This morning Pelin and I went to Hadijjah's, which was fun as usual.
Then at work Sarah, from Help International, taught us how to make the purses. If only I knew how to use a sewing machine... That'll be the next step.
After work Jessica, Pelin and I went to Betty (the social worker who helps translate for us)'s house. She lives in Namatala, so we were expecting her house to be similar to that of the women, but it wasn't. She lives in a house with a walled/gated in yard in which she is able to cultivate crops (mostly maize). She has a hot plate (though she also cooks on charcoal), a tv and DVD player, and even a FAN. We had gone in hoping to only stay for a short time, but between the tv and fan (and obviously great company) we decided to stay. Also, we finally realized that her niece whose name we couldn't understand, hearing "maacee" was actually Mercy. Glad we got that one covered now. We taught them some hand games and they showed us one of theirs, and we taught them tic-tac-toe and dots, and we all drew some. As usual, a nice evening.
On our boda ride back we passed a market that was still open despite the darkness, and each stand had a candle to light it. It was a beautiful scene and something I've never seen before.
To answer a few questions I've gotten: Just because the women are pretty much done with the products, doesn't mean we're done with our jobs, I still have some photo essays I need to finish up over this next week and a half (everything is due next Friday and that's also our last day with the ladies). While we continue our work, we will be continuing business classes with the ladies, as well as having them make extra products that we can buy straight from them for ourselves, giving them a bit extra money and giving us some nice gifts to bring home.
And about the Jewish community: Putti is a village of around 400 people, of all religions. It is about a 20 minute boda ride from Mbale town. Putti synagogue has around 100 members (not including children), though not all of the members are actually from Putti Village, and they cannot all afford to come every weekend. Putti synagogue is the only orthodox synagogue in Uganda, though they're trying to start one in Kampala. They get a minyan basically every Shabbat, and sometimes during the week but not always. I believe there are 5 conservative synagogues in Uganda, one nearby in Nabugoye (a hill nearby) that I have been trying to visit but have not made it out to. The Putti community is supported by many, but in particular by Rabbi Riskin, the chief rabbi of Efrat, who donates tfillin, tzitzit, siddurim and chumashim, and lots of Jewish books. He's visited I'm not sure how many times but it sounds like many. Others have helped donate the buildings, but I'm not sure their names.
As usual, feel free to ask any questions and I'll try to answer.
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