living in florida

These past couple months since being back from Uganda have gone by faster then i could have ever imagined. I never really had any time adjust into things here in Florida as i was more thrown into everything. But by God's grace i have been able to keep on keeping on. I am currently working for a fire sprinkler contractor and enjoying it a lot. I am being trained in all aspects of the company so i am constantly doing different things and learn new stuff which i love. One of my biggest struggles is developing new friendships with people here. I have to admit i am not the most outgoing person but oddly enough i love being around people. So its been hard not knowing many people around here. God has really been reminding me that its not from others that i get my comfort but its through Him alone. Its hard not being around my good friends from college but at the same time i know God does have me here for a reason as everything is flowing so smoothly. I am still human and have my rough days but i think overall i am doing pretty good. I am being blessed beyond measure with what all God has provided me with.

things starting to settle down

So everything here has been settling down a lot. I was able to find an apartment and get a vehicle. Things with the new job have been slowly picking up so that has been good also. I am definitely not feeling the same amount of stress i was before! its been fun trying to decorate my new apartment but i have realized quickly that i am terrible at it... i can design and building a building but when it comes to interior design im no good... it's still be fun trying

life...

I think one of the hardest things to do is be in limbo between lots of things. Right now i am not fully moved into my apartment, still working on getting my car, haven't fully started my job, slowly running out of money, don't know that many people around here, miss all my friends, trying to adjust to life back US after a trip to Uganda, still under jet lag. Pressure is coming from all sides...

heading into the unkown...

Ever feel like your heading somewhere but not really quite sure what its going to be like or feel like? That's kinda what is going on now in my life... i'm heading somewhere but so many unknowns...

Made it back to Florida

I made it safe and sound back to Florida. Nothing too eventful happened on the trip. I almost did not get back bag in London but they were able to locate it real quick and it came out on a different conveyor belt. Our stop in London was short but a good one. We met up with one of the guy’s friends who lives in London so he was able to take us to our hotel and go out to eat. The six of us guys traveling together ended up getting one hotel room in the Russell Hotel and just spread out on the floor. Saved a lot of money. The Russell Hotel was designed by the same person that designed the interior of the Titanic so that was kind of cool. Thank you so much for all your prayers during my time in Uganda and all my travel. I had an amazing time!

time has come.....leaving Uganda...

So in less than 24 hours i am going to be leaving Uganda. I fly to London and have about a 15 hour layover and then fly into Florida from there. I get into Florida on Saturday the 11th. Things have been wrapped up here very smoothly and a lot has been able to be finished. I want to ask everyone to be praying for safety as i fly back to the states and safety while going around London. It has been so amazing to see God work in my Life and completely provide for all my needs and give me the strength i need for every task He gives me. other prayer requests:

1. That i am able to find an apartment quick after i get back to Florida
2. That God would give me strength and wisdom as i start my new job
3. I would be able to make the adjustment back into life in the US smoothly
4. I would find a good church family in FL
5. That i would be able to find a good community of friends

one more day in Africa

So its down to the last day before i leave Uganda and head back to Florida. This last week i have spent in Kampala just relaxing and spending some time with other interns. At first it felt sort of weird to stop work a week before i left but the down time before leaving has been really good. One day all the interns went out to a near by swimming pool and just shared about feelings about their time in Uganda and what the Lord has been doing in each of our lives. The leadership here has really been challenging us to use this time to go over the time here and pinpoint major things that we learned and areas we grew in. So many times during missions trips the ministry goes right to the last day in country and then head home. there is no real time to really digest what has happened. And once returning home the business of life starts back up again and the trip is near pushed to the back burners. So it has been real nice to really think about all the things i have learned and how i want to apply them to my life once i return to the Florida. Prayers would be much appreciated as i end my time here and fly back to the states on Friday the 10th.

more pics...

sunset on my birthdaymore fun with my camera on my birthday
Tree from our hike in Fort Portal
More Bungee jumping pictures

Pictures from Weekend in Fort Portal

This was a little school that we passed during our hike This was the view from the camp site we stayed at after our hike. My tent was set up on a slight hill so it was interesting trying to sleep.
This was a house that we passed on one of the ridges. All the houses were typically the same like this. Cut into the side of the hill and they were built out of sticks and mud
A view from our hike
The group of interns i went to Fort Portal with. This was us wondering through Fort Portal.

hiked around the Rwenzori Mountains

This weekend was intern weekend and i traveled with six other interns to the western part of Uganda, Fort Portal. we left friday early morning and took a 6 hour bus ride to Fort Portal. We spent the night in town and then in the morning the guiding company picked us up and brought us to base camp were we left most our gear and then hiked around the Rwenzori mountains for six hours and then headed back to base camp and spent the night there. there were amazing views! we just got back to Kampala this evening and i head back to Jinja tomorrow morning! it was a great weekend seeing more of Uganda and experiencing God's awesome creation. I am going to watch the USA soccer team play Brazil tonight! Go USA!!!

two weeks left...

This week was a short week out at the construction site as all the EMI staff here in Uganda were getting together for a day of prayer in Kampala on Thursday. So all of us staff living in Jinja drove to Kampala for the day. This week at the site we have been able to completely finish one of the exterior walls to see what it will look. We also were able to raise the remaining five trusses on the babies living quarters. This weekend is called intern weekend and most of the interns are headed to Fort Portal for the weekend so I will be joining them with that.

This is the Nile River. The Location that we started are rafting atA sunset out at the construction site that i am living at. Every day i wake up and eat breakfast during sunrise and eat dinner at sunset and the views are absolutely amazing!
A view from on top one of the ridges at the site where the orphanage is being built
This is Mukisa (one of our laborers) and a member of the workteam that came from florida mixing some concrete.
Some scaffolding that that workers made using rope. I had to take a picture cause nothing like this would pass back in America

pictures from the past week...

This is sleeping area in the big room that i am staying at the construction site. Also in this room i have a little two burner cooker and store all the expensive tools that we use at the sit.This is use putting up the trusses for the babies living quarters. Definitely Ugandan style
This is the nine trusses that we put up the first day. We just put the last five up this week.
This is me drilling the anchor bolts to help hold the roof trusses down

Extreme Weekend

So this weekend has been probably the most extreme weekend of my life. I went with some friends and we bungee jumped over the Nile River. After the bungee jumping was over we spent the rest of the day white water rafting down the Nile River. The Nile River is said to be one of the best white water rafting locations in the world. We rafted 30 km and were able to experience rapids ranging from nothing to class 5. Some of the class 5 rapids were pretty intense. Our raft flipped once and a bunch of us were thrown out of the rafts during some rapids.

work continues on the Orphanage

This week at the site went really well. We were able to finish all the manhole boxes of the sewer lines and also start prepping some of the stonewalls for some finish work to be done on all the joints. A couple of my jobs this week has been helping the guys with questions about the manhole boxes, doing some truss layout, and helping organize their material storage shed. Organizing the material storage shed has probably been one of the most interesting experiences of the week. When I got there it was a complete utter disaster. Junk everywhere and everything piled on top of each other. So I took one of the laborers that we have and we worked on taking stuff out of the shed to see what we actually have in there. I also built some racks and shelves to organize some of the tools that we have. One day while cleaning out some junk we came upon a huge rats nest and when the worker picked up a old cement bag, rats started running everywhere. He called for me and we both got some weapons and started beating rats. We must have killed over 10 and there were still tons that escaped out the door and deeper into the shed. The shed is about half cleaned out so far and it will be interesting to see what other things we find as we venture deeper into it.

weekend in Kampala

This weekend I headed down to the city of Kampala and spent some time with some of the other EMI interns. On Friday night we had a going away bbq for a guy. Then on Saturday I went with some people and watched the Ugandan National Rugby team play against the Tunisia National Rugby team in a Rugby World Cup qualifier match. Uganda lost pretty bad. After the game was over we went over to the soccer stadium where the other half of our group was at and was able to watch some of the professional Ugandan Soccer teams play. So it has been a busy weekend but it was great to see friends again and spend some time with them. Also great to be able to watch some Rugby. I am headed back out to the construction site tomorrow and will be living out there all week.

Another week at the site

This week at the construction site went really well. We had a work team of 6 people from a church in Sarasota Florida. My main job was finding things for the team to be doing and keeping them busy throughout the week. The team put the sewer lines in the trenches that were dug previous week and then back filled them all. Praise God we were able to complete all the sewer lines. The last day the team was there we raised 9 trusses for the living quarters all by hand. I have some pictures but haven't had time to upload them yet. Hopefully i will be able to do that soon. This week i traveled to and from the site with the team so i went back to civilization each night.

On friday i ended up leaving the site a little early and took public transportation back to the guest house we are staying at in Jinja and the 1 hour trip ended up taking 2 hours and 15 min. Then i turned around and headed to Kampala with a friend and that typically 2 hour trip took us 4 and half hours. so yesterday i spent almost 7 hours traveling on Ugandan public transportation... it got old real quick. I am spending this weekend here in Kampala hanging out with some friends.

The Source of the Nile River

Today i took a boat ride with a work team that is here to help with the construction site i am overseeing to the source of the Nile River! We also saw a monument were some of Gandhi's ashes were spread. This picture is of the marker which indicates the start of the Nile.

First week was great!

I just finished my first full week living out at the construction site. This week due to some scheduling items I ended up staying out at the site working until Saturday afternoon. A typical day for me consisted of getting up at sunrise (6:30) and making some instant coffee. I would then get some materials out that we needed for the day that were stored in my room. The workers would come by at around 7:30 and we would walk about 5 min down to the construction site. One of the biggest struggles at first was getting used to the Ugandan’s work schedule because we would all head to the site around 7:30 but work would not usually start until 8:45 as they would spend time cooking their breakfast. Once work finally started they would work until around 1:30 and then take a lunch break. After a 30-45 min lunch break we would go back to work and work until anywhere from 5:30-6:45 depending on what the guys were doing and what we needed to get finished.

It has been so neat being able to live at the site with the guys and get to know them. I am the only white person within a 45 min drive so I am forced to get into the culture and learn. I have been keeping a journal and each day I have the guys teach me a couple new words or phrases that I right down in my journal so I can remember and use throughout the day. They enjoying teaching me and hearing me speak their language.

God has truly blessed me with some awesome guys working for me. I usually have 8 guys on the site working but this week we hired a 3 man trench digging crew to dig the trenches for the sewer lines we are going to be putting in.

Pictures from first week living out at the construction site

This is a picture of the place i am staying at during my weeks out at the construction site. The building on the right is where my room is located. There is no power or running water in the building and the "bathroom" is about 50 yards away.Some of the guys that are working for me

This is one of the two nursery buildings on the site. I did the layout for the doors and interior walls. They are using quarried stone for the exterior walls and red mud bricks for interior walls.
The building on the right is the living quarters for all the children living at this orphanage. The building with the trusses up is the kitchen/dinning room where all the kids will be eating

surveying picture i promised

So here is a picture of my first week of surveying that i did at the Bukaleba property here in Uganda. The property we surveyed was for a facility that would be used how to teach Ugandans how to farm efficiently. I just got back from a long week at the construction site and i will write more about that tomorrow when i have time, but i did want to post this surveying picture i promised.

Support Update

I just thought i would post a little update to let everyone know how my support is coming in and the last info i have received about it. As you can see in the little box right across the screen i have raised a total of $3,330.00 and only need $670.00 more! Praise the Lord!! It has been so encouraging watching the support come in and all the encouraging notes i have received with the financial support. The latest news is that i have up to one month after i return from my trip to Uganda to have all my support in. That means i have until August 10th to raise the last $670. It is such a blessing to be able to have the extension on the due date for my support to be in. Thank you all for your prayers and continue praying that i am able to raise the remaining support. God is in Control!!

First week surveying Bukaleba property

This past week i moved up to Jinja which is going to be my weekend base for the two months i am in Uganda. On Monday we headed out to the Bukaleba property which is a little village where i will be staying during the weekdays. The little "house" i am staying at out there does not have any electricity or running water. I spent this week working on a surveying project with a EMI engineer and another intern. we got up at sunrise each morning and ate a quick breakfast and then headed out to the site to survey until around 6:30 pm. In three days we were able to do a Topographical survey of 20+ Acres. Between some locals picking up some of our control points and the scorching heat i think we did pretty good on timing. I headed back to Jinja on Wednesday night and took a shower for the first time in three days and then headed back to Kampala to work on putting our survey into a AutoCAD file so some other people could work on a master plan for the site. This week was nice because it gave me a little taste of what to expect out at my living conditions and give me more of an idea of what i will be doing while im here. Please be praying for strength and continual adjust to things here in Uganda. This coming week some more interns will be flying in so for the first three days we will be going through a little orientation to Uganda and then on Wednesday i will be heading back to Jinja. Thank you so much for your prayers! i definitely need them as i am out of my comfort zone. I have some pictures of my surveying project but i forgot to bring my camera with me to Kampala. I will post them on here ASAP.

Arrived in Uganda

Praise the Lord i arrived into Uganda today at 8:30 am! The trip was overall pretty good and nothing to eventful happened. I spent today, the 15th, in Kampala with fellow interns. I was able to also watch soccer game in the stadium here in Kampala. Tomorrow i am taking public transportation with another intern and we are headed up to Jinja. I am going to be working on a surveying project for a week and then start up with some construction management at the orphanage. Its been a rough day because of lack of sleep but so far so good.

London trip!

I made it safely out of Tampa International airport after a two hour delay due to high thunder storms. Thank you all so much for your prayers! I was going to meet up with another EMI intern but we were not able to connect at the London Airport so i ended up going into London by myself. I had a great time and walked from London Palace to London tower bride. I had a total of about a 10 hour layover in London so it was fun seeing different places i had never been there before.

Uganda here i come!!

So i am sitting in Tampa International airport waiting for my flight to Uganda to leave. Well i actually fly to London first and have a 12 hour layover and then leave for Uganda tomorrow the 14th. I am going to be meeting up with another intern with EMI in London and we are going into London for a couple hours. These past few days have been super busy with graduation and moving and everything else but by God's grace i am continuing on! Please be praying for my flights these next couple days and for a quick adjustment into living in Uganda. My mailing address while in Uganda is:

Jeremy Fogle
PO Box 3251
Kampala
Uganda

From what i have heard it takes two weeks or so for mail to get there. It would be fun to hear from you guys.

why is change so hard...

So I have less then a week until I graduate from college and move to Florida. I never dreamed it would be this hard. By hard I mean just thinking about saying goodbye to friends rips me apart inside… Just at the time I get most comfortable change happens! The weird part about this is that I am super excited for what lies ahead but yet anxiety about leaving is still there. Pray with me that I would have the strength to keep on keeping on!

Standing strong

2 Chronicles 15:7 “But you, be strong and do not lose courage, for there is reward for your work.” That is a verse I recently came across in my personal devotions and it has been extremely helpful. Just reminded me that we need to continue doing things even when we don’t see any progress made. You never know who you are reaching by the actions you are taking.

Things with school are starting to come to an end as I am down to just final exams. I am getting excited about my trip to Uganda and to see how the Lord works in me and through me to touch lives over there. Just less then two weeks until I fly over there.

Reaching that point...

It’s starting to get down to the point at which everything starts to go into a blur. Time flies and you can barely even remember what you did yesterday because you’re so busy today. That is how I feel at this point in my life. I was at a Chapel service these past weeks and the speaker talked about how we need to live each day to its fullest and not look for something better or wish away the hard times. In all the wishing away we start to wish away the times in which we grow into the person we are becoming. It’s about living every single day to it’s fullest and enjoy each moment our God gives us. Philippians 4:11-13

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! I thought it would be a neat idea for me to create a blog for my trip to Uganda this summer so I would be able to keep all those praying for me informed of how my trip is going. Once in Uganda I am hoping to be able to update it at least once a week with pictures and a note as to how the week went (depending on my access to Internet). Before my trip I will be updating everyone on my support raising status and specific prayer requests. Feel free to contact me any time about anything. I believe this trip to Uganda will be a great way for me to use the skills and abilities God has given me. Thank you all so much for your partnership with me in prayer!

God is in Control!