Our Inverter System

One of the stressful things about living in Uganda is the lack of reliable power. Electricity can go on and off. Sometimes the outage is scheduled (like all day Thursday) while other times the outage is random. Twice our power has been off for almost 18 hours.

When this happens, things in the freezer melt. We can't run our fans at night, so we are kept awake by the heat and the outside noises (mostly cars and neighborhood parties). The outside security lights are off, so we are at higher risk for burglary. The list goes on.

But more important than this is Lily's work for the Ann Graham Lotz conferences in Gulu and Kampala. Lily spends hours everyday on her laptop sending e-mails, organizing transportation, sending invitations for the 2,000 people attending the October conferences. Her work has come to a halt twice because of no power and a drained laptop battery. That adds a lot of stress especially before a critical committee meeting.

The stresses associated with unreliable power can be alleviated with either a generator or an inverter. Almost all the long-term missionaries in Uganda have one or the other, and they tell us it's needed to make the living here manageable. Generators are loud and require fuel. An inverter is essentially a battery backup system that powers most everything. We have been saving for an inverter for several months.

A few weeks ago we received our financial statement from Far Reaching Ministries. The statement listed unexpected donations from two families. The extra donations were just what we needed to buy the inverter system.

Batteries...charged!

Inverter & four batteries to keep things running.

The inverter was installed last Saturday. When the power goes out, we don't have to worry about spoiled food, etc. Most importantly, Lily's critical work can continue uninterrupted.

And to the families who made the inverter possible, “Thank you!”

From Kampala,

John Eastham

New missionary to Uganda

Getting a PO Box. Now it's really done.

One month ago (April 14th), I wrote about my experience in getting a PO Box.  The title of that blog was "How to get a PO box in 4 easy steps."  One month letter, I can officially close my Ugandan PO box story.

I did get a PO box a month ago, but I was told to me back  in 3 weeks to receive the key.  I returned to Posta Uganda after 4 weeks.

I approached the cubical to pick up my key.  The postal worker said that the key wasn't ready yet.  The postal worker also said that my the lamination process for my "PO Box Renter's Authority Card" burned my photo.  Yes, for whatever reason, they give you an ID card proving that you're renting a PO box.  Anyhow, they needed another passport-size photo of me to remake the ID card.

I was referred to the "Customer Service" desk.  I explained the issues and that I had been waiting 5 weeks for my key.  The lady behind the desk picked up the phone and dialed some numbers.  A phone about 75 feet away rang.  It rang, and rang, and rang.  Nobody picked up.  She tried again with another number.  Another phone farther away rang.  And rang, and rang, and rang.  Nobody was there either.  At this point I glanced up to a large Posta Uganda sign and read at their corporate slogan, "We deliver trust."

I've often thought that corporate slogans were worthless fluff, and my experience with Posta Uganda was validating my jadedness.  But then something strange happened.

A Posta Uganda worker showed up out of no where and said he would make me a key immediately.  I was very pleasantly surprised.  Good customer service is rare here.  I followed the guy, and in about 15 minutes I had a working key to my PO box. That there was a letter waiting there for me was even better.  I stopped by the Customer Service desk and put in a good word for him.

But I still needed a new photo for my "PO Box Renter's Authority Card."  I walked the two blocks back the the church, picked up another passport-size photo, and brought it back to the post office.  Then came the walk back.  I was sweating, and I'm sure that I smelled bad.

The next day I put another passport-size photo in my pocket (just in case they burned the second one I gave them) and walked to Posta Uganda.  Upon seeing my face (he recognized me), the postal worker immediately left is cubical and returned with my "PO Box Renter's Authority Card" still warm from the laminating machine.

My quest for a PO Box is now complete.  About six weeks from beginning to end, the story is closed.

Now I get to work on my wife's dependent pass and kids' student visas.  How difficult can that be?

From Kampala,

John Eastham
New Missionary to Uganda