Humanitarian Field Trip

Sunday morning we met with Ssimbwa and headed toward MBale for Church then on to Soroti where we stayed overnight. 

We passed rice fields, tea and sugar cane plantations and much lush green vegetation along the way.  It was so beautiful.  The roads were
 the worst roads we have ever seen.  Elder Wallace loved it.  Ssimbwa is an interesting person to listen to and we learned much from him. 







Little girl at Church in MBale














The Church in MBale was originally built as a hotel but was never finished.  The Church purchased it for a good price and it is a very nice building to meet in.  Their branch is growing and the Senior couple there, the Bartons are doing an excellent job of helping the leaders run the branch. 










 Simbwa poses beside some toilets that the Church built fairly recently. 









 Students at work at the school.  I am not sure where the rest of them are.









We headed back through the wilderness to three villages in Kuju district to meet with people who have suffered much over the past few years. 

They had a brutal civil war about 20 years ago.  This is the area where Koni ravaged the people and the villages.   We were traveling with Musa Ecweru who is the Minister of disaster relief and humanitarian work for Uganda.  He was the leader of the malitia that ran Koni out of the country.  He told us amazing stories and showed us where the battles took place.  Seems very similar to the Book of Mormon. 

 The three villages we visited were called Amusus, Aejakitoi and Morungatuny in the Kuju subcounty. 

The name Kuju means little heaven.  Ken told them that we were probably the first Canadians to come to heaven.  They all laughed. 
The honorable Minister Ecweru talked to them in their native tongue and they obviously love him.  He praised the church for all that they do for the people in their area.  They have had many floods and droughts in this area and the Church has been the first aid that has arrived to help. 









The children are many.   Well behaved and very beautiful. 










They loved the soccer balls that we brought for them but we could have brought many more.  We had no idea there were so many people up there. 

A soccer game was underway just minutes after the ball was in their hands.  Ssimbwa said that they would dream of the ball and would have a hard time sleeping because they would be excited to get up early and play soccer (football). 






The faces of the people tell a story. 



















































Meeting under the tree








The Honorable Ecweru talking to the people in the shade of a big tree.  Everyone dressed up in their best. 



(to be continued)