Happy African-versary!

Happy March everybody! I hope everyone is doing well in the different parts of the world that are presently cold and require everyone to bundle up. I keep waiting for our kids to ask why the kids, in the books we read with them, put on a bunch of clothes before they go outside. In the meantime, the Whisnands are enjoying our sunshine and the beginning of the end of the dry season.

African-versary, Birthdays & loving work!

• First, March 13^th will mark the 1 year anniversary since we arrived in Uganda. Wow. Seems like a surreal statement. In some ways, it seems like we just got here and we are still in the Matatu (think of a 15 passenger van for hire) at 1:30 in the morning driving to our place after just flying in. And in other ways, so much has happened in the last year and we have built great relationships. I have recently learned that an expat friend here will not be coming back to Uganda as originally planned. Their family went back to the US for a bit and while home they have felt God leading them in another direction. I’m excited for them that God is leading them to new things and that they are following His leading but I was bummed my friend wouldn’t be coming back. It’s funny living in a place that people come and go so much and even we have only committed for 2 years, but you still get to know people and build relationships because that’s a lot of what life is about: the people around us. It’s not great when people leave or when you leave but I guess that means the relationships meant something if it’s hard. Anyway, we can’t believe we have been here a year and we are looking forward to year #2.

• Second, both Bethany & Becky’s birthdays are this month! Bethany will be 3 on the 25^th and Becky will be………..ummmm……..25 on the 28^th. Feel free to send birthday wishes and cards if you wish. Happy Birthday!! (Just for the record, I’m not turning 25…- Becky)

• Last, the main project I have been working on since being in Uganda is coming along nicely. As a recap, EMI is building a new office building in partnership with MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) that will be both organizations’ new home in Uganda for the foreseeable future. For all those construction people out there, we have just topped out the building and are starting our moving along on our masonry. We are trying some new things for EMI East Africa on this project like concrete grinding & polishing, an aluminum window subcontract and a steel truss subcontract to name a few. Anyway, I seem to get busier and busier everyday but we have a great team working together (Shout-out to Steve, John, Richard, Yusuf, Matt, Cossy, Carey and the guys actually doing the work) and I love my work.  I have attached a few pictures below of how the building looks as of last week.

Financial & Support Update

• The past year our support has been spot on. Looking back, EMI did a great job of preparing us to come and helping us make a realistic budget. We have met our budget every month and have everything we need. So this point is a thank you to everyone who helped us this past year. Thank you so much for believing in our family and supporting what we are doing here in Uganda.

• This next year has gotten a bit more complicated. We have made a decision that is going to increase our costs a bit and some unknown/new costs have arisen as well.

• First, as we have talked about before, this year both Nathaniel & Bethany have been going to pre-school 3 days a week. Their tuition was free as Becky was teaching at the same school. Looking forward, Becky is planning to not teach this next year but we also really want Nathaniel & Bethany to stay at this school. It’s been great for them and they love it. But where would we get the money? God knows. In addition to the kids getting free tuition this year, Becky has also been getting a salary. We have saved all this so far. A few weeks ago we inquired about tuition costs for the kids next year and we received a quote for $3,613.60 USD. We then calculated what we will have from Becky’s salary after this school year ends and it worked out to be $3,600! It was a pretty cool situation of God providing and I’m sure we can find the $13.60 somewhere.

• Second, we have been informed by our EMI sending office, EMI Canada in Calgary, that due to the increased amount of Canadian staff that are working in overseas offices, they have hired an additional support staff member to help with all the administrative tasks that come with a support based organization. What that means for us is that, starting this month, we need to raise an additional $200 per month to help support this new office role: this works out to $2, 400 for the rest of our year here.  We need everyone’s help on this. If this is something you would be willing to help with all or part of, please see the support info below.

• Last, as discussed above, EMI East Africa is currently building a new office that we will be moving into this coming August. The location of this new office is about a 40 minute drive away from where we currently live. My current office is a 12 minute walk from where we live and currently Becky uses the car for her work, the kids’ school, groceries and the thousand other things she does every week. Since we want to keep the kids in their current school, we are planning to stay where we live which means I will need to commute. Our solution to this transportation problem is for me to get a motorcycle. We feel it’s a great option as a motorcycle is a widely used mode of transportation here in Kampala and there are lots of new & used options for sale. It doesn’t hurt that it will be awesome as well! I have attached a picture below of a new local style of road bike I probably will get as they are relatively inexpensive, easy to maintain and it would be easy to sell at a later date. When it comes down to cost I am going to need $1,200 to $1,500 to get a bike and some gear (helmet, etc.). If this is something you would be willing to help with all or part of, please see the support info below. I know there are lots of motorcycle guys out there who want to help support adding a member to the group. J

Support Info

If you want to contribute to our support account, please go to http://emiworld.org/donate.php. There are options for donating from the US or Canada. You can donate by CC or check. Any questions, please email me at jaywhisnand@gmail.com.

Thank you so much everyone. Here goes another year!

The Whisnands (P.S. pictures are below.)

A picture of a "Boda" similar to what Jay might be getting for a motorcycle

Here is the project Jay is working on.

Becky's 7/8th Grade class doing a chemistry experiment this past week.

Nathaniel went to site with Jay yesterday and we got to see the planes.

Becky & Jay on a Valentine's Day date.

Bethany & Nathaniel our on way to church (taken this morning).