By Lauren
Dear Family and Friends,
It seems crazy that we've lived in our
We have now been Gulu residents for just over a month! There
has been a lot to settle into: getting things fixed on the house, clearing the
grounds for gardening, learning where to buy things in town, building
community, Eric getting into his work and learning what is expected of him.
We are grateful for the opportunity to grow and learn!
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| Our town of Gulu; it is currently under a lot of construction! |
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| Our compound (photo taken standing at gate). |
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| Ceasar and I clearing the compound. |
We really love the beauty of our home, the space that it
offers and the location here in the north, where a handful of people pass
through and we are able to see those friends.
We were able to host a few new friends for dinner, also
Eric’s uncle JC was in the northwestern part of Uganda and came by with his
team for lunch, and a handful of my former students from South Sudan are
studying at university here, so they came for dinner. Another good friend of
mine was in town, so I had time to catch up with her and there are a few other
friends coming in the next few weeks!
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| Eric's uncle, JC Ebersole, visited us! |
Since leaving Mbale, I left my work at the university to
work remotely from home for an incredible organization in Kampala, Uganda,
modifying curriculum for their schools in the east Africa region. I am also
able to do some small project based assignments for organizations that I am
connected with in and around Gulu. Lastly, since settling into Gulu, I am
starting to volunteer for an organization that trains local government and
private school teachers in phonics and quality educational practices. I am
excited about that! There are a lot of opportunities to participate in
development here and I like that I am able to hold a flexible schedule in this
season of life.
___________________
One of Eric’s former coworkers, David, had his engagement
celebration ceremony, it’s called an “Introduction” where the two families come
together at the ladies home and officially declare their intent for marriage.
It is as “celebratory” as a wedding in the US would be with lots of decorations,
a program with many aspects: a confirmation of the couple, an exchange of
rings, a sharing from a local pastor, a blessing from both families consenting
to this relationship.
One of the funny traditions is that a group of ladies will
come out all dressed in their beautiful attire and the groom to be and his men
will look around at the group of ladies to find “the one” the future bride! If
she is not there in that group then another group of ladies will come out and
perhaps the bride is hiding in there! So Eric participated in that fun aspect
of it with David!
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| Us! :) |
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| Eric "looking" for the bride to be. |
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| Esther and David. |
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| David and Eric. |
We added some new furry ones to our family! Meet Vaugn, Zepplin, and Vitz. Vaugn and Zepplin are from a dear family in Mbale who are moving back to the US and Vitz is the youngest, a puppy we got from a family who breeds dogs in Mbale. They will be fun for Kona (I hope) and great security for our compound!
Zepplin (nearest), Kona (left), Vaugn (right), and Vitz (back).
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| Vitz and Vaugn like watching their food being made. |
By Eric
I was telling Lauren the other day, that I feel so grateful! The first couple of weeks after we moved to Gulu were a bit harder for me. Being in a new place, wondering at times how I would fill my days with things to do, and a few personal challenges. However, the last couple of weeks, I am so thankful for the Lord's provision during the hard times. Lauren also agreed that we have so much to be thankful for. Our home is feeling more and more like "home". We have been blessed by all of you financially, allowing us to live and work here in Uganda. I'm getting more opportunities to practice agriculture and development. We keep making friends. And so much more!
__________________
A project that I had Ceasar do (our grounds keeper and daytime security) was to remove a large termite mound from our backyard. I wanted to clean up our compound. The soil in the mound is also high in plant nutrients, so we are using it for our garden and fruit trees.
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| Termite mound in our backyard. |
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| Termites. |
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| This was the queen of the mound. A large head, but mainly just a very large abdomen (Abdomen looks like a caterpillar)!! |
__________________
Last week I took part in World Renew's annual Partners' Forum. This is a time for all the World Renew staff and the partners from around Uganda to meet, share, and learn from one another (there are 8 partners World Renew currently works with in Uganda). I'm still learning about the various partners World Renew works with. This gathering gave me the opportunity to learn more about the various work happening within World Renew, as well as an opportunity to connect with the partners.
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| Gathering at the partners' forum. |
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| Cooked cow foot for lunch one day at the partners' forum. I tried it, but it was "rubbery" and not palatable to me, so I gave it to my friend beside me. |
On the way home, I swung by Mbale (our old home) and picked up the 3 dogs and some furniture from some missionary friends heading back to the US. David joined me for this trip.
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| Transporting our new dogs and furniture. |
Prayer requests:
Thank-you for your love and support.
- For us to continue to develop relationships here in Gulu.
- Safety here at home and as we travel (we do a lot of traveling for work).
Thank-you for your love and support.
Eric & Lauren
