From Bridget in Uganda!

Hey Villagers! Bridget wrote to us from Uganda!! If you want to send her a message, email me and I will forward it. :)
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5/14/08

Holiota! (this is how we greet each other here)

I miss you all so much and wish you could be here too - I know you would love the village of Fort Portal. There are different types of bananas growing everywhere- did you know there was more than one type of banana? I didn't until I came here but I am learning... I eat so many each day, a large one for breakfast, small ones during our tea breaks and even unsweet cooked ones for dinner - I fear I will turn into a monkey :).

I spend my days in the Virika hospital- it is incredible how much I am learning. In the afternoon, the nurses gather in the hospital to sing the Rosary in their native language, Ritoro - it is very beautiful. I have not yet learned how to say the Rosary in Ritoro but I can greet people and communicate with the women in labor.

In the evening sometimes I go 'down town' to run errands - I have now mastered the art of riding a bota bota (motor bike) - even in the pouring rain. I think the Village should definitely invest in a bota bota.

I have also traveled to some of the surrounding smaller clinics in the more rural areas. When we go to these villages, the children get very excited to see us. They jump up and down and shout "Hello Mizzuno" (white person) - it makes me laugh.I pray for you all - especially when I go to mass in the morning (your midnight). Please pray for our patients, so many of the children are very sick with malaria. I can't wait to see you all!

Under His Love, Bridget

ps If you see Matthias, tell him I say happy feast day!

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5/19/08

Hello Village,

Just wanted to let you know I tried a new food? bone soup. Basically you take the bones of a cow and boil them until the taste comes out. When I get back I will make it for you. It tastes a bit like mucous.

Today I am going to an orphanage during my lunch break, I wish you could come too. My Ritoro is getting better, I even have a pet name now (everyone in this region is given one of 11 pet names that they use to greet each other). Mine is Abuele (?) you should ask Halley what hers is.

Under His Love, Bridget

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Village News

Join us next Sunday Feb 24th from 5-6:30 for our monthly time of Eucharistic Adoration! We’re going to be blessed with our teen Worship Band, and social time following Adoration.

Responding to Grace Decisions Made for Spring-Summer
Village Setup Team: James*, Tom, Chuck
Village Greeting Team: Melissa*, Bernard
Village Hospitality Team: Jacob*, Dominica
Village Community Team: Dominica*, Tom
Village Youth Council: Tony, Doug, Laura, Ellen, Maria, Nealia, Peter, Robert, Mike, Tom, Karen, Melissa, Dominica.

Grown Up Soda Scavenger Hunt
May 23rd is our last GUS, from 6:30-9pm. We will be having our annual GUS Photo Scavenger Hunt through all of downtown Ann Arbor, followed by pizza and ice cream here at St Thomas. GUS VOLUNTEERS NEED A PERMISSION SLIP, ALSO.