Back

So we are now back and enjoying our time in America.  The trip as I'm sure you've heard or have read on here was absolutely amazing.  Chris and I are both really excited to see what happens from here.  We are excited to pursue opportunities to help the people and culture that we have grown to love.  I hope that people will continue to check the blog as we are still going to try and give updates on how we are trying to help the community in Masaka.  I also just want to thank everyone so much for their support before we left, the support while there, and now the support and love that we have received by being at home.  

How to ride an ostrich

So most people believe that to ride an ostrich you simply hop on and grab the neck. This is not the case!! We know from first hand experience that you hop on and slide back wrapping your legs underneath the huge bird and grab the wings. And yes I have video footage of Christopher Teson, Fr. Paul, and myself riding an ostrich.

-Tim

Riding Ostridge?

Yes!!! Well, the Ostridge experience has come and gone, and I think Tim and I would both say it was better than expected. We spent all day with Father Paul riding ostridges at an ostridge farm last friday. It was quite an experience and surely one we will not forget.

On thursday we spent the day with Father Tamale at Sessee Island. These are a large group of 84 islands just off the coast of Uganda. We spent the day at the largest island and were able to visit Father's old parish. This was another great adventure and one we won't soon forget.

As you can see we have been lucky to take quite a few trips near the end of our journey to Uganda. The priests have been awesome and really made such an effort to see that we have a great experience. We are already trying to line up a trip for a couple of them to visit the states either this summer or next summer. I think both priests (Father's Paul and mutebi) seem very interested and serious about the trip as well. It would be a great opportunity for them to speak at schools and churches in the KC and st. Louis area.

As for fundraising we have already come up with a few ideas, and have already talked to youth leaders in kc and st. Louis about possible events. All of them have given us great responses and seem to be on board. We will definitely talk to everyone about possibilities to "Light Em Up" (refering to getting Narozari parish solar power). Tim and I are looking forward to getting back and getting started on helping the parish, school, and students.

We leave next week and this may be my last post. I just want to thank the so many avid followers of timchris.blogspot.com (should have been christim.blogspot.com). We have so many dedicated followers (18) to our page, haha. Thanks again to everyone and we can't wait to see everyone back home. Please have a safe and wonderful holiday with your families and we will see many of you next week.

-Chris

Jinja

Chris and I had a simply awesome time this past weekend. We were able to visit Jinja and see the source of the Nile River! We also got to see some really impressive rapids and falls. It was honestly one of the coolest things I've ever seen in my life. Tomorrow we are heading to the Sisse Islands on Lake Victoria. Fr. Tamale used to be at a parish there so he is going to show us around. From what we've seen and Chris has seen on the internet it looks pretty amazing. Then we are going to Kampala for a wedding with Fr. Mutebi. On Sunday we will be visiting the Uganda Martyrs Shrine which looks really cool. Also on Friday ostrich farm!! But anyway we are pretty busy and next week is it. So we will talk to you soon!

-Tim

Some pic's from the last month (Chris)

3 Weeks

With just three weeks left, as Chris had said our schedule is pretty packed. I know we are both so excited for Jinja. Also we are excited to again attempt plastering the rectory. A week from this Friday we will be traveling to an ostrich farm with Fr. Paul! I think that will be awesome and hilarious. I think you might be able to ride them? If so I'm jumping on for sure. But time has been flying and I'm sure it's only going to go quicker. So we are excited about our next few weeks. I really wish I would be able to put up video but the connection is so slow I never even get close. But we have taken over 114 videos! So we have plenty of footage!

Big Weekend

It's been a little while since our last post, but much has happened over the last week. This weekend was a great time. On Thursday Fr. Paul took us too Lake Victoria. This was our first trip to the lake, and we had a great time. You can see the lake from where we are staying, but seeing it up close was great. We enjoyed a great day eating, drinking, and relaxing on the beach with Father.

Friday was one of the most fun days we have had in Uganda. We spent the entire day with Father Mutebei, Father Paul, and the Deputy at a teacher party for all the catholic school teachers in the area. There were close to a thousand teachers in attendance. The party went from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. We had a great time dancing with so many other teachers.

This past week was our last in the classroom. I gave my students a test over everything we have went over since I arrived. The students did pretty good, but I don't think they are big fans of Mr. Chris anymore. Teaching has been a great experience and allowed Tim and I to really interact with the children in the area.

Tim and I started plastering on of the rooms at the rectory where we are staying. Two of the rooms were finished before we came to Uganda, and we were able to help finish one this week. We have two left to finish and hopefully we can get them done over the next couple weeks. The priests surprised us by telling us they were naming two of the rooms at the rectory after us. They said Chris' room and Tim's rooms will always be open if we make the journey back.

This next week will be very busy as we are travelling to Jinja, Uganda (about 3 hours from where we are staying) with Father Paul. It should be a great time, and he has a lot planned for us.

Tim and I have been talking about what we are going to do upon returning to the states to support the causes here and have a lot of ideas. We also are planning on taking most of the last week here and interviewing and getting all the priests on tape regarding how we can help. If anyone has ideas for us about how else we can raise funds let us know.

-Chris

Narozari Day

As Tim mentioned Friday was a lot of fun at the National Park. Sunday was just as packed as we attended Narozari Day. Once a year the parish where we are staying has its annual celebration. We were lucky as the celebration was moved from early in September to late October. We were able to meet many prominent figures in Uganda during the day. Tim and I both saw and shook hands with the bishop of Masaka, the presidential nominee Dr. Kizza Besigye, and Ugandan boxer Justin "The Ugandan Destroyer" Juuko. It really was an amazing time as people from all over the area attended the festivities. The total count of attendees ended up being around two thousand. Dr. Kizza Besigye was a very nice and welcoming man, and chatted it up with me for a few moments. If you have some free time you should read up on the Ugandan presidential election of 2006. Many say Besigye should have won, but the current president who has been in office for 20 years supposedly stole the election. I was also able to meet his two personal accountants which was very neat for me as I majored in accounting. Both men gave me their phone numbers and e-mail addresses and told me to stay in contact with them. Next, we were able to meet Justin "The Ugandan Destroyer" Juuko. He is a very decorated boxer from Uganda. He was a very nice guy, and actually introduced himself to Tim and I. We got our pictures take with him, and he told us about his upcoming fight on November 15th where he fights for the IBA World Championship in Moscow. Lastly, we met and talked with the bishop of Masaka. He also was a great man, and allowed Tim and I to take many pictures with him. We finished the night be enjoying a couple cold one's with two priests in our parish, and two other teachers. All in all Tim and I had a great weekend, and look forward to the next month. Thanks for all the responses and prayers.

-Chris

National Park

Last Friday we were able to take an amazing trip to a National Park, hence the picture above. But first, we stopped by Emmanuel Academy. Emmanuel Academy is a school that Fr. Paul (one of the priests we stay with) founded. He founded the school because he notice the large amount of orphans in the area and no school. The school was very impressive, it is still getting started but the children were very disciplined and Fr. Paul assured us that he only got qualified teachers. So it looks very promising, but like everything is it seems in Uganda they are in desperate need of financial help.

We went to a National Park with Lake Emburu (sp?). It was really cool, much like a mini safari. We were able to see zebras, wart hogs, monkeys, gazelles, impalas, and water buffalo. We also had the opportunity to go out on a boat on the lake. On the lake we got to see hippos! They were so huge, so fat. But it was really cool. It was like the Nile River ride in Disney World except for real. It was a really good day, and we were gone for about 10 hours. It was really cool to experience Africa in that way, like we see on tv and stuff. So in all Friday was awesome and it was good to get out of Naruzaari and get to be tourist for a day.

Rachel

I don't want to say that Teson and I had a favorite. But, this little girl was so adorable and we spent a lot of our time at the orphanage with her. She is an orphan but does not have HIV. She loves attention and would cry soo loud when either of us would leave. So I'm excited to get back there and spend some time with her.

The Orphanage

This was taken at the Orphanage we visited, Home Sweet Orphanage. This was by far one of Chris' best friends that day. Like we had previously said we had such an awesome time there and are looking forward to spending a week there in November!

Check FACEBOOK

Hey I haven't really figured out how to put pictures on here. But if you have facebook you can check the ones I put on there!

-Tim

The ball is rolling

Things are officially picking up around here. Father Kasoma came to town yesterday and really helped us progress in our attempt to find more work. He is great because he really understands the purpose we are here is to serve, and there is no point for us to sit around. We are going to start working on the rectory next week, and have other labor around the area we will be starting next week. With teaching, working on the rectory, and finalizing plans on the resource center in town our weeks should be very packed.

Tim and I had the opportunity to visit an orphanage in town on Monday and were both very moved by the children. We thought we had it tough in Uganda, but seeing how little these kids have (literally the shirts on their backs) really hit us. A high number of the children have been diagnosed with HIV, but it was hard to tell just by seeing and playing with them. The children we saw were in the 3-5 year range. They have so much joy and their smiles really melted Tim and I. I absolutely fell for one of the little girls. She couldn't have been more than 3 years old but was the cutest little girl. She is cross-eyed and a little pudge, but is so adorable. Tim and I really wanted to help at the orphanage a couple days a week, but it is a much further than we orginally thought. Instead of traveling an hour each way a couple times a week we decided to take a week towards the end of our trip and work at the orphanage. They have a lot of work we can do and we are both anxious to help out.

Lastly, we are both having a lot of fun with the priests. Father Mutebi turned 50 today (I thought he was much older than that) so Tim and I took him out for lunch. All the priests, the deputy, and Tim and I also celebrated his birthday last night. We are having a lot of fun and finally finding a lot of work to keep us occupied. Thanks for all the words of encouragement.

-Chris

Long Walk

This morning after Chris finished teaching a very exciting math class we headed off to Masaka town. We usually walk for about 15 minutes then end up catching bota bota. Today, however, we ended up walking for an hour before we finally got a bota bota, which I think is one of the smallest that I've seen. We just took Fr. Mutebi out to lunch for his 50th birthday. We are now going to wait until Fr. Tamale comes into town because we are purchasing some cement so we can help finish the rectory we are staying in. So we will have that to work on for awhile which will be very good. As for the Orphanage, I tried to post about it the other day but it didn't go through for some reason. But we visited an orphanage called Home Sweet Orphanage. It is an orphanage that houses 40 orphans, 6 of which are HIV positive. Needless to say it was a very eye-opening experience. It was so bittersweet to visit it with the kids. Most of the ones that we spent time with were between the age of 3 and 6. They were so happy to see us, it was amazing. But I could help but feel awful knowing that they don't have parents and that some are living with AIDS. We are just really excited that we will be able to help out there. The only problem is that it is kind of far so going during the week won't work out too well. So we are going to go stay and work there for a week in November. So we are really excited for that. Tomorrow I teach and I think we will start working on the rectory. Then on Friday Fr. Poe is going to take us to a school that he help to start, then to a national park. So things are looking so much better and we're really excited to be busy! Peace!

-Tim

Another day, another night

A lot has happened over the last couple of days. Tim and I had been very frustrated over the last couple of days with our lack of involvement in the community. We teach for about 8-10 hours a week, and besides that and playing with the children we have had too much free time. Father Tamale has not been very helpful looking for other opportunities either. So we decided to do some searching on our own. A couple of days ago I met a group of people from England that were in town volunteering for an AIDS relief team, and we were able to look more into the group. Additionally, I came across a group in the area building homes for families, and also running an orphanage in Masaka (about 7 miles from where we are located). We are meeting with the two groups today to look into volunteering a couple days a week with them. We feel very blessed to have come across these opportunities and hopefully one of them pans outs.

Secondly, we had a great get together with Father Poe on Wednesday night. After a great day in Masaka looking for additional volunteering opportunities Tim and I returned to Narozari where we are located. We were hanging around Tim's rooms when Father Poe walked in with 3 beers and said "How about a proper welcoming?" We sat in Tim's room talking and laughing for a good while when I was asked to meet with the Deputy (principal). Had I really gotten fired after just 2 days of teaching? Actually, the Deputy just wanted to talk about the first couple days of teaching. The Deputy and another teacher were also enjoying a cold one, and asked if I would like to join them. I told them that Tim, Father, and I were doing the same thing in Tim's room. They joined us and Father bought a couple rounds for everyone. Tim and I are really having fun with Fathers Poe, Mutabi, and Kosama but are having some struggles with Father Tamale. Hopefully everything will continue to go great though. After our drinks with everyone the Deputy invited Tim and I to join him for a basketball game in Masaka this weekend, and also told us about a teachers party at the end of November we are invited to. He said the teachers parties are also a blast, and the next one will be on the beach. We are having fun and trying to continue to get more involved. Thanks for everyone's prayers and support.

-Chris

A Good Day In Masaka

So we had a really good day in Masaka. We had a really nice lunch, then afterwards we met with a guy named Robert who works for Home Sweet Orphanage. Ok, so the name isn't great but what they are doing really is amazing. It is an orphanage for children who are living with HIV. After speaking with Robert, who is a really passionate guy, we found out that there is a lot to do there. He told us we will be able to help finish the contruction of the chapel, and two class rooms. Also visit with the children and just do things for them. We are both very excited about this opportunity for a number of reasons. But like anything that pushes us, going to an orphanage where kids most likely won't live long will be extremely hard. But we are both just so excited at the opporunity to do the best we can to bring Christ to these children. So are days will now be more filled, with work and with challenges. We are excited to be here and will talk to you soon!

-Tim

Back for the day

Hey! So we were able to come back into town a lot quicker this time. Today we have a plan. Chris has contacted a group call TASO (The Aids Support Organization) and we are hoping to contact them today and see if we can start volunteering at the very least once a week. We need to do something with all of our excess time and just so we can feel as if we are doing the work that we know we are called to do here. So today for me is exciting and awesome, we are hoping to get into contact with TASO, send out some emails, and hopefully have a nice big lunch. Also it is our fist time that we are in Masaka by ourselves which will be interesting. Anyway thanks for all of the support and prayers we both know for a fact that they are working as things are starting to improve here. I miss all of you and hopefully can get some pictures and video up so that everyone can have a better sense of what we are doing. I know I have to first post videos on YouTube I think before I can post them on the blog, so hopefully I can get all of that taken care of today. Peace!

-Tim

It's Been Awhile

Hey everyone! So I'm just echoing what Teson said. We're teaching and it's going ok, we really enjoy the kids. We are finding a lot down time. This is tough for us because we are here in AFRICA and we want to give as much as we can. The construction is pretty much done and Father said that we couldn't really help with the remainder of it. We asked him about the AIDS resource team and he didn't seem to know much about any of them. So we are hoping to find more options!

mr. chris and mr. timoteo

Tim and i started teaching in the school on Monday. i am helping Tim teach English and music, and am teaching math myself to what would be freshman age kids in the states. i have found the first two days of math class to be quite fun. i think the children have understood what I've taught them so far even if it is very basic math. it is funny how the class is exactly how i would picture teaching in the states. some of the kids, those sitting in the front rows, are very motivated and take the class serious and some in the back joke around all period. i also had a kid fall asleep in my class for the first time, so maybe i am not as good a teacher as i had envisioned. also one of my classes is very attentive and respectful and the other is quite the opposite. all in all i have found teaching to be very rewarding and challenging even if it has only been one week. i am also learning how difficult it can be and have a new found respect for all the teachers out there, mom and my sister Katie in particular.

the food situation has taken a turn for the worse. Tim and i are already growing tired of the local cuisine. the food is not very nutritious and also lacks the flavorful tastes we are accustomed to. we are making it a point to try everything, even if that includes red ants or minoes, yes you read that correct. both of these tasted as you would imagine quite nasty.

-mr. chris

Naruzarri Parish

So much has happened since we have arrived in Africa and I don't really know where to begin. The first night and day at the parish was extremely difficult for me, it was really hard to adjust and to know I would be spending 2 months there. Things are getting better though. Today we got to attend Mass with the secondary school children which is the High School kids, and it was really awesome. The choir was fantastic and it was just good to be at mass, which is something familiar even if it is in another language. I know we are both still trying to adjust but I feel that we are slowly coming around. I'm going to post some videos, hopefully they work and we can give you a better idea of how we are doing.

And so it begins

Tim and I are finally settling into our new lives for the next two months. We both really appreciate everyone's comments, kind words, and prayers. They really keep us going and keep us motivated. We talked to the principal at the school in town today and got our assignments for the next month. I will be teaching math, sports, and some music with Tim. We are both very nervous about this because of how difficult it is to communicate with the children. We are staying with 3 priests, but have only met 2 of them so far. Tim and I have really connected with Fr. John Francis. He is an older guy (about 70 years old) but really understands the youth in his community. He is the head of education in the area, and has some great ideas on how to improve the area. He started up an education center/library in his past parish and is attempting to start one where we are staying. Tim and I both are hoping to help him get this up and running, and also hopeful to get some computer equipment donated for the area. The food we've been eating is not as bad as I thought it would be, however, it does seem like every meal is exactly the same (rice, Matakea, pineapple, banana, and if we're lucky a little fish). The pineapples and bananas are amazing as they are grown all over. We actaully had the new experience of pineapple farming yesterday. Matakea on the other hand is tough to get down especially in the morning. It is dried banana, but it tastes like patateos. Tim will be posting some videos we've shot over the past couple days. Please keep the comments comming.

-Chris

Kick in the Face

Tim and I arrived in Uganda Tuesday at around 8:15 pm here or about noon central time in the states. The journey here was quite long and exhausting, but we both got a second wind upon arriving. Along the way over we met a group of 16 recently graduated students from Washington also jouneying to Uganda to do mission work. It was fun to talk to the group and find others with the same passion as Tim and I. We agreed to stay in touch and look forward to hearing how there work goes. Upon arriving we were met by Fr. Aloysius who took us into Kampala. The drive was about 1/2 an hour from the airport. Seeing hundreds of people line the streets, music blarring, and numerous cops with AK-47 on the stree and you have an experience new to Tim and I. As for the first day in Uganda, I'm glad I didn't have any expectations because they would have fell well short. Fr. Aloysius showed us around downtown Kampala which is like any big city you would see in the states except for a couple of HUGE differences. First the number of people in the city is amazing. Enormous amounts of people line the streets making driving difficult. If that weren't enough the driving here is unlike anything I've ever seen. There are no lanes which makes for quite a free-for-all, and add in the hundreds of motorcycle cabs and you have for a huge mess. Multiple times we saw 5-6 car wide jams on two way roads. Add in the fact that they drive on the opposite side of the road we are accustumed to and you have a new adventure. We are enjoying our time so far and will keep in touch. Thanks for the responses and e-mails.

We Are Here!

WE HAVE MADE IT! I am currently in Masaka at an internet cafe. We spent last night outside of Kampala, and woke up today and are driving to the parish that we will be staying. To be completely honest I am still very overwhelmed. Seeing this country and these people first hand is just a lot to take and it's hard to not question whether or not I am prepared to handle this trip. I trust in the Lord and I know He will see us through. I'm so thankful that we have made it safely. I think I'll be able to get internet about once a week, hopefully more. Right now it's 12:10 in the afternoon here and about 4:09 am in the States. I miss everyone already, and it is a wierd feeling to be this far away from anything that I know. Also the countryside is very pretty, very green and lots of trees. Traveling by car will definitely take some getting used to, there are traffic rules but virtually no one at all follows them. It's a miracle that we have not been in any accidents yet, or that I haven't seen anyone get hit by a car. Also there are thousands of people on motorcycles, everywhere you look there are motorcycles. Anyway I just wanted to touch base and give everyone a quick update that we made it and that we will be leaving momentarily to go to the parish, which is just outside Masaka. Love and Peace.

-Tim

Hello from Holland!

We are currently in Airport Amsterdam Schiphol. The flight from lovely Detroit was pretty lengthy. We almost had to make an emergency landing due to one of the passengers having some medical issues. Luckily we didn't have to. It is 1:40 am your time and 8:40 am here. We got some sleep on the plane so that's good and I think we are relieved to only have one more flight left. We are anxious to get to Uganda and get to it! We miss everyone already and we will continue to update as often as we can. From the Nederlands.

-Tim

The Journey starts

We are now relaxing in the Chicago airport. The bus ride last night wasn't too bad, but i think we would've liked more sleep. Anyway, after the bus we boarded the metro and came to the airport. We are just killing time until our flight. It's weird to think that we aren't even half way yet.

-Tim

No Doubt

First post for Mr. Teson. It's Tim's fault if this post isn't up to par. I just wanted to share a story about my travels thus far. This past Friday I was running errands around Kansas City getting some last minute things for Africa when I got a call from a nervous Tim. After talking we both were pretty apprehensive about our travels and started having our doubts. With those thoughts in mind I headed to the bus station to catch a bus from Kansas City to St. Louis. As I was standing in line waiting to board the bus I leaned over to ask an old lady behind me a question about the bus system. After a brief conversation she asked me why I was heading to St. Louis. I explained that I was meeting a friend and we would be journeying to Uganda. "Wow, I just came from Africa!" She replied. She explained that she had been in Africa for 3 months doing mission work and had just returned a month ago. She also talked about a christian organization she is involved with and one thing they do is to pray every morning for missionaries. While she was talking about this I just sat there in awe. Here I was questioning why we were traveling to Africa, and I felt like Christ had sent this lady to easy our nerves and totally assure us he has a plan. After talking for 6 hours on the bus I felt like I had known Brenda my whole life. We went our own ways. I might not ever see Brenda again but will always remember our meeting.

-Chris

Tonight!

So as yesterday was kind of the calm before the storm, the "storm" has arrived. Tonight our bus leaves at 10:15pm central time. We will arrive in Chicago sometime before 5:00am central time. We are ready. Also another interesting thing that I was made aware of happened yesterday. St. Francis Xavier is the patron saint of missionaries, and more specifically African Missions. So I found out just yesterday that today October 5th, is the feast day of St. Francis Xavier. This just totally floored me, to realize that the day we are leaving just happened to be the feast day of the patron saint of African missions. I really wish I could say that I had planned it that way, but I didn't. God totally set that one up. Keep us in your prayers, and thanks for your support.

In Christ,
Tim

The night before of the night before

Chris just got in not too long ago and we are just relaxing. We both spent most of the last two days packing, we are ready to go. We are really getting excited/nervous to leave. Our bus leaves St. Louis at 10:15pm and we will arrive around 5am in the morning. Just wanted to make sure that this worked well and hopefully I'll have more to write later.

-Tim