Musasizis

Wairaka B Issue IV // October 2022 We live in a village called Wairaka B (or it may be Wairaka A, I'm not exactly sure where one ends and the next one starts), next to a small town called Bugembe, just outside of a medium town called Jinja, which is a few hours drive away from the crazy bustling capital city of Kampala. Our home is just up the street from the beautiful and lush YWAM Hopeland base, and our landlord is actually a YWAMer. We're situated at the bottom of Mwiri Hill. When the fog starts to settle around the hill in the evening and the moon is dark, the lights of the school perched at the top of the hill look like a floating city. Other times, the morning fog completely blankets the school, and the hill looks very mysterious. Our friend was a former pupil there, and that is how we found out that black leopards live in this area, since he survived a late evening encounter with one on the school football field. I have yet to see any of those wild cats myself, but I run...

The Next Generation Issue III // September 2022 Mjabale! ("Well done" - the standard greeting in both Luganda and Lusoga). Now you respond "kale" (pronounced /kah-le/ not /keil/), which is a catch-all to mean some sort of agreement - eg. okay, yes, you're welcome, I agree, etc... And then you return the greeting, and I'll also respond. Now that we're both welcome here, I want to talk about our lives with children, which seems to be the largest part of our ministries, both past and present, even though we're not even parents ourselves! As a son and daughter from two large families - 10 and 12 children - we have both grown up surrounded by children. I currently have 12 nieces and nephews from my family's side (with one more on the way, and about 15 honorary nieces and nephews through my in-laws), and Sam's side has one nephew, with another on the way. I've been a nanny, Sunday School assistant, then teacher, VBS staff, puppet team member, a...

The Rainbird Issue II //August 2022 It's now reached August, and I've been in Uganda for 9 months. This wasn't my first time to come to the Pearl of Africa but it  is  my longest stay. In my last post, I said I would try to update the blog a few times a month. I think [realistically] I will be doing it once or twice a month. It's strange how time passes - whether we feel like we're doing a lot or not much is going on, the day ends, the week finishes, and before long a new month has passed. However, the more activities we're involved in, the quicker these seasons change. Before I realized that it had really started, dry season ended. And now the rains pour. I have yet to hear the rainbird; but that hasn't stopped these heavens from opening in a tropical downpour. I hope it will also cool the minds and clear the heads. Last week the opposition party planned protests against the rising prices of  everything . The plan was for three days, specifically targeting ...