Comissioning a Well in Kirimandagi

10/17/11 I am in a guest house in Luwero and trying to write in my journal under a mosquito net -- there is no desk or table in the room and this is the only place to try to write.

We commissioned the Bore Hole Well at the Blessed Junior School in Kirimandagi today. This is "Grace's Well" as we have been calling it. We were greeted by the Children's Scouting Honor Guard who escorted us to the event. We were present with the village elders and leaders and many of the parents from the school. Grace and Naphtal present and leading. I SAW GREAT THINGS TODAY!

I learned today that this village of 560 families (3-5K people) has only one working well. I learned that there are often long lines for the water and the children at the school were missing classes because they had to wait for water. Now that there is a bore hole well for the school and for the village life can get a little better and, perhaps the children won't have to walk down a busy street and wait in long lines for water. It was a great day and I was honored to be a part of it. It is nice to know that I was part of doing something that had a positive effect on thousands of people I may never meet nor know. Sometimes God tells you to do something (like having this well dug) and you don't realize what the wider impact will be, you just know that you have to find some way to get it done. This was that kind of project. Often when we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit we don't know and never get to see the final impact of our work. This was one day where I was able to catch a brief glimpse of the immediate impact of an act of generosity. What the long term impact will be is yet to be known.

Linda is still ill but we brought her to Luweero so she could be part of the team. She seems to be improving.

The plaque on the well read: "A project of Soul Fishing Ministries. Presented by the generous gifts of the Christ Community United Methodist Church of Syracuse, New York and dedicated by Rev. Dr. Norrix on this October 17, 2011. It was named the JIRA Well (Jira, Hebrew for Provider). We met the driller today as well, a large Australian named Ben. He was working hard to explain why the drilling team had yet to arrive.

Tomorrow I will begin teaching the Kikyusa class and the end of the week I will be teaching at Nakasangola.

drbj