19 things we’re thankful for this year

I think the title is pretty self-explanatory:)
These are in no particular order

  1.  Rain gutters and a rain-water collection tank at our house
  2.  A well and pump on our land

fresh, clean water, from our well!

 

  3.  Having our first team come
  4.  Our kids finishing out the 2019 school year well
  5.  A “new” car
  6.  Starting to fence our CITY land

fastening the wire mesh to the poles

 

  7.  Selling eggs from our chickens
  8.  Getting Daisy (our cow), Daisy giving birth, and giving us milk
  9.  Making our outdoor kitchen area

where we do most of our cooking and eating

 

10.  Making the second story of the chicken’s house
11.  Maddie turned one year old
12.  Gardening and eating fresh produce from our CITY land

have you ever seen such a big cabbage?!

 

13.  Expanding the pigs’ house
14.  Maddie and I making it to and from America safely
15.  Although we’ve all been sick on and off, nothing too serious for anyone
16.  Making bricks on CITY land

stacking the bricks, waiting for more to be made before baking them

 

17.  Going to the beach and a pool with our kids
18.  Watching our kids grow, change, and learn, in their own unique ways

And last, but most certainly not least…

19.  Everyone who has supported all we do here; your prayers and financial support are something we know is invaluable to our family and ministry.

 

Please, drop a comment or send us an email to let us know what you are thankful for this year:)

 

much love!

 

a broad abroad with her baby

Maddie and I are in America!
It may have been a long journey, but she did so, so well!

my travel partner and seat buddy

 

She’s already had quite a few firsts since landing; first taste of chocolate, first maple creemee (Vermont soft serve specialty), playing in a fountain, and three new States on her list (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont).

trying a chocolate sample, she didn’t like it:)

 

Although Maddie and I are in America, there is still quite a bit going on in Uganda.
They’ve been packing the bricks, getting them ready to fire (bake the so they can be used).

gathering bricks and stacking them all-together

 

We have water from the well – as in, they can turn on the pump and get fresh water to hydrate the plants!

finishing to water some tomatoes 

 

The well now has a cement cover, to help keep out dirt and keep it safe from people who might want to steal water.

the cement cover with a padlock

 

With all the progress on our CITY land with the garden, bricks, and well, we have realized how important it is to fence the land to make it more secure.
The best way to do that is to put a fence around the border of the land.

I will share more details with you about how we plan to secure the land soon.
For now, I wanted to let you know, we are holding a contest throughout the month of September!
Anyone who donates $50 or more has the chance to win one of our two prizes*.

Donate today, for your chance to win and to help us secure our land!
DONATE HERE!

 

much love!

 

*our two prizes will be pictured in a future blog, along with more information about making CITY land secure*

they found water!

Last month, around the 19th or so, we started digging our well on CITY land.
By we, I mean the men that we hired:)

within the first couple of days, between 10 and 20 feet
if you look closely, you can see one of the men at the bottom, bent over digging

 

Every day to every few days, Sam would have an update on how many feet they’ve reached.
10 feet
25 feet
Almost 60 feet
In the 80s

the set up at the top of the hole – this was around 80 feet

 

In case you were wondering, yes, they are digging by hand.
One of the guys ties a rope around his waist, then the other two help to lower him down.  Once at the bottom, he digs.  

this is as one of the men was being lowered

 

As he digs, he puts soil in a giant bucket.  After the bucket is filled, the two men on top, raise the bucket, dump the soil, then lower the bucket back down.

the pulley system in action

 

This past Saturday (August 3rd) they reached 90 feet, and they found water!

Now that they’ve reached water, they want to dig at least 10 more feet, to make sure we have a good water supply.
They have to remove water, in order to finish digging.

After finishing to dig, they will build the walls (out of clay bricks and cement) all the way up to the top.
They will place a pump that takes the water from the bottom of the well, up, into a tank.
We will build a platform (at least 20 or 30 feet high) for a water tank to sit on.

from yesterday (Wednesday)
Can you see the tiny reflection?  That’s water!

 

Want to be involved with this?
– Pray for the safety of the men as they continue to work inside that deep, deep hole (apparently the other day, they reached a level where they had no oxygen)

– Help us financially – now that the well is well on its way to being finished, it is important that we fence our land and build a room for someone to stay in
    – to fence the land and build the room it will be about $4,400
    – click HERE to make your tax-deductible contribution, today!

 

much love!

busy here, busy there

We are so excited for our first team to come!
They are leaving America today, and will arrive here on Thursday afternoon (I’m definitely not jealous of their long travel days:)

We have been busy cleaning and getting things ready for them.

scrubbing the chairs

 

In other news, rainy season was a bit strange the past few months; but we are pretty sure the rain is done and the sun is here to stay.

it’s raining, it’s pouring…

 

Since the rain has stopped, it is a good time to start digging the well.
We didn’t want to start digging during rainy season because it makes it harder to find the true water level and the rain can also mess up the progress.

during the first day of digging

 

We are looking forward to having water on the CITY land.
Again, thank you to everyone who participated in our raffle for Water is Life.

 

much love!

 

H-2-0

One of our intentions for holding the raffle for Water is Life was to buy a few water tanks.
Thanks to everyone who participated in our raffle, we have been able to start doing so!

Our original plan for the tanks was one in our compound, one down in the boys’/animals’ compound, and one on the CITY land.

There have been a few set-backs with the one in our house compound, like location and the water we can use.
The most economical and best solution for our house, has been to buy a GIANT tank for our down compound (where the boys and animals stay).  This tank will collect rain water.  We will be able to use the water to bathe, wash clothes and dishes, cook, and feed the animals.

this tank is 8,000L (which is roughly 2,113 gallons)

 

How do you set up a water tank to collect rain water?
Well, first, you need to build the platform for the tank to sit on.

digging out the area and starting the foundation

 

concrete is poured

 

The rain doesn’t just rain into the tank.  We needed to place gutters and collection pipes on the boys’ and animals’ houses.  These flow into the tank.

getting the gutters set up (the tank is to the right of this building)

 

some of the final connections

 

Before the tank was set on the platform, they poured sawdust and mixed it with oil, the black oil that is used in vehicles (not clearish cooking oil:).  Apparently the sawdust and oil under the tank help it to last longer.

sawdust before the oil was added

 

So what does the final product look like?

a new tank and rain-collection system.

 

Sam estimates, once this tank is full, we can go at least a month or more without other water.  It is between quarter and half-full at the moment.

Sam displaying how high the water was Sunday afternoon 

 

This is going to be so helpful, especially with the water out so often now.

 

much love!

wrapping up a raffle

Our raffle for Water is Life is officially over!

Before I tell you how the raffle went, would you like to know who won?!
Coffee Addict: Silas C.
Kiss the Cook: Kelsey S.
Etched Glasses: Tiffany A.
The winner for the grand prize wishes to remain anonymous.

Our goal was to raise $4,000.
So how did it turn out?
We made $4,871.51 (after all the fees were removed:)

we are so excited to have not only met, but surpassed our goal!

 

Thank you to everyone who participated.  We are so thankful for the money we raised and for everyone who shared about what we are doing here in Mukono, Uganda.
The extra money will help to feed, clothe, and educate our kids throughout the next term of this school year.

these boys (and our other kids) are so thankful for all the support we receive

 

If you would like to continue supporting CITY Uganda, we would love for you to join us.  There are a few different ways you can do that:

• join us in praying for our ministry and the lives we impact
• support us financially through tax-deductible donations*
  • whenever you have extra money you would like to share with us
  • on a monthly basis
• let other people know about what we are doing
• buy a t-shirt
  • any money made from these will be put back into our ministry
  • you’ll look cool and you can let people know who we are

.   
our t-shirt comes in a variety of colors (more than what’s pictures above:)
they are available HERE (the white one) and HERE (the green one)

 

much love!

 

*to make your tax-deductible donation click HERE!

 

follow-up

I know you are probably anxiously awaiting for us to announce our raffle winners.
Well, this is not that blog…that will come soon:)

This is just a quick note to say…

 

much love!

bonus day!

We are excited with how well our raffle for Water is Life went.
So excited, in fact, we have added an EXTRA DAY!

 

We only need $739 more to reach our goal of $4,000.
This means, we need 15 more people to each give $50 – then we can dig our well!

Please forward or share with friends – your donation is a great way to join CITY_Uganda without getting on a plane (although, we encourage that too:)

You can give a tax-deductible donation HERE
(Every $10 is worth one ticket for the raffle – $100 = 10 tickets)

 

much love!

 

final day!

Today, is the last day of our raffle for Water is Life!

In case you haven’t checked it out yet, here’s a peak at the prizes:

 

For every $10 you donate to our Water is Life Initiative, you will get a ticket for the prize of your choice ($100 = 10 tickets).
You are automatically entered to win the grand prize!

What are you waiting for?!?
Every little bit helps us get closer to being able to dig a well and buy water storage tanks for our ministry here in Mukono, Uganda.

Go ahead, click HERE and enter our raffle!

 

much love!

one day more

Our raffle is about to come to an end:(
Not sure what I’m talking about, you can find more raffle info HERE

we need $1,849 to reach our goal of $4,000

ENTER THE RAFFLE HERE!!!

As you are thinking about making a donation to help us dig a well and buy water storage tanks, here are some interesting water facts*:

• About 6,800 gallons of water is required to grow a day’s food for a family of four.³
• 780 million people lack access to an improved water source.⁴
• In just one day, 200 million work hours are consumed by women collecting water for their families.⁴
• 40 billion hours are spent collecting water in Africa alone.⁷

collecting water at our house

• 1/3 what the world spends on bottled water in one year could pay for projects providing water to everyone in need.⁴
• Unsafe water kills 200 children every hour.⁴
• 80% of all illness in the developing world is water related.⁶
• In some countries, less than half the population has access to clean water.⁷
• $260 billion is the estimated annual economic loss from poor water and sanitation in developing countries.⁷

Thank you to everyone who has donated for our Water is Life Initiative so far!

In case you missed the link above:
ENTER THE RAFFLE HERE!!!

 

much love!

 

*water facts taken from https://www.seametrics.com