AIDSpirit Montana

garages sale•
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Posted: Jul 10, 2010 4:22 PM
BILLINGS – A big garage sale helped raise money for people with HIV/AIDS and to bring fresh water to people in Uganda.
AidSpirit USA takes donated goods, sells them and uses the money in Billings and Uganda.
The group has been in existence since 1994 and started the garage sales in 1999.
AidSpirit built an orphanage in Uganda.
The Billings group has visited Uganda and has seen what it means to have a well with fresh water.
“It was a fantastic feeling for me to know that what we do right here makes a whole difference for a whole village, not just one or two people,” said Jean Jacques of AidSpirit Montana.
“As a Sister of Charity, it’s what i’m called to do,” said Sister Mary Maronick. ” I started to do this in my retirement and I’m so grateful I’ve had such wonderful people to be a part of this.”
AidSpirit also delivers meals to HIV/AIDS patients in Billings.
Organizers hope today’s garage sale raises between $12,000 and $15,000.

AIDSpirit USA reaches out to individuals infected and affected with HIV/AIDS in Billings and Uganda Africa.
We are passionate about our work and we hope you will help in supporting our mission by attending our HUGE GARAGE SALE AND CAR AUCTION to be held July 9th and 10th in the Holy Rosary parking lot on 5th and Broadwater.
Thousands of garage sale treasurers, great food and craft items and for the first time ever we are holding a fabulous car auction!
Local automobile dealers have agreed to donate cars for us to auction in an effort to raise funds to meet our important mission goals so come and join the fun.

We are also seeking high-end donations for our sale (no clothes or shoes please), we offer free pick up on Saturday’s or you are welcome to drop off your items at the Holy Rosary parish house.
You may schedule a pick up by calling Jean Jacques 672-3534 or Jace Dyckman 696-3810. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Update on Roger
Since his arrival on March 24th, Roger has been spending time with several doctors, mainly doing tests: blood work, heart, lungs. He was tested and found no signs of t b. At this point the doctors are compiling a lot of information to determine how to proceed with possible surgery or any treatment that would help him. He was also fitted for a back brace in the hopes that his heart and lungs will have more room. A doctor from Seattle who is a children’s spine specialist, heard about Roger from Nadine, and offered to see Roger while in Billings. Her evaluation at this time is to make Roger as independent as he can be with a wheelchair. It seems unlikely, but not impossible, that he will ever be able to walk.Meanwhile, he is in school at Riverside Middle School, and during break times, at the Boys and Girls Club. He’s having so much fun there that one day when the volunteer came to pick him up he didn’t want to leave.Mary Ann Halvorson has been coordinating Aidspirit and other volunteers who have been most generous and gracious about taking Roger to and from school, to P.T. three days a week..and relieving Terry so he can get back to his construction work. Roger is learning English very quickly, (and volunteers are learning Ugandan!) His favorite American foods are rice and chips ( french-fries). The PE teacher told Terry that Roger brings out the best in all the children, even those are more troubled. All the students really like him. And he likes them.
Blessings! Sister Mary V
maryvmaro@bresnan.net
406-661-1396

Praise God! The “miracle has happened.” Roger is really here…in the USA, in Montana!

Terry and Roger arrived at the Billings airport a few minutes before projected arrival time…at 10:40 p.m., Feb. 24th.
Two television stations were on deck to report his story, KULR8 and Q2. More important, there to welcome Roger were four familiar faces: Tom and Jean Jacques; Mary Ann and Lawrence Halvorson. Roger was ALL SMILES! The stories we’ve heard about Roger are all true…you can hardly see anything but his smile, it is so-o big and so “alive.”
Terry said Roger weathered the trip very well…until they got to Minneapolis and had a 9 hour wait for their final flight back to Billings. In Uganda, Charles, Pritchard and Jackie had all gone to the airport with the two of them to say goodbye. Roger was just a little frightened, but not sad. Once on the plane it wasn’t long before Roger was singing and entertaining everyone on the plane!

Needless to say, they were both happy to reach their final destination and looking forward to a good rest.

Doctors’ appointments start next week. We’ll try to keep you posted.
For now, lots of prayers of thanksgiving!

Sister Mary V received a call from Terry today, Feb. 2, his birthday! He was waiting for Charles to pick him up for dinner, suspecting he would have some of the children with him for a bit of a celebration. He has been VERY BUSY getting the children in school. Some of them have outgrown their clothes…among other things. Nadine had been there helping with some of the medical problems. They have only been able to take care of 10 or 12 children a day, but hope to have all of them in school by Friday. Charles and Jackie are also helping. All the children have written letters to their sponsors. “Next year we’ll have the team come later so they can help with this process.”

He’s been negotiating with the headmaster before he pays the fees for the new students. He wants to ensure they all will be fed more nutritiously. “They need more vegetables,” reports Terry. They have only been getting beans and posha. He’d like them to set up a vegetable garden at the school and he will be teaching them drip irrigation to make this possible.
Terry had visited the Tender Mercies’ garden that the team had worked on while they were there, and was pleased to see that in a week’s time there was corn, cucumbers, cabbages growing up.

And there is good news about the CONTAINER! Terry reported it was now in Uganda at the Port of Authorities. Nadine is there supervising. They do have to unload everything and inspect, but they don’t anticipate any surprises.

Final message…a big thank you to everyone back home!

Terry called with an update Wednesday morning. He was having dinner with Roger and Samuel when he called. They had had a full day — gone to Jinja to pick up the money we sent for the children’s fees.
They made the most of the day. Pritchard, Charles and Terry took Abdul along so he could be their “proxy”…stand in line at the bank to get the money. It took 4 hours! While Abdul was in line, the others went to get parts for the drip irrigation they needed. (They’ve learned to work the system!)
Back in Kayunga, they worked on finishing the drip irrigation and planting of the garden. They were all tired but happy. Terry put Roger on the phone so I could talk to him. “Hi, Sister!” He speaks very clearly. He was very happy; he had spent the day with Terry. I told him we were all looking forward to seeing him here in the States. I also got to speak to Samuel, and I told him I felt I knew him from all the good things I had heard about him. I think he was taken aback by the praise, but very grateful.
Terry said to say “Hi” to everyone!”

While the remainder of the team has arrived safely back in the US, Terry Fettig will remain in Uganda for several more weeks.
Terry called to report in for the weekend. Had spent all day Friday at the hospital with Stephen who needed a blood transfusion for his sickle cell. They were back in Kayunga and Stephen was doing much better.

He spent most of Sunday working on the papers for the children who will be going back to school on February 1. While the team was there, they acquired 3 more children who will be sponsored: two primary students and one secondary. One child, Joseph, had been abandoned and thrown into a latrine. Fortunately he was found the next morning and has survived.

I asked about Roger. “I see him every day, a couple times a day. He tends to get sad when I leave, but he knows I have a lot to do.”

And good news about the container…it should be in Kampala by Wednesday.

Jan. 22, 2010
Hello everyone!
I want to thank each and everyone of you for your prayers & support while we were in Uganda.
It was an exciting mission. Tom did great work!!

Also it was so exciting to hear what a difference the wells made at Aunt Vicky’s School and Buggoge village. The testimony from the leaders there gave us all goose bumps. Dave you would have loved the testimony. Tom didn’t hear it either. But I believe someone video recorded it.

Children are more healthy and able to learn better because of the clean water. We had a very exciting visit to Kologungo. The Sisters there are amazing people. They treated us wonderful. I’m looking forward to sharing that part of the trip to everyone. I can’t tell you how much people there celebrate life! It’s sad, we don’t when we have so much. The people are very joyful and peaceful.

I’m in the midst of trying to do some laundry. There is red dust on everything. Including us. It took about 2 showers to get things off. I’m sure there is more. I am very tired yet, so I’m probably not making a great deal of sense. It’s quite a contrast, we left over 90 degree weather and now it’s snowing here.

Will download pictures probably tomorrow or so.
Thank you all!!!! Blessings, Angie

Hello all,
Our Ugandan trip group just made it to Amsterdam very early this morning, the 21st. It was a bit over an 8-hr flight from Entebbe.

There has been a rush to get showers by all the group, as many haven’t had a chance, or passed on the cold shower- no soap option in Entebbe. It usually takes multiple scrubbings to shed all the African red dust from the knooks and crannys. Everyone is doing well and glad our return is now well underway. It was hard saying goodbye to our sponsor child Steven yesterday. He got to spend a special day hanging around with me in Kampala as we transacted business all over town for ongoing and future water development projects. He was at my side the whole time, and it was hard to part. He is in very good hands there at Tender Mercies.

There is much exciting work going on at Tender Mercies in Kayunga, the main focus of the AIDSpirit team. They started the process of clearing 1/2-acre of property for a new dorm for the kids. Hope 2 One Life’s efforts on the refugee farm near Masindi have paid large dividends in the health of the 56 families and 125 or so children there. The drip irrigation has allowed introduction of fresh vegetables into their diets during the dry season when otherwise it would be only ground maize and kasava root. The childrens skin is now “glistening” and healthy. I am elated that the solar water pumping system we patched together at the last minute really worked in the field. We already purchased a 24 volt solar panel to replace the smaller one I brought and that will allow production of 3,500 liters of “free”water from the well on a sunny day. The two teams combined to make the long trip on all dirt roads to Kolongo in northern Uganda, where we visited the Dr. Ambrosolio Hospital and school. This is were most of the medical equipment shipped in the big container is going. It was much larger than I envisioned, and serves a huge area of N. UG, and southern Sudan. The nuns there were a complete joy, gracious, and interested in us. It is no small miracle that they and the hospital survived the 20 year LRA war that raged around them. God really protected they little enclave. We will be assessing how we might help there- it is a very dry part of the country and their crops failed this year. So we are thinking of introducing drip irrigation.

Some of us may take the train into Amsterdam since we have 9 hrs. I unfortunately forgot my laptop and cell phone at the farm in the haste of leaving yesterday. It will be brought by the remaining team later I hope.

Well, love to all and looking forward to seeing you all,

Tom Osborne

Terry called this morning (Thursday) to say that the travelers got off last night. They were all in great spirits, mostly looking forward to their long layover in Amsterdam where they could finally get a good shower!

Meanwhile, back in Kayunga, Terry was just returning back from Jinja from buying shoes for Dumba. He was looking forward to a good night’s sleep and then will be taking Samuel to the doctor tomorrow for his malaria. Now that Terry is back in Kayunga, he will be focusing on the children, getting them ready for school, spending time at the new property, continue planting tomatoes, etc.