I'm here!

I haven't posted yet from Africa.

Maybe cause I've been working and connecting with my people for 4 days, non stop.

It's been really good.  I can't post pictures right now, because I'm on a public computer in Masaka.  But I have some great ones I am looking forward to sharing.

Here's a quick overview of what I've been up to...

Wednesday:

Arrived at Cornerstone in the morning, saw all the friends, reconnected, it was amazing!  It felt like no time had passed.

Met with the Cornerstone Veritas team:  Edmond and Carol (our staff) and the new team of interns!  We had a great time; they introduced themselves, and we all talked for a while about many things.  I shared with them about my original vision behind the internship and about the importance of building a family together.

We then had some time just as a staff, to plan for the coming weeks.  This also included some great one on one conversation with Edmond, he is really excelling in his role!

At about 5 pm we went down to the large fellowship hall and played some games before the "evening program" began.  We were celebrating both Edmond's birthday and my arrival, so we had some speeches, and great food.  All the interns for 2014 were there, along with a variety of former interns and our current staff, as well as many of our friends.  A few hours after the event started, Frank (a former CV staff member) came in, and I got the amazing chance to sit and eat with some of my closest Ugandan friends.

Thursday:

Intern Training!  All 6 interns gathered for a training time with me.  I did one of the lessons from their 12 lesson series.  This one is about how to use the internet and how to figure out what information is true.  We covered a lot of information, and I think it will be a good starting point for them with internet use.

We then had lunch, and during lunch I gave them some questions to think over.  After lunch, we went up to the meeting room on the roof and had a "Listening Forum" which is a time of discussing challenging issues which they don't usually feel free to discuss.  All of them really enjoyed it, and it was amazing to see them choose to think maturely and seriously about a number of issues.

After the listening forum, I had one on ones with 5 out of the 6 interns.  This was a fun time to hear their incredible stories, learn more about their hopes and dreams, and have a chance to speak into their lives.

A little before 5 I ran off to go sit on Susanna and Peter's couch for the evening.  It was GLORIOUS!  Tendai remembered me, and Joshua is huge.

Friday:
Got up early and packed, and arrived to the office in time to get some visiting in with a few good friends.  We then met as a staff about various practical things:  Finances, schedules, and the internship program.  It was so nice to be able to sit and comfortably discuss these programs.

I think had a brief, but very good meeting with Tim (the executive director of Cornerstone Development), before running off to catch a bus to Masaka with Edmond.  The bus we took was SO SLOW!!  It went about 10 mph up hills, which there are a good number of between Kampala and Masaka.  We arrived at the petrol station just outside of town right at 4 pm, which was when our meeting was supposed to start.  There, we waited to be picked up and when the van arrived, I found it full of wonderful and familiar faces!  Denis, Gloryia (with new baby Daisy) and Rina all were there with nothing but smiles and hugs.

We hurried to the new offices that they have for the various businesses they are starting.  There, I taught a 1.5 hour training on Blogging!  It was great!  We did a lot of discussing how to blog, and then I walked them through setting up a blog.  Afterwards, we went to the new NET team house and had some awesome discussion with various friends, before dinner and bed.

So there you go!  I've been a bit busy...

More in a few days!