Day 1 - Perfect Timing

We landed at the Entebbe, Uganda airport on March 8 - International Women’s Day, the perfect day to begin our visit. After flight delays in Kenya and the long trip to Phoebe’s house from Entebbe, we fell into bed and were fast asleep before I could write anything

Phoebe and Father Francis met us at the airport. What a joy to see their smiling faces. I’m always so grateful to have these dear people in my life. We squealed and hugged and were so happy to see each other. It was an extra gift to be able to introduce Father Francis to my son Zak and Brynn one of our co-assistant directors who is with me for the first part of our trip (Claire will join me in Malawi). They were both excited to see Phoebe again.  Brynn and Phoebe met last fall during Phoebe’s stay in the US, and Zak has known her for years. We went to dinner and then on to Phoebe’s warm and inviting home.

Today Phoebe insisted we take it easy. Normally we hit the ground running but she was having none of that. Phoebe wanted us to sleep in, linger over her delicious breakfast, visit the pigs (we met “Gussie’s” newest litter) and just hang out. We played Five Crowns., a game Zak had asked me to pack. He and I played this game together every morning while we were at home during the Covid lockdown. We taught Brynn and Phoebe to play, laughed a lot and gave Brynn a hard time about winning two out of three games. Is she really new to this?

Early in the evening, our friend Juliet came to pick us up and bring us to her house for a visit and dinner. I was so happy to see this dear friend again too and be in her home. I met Juliet years ago when I needed help getting internet in a Ugandan hotel. We became good friends and I often visit her when I make this trip. What fun to catch up.

We leave tomorrow morning at 7:00 for our first school visit. We are going to teach both girls and boys at a school that is government-funded and has lots of students. Phoebe and Zak will work with the boys while Brynn and I teach the girls.