officially a ugandan

I'm not THAT tan yet, although I'm working on it. I now have a piece of technology completely foreign to us in the U.S., but one every single Ugandan has - a dual sim phone. And multiple phone numbers. I now have to my name three phone numbers, two on one phone, a third on another - and a fourth sim card is in my 3G modem, so that makes four. And it's completely normal here. They even sell quad-sim phones, so you can have a line from each of the major carriers on one phone. How crazy is that?

That means I'm also carrying around two phones, which is another Ugandan thing to do. It's fitting that I've crossed this threshold into native living as the farm seems to (finally) be settling down. For the first time we're coming up on paying salaries and buying feeds, and I'm not scrambling to give the farm a loan. We're keeping records better than ever, we're being more efficient with our feeding program, and our workers are doing a great job. I'm also in the early stages of talks to link up with the largest university here, Makerere University, to have our farm act as an extension classroom, for groups of interns to learn hands on from our farm, with university instructors teaching. It's obviously a win win, because these students get practical, hands on training, but the farm gets free labor, oversight from the university, and funding to run the whole program. It lines up directly with our mission to not only run a business, but run one that has tangible impacts on the community - we'll be enabling farmers to run successful piggery businesses on their own.

It's amazing to see the Lord's hand in how all these things come together. All I had to do was sit down with the executive director of this program at Makerere and he wanted to partner with us - he sent me a draft MoU before I got home. I'm amazingly excited to push through to the end of my time here, and work so the farm can go from our current stability to true growth. Maybe it's all because I'm not officially a Ugandan, technologically speaking. Here's to that.

required to trust

Today I went to church, but not the service I had been planning on. Yesterday 'plan A' was to go to an early service then spend the day relaxing at a nice hotel, turning off my phone and taking in some western world luxury. But I woke up to flat gray clouds, and I was proven right in my choice to abandon the hotel - it rained much of the afternoon. So instead I slept in and went to my normal 10am church service. I almost left early to get some shopping done, get in some lunch so I could get back before the rain, but I stuck to the end to meet up with some new friends I'd met a couple of weeks ago. I got to the grocery store as the rain started, and decided to wait it out at the local pizza place - maybe the rain would pass by the time my brick over pizza was finished.

I found two of my new friends at the pizza place and sat down with them to wait for our pizzas. They are both my age and year in school, both went to Alabama (I said "Roll Tide?" to make sure I knew what school they were talking about, and they said "yup!"), the guy almost went to Wheaton, and almost went to law school, and both had been to Uganda before and were working with an orphanage and other ministries around the city.

We were talking about our experiences here in Uganda, and it came up some of the dangers of living here, how we've all had our places broken in to, how we've all seen boda accidents. They told me that two years ago they went to an Ethiopian restaurant to watch the World Cup final; they arrived late for a fluke reason and didn't get their usual table, instead were put into a side room separated from the main room by a wall. The restaurant happened to be one of two places bombed by terrorists that night, that killed something like 75 people, Ugandans and Westerners and injured many many more. But in that back room, where they were seated, their whole group of 7 people were unscathed. Even people closer to the door were injured, but they escaped the blast.

God was in control of every event that day leading to their safety and to their testimony, but really, he was in control of every event that day, events that led to a terrorist attack. It's obvious He had a greater purpose for them, the initial inspection shows God's sovereignty and how he protects us. But there were hundreds of people not so fortunate, victims of a terrorist attack. What do we do with that? It's not too hard to follow a train of thought to randomness and chaos, and it's much harder to figure out God's plan in it all. But then I think to even today, and how it was not in my original plan but God's that I even have lunch with these two. And sometimes God lets us connect the dots and see his plan and give him glory for its goodness, and other times we're kept in the dark, required to trust.

thankful

I'll refrain from titling more posts about my showering habits, but the shower I took today, phenomenal. It's amazing how a nights sleep can take away worry and stress like a magical remedy. Nothing's changed in the morning, except you have LESS time and things are closer - but they all seem ok. And even though I did not want to wake up this morning (I contained my alarm snoozing to three hits) sometimes all it takes is starting a day you don't want to find out it's not going to be as bad as you thought. Now life here throws some craziness at you everyday. But the today was great. When a day like today works out, and I can feel really good about taking my dinner on the patio here, overlooking a beautiful sky and setting sun, I'm really overcome by thankfulness for all the people that have supported me through the tough times, and are praying for me behind the scenes and across an ocean, because it is largely due to that massive effort that I'm here, in this good spot, today.

So I'm not going to say more than that I'm thankful for everyone who's out there reading, for sending up little prayers and big prayers and fb messages and comments that let me know the people I love are out there thinking about me. It's the right perspective on life too; I think it's a big circle (prayers to bless you make you feel thankful, which in turn makes you feel blessed) that God intended. So here's to being thankful.

I took a shower!

I guess that's not the biggest news, maybe if you were near me... I moved out of the guest house, away from the farm, to a place of my own, space, independence. Well, not literally more space, because for the next month I'll be staying at a hotel, sleeping and maybe doing some work and eating some meals in my room, but lounging on the hotel patio, eating meals in restaurants around the area. The biggest thing is GOING to work and coming home when I'm done. It's a shift that forces the farm to run by itself. And honestly, it is. We've done the big things that I can do, we're just finishing putting in place a new management structure, and our farm manager is committed and doing good work. We still have tons of challenges, right down to the most basic one that our pigs don't grow fast enough, but that's really not for me.

There's still a lot of stress of running this whole operation and being the only one over here. I am the country director and the project manager, the monitoring and evaluation specialist and the logistics and accounting departments. And I'm trying to help start the next project, so I'm trying to pull double duty as a project manager. But being away from the farm puts the farm in perspective, focuses me to work through our farm manger - which builds him up, develops sustainability, and saves my sanity. No more screaming pigs at night.

We sold pigs this morning, and just as in everything before my best laid plans never pan out as I want them. Hopefully learning to fight through that here in Uganda will help me plan and succeed in the states. It can only help. Also I'm not finished with marketing, I'm just a week or two into my new plan, there's a lot of work to be done.

Lots of good, lots to still work on. And the bottom line is, I took a shower. Here's to that.

the roller coaster

Have I used this metaphor before? These last few days were certainly a roller coaster, an old school one that just sends you down a massive drop then twists and turns until it brings you back up again. I liken these last few days to a certain roller coaster at Lake Compounce, the one old wooden one that seems fun and nostalgic as you walk in the park and hear it rumble by with kids screaming on it. But I think they're screaming in pain, because it's so unbelievably shaky that every second on it is painful. And the most relief you get is when the ride comes to a full and complete stop.

Now that my ride has come to a full and complete stop, well, really it did so yesterday, I have a sense of peace that seemed impossible to feel amidst the jerky and shaky weekend. It's amazing to me that my trial coincided perfectly with what the disciples must have faced as they saw Jesus arrested, tortured and crucified, then waited in fear and uncertainty until a massive turn around, a renewal, the resurrection, that took their painful journey to a full and complete stop. And for me just like them, the day after the resurrection wasn't about sitting in the same place, but moving on to the new thing that's in front of them.

Over the weekend I felt the ground beneath my shake and start to fall away; a build up of work stresses and daily life stresses and home stresses led me to search for plane tickets back to the U.S. But I didn't buy one, thankfully, because as quickly as the ground started to fall away it started to feel firm again. My friends and family both reached out to me and prayed for me, a confluence of encouragement that kept me going. The fear and uncertainty the disciples felt that Saturday, I felt Saturday too.

Maybe it's going too far with the metaphor to hope that my work and life here will be a new creation, just how Jesus' resurrection ushered in God's new creation. So far it seems like it. I'm working on enjoyable things today, I'm still across the street from the farm but letting the farm take care of itself, while I plan how to empower the farm to not just survive but grow. I'm looking for new places to live away from the farm. My time left here is less than the time I've spent here, and the ratio is looking better and better every day.

My weekend is a testament to how God works through the roller coaster - through your friends and family, prayers you don't even know were uttered, and by rewarding faithfulness when the shaking ground seems to be sliding away from you. And roller coasters aren't one time things, so here's to learning how to get through them, thanking the ones who help you, and being better for it by being on the other side.

NOW its the rainy season

About a month ago I was worried that the rainy season was starting, and that we hadn't finished packing away all our grain and that it would get in the way of everything. Well, I think it was supposed to have started, but there's been a bit of a drought here. So now it's starting. Luckily we do have all our grain packed away, and I'm much more comfortable getting things done that I'm not completely scared by the rain. It'll probably make things harder, but not impossible. It's much cooler out.

I wasn't sure quite what the rainy season looked like. It would rain hard for a few hours, then take a week off. Not the rainy season. Now, it rained yesterday, twice, and it rained last night and this morning, HARD. To the point where half of my guest house got flooded. It's not as bad as it sounds, all the floors are tile, and the house is on a slant so that my bedroom and the sitting room are untouched, just the kitchen and the area where the kitchen table is. Nothing is ruined, I'm pretty sure.

The rain makes it harder for the farm hands, I think. I think the smell from the manure gets worse in the rain, and it's just harder to slosh manure around when its raining. But maybe the water in the pens helps them clean a bit. Maybe.

It really makes traveling hard. Because so many of the roads are dirt roads that get muddy and slick, and are very narrow, with ruts throughout and drainage trenches down the sides, it's pretty hazardous to drive on some roads. And the boda drivers have a better handle on not falling in a ditch, or getting out if they do, but that doesn't mean there's a less chance of slipping in general. Plus you can't take a boda anywhere when it's actually raining, which it has been all morning.

It's nice to just sit at home on a rainy day; having got up early enough that I don't have to jump into action it feels kind of like that. So here's to the rainy season.

the little things

I'm thinking about the little things today because my plate is full of them. Selling pigs on weekends is a big thing - if I don't deliver, we lose customers and take leaps backward. But all the things I need to do today I could do tomorrow. They're little things in a number of work streams I have going. And as any of you will know, these little things are just as important to the overall success as the big things.

It's that the little things build, so maybe in aggregate they're as important as a large event, but they're more difficult in that they need to be started earlier and kept up. In college, when you have a paper due, you can spend a little amount of time each day working on the research and writing, or, really, you can do it all in a night. So that's the mentality to fight, because all these activities have to happen on distinct days, and require working with people that can be inconsistent, and take a long time to be able to move onto the next step.

The thing that ties the little events to the big ones is that the little things will define what those big moments are. So here my little things are going to different buyers, assessing their demands, and taking that to my current buyers to get better prices. All so my big event of selling pigs this weekend can be more successful.

I think in life too we skip the little things often, it's just easier, but don't realize that 1) they aggregate into big things that we miss, and 2) they lead into the big events of our lives, and if we miss the little things our big events won't be so big.

So I'm working on the little things today, and pushing them on the farm and in our marketing and in the other things I have to do, but then focusing on the little things in life - lifting my friends and family up in prayer, reading scripture every day, being joyful with everyone I meet. So here's to the little things.

work weeks

Here in Uganda, working on Saturday is fairly standard. Like the weekend is only one day long. Kids go to school on Saturdays, so why not have adults work. So yesterday I was working. And today I had to finish up the two things I was working on yesterday, plus have my weekly call with my boss. So at the end of all that, I'm still tired, and about to start another long work week. And by long I mean approximately 7 days long. I'm not the kind of tired that needs a good night's sleep. I'm about to hit the hay, before 10, so I think I'll get one. I need a day of relaxation, where I completely put the farm behind me.

I have a day like that in mind. When my friend Dave was here visiting we went to this posh hotel, got guest passes to the spa and pool and just lounged it up all day. I'm going to do that in a couple of weeks. When we square this farm away, or have our first profitable month, or something like that, I'm going to take a whole day, turn off my phone, and just chill out. Now I know why people hate their blackberry's. But I think mine is worse. These pigs are 50 ft from me. I can't get away.

That sounds a little depressing. I'm looking to make this a challenge, that this farm will be running by the time I leave. And then anything else I get finished will be icing on the cake. I have about 11 more weeks. So here's to all 11 of those work weeks.