Deckers Diary

Dear Friends and Family,

on the Mission Field

September, 2011

I am home again for a while. If I could have, I would have figured out how to stay a little longer; August is one of the schools vacation months and so there is 90% chance for kid time. However, I am greatly appreciative of bathroom facilitiesa western toiletupon which you sit; overhead hot water shower; and, amazingly enough, a sink in which to wash my hands. We take so much for granted in the United States. I am already planning for my return to Abba House and what to do while there. I hope to be there in time to help with their Kids Camp, in early December. Camp fees are costly, at $35.00 each child; and although the Camp is on the same property as the Home and School, Abba House kids can only go if fees are paid. In my last newsletter I said a 50 KG bag of posho flour went from $25 to $40. Even in the time that I was there, that same bag of posho flour went up in price again to $50/ bag. Equally expensive, 50KG of sugar went up to $125. A bag of beans is $100 for 50 KG. Its getting harder to make ends meet, considering the other expenses of the childrens home. Chicken pox and measles have made their rounds, coughs and colds are common, and malaria makes itself known occasionally. Almost all of the beds are covered with mosquito netting, and that helps.

Barb Decker Personal Challenges

Before I left, I remember my prayer partner ask if I was going to take a jacket. I said no, because I was going to Africa; I would be at the equator. In the time that I was there, I ate those words a few times. I think I was cooler in Africa than I would have been during the same time in the US. The Victoria lake effect breeze kept temperatures in the range of 75 to 88 degrees. I had different kinds of challenges this time. Most were the critter kind. I had never known a bedbug up close before, and I now know that they make a tough itch to soothe. I had just moved in when on the first morning I woke up to lots of bug bites on my legs. When we discovered the problem, I packed everything to the middle of, or out of, the room and we fumigated. The mattresses had to be taken out and all bedding washed. We did that for three consecutive weeks until there was not a bug left, but the itch went on and on and on. The room that I have has roof and rafters but no ceiling, and all night long the rats ran along the rafters. The mosquito net canopy over my bed did more than keep the mosquitoes outit also caught the rat droppings from falling on me. I was next to the food storage room and many times the rats would steal something from the storage and bring it over to my room to eat. Many times I heard rats rummaging around in my stuff or found a half-eaten tomato on the floor. They even ate an opening at the base of the door for easier access. Inside the room, I tried poison pellets, sticky glue, and peanut pastebut a couple of nights with one of the kittens actually did the best at taking the enthusiasm out of the rodents. I may have to deal with them again when I return, but now there is a remedy. And by the time I return the cat should be bigger than the rat.

Birthday Celebrations
We celebrated birthdays in June for all the kidsseventeenwho had birthdays from January to June. Seven, who had birthdays in July through September, were celebrated in August Birthday Celebration at the zoo. August before I left. The October through December birthdays will be celebrated when I return. The first party was with a crazy amount of food, cake, and presents. I tried to find a less costly party for the August celebration by taking everyone to the zoo, a snack, and a taste of ice cream float; however, both parties cost about the same.
June Birthday Celebration

Dorm Mom
I wasnt in the garden much this time, but filled a position as dorm mom in the boys house, David Anthony House of Refuge (Abba 2). Last time, I did not have much of an opportunity to get to know the kids. Equal to church retreats, the early mornings and evenings are the times to get to know the people you are retreating with. Those times were something I missed when I lived in an apartment in Entebbe. The apartment did have a flush toilet and hot water for bathing, but I found I was willing to give those up for the opportunity to live in Abba House and be able to speak into the kids livesespecially during the morning and evening devotions and free time.

I will support Barbara Deckers work on the mission field with House of Friends in the following way. ___ Barbara Decker Mission Support (Monthly) $_________(One Time Gift) $________ ___ Abba House Project: Multi-purpose dining/kitchen & tables $_________ Missionary Quarters $_________ ___ Mission Trip Expenses to Uganda $_________ Camp fees $_________ Shoes $__________ Bibles $________ ___ Please send more information about House of Friends.
All donations are tax deductible. Please write checks payable to: House of Friends and send to P O Box 228, Alma, MO 64001 Thank you for caring!

Kitchen/Dining Hall Project

Senga means aunt, in Luganda. Senga Rose was wearing a HAPPY CAMPER T-shirt outside of the make-shift kitchen, surrounded by great logs to be split for firewood. She spends a big part of everyday cooking over a smoky fire. The combination kitchen/dining room project that was started in July will be a big help to her as well as to everybody. I am hoping it will be as an all-purpose room for devotions, homework, eating, meetings, and fun and games. The proposed kitchen is twice the size of the present one and we are trying to get an efficiency stove that will use firewood more economically. She will be happier now. I should get her a happier camper T-shirt. I am including I wa some of yo nted to tha nk u Sengas ca have done in you very m m thank us e there is a l Abba House uch for what . Sinc ot of c a tan you row, a k, drums (b hange, like e you you bo (ba arr letter. w ug as con ckpack) spr els), an ax, a whee ht ayer, a struct the kit e l chen is d. Not only nd the latrin barthose, outing e going ev o a again t the zoo. I n. Secondly en now ;m al , the Bib any childr so want to t we had an hank en hav le. No you e learn w they out fea t c ring. Please an stand an how to read you se wh n d We are d our greetin en you go b read witha g g gether onna miss s and thank ck, may you, b in pra s to th ut we w yers. e ill be t m. oGod bl es From R s you so mu ch. ose Se nga

Bathhouses Completed
One project completed was the bathhouses. Even that took some doing and took a full two months to finish. To give you a better picture, they are showerless stalls. They are merely brick wall stalls and cement floors where we take our buckets in for bucket-baths.

Gardening
The effort of planting green beans, leafy greens, and other vegetables last October still paid off all the way into June, 2011! I arrived to live at Abba House on June 15, and we were eating greens and green beans until the end of June. The harvest brought in all the end of the season beans and so all beans, even the green beans, got shelled. So, except for a few times of delicious vegetable side dishes, I ate with the kids, sweet posho porridge for breakfast and red beans and posho twice a day, every day, for two months. The beans are flavored with tomatoes and onions, always, and then are usually garnished with eggplants, bitter tomatoes, and/or cabbage. All my life, the purple eggplant has been my least favorite vegetable. Now, the bitter tomato, although in the eggplant family and looks similar to the Kermit eggplant, has become my, world-class, least favorite eggplant. August, as I mentioned, is their vacation month. So, everybody works in the garden, every day. I am glad they were able to finish the plowing of the pasture land. When I return, we will have ground ready for a garden plot. I hope to have a more organized area for the beans, collard greens, and tomatoes. I did find, however, that the garden plot that supplied the home with the vegetables this past year is not big enough to make the home self-sufficient. Pastor Kaaya has access to his familys farm, north of Kampala. It is a vast area with a lot of potential to grow food for Abba House. It had been a dream seed of mine last year to have a place for Abba House graduates, who did not want to continue in universities, to go and work on this farm and help also in providing for the Home that raised them. The distance is an obstacle, and transporting firewood and food by truck is expensive. Since last year, a tractor has been on the prayer list. I can see now how a tractor can be very helpful, but I think a truck for hauling things to and fro would actually be more of a help. I will still be praying for a tractor and implements, but the home buys firewood and transports it via truck about every three weeks. Our own truck would help.

Pray for

the cost of camp fees to come in for all Abba kids-$35 each. I have a case of Shingles which has deterred travel plans while in the States. Please pray a quick and final recovery (no recurrences) a tractor, implements and flatbed truck for farm/home use. funds to come in for missionary quarters roof/gutter system. new shoes for all the kids. (They are repaired at least once) finding the best efficiency stove for that area and building it in. return on Nov. 28. I would like to take money to buy, or something packed, for Christmas, for everyone in Abba House. flight ticket and baggage money. funds to buy tables for the dining room. funds for the same version of the Bible, so they can be helped in their reading.