Update from Kampala, Uganda

Dear Family and Friends:

Another update on what is happening here. Uganda is preparing to host CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) in November and the Queen of England and Prince Charles will be coming to Uganda. There are 53 commonwealth countries and all of the heads of those countries will be coming. Consequently Kampala is in a state of disruption and restoration. They are fixing potholes in the streets, planting flowers, putting in sidewalks and even painting lines down the middle of some streets that are along the route, the roads that are not dirt that is. The government also is telling the people in the area of the meetings, that they need to bathe and wash their clothes and look presentable during the time that the dignitaries are here. We even heard that some of the people will be removed to other parts of the city because they are not a good advertisement for Uganda.

All this preparation is causing a lot of headaches in driving for us. The government has been sealing off Kampala’s major roads forcing hundreds of people to abandon taxis, and vehicles and walk home. Police closed the roads in a mock demonstration of its readiness for CHOGM a few days ago and even the alternative routes were impassable because of the ongoing roads repairs around the city. All of us missionaries will be glad when this meeting is over. We don’t anticipate civil unrest or trouble, but we all are planning on stocking up on food and essentials, hunkering down and will stay off the roads until it is over. Ron and I plan on working on some of our projects far from Kampala. The District President has already been in our office with a form for us to fill out. The government has asked him to account for all of his people, names, addresses, why we are here, etc.

There is a big helicopter airstrip across from our church in Kololo. They normally have some security there, but the street in front of the church has been completely blocked off several times in the last little while. We have had to talk our way past gun toting military people to get to our humanitarian office in the church. We think during CHOGM that we will be unable to get to our office at all, so for a while we will be working out of our apartment. This presents a little problem because we do not have the internet at our apartment.

A few weeks ago we were working on some projects in our office and Ron and I were the only ones in the Church. We noticed, as we drove into the church parking lot earlier, that the airstrip across the street was full of military people marching in formation and practicing drills in preparation for the queen’s arrival. They were President Museveni’s personal military attachment, “Uganda’s Best”. All of a sudden the sky got very dark and a huge black rain cloud settled over the church, the wind begin to blow and we knew that any minute buckets of rain would be coming down. We heard running feet and shouting and we looked out and saw what appeared to be the whole Ugandan army streaming into the church for refuge. We looked at each other and wondered if we were under siege and the church was being taken over. It was a little unsettling. We went out in the hall and spoke with some of them and they just wanted to get in out of the rain. So we showed them into the primary room and some other rooms and they laughed and talked and waited out the storm. It was quite a sight, the president of Uganda’s army taking cover in the Mormon Church.

We are almost finished with one of our water projects in the Impigi District as far as getting the bore holes repaired and working. We have attached a picture of Ron pumping the first clean water out of one of these bore holes. This one hadn’t been working for several years. As you can see people are gathered around us in anticipation of this event. The people in the blue overalls are part of our contractor’s crew and they are very efficient and knowledgeable about their work and we feel fortunate to have this crew working with us.

A few days ago we went to visit another potential project. This project is located outside of Semoto, which is about 40 miles northwest of Kampala, way out in a village. The road to Semoto was brutal and probably the worse road we have ever been on. It was about 35 kilometers of unpaved red clay road with deep ruts and pits in it. If you count the bumps up and down it was probably 80 kilometers, but the countryside was gorgeous and the air smelled clean and wonderful. It was a beautiful warm day and the reception on our arrival was well worth any discomfort we felt getting there.

We were met and shown a building where they want the Church to help establish a grain mill. We visited some of the people’s homes and gardens and they talked about some of the diseases that have infested their crops. They then took us to the local school, which the Church had built several years ago. It serves 14 parishes or small villages and is really a wonderful asset to that area. There is a plaque on the outside of the school that said “Donated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”. The school children were awaiting our arrival and were lined up in about eight or nine lines in front of the school, each had one hand on the shoulder of the kid in front of them. It looked very official. They opened the ceremony with a prayer, then we all sang the Ugandan National Anthem and a welcome speech was given by one of the students.

The head master gave us a tour of the school and we were taken to a reception room where the student’s parents, as well as all the board members of the organization wanting us to establish a grain mill, were awaiting our arrival. They were dressed in their very best clothes and our chairs with covered with beautiful hand embroidered cloths. They had an agenda written on the board and a prayer was offered and several people spoke and then Ron and I spoke. This was all done through an interpreter. We hoped that he didn’t tell the parents that we were going to buy desks and other things for the school because we hadn’t even heard about that until we got there. We went there thinking they just wanted a mill, but from the applause we kept getting from the parents and other people, we think they were told it was not only a mill, but also desks for the school and other supplies that the Church was funding. We also felt that they thought it was a done deal. They closed the meeting with another prayer and then led us into a small room in the school where they had a nice lunch for us. They had prepared all kinds of African food and their best cloth and dishes were being used. It is always a little risky to eat in the villages, but it was such a nice thing for them to do, that we said another prayer and ate. Although we had to drive back to Kampala on those terrible roads, we had really enjoyed the visit. We think that we will provide the desks.

We called home early on Monday morning to wish Ryan good luck and tell him how proud we were of him. He leaves for the MTC on Monday. He will be there for two months learning Spanish. Aunt Darcy and Cousin Connor flew in from Wisconsin for the farewell and Aunt Kami and Uncle Brent flew in from California, Uncle Matt and Aunt Pam and Torri and Ryan and all of Matt’s kids were there. We spoke with all of them and even the grandkids. Ron thought it was great until Jake told him that they were going to see the Seahawks play the Forty Niners on Monday night without him! It was so wonderful that they were all together and supporting Ryan, but made us a little homesick. We at least got to be a small part of the get together. Matt (President Latimer) had just set Ryan apart for his mission when we called. He had also set us apart six months ago. Ryan’s missionary picture and plaque will hang by our plaque in the hall at the Harbour Pointe Ward building. We think that is so wonderful. We feel that we and our families continue to be blessed and we are very grateful. The work is going well and we enjoy our little branch in Mengo. We love going there and feel we are really needed. Senior couples are so needed in these pioneer missions. We are appreciated and feel that we are the ones getting the benefit.

We were excited to hear the news that Roger’s musical won the Los Angeles Ovation award for a musical in an intimate theater. This is his musical that will be opening off Broadway soon – congratulations are in order.

Love to all. The Beans

P.S. Happy thanksgiving to all – we are worried about the turkeys here because they are really scrawny looking and scrounge around for their food on the trash dumps that are scattered around the city. We will enjoy our dinner at the mission home with the rest of the couples but will certainly miss being with the family.