SUNDAY JUNE 17 – OUR LAST DAY

There was no water at all on Saturday night, so no showers, no way to brush your teeth, not even a toilet!

A little before 8:00 Sunday morning, we heard the tank on the commode begin to fill. I hurried in and took an ice cold shower/bath using the spray thing in the bathtub. We also took advantage of the flushing toilet, then Lisa hurried in for her turn in the bath. The water stopped by 8:15 leaving Lisa with yesterday’s jungle dirt in tact and no possible way to get water.

The van was due at 10:00 so there was plenty of time to eat breakfast, but when we got downstairs, we found smelly water bubbling up through the floor behind the restaurant. We decided we weren’t very hungry – only a quick piece of toast that we made ourselves.

The van arrived promptly at 10:00 and we road to church through minimal traffic. Joseph asked me to tell everyone goodbye, so I did, then Lisa and Ray each thanked everyone and said farewell. Joseph ushered me out as soon as we finished and Lisa came along. He wanted me to talk to the church that is considering joining EPC, so Vincent quickly drove us to the new church. There were about 20 adults there this morning sitting in chairs borrowed from Kiwatule using the drums we bought for them three years ago. As soon as I started speaking, it began to rain, and again, it turned into a flood in a few minutes. Everyone had to move to keep from getting drenched.

The potential new members had very few questions about the EPC and what it stands for. Joseph told me they had been studying this for several weeks and they were ready to get the new church going. He said the presbytery would have a delegation come to the church in a few weeks to receive members and he expected all the adults to join.

It only took a few minutes to drive back to Kiwatule. David had finished his sermon some time ago and was waiting impatiently for us. A lot of our kids had waited for Lisa and me to return and they all came running to tell us goodbye. Many wanted one more picture, most with Lisa or me or both of us.

We decided to go back to the hotel to check the water situation. There was a not-right smell when we started up the stairs, but there was no water standing in the hall. And there was no water in the bathroom.

We decided this was enough, so we told the front desk we were leaving and everyone went upstairs to pack. We decided we would dump everything in suitcases and go, then repack at the new hotel. But even with this, it took Lisa and me a long time to get ready.

When we were finally set, the guys came up and helped us move bags to the van. Mr. Johnson himself was waiting for us at the front desk. He tried to tell us that the problem belonged to the city, that there was a broken water main, but he soon realized that we had figured out the truth about his sewer situation. He collected the cash and told us he hoped we would return. He didn’t charge us for Sunday!

The guys were in a huge hurry: they were scheduled to play the sponsored kids in soccer at 3:00. It was almost 3:00 when we left the hotel, and well after before we made it to the public soccer field where a large group of our kids were waiting. David had committed to playing in goal and Michael had bought him a pair of new-ish blue all sport shoes that went quite well with his blue shorts and shirt. The Kiwatule men’s soccer team all had bright yellow jerseys. Joseph said each team member had bought his own.

These kids were serious! Some loosened up by running the length of the field repeatedly. Two small groups of kids kicked rubber balls around. Our guys tried to stretch, and a couple of them even ran a few yards.

When everyone was ready, Joseph brought out one of the new soccer balls. There were three new balls, one for each church. The balls were donated by two ten year old girls from Ooltewah: Hannah and Olivia. Lisa and I have known Hannah since she was born and we had met her friend Olivia when Hannah entered kindergarten. Both girls knew about the Project. Both had watched videos about Uganda, and just before we left, Hannah brought us money the two of them had earned doing chores. Both girls play soccer, so they wanted us to use the money to buy balls if possible. They had enough to buy three balls. We’d gone to a store on Saturday and found that we had enough for very good, leather balls.

Everyone paused to thank Hannah and Olivia when the brand new soccer ball was thrown onto the field. The sponsored kids just stood there for a minute. They couldn’t believe ten year old girls in America would care enough about them to send their own money

It was a good game. Both sides played very hard and after 30 minutes, the score was tied at 0. The defense on both ends was very good. David didn’t have to make a single block, though he dove into the foot-high grass after a ball that only missed the goal by about 15 feet!

We were feeling a bit anxious because we had no place to go. Although we knew it would be very expensive, we decided to go to Hotel Africana for our last night. We have stayed at this hotel several times. I had stayed there part of the time last Christmas. It is a large, very nice hotel where we knew we could count on air and water, which should assure a good night’s sleep before our long flights home.

The desk clerk found two adjoining rooms on the 2^nd floor. Between us, our team, and the bell staff, we soon had all our stuff upstairs. The air felt great, but when David came in a few minutes later, he said he didn’t have the remote control for his air conditioner. Although the air conditioner would come on in fan mode, there was no sign of air. He reported the problem to the front desk and we went out for our last meal.

We decided to visit ShangHai one last time. Instead of our usual place on the patio, we were shown to a private dining room. We had the whole team, as well as Mabel who joined us after the soccer match. The food was wonderful and the dining room had a window air conditioner. All the Ugandans froze while they ate, but we really enjoyed the cool!

They took us back to the hotel after dinner. There was still no air in David’s room, so I went down with him to talk to the front desk. David explained that this was his sixth trip to talk with someone about his room. “But I am telling you that I am taking responsibility to fix this thing,” said the woman behind the desk.

“That’s what all the others told me,” complained David.

“But sir, they are not me! Your air will be on in no time.” We then watched the woman make a call. We could hear it ringing somewhere in the room behind the front desk. No one answered, so she left the desk. She soon returned. “Don’t worry!” she said. “You will be cool in no time.”

I went back to my room to work on the blog. David wanted to go to the Business Center with me to post updates, so I went to his room a few minutes before 10:00. Ray was sound asleep. David was fuming. There was no air!

When we got to the brand new Business Center, we found it closed. I told David it closed at 10:00 though there was no sign anywhere. For all we knew, they had closed at noon!

We went back to the front desk. The woman who had taken responsibility for getting the problem fixed was no where to be found! David got in line at the front desk, but I saw a woman I knew from an earlier trip. She was the cashier, and she was always unpleasant but she was also always right! So I went to her.

“Hello, we have a problem,” I said. She didn’t acknowledge me in any way. “I have stayed here several times, and you have always helped me before no matter what the problem. The air conditioner in my friend’s room is broken. Can you help him?”

The woman looked at me for a long minute. “Which room?” David gave her the number. “Let me call.”

“They’ve already done that!” said David. “There’s nobody there.”

The woman calmly dialed the phone and again, we heard it ringing behind the desk “I told you. . . “ said David.

The woman hung up the phone and came out from behind the desk. She walked down the hall and came back in a moment with the Maintenance Man. “I’ve already seen him,” said David. “He doesn’t know how to fix it.”

The woman calmly returned to her place behind the desk. She smiled at me and nodded. David and I followed the Maintenance Man upstairs, but not before I turned to thank the woman. Somehow, I knew the problem was fixed.

I went into our room and left David with the Maintenance Man. David was right, the man had no idea how to fix the air conditioner, but after tinkering for a few minutes, he led David and the drowsy Ray to a new room on the first floor.

We didn’t hear any more from David. Lisa finished packing the bags while I worked on the computer equipment we had brought for our team. It took a while to get everything ready, but we finally turned out the light. The air conditioner’s whir soon lured me to sleep.