Karamoja Okkens

We are back in Karamoja after our recent trip to the states. Our time home was sweet thought too short. It was a great time with family as well as many friends. Our only regret is that the time blew by so fast that there are many whom we would have loved to see but were unable. Heaven will be such a wonderful and unending reunion! The trip back was long and arduous, especially the last part. As some of you may have seen on our blog, excessive rains have led to just about the worst road conditions we’ve seen in all our time in Karamoja. Our first attempt to drive back to Nakaale from Mbale failed as a road repair stopped us half way. After returning to Mbale for the night, we took an alternative route the next day. So, instead of a 3 hour drive, it took us 8. We enjoyed beautiful scenery in places we’d never been, but we were exhausted. Now we have adjusted and are doing well. The ongoing rains have at times disrupted our village Bible studies. However, I am thankful for a very e...

This is what the little roads leading up to our compound look like these days. This past week we have returned from our six week trip home to the States. Time flew by as I knew it would. But, it was so nice to be able to be with our family, see friends and be with our church family for a few weeks. The kids had a wonderful time with their grandparents, cousins, enjoying the pool and bikes. A few milestones on the trip were Megan mastering bike riding without training wheels and starting to swim in the pool with no floaties! The rains came with a vengeance while we were gone and didn't let up much. Our usual route up to Nakaale from down country has been a big muddy mess and when trying to come up last Saturday we did not make it. We ended up going a very out of the way route that brought us West, then North and over in our area of Karamoja that way. What a long drive! After about 8 hours we finally reached. The one positive was that the roads were dry, just bumpy. The pictures abo...