This is a farewell... things are wrapping up, and with tears in my eyes I am starting to say good-bye. Tonight we have a farewell dinner with our family, tomorrow we move out, and Thursday morning we leave at 5 am for Rwanda. It has been an incredible semester, and I thank God for the opportunity that I have had to be here and get to know so many incredible people. Every time I say good-bye people ask when I am coming back to Uganda. Most of the time I just stay silent. I want to come back, that much is for sure, but if it will ever happen is definitely not a for-sure thing. God knows best, I smile and sometimes say. Leaving is always bittersweet, though, and I am excited to see all of you. I won't have Internet after we leave for Rwanda, but I'll be home May 7. I see you all then, with pictures and stories galore :)
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Of warthogs and elephants and Easter bunnies
Last week we had a last IMME hurrah… complete with pizza, ice cream, and Princess Bride. I laugh every time I watch that movie, but I have never laughed harder than when someone used the slam “you warthog faced buffoon.” Definitely funnier when three days earlier you saw too many warthogs to count and had them come and stiff your tent while you sleep at night. That was our experience at Queen Elizabeth.
The weekend before, after a crazy long drive down to the park in southwestern Uganda, we got to see not only warthogs but elephants, hippos, water buffalo, cobs (antelope-like animals), a lion, and even a leopard on our safari. The leopard was sweet, the elephants (especially the baby ones!) were amazing, but my favorite part was the hippos… not all of them, but mainly just one—a little baby hippo that was born just five days early. Five days old! It was sooo cute… well, as cute as a hippo can be.
For the whole drive down there, and for the majority of the safari, the same group of us was piled in a jeep with our awesome driver Ronald. We called ourselves “Team Ronald” and decided we had the best driver in Uganda… so we did awesome things for him like writing him a song and saying “Yay Ronald” and screaming and cheering every time he conquered the rocky roads that look completely un-passable. We couldn’t really tell if he truly liked it, or if we were the most obnoxious Americans he had ever met, but he always smiled, so big that you could see it in his eyes through the rearview mirror.
The craziest part of the weekend was not necessarily the safari itself, but our experience camping. In Africa. With all of those crazy animals that we had just seen. I was chilling outside staring at the moon as I read my Bible, when I heard some of the craziest noises. Just as I was reading Psalm 50:10, “For every wild animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills I know all the birds of the air, and all that moves in the field is mine,” I heard a large cat noise. No joke. It was killing something, because I also heard the sound of an animal dying. CRAZY! At that moment Michelle and Katie came running up from behind me, scaring the crap out of me. I thought I was going to be eaten. And that was just the beginning of our night. After all of that, I decided that it I felt a little (not much) safer inside the tent, so we all hide in our sleeping bags from the noises outside. Shortly after, they continued. The warthogs came, sniffing around our tent, sticking their noses right up against the fabric, and making noises as ugly as their faces. A little while later, an elephant. No joke. Elephants are cool, but not when you think they might stampede through your campsite. Its not over though… a while later in the night came a hippo, plodding up from the lakeside and walked right by our tent. It is good that every wild animal of the forest is God’s I am thankful that all that moves in the field is his…
I have tons of pictures, but don’t feel like spending my whole day fighting with the Internet… I’ll be home in three weeks. You can see them then.
This past weekend we had an Easter celebration with our family. Our sister came over, with our three “nieces,” who are super cute, along with William and Eva joining us from Kampala. After the Easter service Sunday morning we had a giant feast with TONS of food. I played with Patricia, Tracy, and Belinda (our nieces) with a little tub of yellow playdough that I brought with me from home. Patricia, the oldest (about 12), loved running her fingers through my hair, braiding it and styling it until she said I was “fit for the cover of a magazine.” They were so cute. It was weird to be away from family at Easter, but I was still surrounded by my new family here. Even more, it was great to be away from the consumerism of America, where Easter wasn’t just about the Easter bunny. It was great for Easter to be completely about resurrection and new life, and about celebrating the life that we have been given with friends and family.
Happy Easter!
The weekend before, after a crazy long drive down to the park in southwestern Uganda, we got to see not only warthogs but elephants, hippos, water buffalo, cobs (antelope-like animals), a lion, and even a leopard on our safari. The leopard was sweet, the elephants (especially the baby ones!) were amazing, but my favorite part was the hippos… not all of them, but mainly just one—a little baby hippo that was born just five days early. Five days old! It was sooo cute… well, as cute as a hippo can be.
For the whole drive down there, and for the majority of the safari, the same group of us was piled in a jeep with our awesome driver Ronald. We called ourselves “Team Ronald” and decided we had the best driver in Uganda… so we did awesome things for him like writing him a song and saying “Yay Ronald” and screaming and cheering every time he conquered the rocky roads that look completely un-passable. We couldn’t really tell if he truly liked it, or if we were the most obnoxious Americans he had ever met, but he always smiled, so big that you could see it in his eyes through the rearview mirror.
The craziest part of the weekend was not necessarily the safari itself, but our experience camping. In Africa. With all of those crazy animals that we had just seen. I was chilling outside staring at the moon as I read my Bible, when I heard some of the craziest noises. Just as I was reading Psalm 50:10, “For every wild animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills I know all the birds of the air, and all that moves in the field is mine,” I heard a large cat noise. No joke. It was killing something, because I also heard the sound of an animal dying. CRAZY! At that moment Michelle and Katie came running up from behind me, scaring the crap out of me. I thought I was going to be eaten. And that was just the beginning of our night. After all of that, I decided that it I felt a little (not much) safer inside the tent, so we all hide in our sleeping bags from the noises outside. Shortly after, they continued. The warthogs came, sniffing around our tent, sticking their noses right up against the fabric, and making noises as ugly as their faces. A little while later, an elephant. No joke. Elephants are cool, but not when you think they might stampede through your campsite. Its not over though… a while later in the night came a hippo, plodding up from the lakeside and walked right by our tent. It is good that every wild animal of the forest is God’s I am thankful that all that moves in the field is his…
I have tons of pictures, but don’t feel like spending my whole day fighting with the Internet… I’ll be home in three weeks. You can see them then.
This past weekend we had an Easter celebration with our family. Our sister came over, with our three “nieces,” who are super cute, along with William and Eva joining us from Kampala. After the Easter service Sunday morning we had a giant feast with TONS of food. I played with Patricia, Tracy, and Belinda (our nieces) with a little tub of yellow playdough that I brought with me from home. Patricia, the oldest (about 12), loved running her fingers through my hair, braiding it and styling it until she said I was “fit for the cover of a magazine.” They were so cute. It was weird to be away from family at Easter, but I was still surrounded by my new family here. Even more, it was great to be away from the consumerism of America, where Easter wasn’t just about the Easter bunny. It was great for Easter to be completely about resurrection and new life, and about celebrating the life that we have been given with friends and family.
Happy Easter!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
It's been a while
Hey guys! Dad has gotten on me for being MIA for a while, so I figured it was about time to try and update this thing again. It’s been kind of hard to get on the Internet much lately. Things are generally winding down here—we only have only 2 more weeks of classes, a week of finals, and then we leave for two weeks in Rwanda learning about the East African Revival and the Rwandan genocide. As far as other excuses for not letting you all know what is going on, Internet was down for almost a week, and I’ve had some general computer problems due to the fact that it is nearly impossible to escape Africa without a virus attacking your computer. But anyway… here’s the latest scoop in Mukono:
Two weekends ago was one of the most impacting weekends we have had since we got here. We took a trip to Luweero, a district about 2 hours north of here, to visit some Ugandans who are doing some great ministry, and “Jesus Cares,” a ministry that cares for families affected by HIV/AIDS. It was definitely an incredible weekend.
Early Saturday morning we met Ruth, the daughter of the couple who started the “Jesus Cares” ministry. Together, the couple and their 4 sons and daughters have created a ministry that cares for 6 families who are some of the worst struck with HIV/AIDS. Most of the families are child-headed households, where both parents have been lost to the disease leaving one of their kids, sometimes not even 15 years old, to care for the younger brothers and sisters. In two of the families the mothers are still living, but both women are HIV positive and one is bed ridden. The other mother we had the opportunity to meet. Ruth and her family provide things like milk, eggs, bread, and more to the families, along with counseling for the kids affected and fun VBS-type. This is where we came in…
All day Saturday we got to play with the kids in the 6 families (about 30 kids altogether) and another handful of kids from the neighborhood (probably another 30). While the ministry of “Jesus Cares” was originally intended just for those families affected with HIV/AIDS, they realized that people in the village began looking at the kids who came on Saturdays and seeing them as the “AIDS kids. Sadly, there is a huge stigma associated with being HIV positive. To help solve that problem, the family decided to invite all of the neighborhood kids too.
When we first got there we sang some songs for the kids, and then a few of the girls sang some songs for us too. Just after we divided into four groups (Alpha, Omega, Peace, and Unity) with all of us mixed in. I found myself in the awesome “Unity” group, filled with 25 awesome kids and about 6 of us. Pretty much all day I sat with this beautiful girl on my lap, who loved to pet the hairs on my foreign arms. Sadly, I never actually learned her name… she told me several times, but all I could manage to pronounce and remember was Na________. But while I may have forgotten her name, I will never forget her.
So with our groups, we led some crazy, fun, and goofy competitive games between the four groups. Most of them involved relay-type activities, but my personal favorite was the matooke-peeling race, which I found myself involved in. Haha at least I had some practice at rural homestays! As I kneeled, peeling my 7-ish banana, all of the kids suddenly crowded around me. My hands were shaking, but it was SO funny. They were screaming, cheering, and chanting, and suddenly I realized that some people were saying, “You are Baganda. You are Baganda.” Haha. After being here 3 months and often feeling like I really don’t belong, I don’t think there could have been a more incredible compliment! There were many other awesome competitions involved in the day, and we tried to keep the energy high with our chanting and cheering. It was so much fun. After lunch each of the 4 groups performed a traditional Baganda dance and song that members of our group had taught us earlier. That was definitely interesting. Let me tell you what… Baganda dancing has lots of hip action involved. It was probably one of the funniest things we had seen. When it all was over, Unity came out victorious, and we congratulated our kids before getting back on the bus to drive back to the guest house. The whole day was great, and I pray that we brought encouragement and joy to them, as much as they did to us.
Something I still am inspired by is the fact that this whole ministry is run by one family. When Ruth came to talk to us before we left to go meet the kids, she explained how she works full-time in Kampala and comes home every weekend to work with her family and the “Jesus Cares” families. The other incredible part: the program, including the support of the 6 families is funded by the members of this one family giving their 10% tithe to the ministry. That to me is amazing! Is that not what the church is all about… in Acts it says that there were no needy among them. What if that were true for the church today? If we all took our offerings to the Lord seriously, could it happen?
Saturday night we said good-bye to the USE students who live on campus, and all of us in IMME went back to the guest house to meet Father Gerald. Father Gerry is an incredible man of God who has more compassion than any other person I have ever met. It was so amazing to hear the things that God is doing in Luweero, and Sunday morning we got to attend mass at one of the congregations in his parish. The service was all in Luganda and pretty much impossible to understand, but it was still incredible. You could see the joy in Father Gerald as he ministered to his people.
Its been quite a while now since coming back from Luweero, and a lot has happened here, but I am realizing now how long this has gotten, so that will have to be saved for another day. Things are definitely winding down, and we are getting incredibly sad at the quickly approaching day when we have to say good-bye to our families. This weekend we’re headed to Queen Elizabeth National Park and Game Reserve for a weekend of camping and a safari, the next weekend is Easter, and the following weekend is our last in Mukono before heading to Rwanda. Crazy!
Two weekends ago was one of the most impacting weekends we have had since we got here. We took a trip to Luweero, a district about 2 hours north of here, to visit some Ugandans who are doing some great ministry, and “Jesus Cares,” a ministry that cares for families affected by HIV/AIDS. It was definitely an incredible weekend.
Early Saturday morning we met Ruth, the daughter of the couple who started the “Jesus Cares” ministry. Together, the couple and their 4 sons and daughters have created a ministry that cares for 6 families who are some of the worst struck with HIV/AIDS. Most of the families are child-headed households, where both parents have been lost to the disease leaving one of their kids, sometimes not even 15 years old, to care for the younger brothers and sisters. In two of the families the mothers are still living, but both women are HIV positive and one is bed ridden. The other mother we had the opportunity to meet. Ruth and her family provide things like milk, eggs, bread, and more to the families, along with counseling for the kids affected and fun VBS-type. This is where we came in…
All day Saturday we got to play with the kids in the 6 families (about 30 kids altogether) and another handful of kids from the neighborhood (probably another 30). While the ministry of “Jesus Cares” was originally intended just for those families affected with HIV/AIDS, they realized that people in the village began looking at the kids who came on Saturdays and seeing them as the “AIDS kids. Sadly, there is a huge stigma associated with being HIV positive. To help solve that problem, the family decided to invite all of the neighborhood kids too.
When we first got there we sang some songs for the kids, and then a few of the girls sang some songs for us too. Just after we divided into four groups (Alpha, Omega, Peace, and Unity) with all of us mixed in. I found myself in the awesome “Unity” group, filled with 25 awesome kids and about 6 of us. Pretty much all day I sat with this beautiful girl on my lap, who loved to pet the hairs on my foreign arms. Sadly, I never actually learned her name… she told me several times, but all I could manage to pronounce and remember was Na________. But while I may have forgotten her name, I will never forget her.
So with our groups, we led some crazy, fun, and goofy competitive games between the four groups. Most of them involved relay-type activities, but my personal favorite was the matooke-peeling race, which I found myself involved in. Haha at least I had some practice at rural homestays! As I kneeled, peeling my 7-ish banana, all of the kids suddenly crowded around me. My hands were shaking, but it was SO funny. They were screaming, cheering, and chanting, and suddenly I realized that some people were saying, “You are Baganda. You are Baganda.” Haha. After being here 3 months and often feeling like I really don’t belong, I don’t think there could have been a more incredible compliment! There were many other awesome competitions involved in the day, and we tried to keep the energy high with our chanting and cheering. It was so much fun. After lunch each of the 4 groups performed a traditional Baganda dance and song that members of our group had taught us earlier. That was definitely interesting. Let me tell you what… Baganda dancing has lots of hip action involved. It was probably one of the funniest things we had seen. When it all was over, Unity came out victorious, and we congratulated our kids before getting back on the bus to drive back to the guest house. The whole day was great, and I pray that we brought encouragement and joy to them, as much as they did to us.
Something I still am inspired by is the fact that this whole ministry is run by one family. When Ruth came to talk to us before we left to go meet the kids, she explained how she works full-time in Kampala and comes home every weekend to work with her family and the “Jesus Cares” families. The other incredible part: the program, including the support of the 6 families is funded by the members of this one family giving their 10% tithe to the ministry. That to me is amazing! Is that not what the church is all about… in Acts it says that there were no needy among them. What if that were true for the church today? If we all took our offerings to the Lord seriously, could it happen?
Saturday night we said good-bye to the USE students who live on campus, and all of us in IMME went back to the guest house to meet Father Gerald. Father Gerry is an incredible man of God who has more compassion than any other person I have ever met. It was so amazing to hear the things that God is doing in Luweero, and Sunday morning we got to attend mass at one of the congregations in his parish. The service was all in Luganda and pretty much impossible to understand, but it was still incredible. You could see the joy in Father Gerald as he ministered to his people.
Its been quite a while now since coming back from Luweero, and a lot has happened here, but I am realizing now how long this has gotten, so that will have to be saved for another day. Things are definitely winding down, and we are getting incredibly sad at the quickly approaching day when we have to say good-bye to our families. This weekend we’re headed to Queen Elizabeth National Park and Game Reserve for a weekend of camping and a safari, the next weekend is Easter, and the following weekend is our last in Mukono before heading to Rwanda. Crazy!
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