*** Global Relationships and Cultural Exchange ***: Father Joe & the YES center

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Father Joe & the YES center

Today was another extraordinary day in Uganda! We spent the entire day with our friend and partner, Father Joe Luzindana. Father Joe explained to us in great detail all of the projects and work that he oversees as the Catholic Youth Minister of Kampala. We were very privileged to be invited to homes of different members of Father Joe's church. The idea was for us to see the wide economic spectrum of the population of Uganda and of those that the Catholic church serves. Our students loved meeting all of the different parishioners but, in particular, they loved meeting the small children. We visited several families in the morning and later had dinner at another home - All were so warm and welcoming to us!

Another great part of this day was spending time with the vocational students enrolled at the school at the YES center. The Yes center (Youth Encounter the Savior) has many different departments including a library, a center for refugees, a young adult ministry and two vocational schools - one for tailoring and one for catering. Our students laughed and laughed with the students and at their own limitations with regard to sewing and cooking - it was tremendous fun even if the chapattis (a flat bread similar to a tortilla) were a bit chunky.

We were honored to be asked to plant a row of bushes at the YES center to commemorate our first partnership visit to the YES center - It was challenging work but so much fun. We can't wait to see how the plants grow over the years! How lucky we were to spend time with Father Joe and all of the fabulous people from the YES center!