Lunch on the Nile

We got to sleep in this morning! Breakfast was at 8am and they served our favorite meal: crepes (aka rolled up pancakes). We got on the bus at 9am and headed off to William's garden. On the way, we were passing a family who had large tarps out in their yard with vanilla beans drying in the sun. So we pulled over and had a lesson in the process of harvesting, drying, and exporting vanilla, along with some coffee beans. It smelled wonderful! Vanilla is so expensive in the U.S., but the workers here are paid so little.

We also drove through a tea plantation and pulled over to visit with the workers. These plantations are owned by the large tea corporations where we get much of our tea. I think this particular farm was owned by an Indian company. The workers are very poor and they are paid $.05/10kilos of tea leaves. At the very most they can get 50 kilos of tea per day, and that is only if they work all day long. That means that the most they will be paid is $2.50/day. These companies make so much, but provide their workers with so little. I will forever look at tea differently.

We did finally manage to make it to the garden and it is so impressive. William has done such a fabulous job working to make the Agape orphanage a sustainable place. He grows bananas, cabbage, onion, tomatoes, papaya, corn, yams, some sugar cane and many other things. He has several cows and chickens. And all of these things help to feed the children. During their breaks from school, the children come to work in the garden and enjoy some of the fruits of their labor. Willilam said they love to go right for the sugar cane to get a little treat.

After the garden, we headed into the city of Jinja, which is famous for being the source of the Nile. Did you know that the Nile River is one of only 2 rivers in the world that flows south to north? Pretty cool, huh? We ate lunch at a beautiful hotel overlooking the Nile River. To think that this is the same river that baby Moses floated down in Exodus is truly amazing!

After lunch, we headed to downtown Jinja, where we learned how to barter for some fun Ugandan souvenirs that we'll be bringing home to many of you! There was so many cool things to buy - it was hard to choose. I think all of us really enjoyed the shopping experience, with the exception of Mr. Glen. (Shopping's just not his thing :)

We are so appreciative to SIFAT and William for making this trip such an educational experience. We have learned so much more than how to put up a building. Tom, Peggy & William have given their time, hearts and wisdom to help us learn about this wonderful country and culture. We are truly grateful for their presence here. Tomorrow we will have church and a picnic with the children of Agape one last time. I am sure that it will be very difficult to leave, so you can be praying for sweet goodbyes tomorrow. My heart hurts just thinking about it. Blessings and goodnight from Team Agape!