In case the title isn’t self-explanatory, let me elaborate.
A friend of ours from church, Sherry, has made several trips to Uganda in the past few years. Oddly enough, even though Uganda is roughly the size of Oregon, it’s actually quite different from O
regon. For example, you won’t find a bunch of white, SUV-driving, software-designing yuppies in plaid shirts trying to keep Californians out. (although I’m white, drive an SUV sometimes, and have a plaid shirt somewhere in my closet. But I digress).
Rather, you’ll find millions of children who don’t have enough to eat, who have little to no chance for education, and who have a high chance of dying from AIDS.
Anyway, through a series of events, Sherry has now made several trips to Uganda with a few other people, and has actually started a school there, as well as a number of other projects.
So, the pig thing… Actually, it started as a goat thing. One of the goals is to help this small village become self-sufficient. And one way to do that is to provide them with animals, for example, goats, to raise and sell the milk. Before Sherry left for Uganda a few weeks ago, Kelley and I gave her some money to buy a goat, with one stipulation: I told her she needed to name the goat after me. I thought that would be a cool thing, to have an actual goat in Uganda named Charley. He could have his own blog and everything.
Well, we saw Sherry at church yesterday, having just returned from her trip. It turns out that they were able to get a better deal on some pigs than on goats this time, and so she took our money along with the contributions of others, and purchased eleven pigs – ten females and one male. The male pig has an important job in this project, but 
my standards of decency will not allow me to elaborate on his job. Suffice it to say, he has an enviable position among other Ugandan pigs. (note – the pig in the photo is not Charley the Pig; this is a generic pig photo I found).
Anyway, we’re excited to be part of what’s going on in Uganda, and I’m excited to have a pig named after me. I also need to add that we’re making plans for the lovely Kelley to make a trip to Uganda next January, to do cool medical stuff with some of the babies there.
For more Uganda Stuff, click “uganda stuff” to your upper right.
Hmm… there may need to be a “charley’s blog – the pig version” coming soon.
