When I'm Not Working

Responsibilites with ACTS keeps me busy here, but it's not my entire life. Here are a few favorite non-work moments:

Baking Christmas cookies with Judah and Samuel on my previous weekend in town. Nothing like the messy joy of cut-outs with young friends! :-)

Laundry and tent-cleaning! Seriously, I actually enjoy this. I listen to music and create a bit of order an otherwise unpredictable existence. I don't understand how so much dust and clutter can accumulate in a small space so quickly. Oh, and of course washing clothes takes a bit longer here. :-)

Sometimes I sit in my tent and read or study language. When that happens I'm often joined by Michael, and I let him play with whatever he won't harm.


A Frisbee, a football and soccer ball are good tools for building relationships with the children around here. Today a few of us from ACTS scrimmaged a local soccer club.

The one day I took my camera to the field. The kids totally swarmed it and wanted to see themselves in the display.


I'm glad I brought my guitar, which provides another option for free moments. Faith enjoys singing with me and modeling the guitar too.


At the beginning of November I saw what has to be the cleanest city in the world - Kigali, Rwanda. One Saturday each month all the shops close and everyone is required to go out and clean the streets. Amazing! I think our cities need to learn a few things.

A view of normally-crowded Kigali streets. They have just been cleaned, and only tourists are allowed to be moving around in the city until 1pm.

Four of us Westerners decided to go find the edge of the Rwenzori Mountains national park. After two hours of fast hiking we saw the park (the dark color in the photo is the tree line of the park edge), but didn't have time to make it there. We climbed to the top of the highest hill instead, and topped out at 6500ft.

The beauty of this place is incredible.


Last week a spontaneous party emerged at camp. It included roasting maize (corn), a rousing game of cards, loud Christmas music, and dancing by Willis & Michael who were being watched intently by the village children through the camp gate.

A Glimpse of the Future

When I begin new work, it's always nice to catch a glimpse of what I'm working toward. I had this opportunity when the ACTS team visited last year's water project in Nyakyera. We attended the official ribbon cutting and dedication by Bishop George, a charismatic man with a ready and contagious smile.

I was awed by the excitement and appreciation expressed by the people for receiving clean water in their community.

Children found a place to stand where they could watch the ribbon cutting.

The following week, we had another celebration to officially begin the work here in Bwesumbu, our current project area.

The Bishop of this diocese came to break the ground, and the community members came out to perform for the ACTS team as a way of thanking and welcoming us.

These school children are reciting a poem called "Water Is Life" at the Bwesumbu dedication ceremony.

The local dance includes recorder-like instruments, drums, bells on the ankles, and movement of the torso that is hard to replicate. :-)

Of course the celebration included food. There was not question of where our meat came from. Two goats spent the previous night in our compound and were slaughtered on the morning of the celebration. (We watched the process, but I've not shared the more graphic photos.) :-)

A Day in My Life

A deep, resonant drumming penetrates my sleep. The drum's pulse increases to a climax, then ends. Time to get up. The horizon is lightened by the just-risen sun - it's 6:15am. The drum calls ACTS staff to morning prayer before breakfast.

Welcome to my day. No one knows what could happen in a day, but there is a general framework that each one fits into. You are free to tag along with me to see a day from my perspective. Ready? Tugyende! (Let's go!)

Still a bit groggy, I leave tent row and head to breakfast.

There is little question and variance in what I anticipate eating today. Breakfast is millet porridge (quite tasty w/ a bit of sugar), a couple buns (sometimes w/ "Blue Band" margarine if we have it), and a hard boiled egg when we have them. Oh, and possibly a banana.



This month the health and environment teams (L to R above: Edmond, Rachel, Rose, me, Jovanice, Faith) are conducting a baseline survey. We visit homes and ask questions about health, sanitation, agriculture and environmental topics. This helps us know the community and how we should tailor our education programs. We must visit at least 150 homes, and each visit takes an hour. Lots of work to be done!



On the way to our surveying, we stop to see the first day of digging at the water source, which will provide water to the valleys below. People who will receive water do most of the digging.


After a 20 minute rough-road drive, we set out on foot past coffee, banana and bean "plantations".

This is a typical compound of a wealthier family. (Their wealth is indicated by the brick house.)

This is a more typical mud house. Most houses have metal roofs here, but some are thatched. Our guide told us that both heads of this household have died, so it was abandoned.

We return to camp for lunch at 1pm. The one thing here that is punctual is mealtime. I am always amazed at this because nothing else is "on time". Lunch is beans and greens with a variety of starch options: rice, matoke (mashed and boiled green bananas; this is considered a must-have staple), posho (corn-based "meal"), potatoes (called Irish potatoes), maybe sweet potatoes. Sometimes there is shredded and cooked cabbage instead of greens.


After a rain storm complete with hail, we head back to surveying... It is so beautiful here. The hills still make me stop and stare.


Because Rose wanted to buy beans from a local farmer, we end of picking beans to make the process go faster! As I said, you never know what could happen in a day!


We arrive back to camp at 5pm for tea. Today we are in for a treat. There were no buns so Edward makes mandazis - fried pastries.

Tea is my favorite time of the day. It signals the end of a work day and we get to eat the most familiar food I have at camp. :-) We have buns, tea (black tea with sugar and sometimes milk), and often fruit. Yum!


After emailing or doing some laundry or playing cards, it's dinner time (7pm). Tonight is meat night! We get meat on Mondays and Fridays. Other nights it's beans. The same starch varieties are available, with the addition of "tapioca" (a meal made from cassava flour). This is the favorite of local people like Faith.

The evening ends with "fellowship": singing, a Scripture devotional, and prayer. (Sorry there's no picture. It gets dark at 7:30pm, so there's not much to see.)

Most people have lights out by 9pm, and I am quickly adjusting to that schedule! If you're still reading, thanks for sharing the day with me. Goodnight!

ACTS 101

When I came to work with ACTS I was quite foggy on the details of what ACTS does. I could read the mission statement (included at the top of my blog), but how I wondered exactly how they accomplish this. This entry is intended to answer questions that you may have about ACTS and my work. I am still learning much about this organization, but this is what I've discovered so far!

A typical view of this countryside. (That's my team walking ahead of me.)

What is ACTS? Read the mission statement at the top of the blog. :-)

Focus of ACTS Projects: ACTS works in a "project model" (not an official term), with the focus being to provide clean water to communities that demonstrate need for clean water and where it is practically feasible to build a water system. While building the water system, education/training on health and agriculture is provided in the community.

How big is the project area? When I came, I was picturing working with one small village at a time. In reality, the water system and education/training extends to multiple communities. There are houses scattered all over the hillsides here, not arranged in a clustered "village" as you might expect. The water pipeline winds through the valleys for approx. 6 miles and is proposed to serve 7,730 people from ~40 taps in the system. These same people are the ones we work with on health and agriculture.

Water systems: ACTS is currently using two types of water systems. The main one is a gravity flow system (GFS) which captures high elevation water sources delivers water to a number of communities via a pipeline system. They are also construction rainwater harvest technology (building a tank to catch water running off roofs) for communities above water sources.

Health & Agro-forestry: While the engineers build pipelines, environment and health teams (this is where I'm working) conductive survey of over 100 homes in the project area. We speak with female heads of households, and ask questions on topics such as water availability, their family's general health, illness and mortality, disabilities, HIV/AIDS, nutrition, sanitation, type of fuel used for cooking, availability of fuel, food shortages, farming practices, tree cutting/planting, etc. After the survey we compile data and begin training local volunteers in health and agriculture, who then do trainings and presentations throughout the communities.

Who works for ACTS? There are 20-30 Ugandan staff that do the majority of work for ACTS. They manage the various project areas. There are several full-time Canadian staff that direct the organization and do the necessary administrative work. Each year volunteers and interns come for six-months at a time to help with a new project. There is usually a group of 10-12 Canadians here, but this year there are only 6 of us Westerners. I am a bit of an anomoly in that I'll be around for two years, and that I'm from the U.S. :-)

Community Involvement: ACTS works with the local leaders and community members from the beginning of a project. This partnership is vital. There is a water committee made up of local people that manages decisions about water access (and handles other issues I'm not aware of yet). There are committees set up for each tap to monitor water allocation and maintainance of the pipeline. Local leaders direct us through the community as we take surveys, and act as mediaries to the local population to get them involved and taking ownership of the project. People benefitting from the water are expected to help dig trenches and lay pipe. Local leaders also select volunteers to be trained to teach their community on health and environmental topics.

How long does a project last? ACTS staff work in a community for approximately 10 months while the building and education is taking place. During that time we build a temporary "camp" (see previous post for details) for our living quarters. Afterward, there is some follow up to see that committees are still functioning, that the pipeline is being maintained, and to check with the volunteer educators in the community.

Beautiful morning glories outside a house on one of our walks through the community.

How does ACTS express its Christian roots? While provided technical services and meeting physical needs, ACTS seeks transformational development in a community - change at the deepest level (spiritually and in attitudes) that will affect all aspects of life. ACTS partners significantly with the Church of Uganda (working with a church group opens many doors here), but because the Candadian government funds a large portion of the projects, overt "evangelism" cannot be a funded part of the project. This, however, does not prevent Christ's name from being proclaimed. Most of the staff are believers, and it is obvious in the way they relate to each other that Christ's love is present. Each night many staff meeting for singing, prayer and Scripture reading. Last year two volunteers (Jefferey & Rosalyn) led a group from a previous project area through a discipleship program. This year the Jeff & Rosalyn have returned to reach another project area and do the second "round" of training with the first group. This group will then be ready to go start more discipleship groups. (Here in Uganda, Christianity has been described as a mile wide and an inch deep.) During this project I have been asked to lead a group of 15 ACTS staff through the discipleship curriculum. They are hungry to learn more, and I am excited about this. I can write more about this later...

I hope this has been helpful to better understand our work here. Please ask questions to prompt answers on areas I have overlooked. There is so much I could say. I am trying to condense it for your sake. :-) Sorry for the number of words in the post and the dearth of photos.

Soon to come... "A Day in my Life" and "People"...

A Tour of "Camp", a.k.a My Home

Welcome to the ACTS work camp, otherwise known as "camp." This is the temporary living quarters set up to house the 20 or so Ugandan and N. American ACTS staff while we work in an area on water, health and environmental projects. A project typically lasts 6-10 months. I believe I will be here at least 4-5 months, perhaps longer.


My favorite view of camp, when the sun is rising like in this photo. The shorter term staff (like Canadian interns and myself) stay in the tents. The Ugandan staff stay in the dorm-like buildings in the background. There's a banana plantation behind the grass mat fence on the right side of the photo.


Our living quarters...safari tents on platforms under grass-thatched roofs. My second favorite view - rather exotic, I think.


And the tents are quite spacious. I get one all to myself. This is my "house"/bedroom/only space where I am not watched. :-) I sleep on the left under the mosquito net, although the elevation is high enough (5,000 ft.), and I've hardly seen any mosquitoes.


Our office building. Not quite like the high-rise buildings of major cities, but still functional. The gray cylindrical object in the the foreground is our hand-washing station. They place them outside the dining hall and latrines for convenient hand washing.


And the inside of our office. We just got a new tin roof b/c the grass and plastic one started leaking seriously after they worked on the solar panels. Speaking of solar panels... If we get sun, we have power and I have (slow) internet access. If it rains for too long, it's a no go. Our only connection to the outside world are our phones.


View from the office door. In the distance you'll see a church building and Tim meeting with the water management committee in traditional African style - out in the open, and under a tree if it is sunny. Michael is the small boy in the foreground. More pics of him later...


Looking into the camp compound from the gate. The dining hall is the building you see.

Hope you enjoyed the tour! More to come later...

New places & people

I have always loved the feeling of the first airplane touchdown into a new land. I eagerly anticipate being freed from the stuffy, dry air of the cabin to discover what smells, climate and sites I will find outside. A rich, warm and earthy scent greeted me in Uganda. The sites and sounds have been a mixture of totally new languages, cultural nuances, food, etc. to familiar ones I knew in Kenya - the always-present coo of the laughing dove, diesel fumes in town, red earth, building structures, and more. Familiar or not, I am always discovering new things. Here are some of the sites and people of the first week:

One of the new big shopping malls in the capital. Africa is not all grass huts, savanna, or jungle!


On the way to Mbarara town from the capital, Kampala, we crossed the equator! The five us us are the new arrivals for this project: Bern & Nancy (they have been here twice before), me, Gary and Ray.

Having a little fun with my new young friends Judah & Samuel. (They are the children of my boss Tim and his wife Joanne.)

A typical trading center that we pass through on the way to Mbarara town. Notice the motorcycle. Called a boda boda, it's a common form of public transport.

Entering Mbrarara town, about 5 hours from the capital Kampala. Nowadays you can find most of what you need here without going to Kampala.

We arrive at Canada House, just to the west of Mbarara! This is the main base, and where we stay when not out in the rural project areas.

The gazebo at Canada house, which doubles as a meeting room and classroom. Here we studied Lhukozo and Runyankole, met with the local leader of the area, and heard from a doctor about staying well during our time in Uganda.

During orientation, Andrin prepared wonderful lunches representing major people groups of the area and their typical foods. That day was beef stew, steamed sweet potatoes, dodo (greens) & peas, and cooked shredded cabbage.


Ray and Gary proudly display the first meal the three of us cooked - fresh Tilapia from Lake Victoria, rice and veggies. We bought all the supplies in the market that day, and watched the fish being gutted and filleted in front of us.

By the end of orientation week, we were comfortable in town and could find necessary items, bargain for a reasonable price, and not get hit by boda bodas, matatus or other vehicles (pedestrians have no rights). We have even begun to drive the ACTS vehicles - stick shift pickups on the left side of the road! Yes, not too many dull moments here.

Just as we got settled in Mbarara, we moved... but that will be the next post. Stay tuned!

Welcome! This is the future site that will follow Emily's work with ACTS in southwestern Uganda. Please visit again soon to see the first real post. I fly out of the US on October 3rd, and will be updating it as soon as possible after that. There are too many details before I leave to do it now. :-)