Alex and Irene

Natasha’s birth resulted in her mother’s death, a sad result of a lack of affordable healthcare in Uganda. Somewhere nearby, Alex and Irene’s baby died during birth. In Uganda such tragedies are commonplace, but the wonderful result is that the community finds this equilibrium among themselves. Alex and Irene now care for the motherless baby as if she were their own. Natasha is a beautiful smiling girl who is about 5 months old.

Alex and Irene are part of the locally based Mercy Uganda ministry team. Irene has been playing an instrumental role in our everyday lives…food preparation. Because neither Alex nor Irene have jobs (there really are no jobs to be had), we hired Irene to prepare selected meals for us, there’s no McDonald’s on the corner here. The result is that we will experience a number of authentic Ugandan meals prepared in Lauren’s kitchen.

Irene recommends the menu, shops, cooks, and cleans up for us. I should note that shopping means going to the main Kampala highway and purchasing fresh food from street vendors. We’ve secured the preparation of 10 meals for 50,000 shillings or $25.00. The picture shows Irene in the tiny kitchen preparing chapati, a type of flatbread made with wheat flour. That day she also prepared tilapia and maize for our pleasure. Okay, I didn’t eat the fish because he was lookin’ at me.