Pictures from the lock-down

By Anthony:

There hasn't been too much to blog about during this time of COVID-19 since we are unable to do trainings with large groups of people. But life continues and we have stayed active. The most exciting news is that we accepted new positions with Resonate Global Mission! We will tell you more about this in our next prayer letter. Here are some random photos from the last 4-5 months.

Before the lock-down restrictions started, I began an exercise group for local pastors in Soroti. I wanted to help them take care of themselves and stay healthy. We began with a small number, but we were gradually increasing until COVID-19 hit. Below is a photo of the pastors at our house after we finished jogging together. We also had plans to try out football (soccer), swimming, weight lifting, biking, and ping pong together. Hopefully, sometime later this year or next year we can resume our group.

During the lock-down, my nice computer chair broke. But Sara came up with a simple fix using a stool and strong wire. It looks unsteady but it's actually quite sturdy, and I am more comfortable now than I was before since now the chair doesn't move too much.

Some cool animal pictures:

A mushroom which grew in our yard. We added it to our stir-fry. We made very sure with local friends that it was safe to eat. We wouldn't take a risk! The one mushroom was like a whole packet worth of mushrooms from the store. It was huge.

A funny jar:

We made a fun meal of Ethiopian food the other night.

We have two great dogs, but both have significant health problems we have been dealing with this year. Thankfully God provided us with wonderful friends who are vets who have been guiding us as much as they can. For Beorn, we had to make a cone of shame using a large water bottle. It worked well, and although Beorn didn't like it at first, he adapted to it very quickly and it was like he forgot it was there.

We were finally able to take the cone off of him and he is doing better now, though he still likes to sleep in awkward positions.

Sara's fowl have reproduced like crazy. The cock (rooster) is my nemesis. He crows all day long every day, and it makes it hard to do zoom calls or talk on the phone. I threaten to eat him but Sara claims he is necessary if we want to keep having new chicks!

Here are the chickens eating a feast of termites that I exposed for them. It's hard to see in the video but there were hundreds of termites under the wood.

When the Ugandan government first said that everyone had to wear masks, people actually started to do so and it seemed about 1/2 or even 3/4 of the people in town wore them. But then the government promised to give masks to every person. After that promise, almost no one wears masks even if they own them, and we feel a bit foolish being some of the few people to wear a mask in town. Unfortunately the promised free masks never came. It's been a really weird year, in that restrictions are enforced in some places but not in others. Kampala, the capital, is very regimented, but where we are, people are having weddings and burials with hundreds or thousands of people, and without masks, even though the government rules are 10 people for burials and 7 people for weddings, and that is with getting special permission from local officials. As guests in the country of Uganda we are trying to personally obey all the rules even when they aren't being enforced or followed by our friends. It puts us in an awkward position sometimes. Uganda has had its first reported deaths due to COVID-19 in the past week. Restrictions were just beginning to lessen in the country, but now perhaps things will get really strict again. 

It's always disconcerting to find a snake skin in your yard when you live in Africa! (There are mambas and cobras in our area, especially the farther you get to the outskirts of town). But I am 90% sure, according to my snake book, that this is from a harmless snake. Anyway, it hasn't been seen again.

And a different living snake, but harmless. This one has been seen a few times. It freaked our guard out when he wanted to urinate in the latrine and it was there on the wall.

Sometimes when you buy meat from the butcher here, you get mostly skin and fat. This is pork and if you look closely you'll see that the meat was only about 1/4 or less of what we got. I read online that pork fat is actually quite nutritious. When we eat pork at friend's homes, we also usually get a lot of skin and fat (and hair), but the way they fry it, it ends up being really good and I enjoy it. In this case we made this into meatballs, and it turned out well.

You can see a little yard maintenance below. Papaya trees grow incredibly fast like most things in Uganda with such a great climate. Many of our trees had gotten way too tall to be useful, with their papayas out of reach. And these are weak trees despite their appearance and some were in danger of falling on the house. So we got help from Raymond, one of our guards, to cut them and pull them down. The trunks are so soft you can whack them apart with a machete.

Sara is a master farmer and our friends were shocked at the size of her cassava that she and Walter (one of our other guards) harvested together. This is from one plant only. Cassava is not very nutritious but it fills the stomach, and Sara has been able to help a lot of hungry people in Soroti with her cassava during the last several months.

Sara's garden in the plot next to us is becoming like a jungle. This is an old picture already. Many of the plants are taller than the walls. I always remember what our friend Jim told us during one of our first visits to Uganda. "In Uganda, you can just put a stick in the ground and it will grow." It's funny but true. The cassava you see above and below is planted just like that. As you harvest it, you break apart the stems and then just put the stick into the ground. It will then grow into another huge plant. 

Last, a picture post is never complete without baby rabbits.