Settling Into Our New Home

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!

Our town of Gulu; it is currently under a lot of construction!

Our compound (photo taken standing at gate).

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!

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.

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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!

Us! :)

Eric "looking" for the bride to be.

Esther and David.

David and Eric.

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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).

Left to right: Zepplin, Vitz, and Vaugn.

Vitz and Vaugn like watching their food being made.

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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!

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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.

Termite mound in our backyard.

Termites.

This was the queen of the mound. A large head, but mainly just a very large abdomen
(Abdomen looks like a caterpillar)!!

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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.

Gathering at the partners' forum.

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.

Transporting our new dogs and furniture.

Prayer requests:

1.  For us to continue to develop relationships here in Gulu. 
2.  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

Renewing Joy

by Lauren

Happy Easter friends!

What I know is that who I desire to become is always being renewed through daily surrender. 

In each day, life brings revelations of truth. The opportunity to trust. The strength to hope. 

It is these experiences that illuminate God’s great love and His grander purpose for His world.

As Eric and I continue growing and learning each other and walk into various seasons of marriage, we are continually reminded that we are not in control.  We are becoming more aware of how we need God as our refuge.

I have always loved the season of Easter, the freedom that it represents, and the reminder that there is a mighty Savior who came with great love to know and rescue me. It is unfathomable; I love to reflect with awe of the weight of His sacrifice and what it means. 

New life. Freedom. Perspective. Miracles. True communion with my Creator. Becoming His child.

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These last few months have again been packed as we began the full transition out of life and work in Mbale to settle into our new home in Gulu. 

That meant having our last student fellowship with the South Sudanese university students who are in Mbale, wrapping up our weekly meetings with our mentees, we had goodbye times with various friends, we sorted and packed and finished up last minute work assignments.

My last time sharing in chapel at LivingStone, where I worked in Mbale for 3 years

And last week, off we went to Gulu!

Loading up! Chase wanted one last picture!

Ready to go! We had a driver load and drive this, what is supposed to be 5 hours, but took 7 hours to Gulu.

Welcome to our new home! Your guest room awaits J

Kitchen and Living Room!

Eric is very much looking forward to starting work in the communities here.  I will continue to work my part-time job from home and travel to Kampala as needed. I also will be apart of other project-based assignments with organizations I have been a part of in the past.

Outside our front porch!

Our first visitors in our new home! They are friends we made in Mbale and they were in Gulu for a wedding, so they stopped by for a little chat Easter evening.

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Besides our work and everyday life, here are some fun adventures we had in Mbale before moving to Gulu!

We became hosts in March and we are ready to host again!

Three of Eric’s brothers came to visit and we really enjoyed our time with them! We went on different excursions around Uganda and spent some good time living life in Mbale.

Eric met the brothers to go on Safari for a few days then they came to Mbale!

We celebrated our one year since we got engaged! It was this hike here where Eric proposed at Sisiyi Falls, we also took Eric's brothers there to hike and camp during their visit.

The guys rafted the Nile River in Jinja, so we spent a few days there!

Of course every visitor needs Kona time! Shawn embraced his time with her :)

We "worked" through the coffee making process at one of Eric's friends home in the village near Sipi Falls. 

Roasting coffee beans

The beauty of Sipi Falls where we were among coffee trees and the truest of nature's colors!

The last day with the brothers, we did not want to send them back to the US!

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With some Mbale friends, we took advantage of the beauty of eastern Uganda before leaving!

Our hiking group!

We found some of our friends at the top!

At the top of Mount Wanale in Mbale

Thank you for your continual support and love for us! Thank for your celebrating life with us from afar. We look forward to updating you as we settle into life and work in Gulu.

Love, 

Lauren and Eric

Food Security Evaluation in Nebbi

by Eric

"Nowadays, I even go into homes and break up fights between a husband and wife, fights where other people are afraid to even enter the house because the husband and wife are fighting with knives," a woman told us. As I sat and listened to the story, even the breeze that was blowing and the shade of the mango tree wasn't enough to keep me from wishing for a cooler place. This testimony was one of many we heard that day, of how training in gender roles had impacted a family. I joined the evaluation team from World Renew that was evaluating a 7-year project targeted at improving food security. Focusing on gender, specifically household roles between men and women in the family, was one element of the food security program World Renew was helping to implement. Another man stood up and told us how he wasn't helping his wife work in the farm, weeding and harvesting crops, because he thought this work was for women. The gender training helped him to change, "now I help my wife and she doesn't complain about body pains", he told us. This man also went to his neighbor, who spent a lot of time at the disco (nightclub), and convinced his neighbor that he needs to help his wife.

Our evaluation team listening to stories in a village

 "You see that man sitting back there peeling cassava (root vegetable)? Because of the training, he is now peeling cassava, a job culturally considered to be for the women" they told us.

Man peeling cassava in the background

A duck walks through our meeting

Another key component of the food security program was village saving and loans associations (VSLA). Every VSLA may be run slightly different, yet the core components are the same. Meeting as a group, saving some money each week, and in some cases loaning to each other creates accountability, community, and helps people plan. These groups are a common development model that is used by many development groups. When asked which helped to improve food security the most: VSLA, training about gender, or conservation agriculture, VSLA was voted as having the most impact.

Standing in a line as a way to vote for which element of the food security program was most helpful

A third element of the food security program was the promotion of conservation agriculture (CA). Interestingly, CA had the least impact out of the three elements: VSLA, training of gender roles, and CA. However, there were testimonies of farmers appreciating some aspects of CA, particularly the aspect of reduced tillage because it saves work and time. The traditional way of preparing the land for the rainy season is either plowing using cows or a tractor, or for a farmer to use a large hoe to dig very deep and open the soil. Reduced tillage, in this case, is where a farmer simply uses a machete or hoe to cut the weeds at soil level.

Finally, beehives were given to some of the VSLA groups. The beehives were not a main focus of the overall project. However, the thought was that by giving beehives to each group and then providing training on taking care of bees, that it could become an income generating activity. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a lack of ownership of the beehives, as well as some problems with the hives not colonizing well.

For this food security program, World Renew had partnered with the Nebbi Diocese of the Anglican Church of Uganda. World Renew provided funds and training to local staff, hired by the Nebbi Diocese, who did the leg work of traveling to the villages and carrying out the various training on VSLA, gender, and CA.

Sitting in a circle with World Renew and partner staff

One method that was used to evaluate food security in the village was to create a calendar on the ground. Rectangle boxes were drawn, one for each month of the year. Then items: phones, keys, leaves, containers, etc. were used to mark each month of the year. Finally, stones, cassava, etc. were used to marked during which months of the year food was available in the house. The people often had fun with it, once saying "put that big piece of cassava in December, since that is when we have the most food!"

Women drawing the calendar of the year

Woman placing cassava in the months where food was available 

A chicken intrudes and eats the cowpeas we were using as a marker

For me, the trip was a learning experience about the work that World Renew is involved in, as well as seeing first-hand types of development, how development works or doesn't work, and getting to be a part of the evaluation. World Renew focuses on both relief and development. They strive to work with local partners as much as possible, in this case, the Anglican Diocese of Nebbi. The work I will be a part of beginning next month will be to work with another World Renew partner in Gulu. I look forward to sending an update on that position once I am settled in!

Sights from the village; notice the solar panel on the thatched house to the right- the house on the left is getting new grass

Mango tree loaded with mangos- hey eat mangos like an apple, skin and all, even before they are ripe