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The plans were in place. Aloysius Mugisa would arrive at Dulles Airport in Virginia on 5 March. He would spend time in Virginia talking about the Well Spring of Blessings work in Uganda. He would then travel to Florida, Indiana, and California meeting with various Christians in Commerce Groups that sponsor some of his ministry in Uganda. He would then return to Dulles to fly back to Uganda, arriving home on 4 April. Even with the COVID-19 starting to make news in early March there was no expectation that things would turn out like they did.

Bill Sjoberg had worked out with his church (Corpus Christ Catholic Church) that Aloysius would come to share stories of the Catholic Church and the secondary school being supported with the teenage religious education group. A lively presentation was a blessing to all participants.

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Bill and Aloysius arranged for some of the Well Spring of Blessings donors to discuss the status of the construction of the buildings of the St Pope John Paul II Rwenzori Secondary School. Aloysius also gave an update on the “senior” class (Secondary-4) class’ progress to graduate in February 2021.

With every passing day the COVID-19 restrictions got a little tighter. With the help of Jenna Gubbels and Bill, Aloysius was able to get make some audio tapes that teamed with slides to provide a thorough briefing to the students at St Veronica’s Catholic School. Although not ideal, the response from the students and parents of St Veronica’s responded with badly needed financial support.

With COVID-19 endangering a carefully coordinated trip schedule, some phone calls and emails succeeded in a new schedule. One stop in Indiana and the California leg were scrubbed. Still Aloysius was able to spend a week in Florida and another in South Bend before returning to Virginia. Not long after his return to Virginia, international travel came to a screeching halt. Returning to Uganda in early April was no longer possible. Aloysius was in Virginia and would remain there until things changed.

It seemed like such a great idea.  Let’s work with Aloysius Musgisa one of our agents in Uganda to visit the United States.  Not only would it put a face to our support to Buheesi, but it would boost Aloysius Christians in Commerce ministry.  Plane tickets were bought and a schedule laid out.  Aloysius would spend time in Virginia, Florida, Indiana, and California before returning to Virginia on his way back to Uganda.  Everything was in place and Aloysius arrived in early March.  His schedule had him returning to Uganda in early April.  COVID-19 intervened!   Aloysius was able to meet some of our donors in Virginia and was able to travel to Florida and Indiana to meet with Christian in Commerce groups carefully following the COVID-19 guidelines for public interaction.  He was able to return to Virginia and he is awaiting a flight back to Uganda.  The borders of Uganda have been closed and any flight through the normal routes have been canceled with no future flights on the schedule.

While he awaits his return, things in Uganda have become very challenging.  A nation-wide quarantine is having a real impact.  Even though the number of people that have contacted the COVID-19 virus is low with even fewer deaths, the risk of this virus overwhelming the already limited Ugandan Medical capabilities is still very high.  The St Paul II – Rwenzori Valley Secondary School has been closed and the construction on the Laboratory/Library Building has been suspended.   There is hope that the inaugural graduation class of this school can still make its planned March 2021 graduation date.  Keep this situation in your thoughts and prayers.

Every now and then there is an opportunity for someone to make a huge difference in the lives of others.  Here it was.  The Secondary School was in need of power to improve teaching methods and help the students prepare for the future.  So if you had power, what else could you do.  How about using it to run a school printer so instead for taking hours to go to a print shop in a nearby larger city, they could make the school material right in the administration building.  Almost as quickly as those thoughts were shared, two donors stepped up to provide the money.

This industrial-sized printer makes life so much easier for the teachers and the school administration.

The solar panels and batteries arrived.  They were pretty impressive even before they were installed.

The electricians got to work and it wasn’t long and the light bulbs were shining in every building.  Outlets were available for the school’s laptop, and the printer was pumping out the paper.

Well Spring of Blessings Teams have visited Uganda in 2018 and 2019.  It was clear during the 2018 visit that the two wells provided by our generous donors were making a huge difference.  The 2019 Team got a chance to see the site for the third well.  Here are the pictures of the site, a nearby stream that was the villagers current water supply and the villagers that use that stream.

When we received the pictures of the new well it sent a charge of joy through all our hearts.   The villagers that use that well will now have fighting chance against disease and other water borne illnesses.  We can’t wait to see the well in operation in 2020!

The well won’t have this type of traffic every day, but it certainly will be well used.

You know that often when you take a trip you have trouble determining how much money you should bring.  Usually you underestimate and have to get more cash.  Sometimes you are blessed to bring more than you need.  The team that went to Uganda in June of 2019 experienced this.  They were able to leave enough funds for new school desks.  These individual desks are essential for the students to finish their final tests for graduation.  When taking these “finals” the students can’t “share” a desk as they have done throughout their studies.

One more step to the graduation finish line!  The desks look very impressive when they are piled onto a truck.