Nearing the End

It is nearing the end of my time here in Uganda as I have only 2 short weeks left before our group heads to Rwanda for our two week trip and debrief.  So much has happened in the last month, but it has gone by so quickly I haven’t even had time to stop and process what has happened.  At the beginning of the month, our group took a weekend trip to Lira.  We journeyed down on Friday and were treated to some American(ish) food.  Then on Saturday we learned about 3 different organizations working for the greater good of Lira.  First, we met a missionary couple named Bob and Carol.  They ran Otiniwa boarding school/orphanage for over 250 children, some of whom were previous victims forced to be child soldier’s in Kony’s army.  Bob and Carol are from Oregon and have been in Uganda for 13 years.  They run a successful child development program in which they raise their children to have certain life skills like managing money, living in community, cooking for themselves, and different trades.  The organization is completely funded by sponsors except for the revenue the small café they run brings in.  This limited the possibilities for expansion and left 500 to 1,000 kids on a waiting list to enter the school.  Overall, it was really encouraging to see all that Bob and Carol had done in just a few short years, but we fear for the future of the organization, because it is set up to fall apart after Bob and Carol leave, and the couple is in their 70s.  It was a really nice visit, though, and made us all really miss our grandparents back home J On the opposite end, later on in the day we met a young missionary couple who ran a completely self-sustaining café in which they make their own living and provide jobs for many Ugandans.  Their aim is to offer jobs and an attraction to the community.  This organization was also heavily reliant on the Americans though, and after visiting both organizations we were scared for the Ugandan workers, children, and communities when both couples decide to leave.  The third organization we visited was a home for abused women called Helen’s House, and this organization was led by a Ugandan.  It was neat to see her go against society and make a home for women, even though she was heavily persecuted for it.  Her work, while it may not have been as organized as the American organizations, is set up for the long haul and her organization could run even if she were not there.  Looking at all three organizations made me realize that Americans may have the resources to set up really successful organizations quickly, but unless they get acquainted with the communities they are in and train people from within the communities, they will do no long-term good. 

The weekend after our trip to Lira, I got to visit a Compassion International Child Development Center and got to visit my brothers at boarding school!  First, I woke up early to go with Katie and Kristian to the Compassion center for a few hours.  It was really fun to interact with the kids, learn more about Compassion from a very helpful lady named Monica, and sing with and learn with the kids in their classes.  I even got to teach the 6-8 year olds a Bible verse! Learning more about Compassion was really cool, because I discovered that it is not all about the money donated to the kids from their sponsors.  The money gives them a better education, but sponsorship more importantly gives them love and community.  The kids are required to go to a child development center every Saturday where they are trained in life skills, spirituality, and educational knowledge.  They are raised to become a new generation who can provide for themselves and give their own children a better future someday. 

               When I came home, I helped my Mama and sister clean and pack lunches to take to my brothers at boarding school. Then, we loaded up the car and went to see first my 10 year old brother, Mark, and then my 18 year old brother Joshua.  It was really great to see them and see the schools they attend. It was also a really fun day with Mama J

Other than those couple weekends, life has been full of visiting with friends and family and schoolwork here.  I’ve had some fun adventures to Kampala or places here in Mukono with friends, and I’ve truly had a blessed time at home with my Mama and sister.  It has become a girls’ house after my 4 siblings left for boarding school, and I love it! I have gotten really close to my Mama and 28 year old sister, Jennifer, and I have truly become part of the family.  Each night holds something special, even if it is just watching a soap opera with them and laughing at the crazy characters (I would just like to note that the soap operas we watch are Spanish soap operas, dubbed over in English, dubbed over in Luganda…CRAZY).  The other night we even had a girls’ night where we painted each other’s nails and ate Ugandan pancakes.  I am absolutely loving my time at home, and it has turned into the most refreshing part of my day.  This brings me up to yesterday (I am trying my best to sum up the last month in a brief post…) where I made chapatti (Ugandan flat bread) with my friend Amanda and my sister. Amanda and I made the lunch all by ourselves, with the supervision of Jennifer, and it turned out really well!  Then, we spent the afternoon weaving mats and talking.  I am turning into a true, Ugandan woman <3

 

Beauty out of Ashes

This was written on the weekend after our rural homestays, when we got to experience the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen. We went on a 5 hour hike to 3 waterfalls, and I had one of the best days of my life marveling at God’s beauty.  To make things even better, the next morning we had a church service on top of a mountain and listened to a few testimonies from our group.

“In reflecting on the halfway point of my journey here this weekend, I realized just how much I’ve already grown and experienced, how much God has been opening my heart, and how excited I am to live these next 2 months here.  My reflection started when I experienced the most beautiful scenery of my life on a hike to three waterfalls.  I was in awe of how cool It was to stand under a waterfall or at the top of a mountain.  God seriously knows beauty.  Then, this morning I truly felt him through his creation in the mountains.  As I sat doing devotions and then listening to people’s testimonies at our church service, I just felt this renewed sense of passionate love for God.  More love than I could have felt on my own.  God is truly expanding my mind and opening up my heart.  It’s not because I’m in Africa either. I didn’t need to come to Africa for God to renew my love for him, but it definitely has helped the process by witnessing more beautiful natural creation than I ever have in my life, meeting people who love and encourage and teach me, and being pushed out of my comfort zone to where God was the only one who could comfort me, and comfort me he did.  I cannot even express the joy I feel right now that I am finally on the path to redemption and the greatest love I could ever have or ask for.  My prayer for the rest of Uganda is that God will continue to amaze me, bend me, comfort me, and make me stand in awe of his beauty and power.  I pray that he continues to lead me and work in me until I am more in love with him than anything I’ve ever loved.”

My heart hasn’t just expanded for God however, it’s expanded to have more love for people as well.  After the church service on the mountain and hearing people’s testimonies I wrote:

“Isaiah 61:3- God makes beautiful things out of ashes”
“Listening to people’s testimonies this morning has made me aware of how much hurt every person has in his or her life.  But in these testimonies, after the hurt always comes God’s healing.  It makes me wonder, what is it like for people who have no healing at the end of their stories?  The people who have no hope and nothing or no one to look forward to.  God’s redemption has been amazing in so many people’s lives, but there are so many people still surrounded with hurt and darkness with no redemption in site.  I’ve felt a renewed sense of passion and a broken heart for people, no matter what country they are from.  I want to see God turn ashes to beauty in people’s lives, and I want to be a part of it.”

In all that I have been learning about love this semester, my theme song through it all has been “Beautiful Things” by Gungor, and I would love to share the lyrics with you all.

All this pain.

I wonder if I’ll ever find my way.

I wonder if my life could really change, at all.

All this earth.

Could all that is lost ever be found?

Could a garden come up from this ground, at all?

You make beautiful things.

You make beautiful things out of the dust.

You make beautiful things.

You make beautiful things out of us.

All around, hope is springing up from this old ground.

Out of chaos life is being found, in me.

YOU MAKE ME NEW.

YOU ARE MAKING ME NEW.

Finally, I would love to share some of the beauty I experienced with you, although it cannot be accurately expressed in photographs :)

Uganda- The Halfway Point

Hello Friends and Family! I apologize for not having written in a while, but life here has been crazy busy. My time here is flying by, and before I know it, I will be sitting on an airplane heading back home to the states. My schedule for the rest of my time in Uganda is packed. This coming weekend, we are going on a trip to Lira (Northern Uganda) to learn more about Africa’s longest running war. Then, two weeks after that I go on Safari! The weekend after that, we trip to Luwero. Then, we have one weekend off and then we leave for Rwanda for a week and a half before departing for the U.S. My time here is packed with all the things I still want to do before I leave!

The past few weeks after returning from our rural homestays have been busy but wonderful J Two weeks ago, I went with Kristian and Katie (two spring arbor girls) to visit our friend Leanne (also a spring arbor girl) who is doing her student teaching in Kampala. We spent the day at the local craft markets and having lunch at a Ugandan restaurant.  Then, I came back and hung out with my friend Priscilla, who has quickly become my closest Ugandan friend here J Next week she is even taking me to her house to meet her family and her sister who is home from Paris (yes she lives in Paris!) for a couple weeks. After the weekend, I had a week packed full of fun and schoolwork. Some of the best things that happened were my Mama taught me how to weave mats out of palm leaves and it has become my new favorite hobby, we had a bonfire and spent one night on campus, and we had an ice cream party at our staff member’s house. They were all small blessings that made my week really great!  Another interesting event took place this week on Thursday, when I spent the whole day at my internship site. A 17 year old girl came in with her 1 year old baby, wanting counseling and a place to drop her baby off, as she couldn’t care for the child.  The girl had been raped and then rejected by her Muslim parents.  Thursday was a holiday here in Africa, so no workers were around, and I ended up going to Papa Peter himself, the founder of Noah’s Ark, and asking him to help.  It was a crazy way to meet Peter, but it was cool nonetheless and it was even cooler to have the opportunity to pray with the woman and her baby and to help her find the counseling she needed.

            In wrapping up my summary of the past 2 weeks, last night we had the privilege of attending a traditional African dance show.  It was so cool to see the dances of many of the tribes we are familiar with, and it was fun to feel like a tourist for a night! 

Making Atapa ( a type of posho made from millet)

 My cousin Jennifer and her fiance Jonathan

 I made palm leaf jewelry for the girls :) When you don't have much to work with, you learn to get creative!

 Gathering firewood and carrying it on our heads

 Aunt Petwa and Aunt Lucy

 Tata and Papa Elessu

 My grandchildren :) From left to right: Eseza, Oscar, Osena, Daphne, Naomi, Ivan, and Ernest (I don't know the little naked baby's name)

For more pictures, check out my facebook profile. There were too many to upload on the blog!

Rural Homestay

I can’t even wrap my mind around all that has happened in the past week and a half.  When we first left for our rural homestays two Fridays ago (Feb. 17) I was excited to experience true African rural life.  When I got settled in though, I was once again shocked and humbled to find that rural Africa was nothing like I expected.  Even Soroti was becoming an industrialized region with all the modern conveniences any other city or town here in Africa has.  There were hotels, gas stations, hospitals, schools, and more.  Anything my family was living without I realized was by choice and not due to lack of access or funds.  The idea many Americans have of typical hut life, poverty, and lack of material possessions is definitely not real Uganda.  I spent my week in Soroti trying to adapt to the one real difference between rural African and American life:  living to live and that alone.  Rural Africans spend their days working to survive.  The men make the income and the women cook, cook, and cook some more.  The majority of my time in Soroti was spent with my aunt Petwa doing her daily routine of gathering food and then cooking it.  Literally all her time was spent preparing meals.  In America we want to do things quickly so we can fit more in our days, but African women take their time cooking because they truly have nothing else to do besides housework.  I can’t imagine living my life just to eat and stay alive, but that’s what these women do.  On my rural homestay, I got the amazing opportunity to become one of these women for a week.  I spent my hours at the Elessu home learning how to cook or restlessly awaiting the next meal so there was something to do.  I lived with the oldest couple out of all the host families.  My Tata and Papa were 85 and 78, and their entire day consisted of sitting and staring at the trees from their seats on the porch and waiting for Petwa to bring the next meal.  God truly taught me to be present and content with where I’m at during the times I would sit with them, even if that required being content with doing absolutely nothing.  God did teach me another important lesson through those times with my grandparents, however, as I had the opportunity to talk with them about their lives and all the amazing things they have done.  My Papa and Tata had lived in Soroti all their lives (except for the 2 years they spent in Britain), but they had accomplished so much.  They had written numerous books and novels, met Queen Elizabeth, become good friends with 3 African bishops, personally know the Pope of Kenya and his wife, and have had visitors from all over the world come to see them personally.  They have done so much and left an impact on so many people just by being present in the Iteso community.  I learned from them that I can make a difference no matter where I’m at, even if I live in one community for the rest of my life.  All I need to do is love the people around me just like my Papa and Tata did.

All in all it was a great week.  I learned to enjoy my time with papa and Tata on the porch, and I also learned how to cook many African dishes and perform numerous chores like hoeing potatoes, carrying firewood and jerry cans of water on my head, doing farm chores, and making jewelry out of palm leaves for the neighborhood kids because you work with what you’ve got J I got to spend a weekend with the relatives and fall in love with my Tata and Papa, Petwa, my Aunt Lucy, cousin Jesica, and all the grandchildren.  I will miss them greatly and I will never forget all they taught me about life, faith, family, and hospitality during my stay there. 

Here is a class assigment I thought some of you might find interesting :)

I’ve spent my time since arriving in Africa adjusting from being an independent college student to fitting in with the daily routines of a family again.  One aspect of African family life I’ve noticed is that each member of the family does chores and other daily routines for the entire family, not themselves.  In fact, almost everything they do at home is for the family, and they rarely do things independently for themselves.  This is completely opposite of the typical American routine, where one spends the majority of one’s day doing things on his or her own agenda.  In America we are taught to look out for our own needs, whereas Africans are taught to look out for the needs of their families.  Americans learn to be noncommunal from their families and their education.  In his article The Teaching Behind the Teaching, Parker Palmer talks about how the classroom setting not only trains students to be noncommunal, but anticommunal.  We are taught to look out for ourselves in education and life settings, as “only the fittest and smartest survive”.  While this is the motto in America, the motto which best fits Ugandan values is “it takes the whole family for the family to survive” or “it takes every family for a village to survive”. 

            While African life is community based, African Christianity has revealed itself in the communal form as well.  In my experience here so far I’ve noticed that in many households, there is one member of the family who is the religious leader, normally the Mama or Tata. Their faith impacts the household’s faith and the rituals which take place in the home.  I have especially noticed this with my own Mama.  Mama is the religious leader in the family.   She believes in praying before meals and before bedtime or “rest” as a family.  She is in charge of determining who will pray and when we pray.  I’ve also noticed that nobody in my family outwardly pronounces an independent, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  They are a Christian family, so they place their trust in God as a whole unit, but each person does not visibly have his or her own individual faith or spiritual disciplines.  For this reason, it has been slightly difficult to connect with my family spiritually, because I am used to basing my Christian faith off of my personal, one-on-one relationship with Jesus.  John Taylor speaks on this issue when he writes “until we have felt our individuality vanishing and our pulses beating to communal rythms and communal fears, how can we guess what the Lord looks like who is the savior of the African world?” (16). African faith looks differently than American faith.  Until I learn to look at God through the eyes of my Ugandan family rather than simply my own eyes, I will never understand their faith in the Lord.  However, if I can train myself to be a communally-driven person, only then will I understand the true value of family and communal faith.