Compassion Trip

Today I took a 5 or 6 hour trip (one way) north of Mbarara to see my family's Compassion International girl (young lady now - she's 15). The drive was amazing and the country is really beautiful. There are hills and mountains with trees and banana plantations all over. People are pushing bikes loaded down with bananas. The roads, for the most part, are pretty bad. There is a long stretch that is good but many of them are under construction. I figured out that if I sat in the middle of the van instead of the front seat that I wouldn't bump as hard.

I was pretty nervouse about the trip. I had heard horror stories and really wondered if my life was on the line. Although there were police check points, nothing out of the usual happened and they say it is very peaceful now. We had a hard time actually finding my compassion child because of a mix up. I ended up only seeing her for about 30 minutes but I did get to interact with her family. Her parents are dead so she lives with her grandma. 5 out of 12 of the grandma's kids have died due mainly to illnesses. The grandma would like us all to pray that her husband will accept the Lord as his Savior.

I had a feeling the driver was trying to get at my wallet when he asked me if I wanted to go get a snack while he filled the van with fuel. Since I pay for the fuel, that would mean I wouldn't know how much he actually put in. I declined but saw that he put in 30,000 shillings worth. When we got back, the receipt said 40,000 shillings. We have a trucking company as a family business and this isn't the first time I've seen this trick pulled. It was not a pleasant way to end the trip - arguing with the driver about what I owed him.

Long story short, I snapped at my daughter out of impatience when I skyped right after arguing with the driver. Sorry Brandy! That's the last thing I want to do when you are so excited to talk with me! I love you!

Charlie