an update in pictures

Heather and I with Kizito and Dan, our friends from Amazing Grace Church in Muyanga.

I had to chance to go to the children's Christmas Party at Amazing Grace. My job? Nothing less than "flying" Chapati for 4 hours in the sun! The children would come in and laugh because they had never seen a Mzungu flying chapati quite like me:) We made about 275 chapatis.

The church decked out with Christmas decorations and about 250 children.

This little girl was so precious. She was dressed in her Sunday best, and after a while warmed up to me and sat on my lap for a bit.

Kampala on December 23rd. The epitome of busy. Here you can see a boda and a mutatu taxi.

This guy was on the side of the street and at first I thought he was selling a scale. Nope! He was charging people to weigh themselves. I found it funny, but I am pretty sure the guy on the left caught me taking a picture:)

Michael waiting for the cows to cross the street, and yes I am on the back of his boda. Right of way here in Uganda is first cows and goats, cars, bodas, and then people. It is important to know where you stand in that group when trying to cross the road!

the best day ever

One of the women who works at Dawn is a single mother of two boys, Victor, who is 8, and Clever, who is 5. I have adopted them as my Ugandan family while I am here and over the holiday break I was itching to take to boys to do something fun. Earlier that week I was talking to Vanessa, the mother, and she told me that neither of the boys had ever been to a swimming pool. I showed up to their house, which was a one bedroom concrete structure with no power, and told the boys they were going to spend the day with me. I didn’t tell them we were going swimming, just that I had a surprise for them; which wasn’t the best idea since they did not know the meaning of the word surprise, so I then spent the next 10 minutes trying to explain what that meant.  First we went to the store because I needed to get the swimming stuff, like floaties and pool toys. We go buy them and I was sure that this would give away what my plans were but they had no idea what they were for! Then we get to the pool and their faces were expressing the most joy I have ever seen. They started jumping all around and saying “thank you, Auntie!” Like I said, they have never been swimming in deep water, so they cannot swim. We all changed into “bathing costumes,” they were floatied up and I was sun screened up, and then I gave them a quick rundown of- if you get in the water without your floatie…you will die.  I think it is safe to say that this day ranked among the tops of the best days ever for everyone.

Victor is the one on top, and Clever is the botton right.

After 4.5 hours of swimming- well I will call it swimming, but they were floating and I was carrying them, we were all exhausted. The boys did not want leave, but I convinced them it was time to go. I took them to a restaurant to eat dinner.  We sat and talked about all kinds of things while we waited for our food. Among the topics was school. Clever, the younger, was telling me how much he likes to learn and how one day he will go to University so that he can take care of his mother. The conversation warmed my heart as I remembered all of the struggles these boys face every day, but they still had such motivation to make something of themselves.  I really think that being able to spend the day with them was much more of a blessing to me than it was to them.

During dinner Victor accidentally spilled his soda and he kept saying how sorry he was for wasting my money, and how it's ok that he didn’t have anything to drink. I told him that he does not have to worry about money when he is with me, and he could order another soda. He was shocked and so appreciative. Our next conversation was centered on Christmas and the reason we celebrate. “Why do people give each other gifts on Christmas?” I ask them, fully expecting to be the one that explains this to them. “Because the real gift is Jesus.” Clever says, so confidently that I was caught off guard. The boys told me how they wished they could get their mother a gift, because they told me “she spends everything on us, so that we can eat and have clothes. We wish she could have some new clothes.” These boys are absolutely precious and so special. They were wide eyed and bushy tailed all day, and showered me with hugs and appreciative words. I was so happy to be blessed enough to get to take them to do something they had never done, but also just to have the opportunity to serve them, to serve their mother. 

All in all, this day was wonderful. Even though this swimming adventure was definitely different than any swimming trips I have been on- we were stared at all day, which I am used to for the most part but I am sure being a young white girl with two African boys caused a little more staring than usual, I even had people come up to me and thank me for adopting Ugandan children. At the pool I was the only person who knew how to swim, it was cute seeing all the adults with inflatable wings and tubes. A few people asked if they could just watch me swim across the pool. There was one thing that was the same though; I got a pretty good sunburn as a trophy for the day.

I left with much more than a sunburn though, I left with a renewed sense of purpose, an excitement for the days to come, and an embedded sense of joy that can only come from God. I know that is what God desires for me, and for everyone. That night the ideas of loving others and serving others filled my brain. Those concepts have no doubt been a big challenge throughout this entire time, and I finally felt like I had a deeper understanding of them. There are different people with different cultures, backgrounds, religions, and skin colors, on this Earth. But we all have something in common, we are all people. We are all people that were created by the same God, and all people whose only hope is Jesus. That is why I am not only here in Uganda, but why I am alive, and it’s why you are alive. I pray that God gives me more opportunities to simply serve, give, and love others and that I will do it with the understanding that we are no different from one another, no matter how different we are.

it's Christmas?

The past few weeks have been very interesting, to say the least! I had feared that the weeks leading up to Christmas would be rather boring because most of the children travel to their villages for the holidays, so they would not be at Dawn for the last few weeks of the year. For the first couple of days last week my suspicions were true, and the days were very slow at the Centre because we had about 3-4 kids on those days. I was kind of disappointed about that because I have been itching to be busy for a lot of reasons, but mostly because I was questioning the point of being here when there was no work to be done. I had let myself doubt the purpose, and much more doubt that I was even helping at all. I mean really, what do I have to offer that the next person does not? There is nothing special about me that gives me the qualifications and all to be the person to help Dawn. In all honesty this was a very difficult issue to work out because along with the doubting feelings came an overload of homesickness. I felt unneeded here, and then I would think of all the holiday fun I was missing and felt completely alone. For about a week I found myself unmotivated, sad, confused, and just plain in a sour mood. I had no idea what to do.

Fast forward to today and I feel the complete opposite. Over the past two weeks a lot has happened. The first thing that fostered an attitude change was when Heather and I visited a local church called Amazing Grace Church in Muyanga where we met the Pastor and his family. This was one of the best experiences I have ever had. I have never been encouraged by someone’s faithfulness and trust in the Lord. We sat there for about 2 hours as we listened to Pastor Fred tell us stories about his life. He told us how he went to Bible College in South Africa and led Bible studies in neighborhoods amidst gunfire fights. He told us how there are times when he has no way of feeding his family, much less funding the church, but he has faith that God is his provider. He encouraged us as well as inspired a fire in my own heart. He had numerous stories, every single one was amazing, and I wish I could have recorded them to share. We then shared dinner with his family and afterwards had a dance party with his children in their living room. I had been praying for something else, other than Dawn, to get involved in and God has answered that prayer very quickly! They invited me to help with their children’s ministry on Sunday’s and I am so excited! I anticipate the experiences I will have at Amazing Grace to be awesome. I am so thankful that God heard my prayers, and that before I even asked Him He had already began working.

The entire time I have been here the director of Dawn has been out of town. This has added greatly to some frustrations because I was never actually told what she wanted me to work on. For the past 7 weeks it has been a guessing game of some sorts. I have been craving some direction about what is really needed from me, and what they want me to work on. Florence finally returned to Kampala last week and I was able to meet with her and sort out my long list of questions. I left the meeting completely renewed, with a long list of tasks and projects (if you know me well, you know that makes me happy), and ready to go. Looking back, and knowing that God already knew that my frustrations would almost get the best of me, I think it was good Florence was gone for my first month here. It really allowed me to integrate myself as a member of the Center. I was able to build relationships with the staff and especially the children. I worked alongside everyone, playing with the children, bathing them, changing diapers, and feeding them. I was able to see how the Centre runs from day to day and I think that will really help me to understand the best ways to complete the projects I have now.

Being in 80+ degree weather in the middle of December definitely makes it feel like summer instead of only two week until Christmas! I have been a little bummed because so much of my holiday spirit comes from seeing lights, drinking warm Pumpkin Spiced Lattes, and the cold weather. I get none of that here, but this Saturday we got to go to the Children’s Cantata at Watoto Church. It was GREAT! It was a play filled with music and dancing and every person in it was a child from the church. I was SO impressed, and so happy to get a little dose of the holiday spiritJ

This weekend was also the Dawn staff Christmas party. The party has been planned since I got here to be at Sesse Beach in Entebbe. On Sunday we woke up to the coldest and rainiest weather that I have seen so far in Kampala. It was definitely not beach weather. Convinced the sun would start shining at some point, we dressed in our sundresses and head out to the beach. We had an hour van ride and then reached our destination. From what I gathered it was supposed to be a restraint, but it was pretty much just an abandoned, unfinished, and unfurnished house. I was a little shocked that this was where was chosen for our party. We were led upstairs to a patio that just had plastic chairs on it. I knew we were going to be eating fish, but I was informed that it would take 3 hours to prepare because they had to go catch the fish first. So what do you do in room with no furnishing, with a group of people who have a very difficult time communicating? You play games! Our German roommates brought different games, and just like at a child’s birthday party we played “balance and egg on a spoon” and “three legged race.” Sounds lame, right? Except it was a blast! And of course because we are in Uganda, the games were followed by a Dance party. If you went to this staff party at home you would be in shock, I think.  After that we all sat in a circle and had to introduce the person to our left. It was so great hearing people tell the group what their favorite thing about the person they were introduce…until the girl introducing me said that her favorite thing about me was that I am “very audible.”  Basically that’s the nicest way to say I am loud. HahaJ We had a Secret Santa exchange and it was so fun to be a part of such a happy and fun time with the staff.

Among the busyness, my roommate and fellow AIMer, Heather’s last week has snuck up on us. The friendship we have built is incredible, and I am going to miss her so much. I know that I have made a lifelong friend and I am so happy she was able to come, even for a short time. Even though I now get my own room and double the closet space, it is going to be a great challenge to be here “alone.”  It was such a blessing to have a partner, someone to talk to, and someone to do things with. I know that God offers the ultimate companionship and protection, and I am confident that all my needs will be met. Even so, the transition will be difficult so keep me in your prayers!

More to come. I have two weeks off as Dawn is closed for the holidays. I am looking forward to catching up on emails and my blog! Blessings to you all during this time as you remember Him!

a day in the life

Over the past couple of weeks one of the best parts of this experience has been the staff. Getting to know them and becoming friends with all of them is so fun.  It makes me take a step back sometimes when I come back to the realization of how different their life is to mine. There is such a long list of differences from how they wash clothes, to never having a real shower or bath tub, to living in a society where the police are corrupt and being afraid of a rebellion after the upcoming election. They think grasshoppers are the best snack ever and they eat the same meal every day. All of these things are some that I have never even thought about until now. Every day I feel like I am comparing “their” way of life to my own. And then I catch myself. Life is not about comparing your lot against another’s, nor is it to pick whose life is more valuable and rich. The truth is, every Ugandan that I have met has contentment in their lives that would be considered almost silly at home. They are content because they have what they need, a roof, a few meals a day, and couple changes of clothes. Can you imagine if this is all you had? Would I be content, would I still believe that God was my Provider if that is all He had provided me with? I have found myself wanting to tell my Ugandan friends about all they are missing out on in life like movies, internet (facebook), Dr. Pepper, AIR CONDITIONING… ugh, I can be so ignorant sometimes! I am absolutely not preaching against the conveniences of my life, and I am honestly eager to have them againJ But I am thankful for the hearts of the people here, and even more for what they have taught me: No matter how many diamonds you sport, or what kind of car you are driving, or how expensive the wine you are drinking is- there is something that will always matter more. What matters is people, because that is what matters to God.

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A funny thing happened yesterday, and I thought everyone would enjoy this story:

Vanessa, she is the cook and is 27, asked Heather and I if we wanted to attend the circumcision ceremony for her little brother. That is a weird question, I thought, but this is Africa…so yes, I do want to go because that sounds interesting. She was explaining that in her tribe the circumcision ceremony is a big deal, and she really wanted us to go. Here, it is not weird for a 27 year old to have a sibling who is 20 years younger because most men have numerous children with numerous women. (Ok, that might have been some cultural criticism). Heather began telling us that she had been to one of the Jewish ceremonies for a baby a long time ago, and wondered if it was the same.

“Do you watch it? Because we did,” she asks.

“Oh yes! Of course you watch it.” Apparently Vanessa thought this was a silly question.

“It made me sad to watch the baby cry though, it seemed so cruel.”

Vanessa says, “Oh no, he won’t cry.”

“Why not?” We both ask.

“Because he is sixteen.”

Uuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmm. We won’t be going to the ceremony. By the grace of God, we have some people coming in from the Orphanage for the weekend so we have plans. Thank you, Jesus.

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 I think I have really been desensitized already. Like, today just felt like a pretty normal day when really almost every part of it was not at all. I wake up and get ready in 20 minutes and ride a boda to work. Along the way the town people are going nuts because the rain brought a huge influx of grasshoppers. People are EVERYWHERE with bags catching them. I spend all day in a building with no water or electricity and eat mushy bananas and beans for lunch. I spent my afternoon cuddling with a precious baby who is blind.  After work we went to super market with the simple task of getting materials for crafts, like yarn and coloring books. It was an epic failure because even the biggest store here has nothing of the sort.  On the drive home (on a boda of course) we pass massive poverty, people urinating on the street and children bathing outside in a small bin. We stop at a stand on the side of the road to get rolex, which is a chapatte rolled like a burrito with eggs, tomatoes, and cabbage. The guy at the stand keeps telling us how he loves us, and thinks we are so beautiful. Then he asks me if I can talk to the American Embassy so he can get a work visa in the states. Ummm, I don’t think so. Then it’s time to head home, turn on the water heater and hop in my 4 min warm strategically planned shower. Yep, sounds like just another day to me!