From Dallas to Entebbe, Uganda,....on KLM/Delta,....'more or less'
August 9, 10, 11, 12:
August 9, 2012 was the BIG day. 8 of our Mission Team from CrossTimbers Church in the Dallas area, were checked in and ready for our flight. This included our Team Leader, Dave Schmille, as well as myself and my son-in-law Bob Veach,....a big blessing in itself,-to do African Missions with Bob! The other 10 Team members also left on the same day, however, with a different plane(s) and different itinerary(s). Our itinerary was as follows: DFW to Atlanta; Atlanta to Amsterdam, Netherlands; Amsterdam to Kigali, Rwanda; Kigali to Entebbe, Uganda. We planned for almost 24 hours of flying. Our flight out of DFW was scheduled to leave around 12:15pm,..however, right off the bat that didn't happen! Due to major storms on the US East Coast, we were delayed over 5 hours on the ground in Dallas, before getting underway. While waiting at DFW, I dropped my new Bluetooth Wireless Headset in the latrine, UGH! After fishing it out and cleaning/drying it,.I discovered it only worked in one ear! Better one than none, as my phone was loaded with 150+ songs from Contemporary Christian to '60's Rock to Country, for the long hours of plane trip(s). (Remind me to take my headset off next time I use the 'restroom'!). I was particularly excited to get started on this return trip to Uganda, God Cares Schools, and Orphanages,..and then, to continue on to my "other homeland" the Congo, DRC!! I could hardly sleep for the anticipation and excitement I felt.
You guessed it, we missed our connection in Atlanta, for the flight to Amsterdam! It looked like we might have to sleep in the Hartsfield, Atlanta, airport,-a place with which I'm all too familiar, from 30 years of flying thru Atlanta on business trips. God intervened for us in two ways, however, so we didn't sleep in those wonderful airport chairs,-nor on the floor! First, He gave us a caring gate agent, who wanted to do everything she could to get us going; secondly, He had the KLM flight crew and pilots stuck in Atlanta traffic, so they were late to our plane! Thus, we were able to get on the delayed flight to Amsterdam, arriving at Shiphol Airport mid afternoon. (BTW,..my wireless headset returned to normal/full duty, YAY!).
Our next leg to Kigali, Rwanda, on KLM had already left the airport. And, all the flights to Entebbe, Uganda,...thru ANY hub,..ie: Dubai, Nairobi, Cairo, Johannesburg, had left for the day as well. God 'showed up' to bless us again. KLM gave us vouchers for a nice overnight hotel, transfers, and meal vouchers. I say it was God, because since our delay was 'weather-related', the airline is not required to 'put us up',..but they did! So, our 'resting up' day that we had planned for after our arrival time into Uganda was spent instead in Amsterdam. Just fine with us.
The next day, we boarded KLM once again for the rest of our journey to Entebbe, Uganda. Thankfully, everything went according to plan. We also used my International phone, (purchased online from China for just $39.95US), to alert the rest of the Team and Pastor Dongo and others, that we were a day late,-and needed transportation from Entebbe to Kampala. Arriving at Entebbe airport after dark we quickly cleared Immigration and Customs, changed some currency into Uganda money, and then, met Pastor Dongo and his son, for the one hour drive to Kampala. What a joy to see Dongo and his family again! By the way, the Entebbe International Airport is the same one used way back in the day when a TWA jetliner carrying Israeli athletes to the Olympics was hijacked by terrorists and forced to fly to Entebbe, Uganda. At that airport the airplane, crew, and passengers were held hostage. Finally, the Israelis carried out a daring commando mission to rescue the athletes and passengers. You can read that story or see the movie, "Raid on Entebbe"! The old terminal building and some planes are still there where you can see them from the main road, too.
After retrieving our luggage,..which was a mountain of suitcases full of everything from clothes to shoes to pens and pencils for the Buyamba School kiddos,....we piled all our stuff and ourselves into a bus and Dongo's SUV for the hour and a half drive to our hotel in Kampala. Some of us were sitting on baggage, and some on another person's lap. !! After checking into the Olympia Hotel,..(we affectionately call it the Hollywood Hilton),..we got settled in, now very late Saturday/Sunday overnight. The Olympia is, what shall we say,..'adequate'. No hot water on many days, no electricity on many days, of course no air conditioning, no heat, no elevators, and most days no Internet. Oh, and sometimes no glass in the windows, either! It may or may not have mosquito nets or fans, and definitely you WILL be awakened by Muslim prayers at 4 AM every morning. They are broadcast on loud speakers all over the city. Waking up to those sounds is disconcerting, until one gets used to hearing it. Well, as I learned to say...TIA,..meaning 'this is Africa!'. Oh, did I mention the food in Kampala is 'sketchy' at best? I've been sick there more than I want to remember. Happy to be reunited with the rest of our Team in Kampala, the night passed without incident. Thankfully, I slept quite well,..something I usually do NOT do on the first night anywhere, despite my lifetime of travels!
Sunday, the 12th, found us all up early for a breakfast of papaya, pineapple, bread, instant coffee or instant tea, hot/boiled milk, bottled water, and some kind of eggs: (you quickly learn 'don't ask what's in there!').
We enjoyed the church service at Kabalagala church,...led by Pastor Dongo. The exuberance of these worshippers always gets my attention. In the midst of relative poverty, they are a very happy people. The service is conducted with an interpreter, in Lugandan and English. The British legacy is that English is the national language,...however, many Ugandans, especially from the bush areas, do not know English. After church our Team walked about a mile to a place called "Chicken Tonite". Yep, all they serve is chicken, fast food style. Pretty decent, actually...
After eating lunch, we walked back to the "Hollywood Hilton", to rest and get packed again. Our next scheduled item was to be at God Cares Primary School/Orphanage at 2pm, to help load over 700 kids onto buses to the site of the Summer Mission Bible Camp and Retreat. With much pushing and shoving of kids, we loaded them all onto 6 buses. Then, our Team took the last bus to a different hotel, clear across town, much closer to where we'd be serving at the Camp.
Stay tuned,....the fun was just beginning......
