Aggie's Dad

Aggie & Mum & Dad (they are separated - Aggie's Mum lives in Kampala)

We had a bit of a shock over the weekend. Aggie's Dad (who lives in the Karamoja region of far NE Uganda) was shot in the chest by a thief. For a while, we were not sure how critical his condition was, & were planning on having him airlifted to Kampala where there are better hospitals, but MIRACULOUSLY it seems that the bullet went through his shoulder & didn't hit his lungs or heart or anything "important". He has already been in & out of surgery in an "ok" hospital up there. He is stable & they are just waiting for things to clear in his shoulder before they can see if the bullet hit any bones.

The thief that shot him was trying to steal his livestock - very common up in the Karamoja region. There are armed cattle raiders/warriors who come in from other areas to raid villages/towns. The problem isn't nearly as bad as it was say 5-10 years ago, but it's still not good. Karamoja is also one of the poorest regions of Uganda. It's extremely dry, and in the past several years has been a focus of relief groups like the World Food Program, World Vision, etc. Aggie's father is very poor too, so Aggie has also gone up there to take him some money for his hospital bills.

UPDATE: the bullet didn't hit any bones either! Still can't fathom this. He has now fully recovered. Wow.

Almost Live from Uganda (Episode 11)

We recently had the joy of baptizing 60 people in Lake Victoria. These included Manna Ministry food recipients, students, security guards, and ex-prisoners that the IMFC team has been ministering to over the past few months. Enjoy!

Photo of the Month

Where's Waldo?

Almost Live from Uganda (Episode 10)

Meet Mayi - one of our Manna Ministry food recipients living in the urban slum area of Katanga. A video with a lot of background noise, but that's half the point - for you to see how stressful it is to live like this.

2yrs in Uganda! - Photo of the Month

On October the 14th, 2007, Simon returned to Uganda (above photo) - 7 months after his prior visit. So today marks 2 continuous yrs in Uganda! There's some unexplained aura around us in this photo. Could it be the photographer's finger partially over the lens, or it could be luuuuuurve? &:-)}

Safari!

A couple of weeks ago Aggie and I traveled to Nairobi, Kenya for a weekend to organize some immigration stuff. We never knew we'd get to go on a safari while we were there!! Lake Nakuru National Park was A-mazing!! Experience some of it with us in this video.

(P.S. This trip was also Aggie's first time in a plane - wish I'd got some footage of that! *grin*)

Photo of the Month

Eggs from our chickens!

Almost Live from Uganda (Episode 9)

Visit our Ugandan church with us!
(The 9th in a series of videos made for our church back in the U.S.)
For more about why we are here in Uganda, what we are doing, and how you can help us & the people of Uganda, go to www.ugandajourney.org

By the way - we are now on FaceBook - search under "Simon Paech"

Photo of the Month

This was really cool - the cow was bending down to let the chickens peck inside it's ear, & was closing it's eyes in enjoyment!

Meet the Paech Kids

This is LONG overdue!

The Boys



The Girls

Photo of the Month

There are heaps of signs saying this here & Simon never fails to get a kick out of each & every one. Maybe it's reverse psychology...(?)

Almost Live from Uganda (Episode 8)

Recently we had a nice surprise for our Aggie's Arts ladies! It's been amazing to see how God keeps expanding this ministry!



P.S. To learn more about Aggie's Arts and to hear some of our ladies' stories, go to www.ugandajourney.org & click on "Aggie's Arts".

Almost Live from Uganda (Episode 7)

(a series of videos made for our home church back in the U.S.)

Visiting the Manna Ministry food recipients in their homes is such an amazing thing - It's so personal! We're continually blown away by how much people appreciate us just coming to talk to them. We've had the joy of seeing many people receive Jesus as Lord during these visits too.

Meet Livingstone, who has been bedridden for 1 year. When we shared the gospel (gospel means "good news" by the way) with him, he warmly said "yes" to Jesus. And that puts a warm smile on our faces &:-)}

For more about why we're here, what we are doing, and how you can support us & help the people of Uganda, go to www.ugandajourney.org

Photo of the Month

Gaaba "beach", Lake Victoria, Kampala (not the type of beach us Aussies are used to, but still...). Standing on the light-post is a Marabou Stork. Sharing the largest wingspan of any land-bird (with the Andean Condor) - up to 3.2m (10.5 ft), and weighing up to 9kg (20 lbs)! These are very common in Kampala. They look like dirty old men when they're on the ground, like terradactyls when flying low overhead, and beautiful & peaceful when soaring in the thermals. Pretty amazing stuff! (the snails here are HUGE too - see Jan 20, 2007 post).

And now for something completely different...

Last week we took some time off & went to a small town called Jinja ["Ginger"] - about 2hrs drive east of Kampala. Jinja is on the banks of the White Nile River - which joins with the other Nile branches to eventually form THE Nile. The segment of river in this area is world famous for it's white-water rafting and kayaking - a big tourist attraction in Uganda.

Upon visiting beautiful Bujagali ["Boo-jar-gar-lee"] Falls, we saw something incredible - locals going through the rapids holding onto nothing but a 20 litre (5 gallon) jerry can! It turns out that these guys are not only crazy, this is their career - tourists pay them to do it! They grew up on the river and have worked their way up to negotiating Class 5* rapids like this one (called "Overtime").

Not to be out-done, see Simon perform his own matching daredevil feat - something he's always wanted to do (and unlike the jerry can guys, will most likely never do again!)

*Appendix: Whitewater rapids are classified according to their degree of danger or difficulty - Class 1 to 6. Class 6 rapids are considered to be so dangerous as to be effectively unnavigable on a reliably safe basis. Read here for more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafting

Why we do what we do

We showed you an aerial view of Katanga (March 11). This video is an unedited walk along the main street - from one side of the community to the other, ending at the IMFC tent and truck set up on a Manna Ministry food distribution day. Yes, those are open sewers.

This type of footage (and photos) are really difficult to get here - if you want to be sensitive to people. This is actually the first time I (Simon) have tried it, and I was nervous - even with Aggie by my side. Ugandans are extremely friendly people, but when it comes to this, they can get extremely annoyed and indignant. Many Ugandans don't understand why the Mzungus (whites) want to take video and photos like this. They feel that we are ashaming them, and only show the bad/ugly side of Africa, and even that we do it with bad intentions. Aggie - my Ugandan wife - thought the same, until after we'd talked about it many times.

What we really intend is to raise the awareness of people in western countries - to wake them up to the reality that there are millions in the world who live in poverty like this. We intend to be ADVOCATES for these people - to cry out for help for them, on their behalf. That's why we do what we do.

For more about why we are here in Uganda, what we are doing, and how you can help us & the people of Uganda, go to www.ugandajourney.org

Photo of the Month

I read this in the news recently: "Doctor Close to Cloning Human: A US doctor claims he has cloned 14 human embryos and transferred 11 of them into the wombs of four women." That's pretty amazing, but it seems that although they have a lot of work to do on things here - like the roads - Uganda's biotech industry is streets ahead of the rest of the world. A couple of weeks ago Aggie bought this stuff in the taxi park for 50 cents. Since testing it on our chickens, the kids now enjoy chicken for almost every meal. We haven't tried it on them yet (the kids), though Aggie would like to. I still feel 5 kids is enough for the moment. Hang on, what's this cream on my arm...?

Almost Live from Uganda (Episode 6)

IMFC has been working in the urban slum areas of Katanga (Kaa-tung-gaa) and Butabika (Boo-ta-bee-kaa) since February. In this video, the 6th in a series of made for our church back in the U.S., join us as we look back at our first Manna Ministry Food distribution in Butabika.

For more about why we are here in Uganda, what we are doing, and how you can help us & the people of Uganda, go to www.ugandajourney.org

Photo of the Month!

The sign on a mens' toilet. I like it! &:-)}

From the heart of Sarah

Aggie and her kids have experienced a lot of suffering. They grew up in an urban slum area of Kampala, living in a tiny one room house with a violent man (the kids' biological father). Click here to read more.

This week we'd like to share with you a letter that our 14yr old daughter Sarah recently wrote to Aggie. It really touched our hearts. Through her eyes you can also see what life can be like here in Uganda.

Dear my beloved Mom,

I am so happy that you gave birth to me. Other people throw their children in the toilets, others kill them but you didn't you are a wonderful mother and I LOVE YOU very much. Each day I think about you I remember you suffering for me I hope everything is good for you. I thank you for buying everything. You working so hard suffering in sunshine and in rainfall and cold and in hot you didn't abandon me. You really worked hard for me to go to school. I will not let you down try my best not to do so. I will work very hard so that your money is not wasted for nothing. I appreciate everything you do for me.

"Have sweet dreams"

Said Sarah Paech S.P.M

(Posted with Sarah's permission)

Photo of the Month

Almost Live from Uganda (Episode 5)

Get an aerial view of both the community and the vision that we have for Katanga, an urban slum area of Kampala that IMFC has just begun working in, and will continue to work in for the next 6 months. The 5th in a series of videos made for our home church back in the U.S.

For more about why we are here in Uganda, what we are doing, and how you can help us & the people of Uganda, go to www.ugandajourney.org

Photo of the Month

Imagine living at the top of the world - wOw. We took this photo in the beautiful Kigezi region of far southwest Uganda. For a slide-show of our trip to this area, see the post "A Quick Trip to the Southern Hemisphere" (Dec 11, 2008).

Life for Some...

Some people are forced to live in a virtual storm-water drain where their homes flood every time it rains. On top of this, they worry about the safety of their family as children are sometimes abducted and killed for ritual sacrifices. The urban slum area of Sebina/Mayinja that we've been working in for the past 6 months is such a community. Watch in the video below.

(P.S. Aggie and I really need your support so that we can keep working here! For more about us, what we are doing in Uganda and how you can support us in our ministry, please visit www.ugandajourney.org)

Almost Live from Uganda (Episode 4)

"Aggie's Arts", one of our ministries here in Kampala, purchases beautiful hand-made bead necklaces from impoverished women, helping them to meet some of their basic needs. Join us as we visit 14 of our beaders in the community of Banda.

To learn more about Aggie's Arts, and to hear more of our ladies' life-stories, go to www.ugandajourney.org & click on "Aggie's Arts".

(P.S. This is the 4th in a series of videos made for our church back in the U.S.)

Photo of the Month

Here it is actually a complement for someone to tell a woman "Wow, you've put on some weight!" Most women don't want to be skinny, or even slim. Very different to the culture I'm familiar with!

Almost Live from Uganda (Episode 3)

Welcome to a new year!

Watch the video below to join us as we visit IMFC Manna Ministry recipients in the (waterlogged!) community of Sebina. See and hear about some of the conditions many Ugandans endure, and how God draws people to Himself through them.

This is the 3rd in a series of videos made for our church back in the U.S.

(P.S. We are in need of your support! For more about us, what we are doing in Uganda and how you can support us in our ministry, please visit www.ugandajourney.org)