speaking of poems...

What lies beyond these hills are the smiles of countless young faces;
Lives of those who have fallen in last place long before the start of the races.

Their eyes look old and hardened behind their laughter and cheer,
To this wicked world they meet with too much hunger and fear.

On this earth someone picked who went where so you would go there,
We arrive to find a purpose, find force, a way to see how life’s not fair.

This time is just a test to see what we will come to know,
About planting good seeds and letting them grow.

Bearing ripe fruit for the children that will be born,
Putting Christ in the souls of those whose hearts are so worn.

~This is for all the suffering children that have put their little hands in mine…..and for the millions that I may never come to know…I pray that God comforts them and keeps them.

-Jes

Wakawaka

The last 2 weeks of Uganda were the most eventful for me in terms of God blessing our hands. After we received funds from Chris, we spent one more week at the orphanage hanging with the kids.

Their health was improved, they now had food for the rest of the term, everyone was so happy. We had a big celebration for the P7 kids who had just finished all of their exams; so god willing they will be going on to Senior 1 next year. Their secondary school is a muslin school that is at least 4 km away.

So this year we are trying to raise money so that they kids can have enough bikes to make it there without walking! The kids were so happy about the party, we made a huge sign, balloons, each P7 student got a soda along with Kyesu and Acetch who are already in Senior 1 but didn’t get a party last year! We let all the P7 kids sit in our room to each the beef that Sarah cooked, along with Rice, Matooke, Gnuts, it was a feast….

They ate so much in fact Jamile the biggest boy in the orphanage was so funny he ate so much he could barely talk. In addition we had 13 people in our small room while eating, so it was a little hot.

The night before I left the kids has their drama performance for school so the playing and snag and performed for hours. It was great; we gave the dancers a few coins for tip, and celebrated. The next Carl came for us around 3 and the goodbye was quick. All of the kids were in tears, but I assured them I would be back next year to visit!

I have decided not to volunteer with Peter Mutebi ministries any longer, so I will still be helping out these kids, but I will not be staying at the orphanage. God-willing I may have an internship lined up with The New Forests Company this fall where I will be helping with a fruit tree project. This project will be not only aimed at broadening the NFC, but it will be providing many trees to surrounding areas to diversify the diets of children in schools and orphanages.

Carl, who is working for NFC took us one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in Uganda, on the Victoria Lake in Bugiri district. The Kirinya Plantation is the location, but the small coastal village called Wakawaka just took my breath away. It is a fisherman village and it is where NFC is helping to fund the building of a school for the kids that are orphaned in that community. The kids there had absolutely nothing, barely even clothes, and the had almost 20 kids living in one small hut together.

Carl who has started an NGO called Combine Harvest Ministries has a big heart for God has a particular interest in helping NFC reach these communities in need. I was so impressed by the sustainability of this company and it’s political ecology.

So we will see how God directs my plan, although some really amazing web of connections have been happening. For example the Corporate Responsibility Manager of NFC knows Barrett Ward from African Leadership, she is the woman I met with about the internship, I went to a church dinner with a guy David Kirabira that I met on the plane to Uganda, who has a ministry of reaching out to youth and he is such an interesting wonderful guy. I know that his ministry will help us in building these communities in a Christian way. He gave a very ‘catholic or universal’ speech about the question Jesus asked his apostles, “who do you say that I am?’ and how Jesus could never have been just a good man, he was either who he said he was, or he was one of the biggest blasphemies that ever lived.

So from now on my fundraising will go to helping Carl on the ground and from the states. He is a man that God brought into my life and someone that even in this little amount of time has gained my complete trust. He loves and honors his family in South Africa constantly and is just a great man of God.

At his house Sarah and I stayed for just one night in a beautiful guest room, we cooked a tilapia as big as my leg that cost only $2.50 that was fresh out of the lake, (thought of you Amber) with Lemon Grass straight out of the ground and Carl made this ridiculous garlic lemon butter, it was the most amazing fish I have ever eaten in my life....

Tell you guys about the rest later…still jet-laggin.
Thanks for your prayers and for listening…-god’s peace
jes

Wakawaka

Venice is amazing!

Travis and I read City of Falling Angels and thought we had at least some idea about Venice...but we were not prepared! We took a vaporetto, followed our host's directions and arrived at our B&B......just sumptuous.....with beautiful antique beds, heated towel racks and an in-room mini fridge.....

Our host, Mattias, spent an hour with us giving us ideas of where to go, and his personal suggestions on restaurants.....we took a vaporetto to cross the canal and wound our way through narrow little streets, several literally 1-2 feet wide. We ended up at Zucca (Pumpkin), sitting at a private table overlooking a small canal......and had probably the best meal of our lives for about $16 apiece! There was an unbelievable pumpkin flan......dense savory pumpkin topped by the just-in-season ricotta, drizzled with butter and pepitas. The other dish was a pumpkin and potato torte topped with tangy fresh scamorza cheese and a basil-truffle oil drizzle. There were also cipolline....not sure if they are boiling onions...but baked in the oven with prosseco (the sparkling wine) and a touch of sugar so they were glazed. All of this with the best homemade breads and breadsticks I've ever tasted. We savored every bite.........and ended with a homemade whipped cream mould topped with fresh honey and paper thin toasted almonds with a fine sugar glaze. The meal was so good I broke my rule about drinking coffee after noon, and had an expresso!

As if that weren't enough...we walked through the streets to St. Mark's square arrving around sunset and took some amazing photos......and then took more at night as we headed out again. We haven't been to a single museum or church.....but we have had a wonderful time!!!

Poem after a thunderstorm in San Gimigiano

One rainy night in Milan after some terrific Chinese food (T. lost to me playing Pass the Pigs--thanks Anita & George--so he treated me to steamed veggie dumplings and I added lemon shrimp skewers) we tried our hands at writing poetry based upon memorable experiences here in Italy........

Here's mine:

Setting sun breaks

along a storm cloud-studded horizon

where

dignified sentinels of a glorious past

stand black and grey against madonna blue.

One by one, the lights come on

spilling a golden welcome

out

of ancient doors and windows,
drawing shivering, rain-soaked pilgrims
into
a sanctuary of warmth and peace.


Our trip has been very rainy....and when we arrived in Siena late in the day due to missing our train (it arrived too late) and taking a bus there....we then bussed over to San Gimigiano, the hill town of many towers! We arrived just before dusk, got caught in a torrential downpour and then were able to walk around after getting warmed up at a cafe.....it was beautiful and unforgettable and I'll post a photo or two when I can as this is someone else's so you can get an idea!!


This trip has been one of the most memorable experiences of my life, due in no small part to my son and the wonderful traveling companion he is. He has excitedly attended opera and classical music concerts, eaten everything, toted heavy bags up countless flights of stairs, and traipsed through endless museums with a far greater attention span than my own. I will never forget this trip because of him!

Poetry in Italia

World Phone internet Cafe, Florence, Italy

So the other day my mom had this idea. She told me that we should write a poem about something that we had seen over the past two weeks in Italy. The first thing that went through my head was: "Poetry! No way, that sounds lame." But this has been a broadening last couple of months in my life so I decided to keep an open mind. The next thing that went through my head was a flash of everything I had done in the past two weeks and wondering how I could possibly pick one thing.

Should I write about something I saw during our nine days in Rome, where I saw the Forum, Colisseum, Appian Way, Pompei, St. Peter's, The Vatican, and priceless artistic treasures like Raphael's "School of Athens" and Michealangelo's "La Pieta?" Or should I write about our time in Tuscany, nestled into the beautiful hill towns of Lucca and Siena, taking a private driving tour around the country side with a half-Italian half-Brasilian guy named Andre who was my age and had a remarkably similiar life's story as me?

Or what about the frenetic city of fashion and business Milan with it's Duomo and Da Vinci's "Last Supper?" It was a daunting task. But as I reflected on everything I had seen, my thoughts switched to what I felt I could write a poem about. I think the last time I wrote a poem was in elementary school, and it rhymed! so I knew I was out of practice. But something came to mind when I thought of the Cenacolo Vinciano, so let me give you some quick background.

You can see the photo of the painting at the beginning of this post. Leonardo painted on the wall without using frescoe techniques, so it is miraculous that the painting is still around today. In fact, the church where it is found in was bombed in WWII but amazingly the wall on which the Last Supper is and the frescoe across from it were unaffected.

The idea is that Jesus just told the 12 Apostles that one of them would betray him. You see them all reacting to the news in the painting, capturing the reaction to the Jesus' statement. Judas is the only figure in the painting on which the lighting does not fall. He is the third head to jesus' left.

Here's my poem:

The Last Supper

By Travis Lopes

I feel lost in darkness.

I know he is talking to me.

I wonder if the others can feel it?

I clutch my pouch of coins and feel the darkness welling up inside me.

The noise of silver coins clinking is lost in the uproar:

"Tell me who it is!"

"Is it I Lord?"

"It cannot be me!"

"What did he say?"

"IMPOSSIBLE!!"

I look at Him and my stomach turns inside out. The darkness is overwhelming...

I embrace it.

God is working...did i say that already!?

I am in Bugiri, Norman, Sarah and I are about to get supplies for the kids to have a very nutritious and wonderful meal for tomorrow!!!

We started out the day with the forced delivery of a still-born baby goat, it was awful i almost threw up! After coming to town we found an amazing gift from some friends back in the states!

I was on facebook yesterday and said Hi to Chris Mason, one of my friends from Southwestern who
now works for another company...and he asked what he could do to help us...of course I said MONEY! He gathered together with the help of his parents, Aaron Yager, and Daniel Boyce also from southwestern, $700!! Which in Ugandan Shillings is over 1 million shillings!

So in your prayers please thank God for them and for all the amazing things we will do with the money...paying off our bills at the local clinic, also buying posho, beef, matooke, ground nuts, a really great local fruit called fene, or jack fruit, along with seeds to plant more of a variety next season.

Our goal is to diversify the kids diet, because they eat the same thing every single day and it is not enough to keep them healthy.

It is going to be an amazing weekend, the last one with the kids...

Rick Volk has done so much to help the kids with his donations and he is also funding a trip to the beach for all of us the day i leave!! We need some fresh fish for all our efforts! Thank you all so much for reading and for praying.

Throughout the trip, I am feeling God more so than ever right now, it seems like everyday he throws me a new loop, new challenges and new gifts from above.

My good friend Nate said that one of the best tips of advice ever given to him about how to stay happy in marriage was LGM...stands for Love God More...I think that is good advice for LIFE!

So thank you God for helping us to see your work and I just pray that you will guide our hands to do your will....
Many blessings...
Jes

the village

Life is never fair, and in this place one is reminded of that constantly, every single day.

Last week at the orphanage there was an outbreak of sickness; mostly malaria and typhoid. We took the kids to the hospital in a very small station wagon, 12 kids plus Sarah and I. It was pretty cramped, when I stood up to get out of the car my whole body was soaked with the sweat of the little girl, Miriam that was sitting on my lap. Her fever must have spiked during the ride.

Since then we have taken many trips back and forth to the hospital on boda boda. 2 of the kids were near death on one visit, it was so heartbreaking. Thanks to many prayers from you and the kids, they are all doing much better with the exception of Lunabi Sharon. Number two in her class I have never seen this girl well for more than a few hours, so please keep her in your prayers! Also if you remember Carl the South African man that took us to Bugiri, he is suffering from Malaria, so please pray for him as well.

Some good news is that Carl is taking us back to Kampala on the 11^th. He has some high power pourage mixture that he wants me to sample. He has truly been a blessing to us.

Last but not least if any of you are following the Amber Volk Foundation on Facebook, a few people from African Leadership have contacted me and there is talk about helping the champions on the horizon! Praise God that he is helping us to raise awareness about this kids here in Uganda! Barrett Ward and Lavonne Stevens are going to be talking with me about possible options for where the money raised can be used, and though it is not a quick process, my hope is that we can bring better community development to this area, which will lead to bigger opportunities and education for the Champions I love so much!!!

Keep praying, god is listening. Thank you so much for reading. Many blessings.

Jes

Roma!

Hello from Rome! Travis and I have been going non-stop for 6 days!!!! T. is very good to travel with....most of the time he finds his way around perfectly and he is always up for something new! I also find some of his insights and opinions very interesting and we have had some good discussions.... We are especially enjoying the Rick Steves' guide to Rome.....we highly recommend it....funny, acccurate and concise!

We have hit all the major places and are now going to some lesser-known sites.

The rain finally stopped so we are enjoying sun and warmth. Today for example we attended church at the Methodist Church in Rome......a very calm and clean church with nothing on the walls but the cross. It was very restful after allthe packed to the gills places we've visited! The music was all old hymns by the Wesleys, and the sermon was great! It was right across from the Castello San Angelo, which we walked past with an angel named Juliet who saved the day for me with an eye problem I was having!

We lunched at a terrific little restaurant with no menu.....Travis had the traditional penne alla matriciana (bacon, tomato sauce, and pecorino cheese) while I had the alla arrebiata (tomato sauce with hot peppers and Italian parsley). Then we each had grilled chicken with lemon, T. with roasted potatoes and me with spinach. It was wonderful as has been nearly everything we have eaten!

We caught the bus to the old Appian Way and walked all the way back down....it was sunny, the birds were singing and the views were beautiful. T. went into the San Callisto catacombs.......

After we got back to Rome we had gelato while we toured 3 churches which were open for Sunday evening mass.......the original Jesuit church filled with gold and unusual ceilings with sculptures that were 3D as well as another church with the Madonna blue ceiling full of stars. The we hiked over to the Campo di Fiori for a porchetta panino for dinner......panini bread with sliced roast pork, sun dried tomatoes, grilled eggplant and zucchini, red onions......grilled until hot!

Then we went to the internet cafe across the street and checked in! After that we still managed to find a little cafe with a tv and watched the end of the Milan-Napoli soccer match.....with T.cheering for Milan due to 3 Brazilian players on the team while the waiters were for Napoli....and I was the only woman in the place!
At the end one of the waiters said MILAN - BAD! But BRAZIL - GOOD! T. keeps wearing his Brazilian jersies or his Kaka from Milan jersey and everyone yells to him!

Today we peeked through the keyhole of the Knights of Malta door and saw St. Peter's framed in green, took photos at an incredible overlook, visited the Bocca di Veritas (Mouth of Truth), strolled through the tackiest wax museum ever, dropped our laundry to be washed and picked it up later after a Bangaldesh-Pakistani meal in a place full of men watching a cricket match, where I was the only woman in the place! Hot red curry shrimp, basmati and naan for me; biryani chicken, samosa and garlic naan for T. We also managed to squeeze in some gelato......

That's a typical day here.....we see amazing things......we walk for miles....and we eat great meals!

Tomorrow is Pompeii followed by a performance of opera arias in St. Paul's Inside the Walls Church by the I Musici of Venice! Should be a GREAT day in Italy!

-Gayle Lopes (guest writer)