Earlier this year, Staci and Beau Abdulla (along with their children, Madison and Braden) moved to Kampala to establish a headquarters for a new LWI program in Uganda. Over the next three years, their goal is to implement 140 new water solutions. To get this started, Staci and Beau are traveling around the country, establishing relationships, training nationals, and assessing needs. Here, in Staci’s words, is the story of one such scouting trip—to Kitgum, an 8 hour drive from their home.
The trip up north was great; it was hard, it was long, and it was HOT. Despite not having air conditioning in the van, the kids were great. We drove along with the windows down, our hair blowing in the wind as the sun beat down on our cheeks.
We stopped in Gulu and ate our lunch under the shade of a tree at the only gas station in town. Just 3 years ago, Gulu Town was devastated by the war and its aftermath, but now it is struggling to get back on its feet.
After another three hours in the van, we arrived at Kitgum. Our motel, the largest around, had a total of nine rooms; Beau and Brian (our driver) had to stay in a different guest house because there wasn’t enough space for us all. Both nights in Kitgum were unbearably hot; we were drenched in sweat, and the power went out at night which meant no fans. The second night, Beau and Brian slept in the van.
Our trips into the surrounding villages were tough, amazing, inspiring, and eye-opening. As we traveled, we passed multiple IDP camps—refuges for northern Uganda’s Internally Displaced People. Just a few years ago these camps were congested with thousands of refugees. Now people are slowly moving back into their devastated villages to rebuild. The first village we visited had only 35 inhabitants; the rest of the 2,000 are waiting for clean water before they move back.
What we saw in the villages was like something out of National Geographic. Dust and dirt were everywhere. People walked down the long dirt roads with firewood, jerry cans, and bamboo on their heads. Kids made their way to school wearing uniforms and backpacks, but no shoes. Naked babies played in the dirt while their mothers sat nearby and watched. Many children had stomachs swollen from malnutrition. People wore clothes that were literally falling apart, held together with safety pins. This was the Africa that Beau and I had come to serve.
In one of the villages we visited, the children looked especially sick: runny noses, coughing, bleary eyes, distended bellies. One little boy looked like he had pinkeye. As I watched him blink through the discomfort and sniffle his nose every few seconds, my eyes began to water and my heart ached for this little one. He was so uncomfortable, and yet this was all he knew of life. The village where he lives has no source for clean water; they get the water they drink from a dirty hole in the ground.
One day, Beau was surveying a village; Maddy, Braden, and I were in the van, waiting for him to return (the walk into the village was too far for the kids). While we waited, we met some of the people as they passed by. A woman who was walking by the van kept staring, so we called her over to us. The woman spoke in a local dialect that we couldn’t understand. We gave her 1000 shillings (about 50 cents), and the woman was absolutely overjoyed. She put her hand over her heart and kept thanking us over and over as she walked away. Incredibly, she returned with a bowl full of dried beans for us. This woman, who didn’t even have shoes, was giving us what little she did have in an act of pure selflessness. I witnessed, first-hand, what Jesus must have seen when the poor widow gave her last two coins (Mark 12:41-44).
As we made our way home, our van broke down—billowing smoke and all! We flagged down a taxi (here, a minivan overstuffed with people) and rode for one and a half hours to the taxi park in Kampala. We called our friends and walked to a meeting spot where they would pick us up. At 8:30 that night, we finally arrived back home—safe and sound, and forever changed.
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June 15th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
May God Bless you so much…..
June 16th, 2009 at 6:33 am
I will be using your story at VBS this Aug ,as our mission will be to to raise money for a well in Uganda. Our goal is $1864.30. Can you tell me how much an entire well cost?????
June 16th, 2009 at 7:16 am
Thank you for the great work you are doing for those helpless ones every where in the world.
Am touched by the story and thank again for sharing the experience and sparing time for the needy. I know what you were talking about the situation being bad.
May he that blesses grant you with eternal life.
thank you very much.
June 16th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Thanks for your incredible willingness to be used by our Lord and thank you for the much needed perspective
June 20th, 2009 at 10:06 am
what an incredible story! thank you for sharing! it brings tears to my eyes to hear that there are people who are still so needy in a world where so many of us have so much. i will keep you in my prayers and hope you hear more of your lovely story. we are serving the Lord in a different country also and hope to give our children a lasting view of our vast world. i can see such value in what you are doing for a needy and generous people and also for all the people who will be touched by your children in the years ahead!
June 24th, 2009 at 1:46 am
I cannot even begin to tell you what an answer to prayer it was to read your story! I am currently living in Entebbe, Uganda where I have been serving since January 7th, but will be headed back stateside a week from today. I would LOVE to meet up w/ you in Kampala before I leave and know it is rushing it but everything is possible w/ God. Please e-mail or call our local cellphone at 0756377673 thank-you so very much and i hope to hear from you soon!
June 25th, 2009 at 8:20 am
I am on the board of a small organization, Adopt Uganda, based in Central Kentucky. We work with seventy churches in Uganda and Kenya based out of Busia, Uganda. Adopt Uganda partners with five different churches from five different denominations to fund the projects. We have built and fund a trade school in Busia giving free training to people in tailoring, welding, carpentry, etc. We have funded the planting of a tree and pineapple farm in Buweebo. We have provided thousands of children with deworming medication. We have funded and participated in the building of a church in Busia and in Mbale. The church in Mbale also has a Medical Clinic. We have funded a clean water project in Bugiri. We have also opened an orphanage in Busia, and will begin adopting children through our sister agency, Promise Kids a Future, in the US this year. My wife and I should be in Entebbe before the end of the year to adopt two children from that orphanage and I would love to meet with you to see if there might be a way we can partner you with the churches we support. You can reach me at robert.smith@harmonychristianchurch.com.
July 13th, 2009 at 10:50 am
Hello Abdullahs,
I work with Water Harvest International, a Christian non-profit water well drilling organzation partially modeled after LWI, who have been very kind to us. We have one rig on the ground and just started drilling in S Sudan in February, though will be drilling in Northern Uganda (Gulu province) later this year.
Please email me at the address listed with this submission (egipple@radlerfoundation.org), and I will put you in touch with our in-country project coordinator and head driller. I’m sure we can be helpful to each other.
Good luck with your preparations – Emily
July 21st, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Interesting Article.
September 1st, 2009 at 6:47 am
great post, i think it is great that people are making a difference in these areas, thanks for sharing your story.
October 7th, 2009 at 7:23 am
How wonderful to read of your ministry in Uganda. We met you at the New York Pizza cafe on Saturday in Uganda. Our team was in Uganda working with 2 orphanages. I do not believe in coincidences; therefore, I am excited to how God will continue to cross our paths! Praying for you and your family, and hoping to meet again!
December 22nd, 2009 at 7:37 pm
We may be in Uganda in late June 2010 working on a short term mission.
We would like to stay an extended time if there is a well project we can support and be involved in construction.
Please let me know.
Thank you.
Jeff