouds, colours, and rainbows do!
Lately we've seen some really amazing skies in and around Pader, including the most spectacular lightning we've ever seen (both in terms of beauty, frequency, and sheer power). Unfortunately, lightning does not capture well with a normal camera - but clouds, colours, and rainbows do! Something really strange but beautiful that happened was a huge cloud literally rolling in and over us in a short span of 10 minutes. It was not a typical cloud. One friend called Marianne and asked if she was outside - that it looked like "the end of the world!" The next 4 pictures show the progress as it rolled over us. Oddly, there was no rain, even though there was lots of wind. These two pictures are from Mike's birthday. You can see in one that Mike is at the end of the rainbow this time...he's Marianne's pot of gold! Posts coming soon...visiting the CHE trainers in their home communities, Mike's birthday, trip to Lira, and the special chicken.
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Our language helper, Dennis, is a studied agriculturalist. And so, we have expanded our Acholi Luo repertoire to gardening. Currently, we have 3 gardens on the go: 2 nursery beds (where we’ve planted green pepper, tomato, eggplant, and onions) and 1 kitchen garden (where we’ve planted a local green leafy vegetable). We made the nursery beds first, one at a time. First came clearing the patch of land. Next we dug up the soil and refined it into a mound of top soil (by hand!). Next we got 2 sticks and a rope cut to 1m long, and used another stick to draw lines in the soil, where we sowed the seed. Then we covered the seed by gently brushing soil over it. After that, we mulched by covering the beds with dry grass, followed by watering the whole bed. In terms of maintenance, the beds are watered every day, unless we get a good rain. Germination took 1-2 weeks (we’re still waiting on the second bed). As you can see now, we have tomatoes that are soon going to be transplanted into a larger kitchen garden. To make our kitchen garden, we cleared some land in the same way, and this time dug a circular mound with a V-shape cut in to channel the water. Next we split some bamboo to make a fence with twine for a compost pile in the middle of the garden. Then we drew radial lines, much like with the nursery bed, and sowed the seed. Our “boo” (pronounced “bow”) is coming along nicely, and is supposed to be ready to pick in 2 weeks!
Pader had the great privilege of hosting the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Rev Luke Orombi, in April. The Archbishop position is the highest in the structure of the Anglican Denomination here in Uganda. During his few days here, Pader Girls Secondary School hosted a Youth Convention and a 10th anniversary of its founding organization, Christian Counseling Fellowship – which is a very wonderful local organization that was started to help girls previously abducted by the LRA. The events were joy and Spirit-filled, with wonderful songs, encouraging words for Pader as a district, and lots of good food! One really cool moment during the program was when the Archbishop called on all the government leaders, of which there were many in attendance, including from a national level, to come forward so that he could pray God’s wisdom for them in their work. Another cool moment was when a large group of students from different schools in the District stood up and read a peace pledge. Gifts were also presented to the Archbishop. As you can see here, they included many animals, including this cow (which is currently residing in the compound next to us, until it is transported to its final home). In the midst of the days of celebration, we had a celebration of our own. We celebrated Tom’s birthday by diverting one of the cakes baked for the Archbishop’s visit. You see, Pader Girls Secondary School is the only place we know of in town that has an oven – and we bought the cake off them just in time for them to bake another one to replace it for the celebration.
There's not much to add to these two videos...have a look! [In case you're reading over email, click on the following links: Turkeys & African Rain] |
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October 2021
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