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.   

Noah's Ark

 Some information I learned about my internship site after an interview with my supervisor:

The more I learn about Noah’s Ark, the more I appreciate the organization.  All I could think about as I sat listening to Irene, the volunteer coordinator, tell me stories of the children, how the organization started, and how the program runs, was how blessed I am to be a tiny part of it all.  Noah’s Ark has a solid foundation in Christ, a holistic approach to child development, and a passion for loving children who were once unloved. 

            Noah’s Ark started over 10 years ago when a Dutch couple named Peter and Pita Buitendijk felt called to a ministry which focused on abandoned children.  They started with juts 2 children and now today they have over 200.  They accept children when they are 0-2 years old and raise the children until they are 18 and finished with high school.  All the children are either orphans or abandoned with the rate being 63% abandoned or abused, 35% orphaned, and 2% other.  The story of one little boy especially touched my heart.  Jethro is one of the happiest babies I’ve met so far, and I was shocked to find out he was near death when brought to Noah’s Ark.  Jethro had been thrown into a pit latrine after birth and was in there for 3 hours until rescued.  It was a miracle he survived the toxins and lack of air.  Many other kids have similar stories to jethro, like kids being left on the side of the road or in dumpsters or kids being neglected and starved to death by their parents.  Some kids’ parents just can’t take care of them, like if the mother dies or they cannot financially support, and in these cases the parents can take their children back later on.  In fact, Irene says, “that is what we want.  We want the kids to e with their parents if they are able to care for the kids properly.”  If not, the kids are loved and cared for by the many “aunties” or caretakers who love spending time with the children in the home, the place where all the young children reside.
            Noah’s Ark has staff in various departments.  Some workers are in charge of maintenance, some run the farm or garden where they get their own food from, some teach at the school, some live with the older teens as house parents, some work in the offices, and some take care of the children.  Noah’s Ark also gladly accepts volunteers and visitors.  Volunteers stay from 3 months to over a year and work full-time.  Visitors, like me, help out mainly in the home for short periods of time.
            Noah’s Ark has a set purpose and a strong mission.  Their goal is to have a Biblical and holistic approach to child development and care.  They want to raise a child to be well-rounded, healthy, smart, and loved.  They really care for the well-being of the children and want them to grow up to be successful, independent, and able to care for themselves.  My favorite thing Irene said in the interview was that they are simply “helping children who don’t have a home.  They were nobody but now they’re somebody.”  Noah’s Ark takes children who would have died or spent their whole life struggling to survive and gives them new life.  Noah’s Ark tells them that they matter and have an important place in God’s kingdom.  They tell children who feel as though they are unlovable that they are loved.

Banana Pancakes

Last night I mastered the task of making American pancakes in a Ugandan way.  My friend and "brother", David, has made them before, so he helped me make them.  We made chocolate chip pancakes with bananas, honey, and peanut butter on top, and we cooked them on a flat pan over charcoal! It took a long time, as we started at 7 and ended around 9:30, but they tasted delicious! My secret ingredient was a little vanilla in the batter ;) The family loved them and asked me when I could make them again! It was a fun bonding experience, and it felt good to do something for family in return for all the things they've done for me.

Noah's Ark

Today was my second day doing my internship, and I woke up this morning with an unexplainable joy because of it.  Last week was a little rough and very tiring, but this week I couldn’t wait to go back for some reason.  I missed the kids and was emotionally and physically ready to see them again.  This week I worked with the infants and one-year olds.  As I learned all their names and listened to some of their stories, I felt this incredible love for these orphan children.  One story of a little boy named Jethro, one of the happiest one-year olds there, specifically touched our hearts.  Jethro was thrown in a latrine (a pit used as a toilet- we have one at our house J) right after he was born by his 14 year old mother.  The mother had been raped and did not want the baby.  Jethro was found 3 hours after he was thrown in the latrine and was miraculously still alive, although covered in poop and practically suffocated to death from the toxins and lack of air.  Many of the other kids have similar stories of being left on the roadside or starved to death by their parents who neglected them.  All of the children are either neglected children or orphans, and they all need to be shown love.  After week 2 I have already fallen in love with these kids, and some of them have fallen in love with me.  A few of them have attached themselves to me and follow me around, and one little girl accidentally called me mommy today (which I’m not sure is a good thing, but I loved it J). I miss them already, and I cannot wait until next week when I go back and get to spend more time getting to know these wonderful kids! 

On our way to Jinja!

I was in this boat at one time, I swear. If you really want to locate me in this picture, I'm one of the yellow helmets on the bottom...

Our rafting team and our fearless guide, Sadu!

Team Hippo!

This is me before the bungee jump

This is me after!

My Bungee Jump!

Perhaps the Most Adventurous Weekend of My Life. Perhaps.

 The NILE River!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Preparing the Rafts

 Our USP rafting group!

 Halfway Point. We stopped for lunch and then headed back out for our second half of the day.

 White Water Rafting the Nile = success

 That's me! Getting ready to make the big jump! 3-2-1 Bungee!

This is me super excited for my first day of my internship!!!

Part of the reason I came to Uganda was to intern at an orphanage, and I am finding this dream become a reality as today I experienced my first work day at Noah's Ark orphanage and boarding school!  I went for 4 hours, and let's just say I haven't felt this exhausted in a very long time.  We arrived at the home for infants and toddlers and spent the next 4 hours getting cryed on, snotted on, spit on, and even pooped on.  Yes, pooped on.  The main portion of my time was spent dividing my attention between the 50 one and two year olds who all wanted to be around the new white people who came to play.  At one point in my time there I found myself holding hands with 9 children at once.  I didn't know that was possible before, but today I found myself walking around the fenced in area outdoors with only one finger free and nine children in tow.  It was a very new, intense experience which was wonderful, shocking, tiring, and eye-opening all at the same time.  I am excited and ready to take on the next few weeks, and I am greatly looking forward to learning much more about the lives of these children :)   

Dropping Lillian off at boarding school :(

                                      Saying goodbye to Mark as he left for boarding school :(

 My family's house! Kidding...this is most definately the king's palace. Well one of them...

 Me and Katie on our field trip!

 Buganda Parliament

 Kampala!

 Heading into the old torture chambers

 This little guy was spending the night in my room :) I have lots of them that come visit me...



I'm not any different than I was back home.  GOD isn't any different here then he is in America.  Ugandan Christians still go through the same struggles as American Christians.  Africa is just a place.  Kate Namtebi (my African name) isn't any different than Kate Shetler.  This is what I have to keep telling myself as I learn to live my daily, typical life in Africa just like I live back home in Michigan.  There are going to be good days, bad days, days when I am excited, days when I am tired, and days when I stand in awe at the amazing God I worship.  Strangely, these past few days have been a combination of all of these things.  It started with me having to say goodbye to siblings.  Then, I found myself taking on more chores around the house, which was both tiring but good as I finally feel like I'm squeezing my way in as a normal member of the family.  Next, I met a family friend named David, who is one of the most Godly men I've ever met, and when he prayed for the family I felt more blessed than I have in my entire life.  Finally, I found myself in the doctor's office waiting my turn to get rabies vaccinations, which started as a burden but ended with a blessing from God.  I got bit for the second time since I've been here (this time by our wild cat), and the shots in the U.S. cost around 200 dollars each in a series of 4 vaccinations.  Praise God for African prices, however, as I managed to get 8 shots for only 65 dollars (2 of which I got yesterday), and I get my rides to Kampala paid for! Now I only have to go three more times to get the remaining 6 shots, and I'm safe from rabies for the rest of my stay! It definately wasn't the worst thing that could have happened, and I am remaining joyful through it all :)

 We had a breakfast for the students living in homestays, and the food was delicious and the fellowship was wonderful!  We had chapati with guacamole, beans, and eggs, coffeecake, and fruit in yogurt :)

 This is my sister, Lillian! We went on a date to town and went shopping and got ice cream.   Then we went back home and watched an American movie with Justin Timberlake in it :)

I had plenty more pictures to share, but they wouldn't upload, so hopefully I can post them tomorrow!