Ok, wow here we go! I am going to try not to make this too lengthy but we will see. I want to let you know what was going on during the days I was unable to blog due to our problematic internet connection. You may want to read it slowly, or day by day as it is an overwhelming amount of information. I typed it out on Microsoft Word every single night, so it is basically many blog entries in one. Ready, and go.
As many of you know, God was incredibly faithful about my being sick. After I posted that blog I tried to go to sleep at about 8:00. My fever just kept getting higher and I felt worse and worse. In my mind I was just accepting that I wasn’t going to be able to go to the Sanyu Babies Home, which was so sad to me. However, somewhere in the night my fever broke, I fell asleep, and I woke up and literally felt better than I had in days. I couldn’t stop saying prayers of thank you, and I really believe God handled that situation perfectly. It was such a miracle!
Thursday the 11th was a great day. Sanyu Babies Home was a very interesting place. There were white people EVERYWHERE. It was really weird. I sort of wished we had come on a day where there weren’t as many because we really weren’t very needed. Not that they would have needed us anyway. They were SO scheduled. I have never seen anything like it. I was in a class with really little babies. Probably aged 1-2, and they were like American kindergarteners. Each of them had a specific chair at the table with their nametag taped to the table, and when the teacher said to go find their spot, each child went to their assigned seat without a problem. When the teacher gave them a cookie, each child replied “thank you, teacher.” It was really amazing. The teacher had commands like, “Sit properly in your chair please.” Among others I felt should be in a first grade classroom. Sanyu has a rule that you can’t pick up or hold any of the babies in your lap or anything. That was definitely one of the hardest parts for me, especially when one little girl who was particularly attached to me would be crawling all over me and trying to lay in my arms and I had to put her on the ground. Granted I do understand, because so many people are in and out of there and the attachment would be very hard on the kids. I was sitting on the floor and had my legs out in front of me, and that sweet little girl fell asleep with her head at my ankles and her legs reaching right at my knees, and I just didn’t have the heart to move her. So I just watched her sleep and thanked God for her precious little spirit. I asked him to protect her and guide her and give her a home. I just hurt thinking that her parents had either died, or abandoned her. I wanted to take her home with me right then.
After lunch we went to a school visit. We drove for about 45 minutes on some of the worst roads I have ever seen. Considering all the interns were really sick at this point, the bumps and potholes made for a few close calls and 6 queasy interns getting out of the car upon arrival. The non-Christian schools here have what we would equate to an FCA in our public school systems. They call it Scripture Union and they meet 3 times a week to worship together, and pray and hear from The Word. It was so cool to see high school students leading their school in something like this. One girl named Juliet greeted us when we got to the school. She was soft-spoken, kind of small, and very meek, but she treated us with much hospitality and made sure we had chairs to sit in while all the other students just stared at us from afar. Eventually she directed us into a huge room completely full of uniformed high school students. Jarron had prepared a short message to share with the students and we planned on backing up Fred when he talked about World Bible School, which I now know is a correspondence program where students learn the Bible, fill out packets and send them to be checked by Christians in America. When they pass a certain amount of levels they get a certificate of graduation of the World Bible School. It’s a really big deal, apparently. Anyway, we are led to sit in a row of chairs in the front of room facing all of the students. Suddenly Juliet steps to the front of her peers and comes to life. She is 100% comfortable in front of them and boldly speaks the name of Jesus and leads her fellow students as the President of the Scripture Union. This caught me completely off guard and I was fascinated by her confidence. When I told her later I was very encouraged by her leadership among her friends, she chalked it all up to God. What an awesome high school student. It was such a blessing to see that kind of organization happening in the school system here. That kind of leadership here is rare, especially for a Ugandan woman. The Scripture Union chorus led us in worship and then Jarron was up to share. He did an awesome job, and even though I was nervous for him, he did wonderfully. We were very proud of him. Then Fred calls up Darla, and gets her to speak, though she had nothing prepared. What she had to say touched me very much and I was amazed by what she had to say on the spot like that. Next, Fred randomly calls up Peter who hesitatingly got up and made some stuff up on the spot too. All of the sudden Fred starts announcing the next speaker. He looks in my direction. I begin to panic. I have nothing prepared! WHY in the WORLD would he do that?! I am about to freak out when I suddenly notice that his gaze is going just past me to Mandy. I smile a little bit and look at her, as she stands up, hands shaking, and goes on to successfully deliver a great message right off the top of her head. As soon as Fred sits down while Mandy is talking, Jake, Hannah, and I bombard him out of our fear of being called on next. “It is just them speaking today, Fred, no one else is ready! Maybe next time.” Fred just does his big happy grin, and we were off the hook. For now anyway.
After the Scripture Union, we hung out at the BLRC for a while, then went and got dinner at a fast food restaurant called Chicken Inn. It was pretty good except they just this hot pink ketchup substitute called TopUp which was kind of weird. Our waitress came over to Jake and told him, “The girl at the counter says she likes your ways.” We all got the biggest kick out of that and now we tell him all the time how we like his ways. So funny. So then we got ready to go to this thing Peter has been dying to take us to, called The Change. It is a worship service for college students and I was SO excited about it. He said they use instruments and I was just really picturing a 722 like event. I walk in the room and all of those dreams become a reality. They had chai tea in the corner and people our age everywhere talking and hanging out. Gilbert, who is in charge of The Change walked up to Mandy and I and asked if we would like to do a performance for everyone during the service to which me and Mandy laughed and declined. This often disappoints people so we said “maybe next time!” We sit down and Peter wins some prize for bringing the most visitors, which had me questioning his motives a little bit but it was fine and the night proceeded on. Worship started out and it was awesome. I was loving worshipping so passionately with these people, but after about two songs, Gilbert gets up and says that it is time for the performances. I was a little confused but sat down with the rest of the crowd anyway. Next thing I know there is a girl standing up in front of us belting out some song that goes “Jesus is my super super super super superstar!” I was very confused at this point, and then she said, “I have one more for you! Here we go!” and she sang another. I was trying to picture something like this happening at 722 and I giggled a little bit, because this is just SO not what I had expected. And the best was yet to come. Next this guy gets up and they turn on his track and he starts rapping in Lugandan. I would have had no idea what he was saying except that the girl next to me helped translate it. The lyrics were actually pretty cool, but I was just laughing and clapping and waving my arms along with the crowd. Next, a dance group gets up and does something you would see on America’s Next Best Dance Crew. And I am just taking it all in. Next up, another rapper, and this one got most people out of their chairs forming a dance party in the back section. They were working an Electric Slide with a little extra soul. I was loving it. Next up was another dance crew breaking it down. I got both of them on video because I just couldn’t even believe how awesome it was and how hilarious the whole thing turned out to be. The last act was a rap trio called TIT. Yes, that’s right, I said TIT. It stands for Trust In Truth and I literally couldn’t stop laughing. I made eye contact with Hannah and we were both just about to lose it. All 6 of us were cracking up but none of the Ugandans were laughing, I guess because they had never heard that term before. It was priceless though. And TIT has a CD out if you interested. I could hook you up.
Friday we had another tourist day and we went to the Namugongo Martyrs Shrine for the Catholics and the Protestants. It was pretty interesting I guess. In the 1800’s the first Catholic and Protestant Christians were burned alive and here they have a memorial built for them. Martyrs Day is celebrated on June 3, I believe and apparently sometimes the Pope comes. Like I said, kind of interesting, kind of not.
After we went to the Martyrs Shrine, we decided to go to the Bah’hai Temple. There are only 9 in the entire world, and Kampala is home to the only one on the continent of Africa. Each continent has one, and the North American one is in Chicago. It was a really crazy place. Definitely one of the most beautiful buildings I have seen here so far. When we arrived, we were welcomed inside but we were told that we could stay as long as we want, but we were not allowed to say a single word while in the temple. I was tripping out a little bit because I was just reading something sort of similar in the book I am reading called Safely Home by Randy Alcorn. Anyway, they believe that all of the major world religions are right. Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity are all the same basically. They say that each leader of the religion had a Messenger (Mohammad, Jesus, etc.) and that each Messenger came from the same God, who was simply building on what had been communicated through the previous Messenger. Each one became more complex and “suited” for the changing and maturing culture. It was really weird. Our guide went on and on and on about it telling us about how they read from all of the holy texts of all the religions. It was just a weird experience. Some people in our group asked questions and then it started getting awkward because it was very clear that we saw things differently. Neither party was going to change the other’s mind, and so we were just at an awkward stalemate. We decided to leave and head home, and I started praying that God would somehow reveal himself to this man who was so firm in his very wide-open view of religion. It breaks my heart to think that this man may never know Jesus for who He truly is.
Mark, Jamie, and Darla took us to one of their favorite restaurants to have some Ethiopian food for dinner. It was VERY interesting. It was like a huge spongy crepe/flour tortilla that had a very sour taste, and you dipped it sauces with meat in them and ate it. Not my personal favorite but definitely a fun experience.
Saturday we were supposed to meet Helen and go to Watoto, but she has the same virus that we all have, which seems to be going around. We rescheduled for the next week and slept in an extra hour or two. We woke up and hung out at the BLRC talking to people and mingling until Peter, Arora, Abel, and Tash took us to our very first rugby game. Uganda was playing against Tunisia, and it was all kinds of crazy. I basically watched huge men play a full contact football-type game without any padding. The Ugandans were a lively crowd and it was really fun to get to cheer them on, even though they lost. I really have never seen anything quite like rugby. Completely fascinating.
Sunday was a great day of worship! I love going to church at Kampala Church of Christ. My favorite is when they sing songs in Lugandan or Swahili. They have these awesome clapping beats, and dancing, and echoes, and I just keep smiling up at God cause I know that He is just smiling and dancing right along with all His precious Ugandan children. I can’t help by grin when I think about it. I am learning more of the Lugandan songs and they get stuck in my head so easily! There is one we sing in Sunday School a lot; I think I wrote about it last week too. My fellow interns are about ready to kill me because I am always singing “Mambo sawa sawa, Mambo sawa sawa , – Things already better, Things already better, When the Lord is on my side, Things already better…” I got to work with the littlest babies again this Sunday and I absolutely love it, they kids are precious and such a blessing. I love getting to sing with them and color and talk about their Yesu. This past week we learned about the Holy Spirit, which I felt to be rather complex for babies ranging in age from 8 months to 5 years, but they seemed to enjoy the lesson and I loved getting to sing and play with one little girl named Phoebe especially. Such a sweetheart.
We ate lunch at an Indian restaurant and I had chicken tikka, which was actually really good. kinda like curry. I had never really had Indian food so I enjoyed it. After that they brought us back to the BLRC to wait for SWORD (Singles With One Real Destiny) Life Care Group to start. SWORD is led by one of our very favorite people we have met here. His name is Seth and he is just such a character. I am not even sure how to describe him, except that he laughs hysterically before and after every single sentence he speaks. The interns concluded that even if we just saw Seth’s skeleton, we would be able to recognize him because of his HUGE smile. Sometimes he just mumbles something and then laughs. We have so much fun with Seth and the boys do really good impressions of him. It’s hilarious. I think I am one of the only interns whose name he remembers so I ALWAYS get called on during SWORD group. I was called on first, but this time I was more prepared and had something to share so I wasn’t as anxious about it. Watching Seth during group was hilarious. For example, he was eating a piece of bread and there were crumbs all in his Bible so he just kind of slides them into the crease with his hand and closes his Bible. I was just cracking up. I was in an unfortunate seat in the circle, because directly across to the right was Seth, and directly across to the left was Hannah and being able to see her made me not able to keep a straight face at all. Since I was across from Seth, and he remembers my name, he called on me to pray, which I was a little less prepared for, but it was good to hold hands with my Ugandan brothers and sisters and pray together.
I already told you all about rafting in Jinja on Monday and Tuesday, blah blah blah it was awesome…you already know about that. Now all my bruises are visible though. That river gave me a beating for sure!
So Wednesday was a really good day. We came to the BLRC and got a language lesson from Peter where we learned about family members. Did you know you have to say Muganda wo Omulenzi just to say the word brother? I gave Peter a hard time about that. Ridiculous. Anyways, after language lesson we had our classic Lugandan BLRC lunch that Tommy has gotten really sick of. We loaded up the car and headed out to do a school visit. Before we left us girls had a little talk with Fred. We said, “Fred, we are not comfortable with talking. It is just not our thing.” I told him I preferred to have one on one conversations and that I get nervous in front of big groups. Then I taught Fred the wonder of the pinky promise. He giggled and loved it and I was happy to be his first pinky promise ever. We did tell him, however, that the boys are very gifted communicators and love to speak. They were not happy with us about this. So we drove to Namanve High School for 50 minutes with 9 people packed in a car for 7. Upon arrival, Darla got disappointed in the girls because none of us wanted to speak. She said she wanted at least one of us to. I volunteered and my stomach just completely dropped and started twisting. I was SO nervous. I just started praying that the Holy Spirit take over and say what these students needed to hear and that they not be my words but His. We walked in to almost the same situation. A Scripture Union of students. We worshipped together and then I was up first to speak. I talked to them about my favorite verse in 1 Corinthians 7:17 that says “Don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there.” I just talked to them about how when I was in Middle School I was ready for High School, and in High School I was going to wait until University to make a difference. I told them not to take the place they are in for granted. That God can and wants to use them because this place in their life is exactly where he wants them to be for His glory and for their growth in Him. I can’t take a single ounce of credit. My words flowed clearly and smoothly and I had more to say than I even thought of before I went up. The Holy Spirit was moving me in that room, and I am so thankful. I can’t even imagine the mess my fear would have made without it. After me, Darla spoke, then Hannah decided to volunteer, then Jarron, then Tommy. Jake got a full round of applause and loud cheers when he got called on to say the prayer, and none of us, including Jake, are exactly sure why, but it was hilarious. Maybe they “liked his ways” too.
After that we set up another school visit for next Wednesday with the headmaster from Yefe High School, which will be good because Mark Berryman will be with us and can see us interns in action. After that, Darla dropped Peter, Fred, Jake, Mandy and I off at Frances’ house for his Life Care Group that is all in Lugandan. I got to pick one of the songs we sang, so I of course chose Mambo Sawa Sawa, much to Jake and Mandy’s dismay. We got to hear a lot of cool stuff and some of it was in English, and if not Frances helped translate for us and it was really cool. We got to hear about two men in our group who had been Muslim, and were sitting there in that room speaking to us about how the life Jesus has offered them is better than their former life and religion. It was incredible. At one point, Peter brought up something I had said at the school visit. He told the group what I had said and then related it to our new topic in this LCG. I was almost moved to tears, because Peter had been sitting outside of the room where the Scripture Union was. I didn’t even know he had heard me. I praised God that at least one person heard what He had said through me. I was so grateful God gave me that little gift of encouragement in my speaking. He is truly a Father who loves me. I loved being there and hearing what these incredibly intelligent men had to say. It was very challenging. We had chai and bread, which was great as usual. When I get home I will SO miss this chai. I am going to try and make it like them so you can try it. It is so good. Anyway, the plate of bread went around and Jake didn’t take any. Peter jokingly, but in front of the whole group, was like “Jake, in Uganda, you never say no to food in someone’s home.” So Jake took some bread and started eating it and they men were giving him a hard time a little bit. Every few minutes in the group, Peter would say, “Jake! You are finished with your bread! Have another.” By the end Jake had eaten about six pieces and I was just laughing so hard because he hadn’t even wanted any to begin with. Peter is just great. He has been such a blessing to me since being here. I will miss him very much when I go home.
Thursday. Wow. What an interesting day! We woke up and went out to the BLRC to get Fred and Peter who took us out to a village area. Fred’s old friend Moses moved out there because he felt like God was leading him there in ministry. Darla dropped us off and then left and we went and sat in Moses’ church building that he has constructed. He calls it “The Hidden Treasure” or “The Cathedral.” This is laughable because it is literally the size of our bunkroom. It is basically 4 sticks in the ground with a plastic tarp on top with some thatching roof. We sat in a circle on benches and Moses introduced us to his friend Peter (another Peter) who was sitting next to him. Something about the way I kept catching him smiling at me really unnerved me for some reason. Every time I glanced in his direction he was just smiling at me, and something about it really creeped me out. I later found out that he was from the mental hospital up the road. Apparently people come from there a lot and Moses just prays with them, and then they go back. We prayed over this man named Peter and he went on his way. Moses told us his story and how he came to live there and build the church. It was really very interesting. His precious wife then brought us out lunch that she had made. We had noodles, beef, potatoes, and cabbage. I am learning more and more that food is less about pleasure and taste, and more about filling your stomach. It is a very non-American perception, and it is one that has surprised me a little bit. Anyway, we ate in The Cathedral and then we went on a little tour of Moses’ land. We saw his pigs and crops, and his baby girl Nabel. She was really scared of me at first and cried when her mom was out of sight. I was too worried to pick her up and scare her so I left her alone. Moses cut us down some of his sugar cane so we could try it for the very first time. It was so good! Then Moses’ wife left Mabel out by the sugar cane and went back to the house. Nabel got scared and started to cry. She saw no one around that she recognized and I guess since I had been talking to her earlier, I was her best bet. She came to me easily and I was instantly in love. She is precious. I was just holding her and talking to her and I never wanted to put her down. Moses wanted to show us an estate about a half mile down the road, so of course I was going to be carrying my new precious baby friend. I carried her in my arms all the way there, and she feel asleep cuddled in my arms. I can’t even describe it. It was one of those moments where you just thank God. She is ADORABLE. On our way back to the house Nabel woke up and we started looking at the cars and bodas as they went by. By this point she had totally come out of her shell and was full of giggles and pointing every time she saw one. Her mom was walking beside me and told me that Nabel had started calling me “Auntie” in her little baby Lugandan language that I couldn’t really understand. Talk about my heart melting into a puddle! I could have taken her with me. I cuddled her in my arms, and was so sad to say goodbye to her, but hope to see her again my last week here in Kampala. We went to Garden City Mall and grabbed something to eat in the food court. Hannah, Jarron, and Tommy went to small group, and Jake, Mandy, and I headed home with Peter and Arora. I was carrying a huge sugar cane that Moses had given us all through the city, and Peter, Arora and I were trying to remember who say the song “Ladies Night.” Oh those two make me laugh so hard! I always love spending time with those them. They ate with us at the house and we watched Garden State. Always a good one. It was a busy day! My skin is now super sensitive to sun because of the new malaria medicine and so I am randomly burned, especially the backs of my hands/knuckles. Which is incredibly weird. I don’t think that has ever happened to me before, but hopefully it will get better soon. Also, today Hannah and I said “Here, you see monkeys like you see squirrels in America.” Peter said, “Yes, we don’t have many squittles.” I LOVE all these little language differences! Not squirrels, squittles. Ahhh, haha I love life here!
Friday was a really really busy day! We woke up really early in the morning and walked down the hill to catch Public. Jake was sick so it was just the 5 of us. We got on public and rode to the taxi park, then walked to the BLRC to meet Isaac and Timothy. When we got there we walked back to the taxi park and caught a different taxi to go out to his Timothy’s uncle’s house. Timothy’s uncle has a vocational school called MCAFS where the students pay a shockingly low school fee and learn how to do welding, carpentry, tailoring, salon work, or brick laying. It has revitalized there community and it is evident the difference they are making. MCAFS also started a nursery school plus classes P1 and P2 for students who can’t afford it. We got to go visit their classes and they sang a song for us that was so loud and energetic it nearly busted the roof off! It was precious. They also showed us a student center they were building. It will have a computer lab and an area to hang out and it is sure to do great things for the community. They also go and build pens for livestock and help families who have applied for it. We got to go and see several families they had helped and that was really exciting. MCAFS and Timothy’s family are really making an impact, and that was really exciting to see. Then we went to Timothy’s house and they gave us passion fruit/watermelon/mango/pineapple juice and it was probably the most awesome juice ever. It was really refreshing after being out walking all day.
After that we went to the Cheshire House. It is a rehabilitation center for kids under the age of 18. They have surgeries and then put the child through physical therapy until they learn how to walk again or use whatever device they have provided. They have their own metal working shop to make wheelchairs, wood working for crutches and special chairs, and a section that makes prosthetic limbs for kids who have to lose theirs. All of this is on the same campus and it is just a really impressive place. I met a twelve year old little girl named Sophia who had been born with an extra joint in her shin which made her left leg basically useless. They went in a removed the joint and reconnected her bone and put a lot of pins in it. They taught her how to walk again and I saw her in the recovery section playing with a soccer ball. I got to hang out with these kids who exhibited more strength than I could ever even hope for, and I was just so blessed and encouraged by their smiles. There was another girl and she was older, probably around 14. She was developmentally disabled and she was sitting on the porch at the House. She kept catching my eye with her smile and I just had to go over and see her. I walked over and sat on the ground across from her and told her what a beautiful smile she had. She smiled more. I just talked to her, though she couldn’t respond back. I feel like a lot can be communicated through smiling. Her eyes understood me. And as she smiled bigger and bigger, I couldn’t keep from matching her. When it was time to go, she shook my hand, and waved at me, and she didn’t stop waving until I couldn’t see her from the car window anymore. She was beautiful, and I saw the light and energy, and purity of the heart of God shining right through her. It was such a blessing.
After the Cheshire House, we went to an UTAA (Ugandan Teens Against AIDS) meeting at an all girls high school. It was basically nothing special. Nothing really exciting happened, except we saw a really funny sign that said “not to associate with dubious boys/men.” After that we went to movie night at church, which is a fundraiser for a computer class they want to start. Jarron and Mandy went back to the house and met up with Jake, who was feeling a bit better.
Hannah, Tommy, and I stayed at the BLRC and waited for our “Bonding Family” to come pick us up. Bonding is a part of all missionary internships, and it is a part I had very much looked forward to. Basically, the missionaries send you to spend a night or two with a member of the congregation to see what it is really like to live their life. You just go along with everything they have going on, and share meals and spend time with them. Tommy went with Timothy back to MCAFS where we had been earlier. Hannah was spending the night with a sweetheart named Teddy, her sisters and nieces. Needless to say the two of them were a match made in heaven. Like Hannah, Teddy lives in a house full of girls, and it an incredibly passionate social worker. It couldn’t have been better. I got the opportunity to spend the night with Maggie. A completely precious businesswoman and single mom to Alicia, aged 15 months. Maggie came to get me from movie night and I experienced the completely indirect approach of almost every Ugandan. “Maggie, are you ready for us to go?” “Well…it doesn’t matter really. Are you ready?” “Whenever you are, Maggie. I can leave whenever. Do we need to go now?” “Well. I don’t know. Do you want to leave now?” Needless to say, it can be a little bit frustrating. So we finally leave and I go get into her car. Most people don’t have cars so it’s a really big deal that she does. She also takes everyone everywhere in it, so I got into a car with every seat full of people I don’t know. I sat in the car, everyone speaking Lugandan and listening to Lugandan radio and I felt really alone. If I thought I knew alone before that, I was wrong. This was totally different. It was really scary to not have anywhere to go or anyone to talk to really. We stopped at the grocery store and Maggie got a few items for dinner. Keep in mind, it is already about 9:30 PM. Then we went to Maggie’s mother’s store and picked up baby Alicia. I believe in African villages, things kind of end when the sun goes down. In Kampala, this is simply not the case. The city is just as busy at 11 at night as it is at 2 in the afternoon. So we get Alicia, who is wearing only a T-shirt, no diaper or bottoms or anything. We then drive a while and get out at Maggie’s house. It is about 10 at this point and we get into the house and put Alicia in her crib. Maggie’s house consists of two rooms. One is a den area with a TV, a set of shelves and lawn furniture. The other is a bedroom with one huge bed and a dresser. I start to wonder how Maggie plans on cooking the chicken and vegetables we picked up at the store, and my answer comes quickly. She takes a miniature stove/grill thing and starts a fire in it, and cooks my chicken over an open flame on her front stoop. I was fascinated. Once she had the chicken cooking, she came inside and started peeling potatoes, carrots, onions and tomatoes. And as we sit on the floor together, she starts talking to me. She asks questions about school, and Tyler, and what things are like for me in America. I was thoroughly enjoying her company and then she asked me if I knew her story. I told her that I didn’t know what she meant, and that Darla hadn’t mentioned anything to me. I had kind of figured there was a story though, because there was Alicia, and there didn’t seem to be a husband as far as I could tell. Maggie began her story and told me about how she had been an “upstanding” member at church, and had led worship and worked a lot with the youth group. She was very involved and close with her brothers and sisters at KCC. Her boyfriend Ouga got injured, and was released from the hospital but still needed to be close by for about 2 weeks to make regular visits. Since Maggie lived right next to the hospital, she decided to let him stay with her for those two weeks. Purity was a struggle for her during that time, and on the very last night he was there, they made a mistake. Two weeks later Maggie found out that she was pregnant. She was completely devastated. She had pictured herself as a successful businesswoman and being a single mom was not what she had envisioned. She went to church until she started showing, and then people started talking. She felt so much guilt and shame that she left the church, until Darla came and got her and made her come. She struggled with her guilt throughout her pregnancy and even after Alicia was born. I loved getting to talk to her about God’s love and forgiveness, and how what Jesus did on the cross makes her innocent and blameless in his sight. I think she was surprised by my lack of judgment and it made her really connect with me and trust me. I was really glad for that, and for having the opportunity to remind her of how God really feels about her. Not disappointment or shame, but complete love for his daughter. She was talking about her amazement at the many blessings God has given her despite her mistakes. Both success in her business and her beautiful baby have caused her to thank God constantly, and I was so thankful to hear that she hadn’t given up on her faith. However, nothing could have prepared me for what she was about to say. She told me that this is the part Darla didn’t know. I became a little bit worried that I was about to be put into a situation that I was not prepared for. She told me that her boyfriend, Alicia’s dad, lived there in that little house with her. At this point I was searching for words. Nothing was coming to mind. There is no way Darla would have sent me there had she known this little detail. Maggie got really upset and talked about her weakness and how they both know that what they are doing is wrong, but how she wants her family to be together, but doesn’t want to rush Ouga into marriage. So I start feeling REALLY awkward, and a little bit panicky about where exactly he is and when he will be coming home. But at this point the meal is ready so she goes outside and brings in a plate with a chicken leg with some awesome tomato/carrot/onion sauce and some great mashed potatoes. I was still amazed that this beautiful meal came from outside on a tiny portable stove. So as I am eating dinner (at 11 PM), she tells me more of this situation and about how things will work when he gets home. I am growing increasingly concerned. She then starts kind of pushing me towards going to bed, and shows me into the room with the huge bed. She tells me to go ahead and get into bed all the way over to the left side next to the wall. I do as I am told and Maggie gets ready for bed as well. She crawls into bed next to me. I popped a sleeping pill feeling like I might need some assistance due to the anxiety I was experiencing at that moment. We had some good pillow talk but halfway through one of my answers to her question, she fell asleep so I rolled over and tried to not freak out. I was trying to go to sleep, all the while, thinking that it was incredibly possible that this man was going to crawl into this huge bed with us. I don’t know how I fell asleep, but I feel I must give credit to God and to Simply Sleep. I woke up at about 5 AM because Alicia started to cry. I was too scared to check if he was in the bed with us, and so I just laid there, wide awake with cows, and chickens, and loud people walked by the open window above my head. I eventually gathered the courage to assess the situation. I saw two heads. Shock, panic, and fear were all just running through my head. I didn’t know what to do, except lay there. So I did. Until Maggie woke up around 8:15, and I saw little baby Alicia poke her head out from under the covers and relief rushed through me. It had been her all along, not her dad. We woke up and Maggie went in the other room and got ready. She left me with the baby and so I just played with her while I was getting ready. I peaked through the cracked door and saw a man sleeping on the floor in the main room, and felt really awkward, but also relieved that he was in there, not in my bed. Maggie asked me to go to the main room where he was so she could wake him up and send him to the bed. I was happy to oblige. We shook hands and I thanked him for allowing me in his home, and I just felt awkward. Really really awkward. So Maggie, Alicia, and I left, and went to pick up Maggie’s paycheck from one of her customers. It was at this point that I was made to be Alicia’s mom for the day. Maggie was in the office doing business and I was holding Alicia trying to keep her entertained and quiet while her mom was busy. It became my responsibility to carry her everywhere we went in the city and I literally felt like I had somehow inherited a baby over night. We then went to breakfast at a restaurant and little Momma Heidi took Alicia and fed her some of my breakfast cake and gave her my water while Maggie ate. It was a really unique experience. I loved having a little Ugandan baby for the day, but it was A LOT of work. I think Maggie appreciated the break though. After breakfast we stopped by the internet café, and Maggie started working on her emails. She gave Alicia her keys to play with, so I was struggling a little bit to keep her occupied. Luckily I noticed a fish tank in the corner and we watched the fish for about half an hour. Next we went to Maggie’s office and changed Alicia’s diaper, and then Maggie left to run some business errands. Her sisters Allen and Olive came over and we listened to some Hillsong while I held my new baby and she slept in my arms for about an hour. My right bicep was hurting me so bad, but her sweet little sleeping face kept me holding on and I loved every second. When Maggie got back the 3 sisters took me with them to get their eyebrows waxed (?) and I held Alicia. All day I would see people pointing at me, and pointing at Alicia and saying “mzungu” which basically means white person. Maggie told me that all day people asked her if I was Alicia’s aunt on her dad’s side, and if Alicia’s dad what white. Her skin is a little bit lighter than her mom’s so they kept thinking I was her aunt from America. Which was hilarious. After that, Maggie was worried she hadn’t been feeding me enough, so she went to the gas station and bought me some Alicia and I some yogurt. Then we went straight to an Indian restaurant and had lunch, which made me really confused about the whole yogurt thing. It was fine though. At this point I was getting ready to be home with the other interns, in my “own” bed, in a situation I was more familiar with. Maggie stopped by the BLRC and Hannah, Jake, and Mandy happened to be there. Hannah was waiting for Darla to pick her up and Mandy and Jake were waiting to be picked up by their bonding families, so Maggie just came in and hung out for a while and I got to really play with my child for the day, Alicia, and watch her laugh and giggle while I twirled her around and hugged on her. It was a blast. Tommy, Hannah, and I went home and we had a great dinner, and I got to talk with my mom on the cell phone. We watched The Family Man with Darla, and she gave us ice cream, which is something I have been CRAVING so bad its ridiculous. Needless to say, I was happy to be “home.”
Sunday morning we woke up for our last Sunday at Kampala Church of Christ. I was really sad to think that I won’t hear my precious Sunday School class sing “Mambo Sawa Sawa” again. Seth, one of my favorite people here happens to be an artist. I got him to show me his sample book, and on the very last page he had done a sample that said “From Uganda, With Love.” I was so excited, since that is the name of this blog, so I asked him to paint one for me. He had it finished today and I love it. It is such a cool thing to have, a painting done by my friend Seth. I got to see Maggie and Alicia again and it was really weird to think that it might be the last time I see them, along with a number of other people. Maggie really liked the dress I had on today at church and said she wanted to look for one like it, so I left it for her. She will love it and get much more mileage out of it than I ever would, so I was really excited to give it to her. After church we went and ate at a Korean restaurant. The table was very low off to the ground, we sat on the floor, and we had to take our shoes off to go in. it was interesting. I got to have ice cream AGAIN on the way home and I couldn’t believe my luck. Back to back ice cream days! It was definitely a treat. We came home and I worked FOREVER to write all on here all about bonding and by the time I finished it was time to go to the Ndere Troupe. Darla had to wake up from her nap so she was in a bit of a mood. On our way out to the car, she said “Girls, it might just be because I just woke up from a nap, but I am going to need intelligent conversation or I am going to have to get the boys to ride with me instead of you.” I was trying not to be utterly offended and realize that she was just tired, but I was still a little frustrated by it. Hannah begged me to take the front seat (the hot seat) so I did. Darla said, “Never mind. We will just listen to music.” So she hands me her iPod to DJ. I went through her artists picking out stuff to listen to. I changed the song and Darla said “You know, the best way to listen music is if you actually listen to the whole song.” I was like “Oh. Yea, sorry I have song ADD.” Then I got in trouble for forgetting to unlock the backseat door on my side, and basically it was just a FAIL night on my part. It put me into a little bit of a bad mood too which was frustrating, but I tried to shake it. Anyway, Ndere Troupe is a dancing show that is sort of like the African version of a Luau. There is a lot of food and tables all around to watch the show. It got a little bit long but over all it was really fun. I had some AWESOME chai and got to see some pretty cool tribal dancing. It was a good day. Another day where it is great to live in the wonderful UGANDA! When I got in bed, I decided that I wanted to watch Hotel Rwanda before I go to Rwanda in about a week. I wanted to understand the background a little bit better. I planned on only watching part of it and then getting in bed, but I couldn’t turn it off. To watch it here in Africa was truly surreal. I cried through the whole thing. So much of what I saw looks like Kampala. It was insane. I couldn’t believe it had really happened. Especially within my lifetime. To be there in a little while is going to be crazy. And incredibly difficult.
I wonder how long this is going to have to go on. I am on page 12 on my Word document and it is much more lonely to write like this. There just isn’t as much commentary! I have much less motivation to write. Oh well. Monday the 22nd was a great day! It was supposed to be a day off but of course that wasn’t about to happen for me. Not when I only have 3 more full days in Kampala! Peter offered to take me back to the Nursery School we had gone to a week ago. I was really excited to sing and color with the kids again and I was REALLY excited to see Julie again. I held onto her the whole time on our last visit and I was really looking forward to that. We woke up and Hannah was planning on going with us, but she wasn’t feeling good so it was just Jake, Mandy and I. We headed down the hill and caught Public to the taxi park. We met Peter there and caught another taxi to the Nursery School. We took bodas up to the top of the hill which is always a blast.The kids were really excited to see us again and their teacher said that they had been asking about their white friends all morning. They wrapped us up in massive group hugs as soon as we walked in and I was just looking for my baby Julie. I finally saw her and she gave me a big hug and a wave. She is precious. We led the kids in some singing and they loved singing and dancing around to song about Jesus. I looked across the room and realized that Julie had already attached herself to Jake for the day. I was a little bit jealous but he took good care of her, and I knew there were plenty of other kids who needed to be loved on. We passed out crayons and papers and the kids colored on them. I sat next to a sweetheart named Rebecca who was really ticklish and I had so much fun laughing with her. After that, they passed out stickers of jungle animals and all the kids put them on their foreheads. Peter so kindly gave me a hippo. One little boy with a monkey sticker on his forehead was sitting on my lap and he was just so funny. We would make faces at each other and stick out our tongues and just laugh hysterically. I couldn’t quite understand his name so I called him my little monkey until I finally asked the teacher who told me his name was Greer. He was definitely a bright spot in my day. There was another little boy with a zebra sticker who had the sweetest biggest smile in the world. His name was Kevin and he just loved to hold my hand and lay his head in my lap. He was so adorable. Another boy named Michael sat on my other side and we all just sang and laughed and took lots of pictures. It was a really fun day with them. After that we caught a taxi back to the taxi park. . It was crazy busy and crowded and traffic was really bad. I got hit by a boda boda. It wasn’t a hard hit or anything but it still scared me a little bit. We went to Garden City Mall (AKA: white people headquarters) and had some lunch. Jake, Mandy, and I split a pizza and pasta and it was SO good. I was really excited to have such familiar food. We ate A LOT. From there, Arora met up with us and we went to the African Village Craft Market. I got ALL of my shopping done and I was really excited about that. I can’t wait to give the gifts that I got. The crafts are just such a high quality. I love shopping for them. We came home and I helped Darla with dinner. We do a lot of talking about the Myers-Briggs personality test and we figured out that I am an ENFJ, basically one of the first nights I was here. While we were cooking dinner, she said that she thinks I am quirky and that I am a J with ADD, which makes me have some P tendencies. That probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to most of you. It is a major topic of discussion around here. One that we have pretty much every day at least once. We had 4 guests with us bringing our number to 14. Jamie’s brother and his wife plus two missionaries from Mbale. One of the missionaries reminds me a LOT of Aunt Ann. It was a huge group! We had spaghetti, pumpkin soup, pineapple, and homemade ice cream. ICE CREAM! Three days in a row! It was awesome. Us interns watched The Matrix on a projection screen at Mark and Jamie’s house and just enjoyed laughing together and hanging out. It was a wonderful day! I am very blessed to be here, experiencing what I get to experience!
Today, we woke up a t 8:30 and caught public down to the BLRC around 11. It was just 5 of us today, because Tommy stayed back and helped Mark and Jamie with moving. Taking Public is really an exhausting process. I talk about how we take it so often but I haven’t really elaborated. Basically, we walk down the hill from our house which takes about 10 minutes. At the bottom of the hill we wait for a run-down 14 passenger van packed with people. We get on board and are often separated from each other and sitting in very close proximity to other Ugandans going the same direction. Taxi drivers are the most assertive and they weave in and out of traffic constantly. There is no air conditioning, and you can only hope for a seat close to an open window. Which still doesn’t help if your sitting in traffic like we often are. Under normal circumstances, the ride to the taxi park takes about 25-30 minutes. You then pay your 1,000 shillings per person. 1,000 shillings is a little bit less than 50 cents. Its pretty crazy that that’s all it costs. Things here are cheaper in general. Upon arriving at the taxi park, you see taxis EVERYWHERE. An endless sea of white vans with a light blue checkered stripe that just goes on and on. At this point we usually get out and begin the 20 minute walk to the BLRC. It is jam packed with people. And crossing the street is terrifying. People call out things, and today said “Hello Obama sister!” Its just weird what some people will say. Sometimes men yell out things at us girls and some will even grab us. They will ALWAYS talk to you on the street and ask how you are doing. Boda drivers are the worst. They almost always have a comment for me when I walk by. It REALLY bothered me when I first got here. I felt scared and like I was an object. Now that I have been here a while, it doesn’t weird me out as much. I know better how to just ignore it and keep walking with my eyes straight ahead. Occasionally I have days where I feel it more than normal, but most days it is easy to let it just roll off my back. Anyway, Peter has malaria REALLY bad so we were really sad to hear that. He was admitted to the hospital yesterday after the nursery school, so keep him in your prayers. So we finally made it to the BLRC and met Fred. We were supposed to go to the HUGE Muslim mosque built by Gadaffi, but we got there at one of the prayer hours so Fred decided to take us to see Peter first. We went on about a 45 minute, uphill walk there. I have really gotten to the point where I enjoy walking. It has been a great time to talk with God, but it was HOT today and I was in a bit of a bad mood so the walk was not quite as wonderful as usual. By the time we got to the hospital I was sweating like crazy. If American hospitals freak you out, try to imagine an African one. I only get a little bit scared of US hospitals but seeing the people laying in the bed like they were really weirded me out for some reason. We walked into the room and saw that Timothy, Tazo, Robina, and another guy were already there visiting our little patient. It was so good to see them. Peter looked pitiful but he kept up his quick wit, and was really happy to see us. He assured us he would be out by tomorrow so he could hang out with us. We’ll see about that. Arora also has malaria right now, and it has just been crazy to see how much if affects people here. It’s everywhere. It makes me really appreciate what Jordan has been doing with Bite Back. Malaria nets really do make a huge difference. Timothy and Tazo came with us when we left so that they could also go to the mosque. I insisted that Fred let us take a taxi to the mosque at that point and he is just so funny about everything. I wish I could do an impression of him but this is a blog, and that is a feature that isn’t included. Just as a little preview, one of his favorite and commonly used phrases is “Justy do it.” He uses it at any and every random opportunity. He is great. So we took a taxi up to the mosque and paid for a tour. Though I was wearing a floor length skirt they made tie the wrap I had brought for my head around my waist in addition. I really don’t know why they made me wear the extra skirt, but I had to borrow another head scarf also, so I was looking basically like a blonde haired blue eyed Muslim. It was a unique look, I can assure you. This little girl who was probably 3 ran up to us and grabbed my hand. She was adorable and I loved having her with me. Her mom told me that the little girl was familiar with the moque and that I could take her with me, so I did. We got to the stairs and had to remove our shoes and carry them. She carried mine and I carried hers. And then I carried her, her shoes, and she carried my shoes. This was basically the highlight of my mosque experience. We didn’t even get to go in. it made me sad to think that this little girl would probably be raised not knowing the truth about Jesus. I prayed for her that God would step in and reveal himself to her. After that, we walked back down to the BLRC and Jake, Jarron, and I ate some lunch. Hannah, and Mandy were really sick of the Ugandan food, and so they didn’t have any. It doesn’t really bother me. I’m not too picky and the pocho, beans, rice, matoke, and g-nut sauce have actually grown on me. We sat on these woven wicker couches with green cushions on the front porch and talked and hung out with people. My absolute favorite BLRC activity. Those couches have become so symbolic to me. They remind me of the many relationships that have been built there sitting around, talking about life, and loving these people. Those green cushions are a really special place to me. I think I will probably remember them forever. Thinking of leaving Kampala on Thursday makes me really sad. I can’t believe I will be saying goodbye to these people. Some of them I may not ever see again until we are all in Heaven. That is just crazy. I can’t even believe it is time to go. On the other hand, I am THRILLED to be going to travel. I can’t wait to see other parts of Uganda, and Rwanda. And I am meeting my Compassion child in 6 DAYS! I am so excited to finally hold my little Leya in my arms! God is so good. He has been so faithful in working things out for me to be here in Uganda. It has been a long time coming, even over a year ago he was putting the pieces together. But that, my wonderful supportive friends and family, is another story for another day. All my love and more!
Thank you for all your love and constant support. Anyone who read all of this deserves some kind of award. YOU ARE AMAZING! thanks your your support :)
for His glory,
heidi
