Blog

The Well Spring of Blessings Team began its long journey from Dulles Airport on Saturday Morning 22 Jun.  They were flying on Emirates Airlines, on the largest airplane in service, the A-380 double-decker airplane.  The team headed on its first leg to Dubai shortly before noon and fourteen hours later arrived tired but cheerful from their first rate service.

A delay at Dulles caused a late arrival in Dubai, putting the team’s second leg at risk.  Fortunately an Emirates employee led the group of Dulles travelers through the Dubai Airport maze, They finally connected with the 777 aircraft waiting to head to Entebbe Uganda.  Waiting in Entebbe wereAloysius Mugisa and his two daughters.  Everyone packed into a van with the luggage, and made the slow journey to Kampala, the capital city  of Uganda.

The trip to Kampala gave the team a chance to enjoy the rugged beauty of the Ugandan countryside.  But the team soon realized that they had an even higher priority.  Get something to eat.  A quick stop at a local gas station restaurant solved that problem.

The team arrived in Kampala and had time to relax and get some rest.  The team had dinner with others at the retreat center and before too long, eyelids were starting to droop.  The team went to bed knowing that their journey was well underway and that tomorrow they would make the final leg of their journey to Fort Portal.

2018 was an incredible year for the Secondary School.  Over 100 students were part of the inaugural classes of S1 and S2.  A team from the Well Spring of Blessings visit Buheesi in April and enjoyed a beautiful welcome from the students, teachers, and staff.   But there was still a lot of work that remained.  A decision was made to build the classrooms for S3 and S4 as a single building with a partition that would divide off the building as needed.  The Well Spring of Blessings Donors were energized to support this plan, and with their generosity the building was completed in time for the 2nd year of the school to begin.

As this picture shows, the S3 and S4 building was joined to the S1 and S2 building.

With the Secondary-2 students moving up to Secondary-3 and new Secondary-1 students the school has grown to 182 students.  As exciting as that is, many of the students’ families are hard pressed to put money towards their son’s or daughter’s tuition.  Again our donors have stepped forward to support the school’s student assistance fund.  We hope that others will do the same.

Students with some of the staff outside of the administration school building.

The Secondary-3 will enjoy the larger classroom until they move up to Secondary-4 and the new Secondary-3 class joins them in February 2020.

Stay tuned for more information as the school year progresses.

Tuesday, 3 April dawned dark and dreary.  It was raining in Fort Portal and Buheesi as well.  A quick phone call from Aloysius determined that the celebration would have to be delayed.  In the meantime, the Well Spring of Blessings Team sat and collected and organized their pictures to wait out the weather.   As it looked like the weather was clearing, the team stopped in a couple of shops to buy school supplies from the money provided by the school where Jenna Gubbels works.  There was enough funds for sports and math equipment.  Aloysius is an expert negotiator and maximized the money that was given to the team just before their departure.  With the successful negotiations ended, the team headed for Buheesi.

Fifteen miles on a nice asphalt two-lane roadway led to a muddy road.  Not far down the road was a most beautiful sign!

A short time later the Secondary School was in sight.  A short rutted path led to the school and the team pulled down the path a line of students was waiting on both sides leading up to the school.  As the team left the car there was huge cheer.  The team looked at each other.  What were they supposed to do?  They shook some hands and went to the school’s administration building where an alter and a table with some chairs were set up.  As the team turned to the crowd they were met with a breathtaking sight with hundreds of villagers under canvas tents with the Rwenzori Mountains behind them.

Funny that no matter what country you are in, a school dedication is about the same. You have speeches, singing, and food.  But in Buheesi, things were done with such energy and enthusiasm.  There was a formal program, which had to be shortened due to the late start, but with such detailed organization that any bureaucrat would be proud.

The local area is predominately Catholic, so a Eucharistic Celebration was part of the proceedings.  What took your breath away is that even the poorest of the poor were able to drop something in the collection basket.

The dance routines were wonderful.  The colorful costumes and the drum beats were appreciated by the villagers.  In some of the routines the men had cymbals on their legs so they could make their own beat with their dance steps.   The Well Spring of Blessings Team had a surprise of their own.  Bill and Jenna had awesome dance moves and Greg showed that he had no trouble handling the djembe drum.  What the villagers didn’t know was that Greg had played the djembe for years as part of an African Music Troupe in the Washington DC area.

During the ceremony a team of cooks were preparing the meal.  The meal that was provided was overwhelming and more than any normal person could eat.   It was clear that the village was determined to be generous in their hospitality.  Just like the biblical story of the loaves and fishes, there seemed to be enough for the entire crowd!

The team had one more duty.  That was to deliver a suitcase full of school supplies from generous donors in Virginia.  They also handed out a commemorative plaque for the occasion from the Well Spring of Blessings.  The afternoon flew by and soon the villagers started to drift away to their homes.  It was a blessing that after a rainy morning that not a drop of rain seen during the ceremony.

The team piled into their car and returned back to Fort Portal.  The team had just enough time to clean up and get ready to meet with the District Chairman and his Chief of Administration.  In Uganda a district is a cross between a county and a state.  So these two men were important government officials.

During this discussion it was clear that Buheesi’s new secondary school had the attention of these local officials and they pledged their support to help ensure its success.  The day ended on this high note, and the team looked forward to spending time with the students and teachers the next day.

On 31 March the Well Spring of Blessings Team (Bill Sjoberg, Jenna Gubbels, and Greg Anders) gathered at Dulles Airport in Virginia to check in for their flight to Uganda.  Even with boarding passes in hand the journey seemed surreal.  All the arrangements were made but the apprehension was very real.  Everything had to go perfectly and this trip was as far as any of the team had every traveled.

The overnight flight to Istanbul went smoothly and the team got through security and quickly prepared for the next leg of their journey.  During the time at the Istanbul Atatruk Airport the team saw all kinds of people, from numerous countries and cultures.  There were opportunities to discuss Uganda with other teams of Americans traveling there to serve in a variety of ways.   During the stop in Ruwanda, Jenna was able to make friends with fellow travelers as they prepared to visit family in Uganda.

The team arrived at Entebbe Airport around 3am on 2 April.  Following their move through Ugandan Customs the team was able to find Aloysius Mugisa in the crowded parking lot.  Aloysius had a taxi waiting to take them to a small bed and breakfast near the airport.   A few hours later they were headed to Kampala for a brief stop ,and then were westward bound to Fort Portal near Buheesi.

Entebbe B&B

Three hours of sleep but ready to go

Four lane road between Entebbe and Kampala

Didn’t get far – van breakdown

The shortest leg of the trip was the hardest as the van broke down half way to Kampala.  After several attempts to repair it, a new van and driver arrived, and the journey continued.  The main east-west highway across Uganda had plenty of villages and a lot of small markets on each side of the highway.  Although the road was passable, traffic problems slowed the trip down.  Also, the second van was overheating causing a stop along the way for the van to cool down and to allow water to be added to the radiator.  The team finally arrived in Fort Portal in the evening.  A quick dinner followed.  Finally,  the tired travelers unpacked at a local B&B , that would be their headquarters for the remainder of their stay in Uganda.

Ugandan Strip Mall

You can buy anything

Overloaded Truck blocks the road

Second van starting to overheat

We made it! Dinner in Fort Portal

Well Spring of Blessings Headquarters

Despite the long cross-country journey the team was excited for the next day, Tuesday 3 April.  The village-wide celebration at the new secondary school promised to be something the team would never forget.

The plane tickets are bought and the passports and visas are being worked.  There will be three of us heading to Buheesi the first week of April.  We will be celebrating the Easter Season with the villagers and seeing the secondary school in action.  Bill Sjoberg, Greg Anders, and Jenna Gubbels will be taking a long flight through Turkey on Easter Sunday and will arrive in Uganda on Monday.  The return flight will be on the next Saturday.  We will try to keep everyone updated while we are in country with pictures and stories from Buheesi.  We appreciate your prayers and warm wishes as we prepare for our departure.