Wildlife, cities, and Children

Another one of my beautiful views....

The kids, getting ready for school, drinking their daily breakfast--porridge.

Mary, Carrol, and Joshua standing outside the kitchen.

Olga, Christine, and Yesma (Ishmeal). The little ones! They are SOOO precious.

This is Carrol. She is beautiful, isn't she? She is SO sweet and SO smart. I communicate with her a lot because she is one of the best with English. Refer to the "Children!" blog post to know more about her.

This is Kamapala. African city life.

This is Gaba road, taken from the car. This is what most of the streets look like.

Thi is the boat I ride every day. That's Francis on the boat. This is Bethany Village, in the background, taken from the dock. Simply beautiful.

This is my little friend. She is always in the house, under the table, on the couch, just peckin around.

These big friends are everywhere. All over the place. Walking on the road with me. Good times.

Here's my little friend doing what she does best. Scrounging for food in dirty dishes.

Bugs for Dinner Anyone?

Yep, it’s true, they eat bugs. I’ve been waiting for this.

One day Irene pulls out a little cup and says, "Auntie Juliette—Ants! We eat them!"

Already freaked out, I look in the cup and did not see ants but some much bigger bug with wings—many of them—still moving. Piled in this cup which is kept in the cupboard.
Turns out they call them "ants" because they come from the massive, human-size ant hills that are everywhere around here. But they are not what, at least I, have ever thought of as ants. They look more like moths. Insects with wings. I have not studied them hard enough to really identify them. Anyways, they fry them and eat them. And the kids are just SO proud of it. I tried not to shutter too much as they continually showed me the cup.

Well then later that night, they come in the house with not just a cup of these things, but a huge pot full of them and Sharif begins smashing them and mixing them. They were so excited about eating this! Luckily, I went to bed before they actually ate it.

But THEN, the next morning I was sitting at the table talking to Mama Jane. Lo and behold, what is she eating but a cup of those bugs!

Just chawmpin away at them.

And talking to me at the same time. It was so hard to look at her while she was talking. She then tells me that some of the kids were complaining that they had stomach aches today because of eating the bugs! But she did not, so she was eatin away!

They’ve eatin them a few more times since then and I simply try to divert my eyes. . . .Luckily they have not offered them to me. . . .

Chapati

On a more appetizing note—Chapati! My favorite food here thus far! (yep, Alyse, you were right—delicious!) Well actually there are also these little treats which they call "daddies" that are my favorite too, but I’ve only had them twice. Its little fried balls of flour and sugar. Mmmmm.
Anyways, chapati is very similar to a tortilla.

The REALLY good ones are thicker and bigger than a tortilla. I’m not sure everything that is in there but for sure onions. . .i think garlic. . . flour. . . oil.. . .mmmm, so simple, yet so good!

part of the family

I think I’ve already talked about it but we do devotionals every night where we sing, dance, pray, and read the Bible. During prayer time we have set time where we pray these general topics:
Praising God
Pray for the children and House sponsors
Pray for their futures
Pray for their specific prayer requests that each one has for the house as a whole
Spiritual Warfare
And a couple more I forget

Well after about a week, Mama Jane asked if I would pray for specific things for the house as a whole. She asked the children what things I could pray for daily. (One prays for the visions for their future, one for wisdom for them all, one for chickens, one for water, one for those that have trouble wetting the bed, one for bad behavior, etc) My daily prayers now consist of praying for

--a water tank so they can collect rain water and always have water. As of now they only get water on certain days and just hope it lasts..or they borrow some from next door. Im really not exactly sure how the water works here but its complicated and this water tank would make it MUCH easier for them
--something for the kitchen that im not exactly sure about but God understands! Something about having a real stove and a chimney. Right now it gets SO smoky in there and it is literally like a furnace.
--ceilings. As I think I have mentioned, there is just a tin roof, no ceilings. So you can hear everything no matter what room you are in. And apparently Mama says you can smell the urine very strongly when one of the kids wets the bed….havent experienced that yet
--for their futures. I pray for their aspirations like becoming a pilot and doctor, etc.

(please feel free in joining with me in praying for these things for them!)

THEN last Thursday (the day we fast and pray), Mama asked me if I would “bring the Word of the Lord.” Haha So of course I brought Jeremiah 29:11 and talked about how God has a beautiful future for all of them and how he loves them SO much. =)

Every now and then she asks me to pray during devotionals and they pray for me when I travel or anything.

Oh and I am in charge of reminding one of them to take their ARV medicine twice a day! This is for AIDS so it’s very important! Got my alarm set for 7:00 and 7:00!

I love every little effort they make to include me!

Also, by the second week, Mama Jane had figured out how to cook for me—lots of flavor! She started to make me lots of irish potatoes, used more spices and veggies in the things she cooked, made rice and gravy (Ugandan style)—mmmmm its been much better! I think she was hurt/sad that I wasn’t finishing all of my food (though I really was eating more than a normal American size meal) so she was doing all she could to get me to eat more . . .well I think she found the way. I had made a couple of pasta meals with spices, onions, and zucchini for myself and one day, I gave her some. I think after that she realized what I enjoy. She also brought home a bunch of “sweet” bananas, which are our normal bananas cause I had mentioned that I loved them. So I’ve been getting some good fruit too!

Few more pics UPDATED

this is Irene.
we have a special relationship. expect more on her soon...

one of my fabulous daily views. pictures do not do it justice.

planting beans!!

A River of Blessing!

I don’t know if you picked up on it, but my first few days here/week were very hard. So many adjustments to the body, mind, emotions, and relationships—it will truly jostle a soul. I was questioning why I was here, I felt useless, I felt in the way, I felt left out, I felt overwhelmed. . .well I knew that it would pass.

I just continued to come back to the Lord for strength after every time I would have a low moments. . . Well one day I read the following and it greatly increased my faith and joy. It was as if God wrote it specifically for me at that time. I thought I would share it in hopes that it will encourage you!

“A river touches places of which its source knows nothing and Jesus says if we have received of his fullness, however small the visible measure of our lives, out of us will flow the rivers that will bless to the uttermost parts of the earth. God rarely allows a soul to see how great a blessing he is.
A river is victoriously persistent, it overcomes all barriers. For a while it goes steadily on its course, then it comes to an obstacle and for a while it is baulked, but it soon makes a pathway round the obstacle. Or a river will drop out of sight for miles, and presently emerge again broader and grander than ever. You can see God using some lives, but into your life an obstacle has come and you do not seem to be of any use. Keep paying attention to the Source, and God will either take you round the obstacle or remove it. The river of the Spirit of God overcomes all obstacles. Never get your eyes on the obstacle or the difficulty. The obstacle is a matter of indifference to the river which will flow steadily through you if you remember to keep right at the Source. Think of the healing and far-flung rivers nursing themselves in our souls! God has been opening up marvelous truths to your minds, and every point he has opened up is an indication of the wider power of the river he will flow through us. If you believe in Jesus, you will find that God has nourished in you mighty torrents of blessing for others.”

Lots of pictures this time!

I've been colonized by the British. . . just like Uganda. . . .this is my ritual 3 times a day.
Morning, noon, and evening. Tea and lots of sugar! Good thing I got off of coffee. . . only to get addicted to tea. . . great!


This picture cracks me up! Look how my little bandana is flying up in the wind. All the pictures i have of myself are takin me the children. . . so ya know, they are just SO good. Ha. I am teaching them how to use all this crazy technology. Anyways, this is Sharif and Joshua. We were just walking around taking pictures one day.

This is me in one of the gardens. I was doing a "report" so i went to each home, took pictures, took notes. Haha Don't I look so Missionary Professional? This picture cracks me up.

This is a picture one of the kids took of the "compound."Our house is on the right. The bathrooms are straight ahead. That dish washing area is right in the middle. This is my home!

This is how my food is cooked....sometimes. Well this is how all of their food is cooked. In a big pot, on fire, in a tiny little wooden shack--filled with smoke!

SO i walk into the office one day and this is what i see!!!!

Where am i !!???

Hah, don't worry, i let him know how badly he was mistaken. . . .now i just have to find him an A&M jacket. This is Uncle Francis by the way.

The children washing clothes. They have to wash their uniforms for school EVERY DAY, almost. Its crazy. They are always washing. By hand. Intense.

Kindergarten teacher!

So maybe I will follow the family trade of teaching one day. . . .

I’m helping out at the “pre-school” which is broken up into the “baby class” (3-5 yr olds) and the “top” class (5-7 yr olds).Top is basically kindergarten—and that’s where I found myself a few days a week helping out!
I honestly don’t know what kids in America are learning in pre-school and kindergarten but these kids definitely know how to read and write pretty well. Most of them are pretty smart kids.

I’ve been pretty impressed by what they’re doing. . . but I do not have much to compare it to either. . .

One thing that is different though is the lack of one-on-one attention that the “slow” kids get. There are definitely a few kids who take foreeeeeeeeeeever to do anything and they rarely do it right. The teacher, Eve, pretty much just says “oh well, they are young, they have time to learn.” It’s just not really a big deal to repeat a grade a couple of times here, it seems. Age doesn’t really matter that much. If they are smart—great, move along! If you’re slow—just keep trying till you get it!
I try to help the slow ones as much as I can but I don’t know how much I’m getting through. . .there’s two of them that seriously look at me and respond as if there is absolutely nothing in their head.

And then there’s the “special needs” kids. . . Eve said there is no one to work with these kids so they just stay in pre-school—pretty much forever. They really would love for someone who could work with these kinds of kids. I’m not exactly sure what “special needs” means. Agnes is in my “top” class and she is at least 10, quite possibly 11 or 12. She has “something wrong in her head.” Seriously the work she does. . . I don’t even know what it is sometimes. And Eve just tells me to check the right ones (sometimes there actually are a few right ones, which she may have simply copied from her neighbor) and write in the right answers for the wrong ones. It’s just so sad to not be able to do anything for her.I do not have much experience with “special needs” children so it is weird for me with Agnes sometimes because she LOOKS completely normal. Like a normal 11 year old in every way. And sometimes she looks at me and I swear I feel like it’s all a joke. For instances, I will mark her work and say, “good job!” and she’ll just look at me—and I sometimes think her face is saying, “oh come on, you know that is crap! Gotcha! Got you all!” I know that might sound awful for me to say that, but it’s just so weird to have these seemingly normal 11 year old in a kindergarten class who can’t even do what the kindergarteners are doing!

It is crazy to me how little adult supervision there is around these kids ALL the time. Even at school during break, they all hang out and play outside the building and there’s no teacher most of the time.
I am trying to figure out if these kids are just really good and don’t need watch dogs OR are they doing bad things but it just doesn’t matter that much here. It is hard for me to figure it out since I don’t know the language.

Are they being mean to each other but I can’t hear it?
Or have they just learned the hard way what they can and cannot do?
Or have they just been disciplined really well? (Like I’ve already said, these kids are SO disciplined!)I just couldn’t imagine seeing a school playground in America filled with 177 kids and no teachers standing at every corner. . . .

Don’t get me wrong, I do hear the kids doing “wrong” things around the house lots of times. I’m not exactly sure what it is most of the time, but I can tell that someone is being mean to someone else or just doing something wrong.

This thought just occurred me to. Perhaps the reason they are so well behaved is because they still receive spankings as a form of discipline? Well I do not know what actually happens at the school. I haven’t seen any discipline like that. But the Bethany Village kids receive spankings if they have repeatedly been disobedient and have already received discipline in other ways.

But I would venture to say that in general, Africans use spankings as a form of discipline more than Americans. And perhaps, just perhaps, that is why they are “better behaved???”

Who knows. . .I am trying to work my way into the role of authority slooowly.
I HAD to learn these Luganda phrases the first day at the pre-school and I am implanting it into my day to day language around ALL the kids!
There were caught off guard when I started saying these things in their language!

Toekooba! = don’t hit!

Seedeeka! = be quiet!

Toecheecola! =stop doing that!

(this is not how you actually spell these words. I just wrote them how they sounded so that I had better odds of saying it right.)

And it turns out that just a stern look can do the trick much of the time—and you don’t need any language for that! I love the power of my eyes in a classroom! Haha

And it is fun to be in there with Christine (the 5 yr old from my house.) Mama Jane said she had heard that Christine “played a lot” when she should be working in class, but I have not seen that yet! She is the first one to finish every time! I think she is so excited to have me in there—she is on her best behavior most of the time. It’s so cute!

One more funny note from the classroom. They had to draw a picture of the sentence, “she carries a basket.” Claire had to act it out for us. So she picks up a basket and walks. The teacher immediately yells, “She CARRIES the basket, Claire!” At which point Claire immediately puts the basket on her head and walks. Duh, Claire, you don’t carry things in your hands! So all of the pictures they drew were of a woman carrying a basket on her head. Made me laugh.

Olga and Trials

Olga

I don’t know if I have talked about her yet or not, but Olga is the 2 year old who lives next door. Her mom is the house mom. But she is over here a lot because she loves our house. The first few days she was very frightened of me, which is typical of the little ones, as I’ve mentioned. She just looked at me from afar, but if I got close, she would cry. Well after a few days she started to actually touch me and I could make her laugh, but I couldn’t hold her. What a blessing—after a week and half she loves me!! Oh, and did I mention she is one of the cutest two year olds in the world. She’s fat, loves to dance, has long braids, and is simply precious. She likes to sit with me and dance with me and it is just so wonderful!



Trials


So the first few days after I had gotten here, I was looking through my journal and I found it funny that on the plane ride up here, I stumbled upon this verse and wrote this. . .

“This is such a mystery to me: ‘Consider it pure joy my brothers whenever you face trails of many kinds because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be MATURE AND COMPLETE, not lacking in anything!’ James 1:2

Man if that is not encouragement I don’t know what is.
Oh how I want people to know this. Complete! Lacking in nothing! That’s what he wants for us. But it comes from trials of many kinds! Oh how easily we forget this.”

And then I got here and faced trials of many kinds. . .oh how easily I forget!

I was reminded of what I had written after a couple of days of being here and I laughed out loud.

But it WAS encouragement to me! I am facing these trials for a purpose--so that I may be made complete! Mature! Lacking in nothing! I do not necessarily know what’s the exact thing I’m lacking and I do not like the trials in the moment (at all), but I look forward to what it means the Lord is doing in me. Even though I have no idea what the purpose is of these trials are and how it will make me complete, I trust that there is something good coming from it! I get glimpses of these things every now and then, so that is helpful, but one day I will see it all!


Culture

It is so funny to see things like “Prayers First,” “Praise Yesu,” “God is good,” on ALL of the taxi’s, supermarkets, well pretty much all sorts of random places.

Pictures are hard to post. . .

Anita washing dishes. This is where and how all dishes are washed. Very interesting!

me, auntie millie, and sahi on the boat to Ggaba....i really have very few pictures of me but i realize that most of the time we like to see pictures of people we know and not of random things. . .so i am \TRYING to get pics of me but its just weird and hard. . .here's one for now!

Some Observations on Children

Oh how beautiful each one of them is inside and out! Now I know most of you are thinking, “Duh, of course she is going to say that.” Well I can tell you that I really wasn’t expecting to fall in love with every single one of them in my house. And I wasn’t expecting that every single one of them would be so beautiful. . . So I meant what I say!

It is funny, they do not smile a ton. This is true of all of the Ugandans I’ve encountered. (In fact, most all other cultures do not smile as much as Americans, which is why many think we are so fake.) Anyways, as I’ve mentioned before, the children don’t smile at first when they look at me but I simply can not help BUT smile—and then automatically as soon as I smile, a HUGE, beautiful, yet shy smile BURST across their faces. . . and my heart jumps. I just love it. Every time. And they act like they don’t expect me to smile. Maybe they will learn.. .. .

At least one pair of eyes is always, always on me. If I don’t see it (which I usually do), I can feel it. EVERYWHERE I go. I pretty much hate it, but at least I was prepared for it.

I do not know how these children get such little sleep. Even little Olga (she’s 2). . .These kids get up at 5:30 or 6:30, take no naps, don’t eat till 9:30 or 10:30 and THEN go to sleep. There is always at least one falling asleep during Bible time. It is crazy to me. It kills me to see the 4 and 5 year old falling asleep at the table, being forced to wake up. And my hypothesis of why they all walk around while praying is as a measure to stay awake! Haha

These children do have to endure some hard things, but one thing is for sure: they are being taught to be disciplined, respectful, humble children who know what is most important in life: seeking Jesus with our brothers and sisters. And they are learning this at a very early age. And THAT is a beautiful thing!

On Thursdays, the Alma house (my house) prays and fasts to “seek His face.” Mama said this was the kids idea, not hers, and that made her so proud. (the 2 little ones don’t fast) At breakfast and lunch they pray instead of eating and at 4:00 they break the fast. She said a couple weeks before I came, they all prayed for specific things they needed and the next week everything came!
Ask and you will receive!

For Jesus does say, “Which one of you, if his son asks him for a bread will give him a stone?? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask!!!”

These children’s passion to learn is another incredible thing I am witnessing. They have been on break from school for about 6 weeks and they are so ready to go back. I asked them if they prefer holiday or school better, expecting to get the typical American child response of “HOLIDAY!” But instead they all said they prefer school. When I asked them why, they said because during holiday they are bored and during holiday they forget all the things they learned and they want to remember and learn all the time!
They have “holiday work packets” they work on every night—and they love doing it! Unlike many of us who definitely did not enjoy doing homework. . . .

pictures!! just a few!

Sharif cutting onions! One of my favorites! (its a boy)

Mama Jane!

My Room! oh and on my facebook i managed to get a picture of Irene on there....it wasnt the one i wanted but it was the quickest. There is a post coming about Irene and all the children in a day or two!

A hope and a good future!

Day to Day life:
I spent the first week helping Uncle Francis in the office—filing, typing, etc. I am glad to help him as he is SUCH a busy man. The Lord is using this man in incredible ways and I blessed to get to witness it.
Some mornings I get up when the children start singing for devotionals.
Some I sleep in a bit.
Went to Kampala one day. Relaxed one day. Worked in the garden one day. Went to Gaba one day to see Africa Renewal Ministries big compound of school, church, offices, and Baby Home.

The kids were on “holiday” until the 14th so everything was a little up in the air my first week or so. Never knew when I was eating, never knew what everyone was doing.
It has been good for me to learn to just go with it!

As much as I am able, I try to make time to just play with the kids, learn some Luganda, journal, sit in awe of our incredible Father, and praise Him—every day.

Gained a little more a purpose the second week: report, preschool, office, need lots of help at the baby home, feeling less like a burden and more like a blessing at the house and around the village.


Good plans
Written on the wall of our home are the words:

‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord,
‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give
you a hope and a future.’
Jeremiah 29:11

I have heard this verse many times before, but why the heck haven’t I written it on the walls of my home/my heart yet?! I think it is becoming the words for my life!

If you have not read this or thought about it before, I encourage you to do so now.
If you have ever doubted if the Lord really is good, if he really wants the best for you, if he really loves you, if your life could get any worse—if you just want to give up sometimes and quit this life (all of which I have experienced)—TAKE COMFORT!

I do not type these words and this verse flippantly or to sound cliché—the Lord has dug this words into my soul. The Lord has made these words so true to me, that even when I want to be in complete despair (which has happened many times here), I am brought back to the fact that
Our Loving Father really does have WONDERFUL plans for my life—and yours.
He never, ever wants to harm us. And he never will.
He has a plan to give you a true, real, and deep HOPE for life.

Though it seems like the Lord IS harming us—because why else would he take away our loved ones, make us lose our jobs, give us diseases, allow us to have depression, etc—HE IS NOT! What looks like harm to us is actually the Lord making us better—stronger, more whole, complete, and full! He allows us to share in the suffering of Jesus so that we can be made more LIKE JESUS! And who else would you like to be more like? He allows us to go through seemingly harmful situations so that we are forced to depend on him emotionally, physically, financially, mentally—and dependence on him is the only thing that can bring us A BETTER LIFE AND A HOPEFUL FUTURE!

Forgive me if it seems I am rambling—my Father has simply made suffering a very beautiful thing to me. I do not think I could ask for a better blessing but to be able to rejoice and find strength in suffering. (Not in a sadistic or self-deprecating way.) Simply because I have found the fullness that comes from it!

The Children!

What you've all been waiting for, eh?



(all of the ages are estimates. They do not know when they were born. . . they are orphans. . . And many of them look way older or way younger than the age they say . . .and many of them start late so the grade they are in does not reflect their age. . .i stopped asking how old they were and instead I just ask which class are they in)

Yesama (sp?)—Age 4 (?)
The baby! A tiny little boy with a quite mischievous face and spirit. It goes without saying, he is precious. He is the baby so everyone treats him like the baby. He likes to play chase with me. And tries to dance by doing some Elvis Presley type move with literally cracks me up every time. He is a bit of a trouble maker though. We have been praying for him this week

Christine—Age 5
A tiny little girl that would make anyone’s heart melt. Her English seems to be pretty good for her age though it is still not much. We have a special bond—she is the cute little one. I just want to hold her all the time. She has a fiery spirit—she is ALWAYS laughing at me. She is hilarious.

Mary—grade 2
What a beautiful child. Her eyes sparkle. She could be a princess. Such a gentle spirit she has. So kind. She falls asleep during devotionals a lot and it cracks me up.

Carrol—Age 9?
Oh what a strong, kind, intelligent girl she is. Her English is very good, though it took her a while to let me hear it. At first I thought she was a bit stand-offish and Ms. I Can Do My Own Thing. But I was wrong. She is very capable and smart and she is very helpful to me. I love when she speaks English cause I just love her voice! She leads the singing sometimes too.

Anita—Age 8?
Carrol’s sister—and they look SO much alike. She is also a very sweet girl.

Eva—grade 3
A strong spirit. Maybe a little bit of a tom-boy. A little bit of a stand-offish attitude. But I love her! She is much fun. She is going to be a strong woman.

Irene—Age 12
Oh my Irene-y (they add “ee” to the end of lots of names as a sign of affection.) Irene has had a hard life which kept her from going to school so she is not as “bright” as the others. She is in 2nd grade. She has a strong, fiery spirit. Yet her spirit seems wounded also. When I look into her eyes I simply want to grab her and hold her forever. According to Mamie, she is the most undisciplined. She has an obstinate spirit many times. She makes fun of the other kids many times. So they make fun of her a lot. I love to watch her dance—she has some very “African American” moves and it cracks me up, because she has no idea what that would even mean. She is a “strong pray-er” according to Mamie. She loves to sing. When I show her physical affection, she latches on. Her laugh—oh my, her laugh gets me every time. It sounds exactly like one of the Momen girls (Lanita) so it so weird for me!

Sharif—Age 10
Oh my goodness I love this boy!! Let me just say that the first day, I thought for sure he was a girl. It was not until I made the connection that the ONLY way to tell the girls and boys apart is that girls where skirts/dresses and boys where shorts/pants. It’s not that he looks extremely feminine either because you would get them all confused really. He is just SO sweet. I think he has the best English. He is SO smart. His face is beautiful and his smile would melt anyone’s heart. He loves helping me—or anyone. He takes care of the others so well. Mamie says that “it is usually girls who cook, but this one—he is the best one at preparing the food.” And it is true—he is always preparing food or cleaning with such a cheerful spirit. And oh can he dance!! So well! He tried to teach me one day and it was hilarious. He is the main song leader also. What a beautiful voice. And if it sounds like I am describing a “girly” boy. . .well maybe I am, I don’t know how it works in Africa. But he also is always making bow and arrows! He does seem to be with the girls most of the time though. There are 3 older boys—around his age—but he is rarely with them. It is strange.

Joshua—Age
Pronounced “yo-su-a.” A quiet little one. They joke about how he is built—strong body. He does not seem to know much English but he is a sweet boy.

Derek—Age
Another quiet one. A good, strong boy.

Ashraf—Age 12
I haven’t quite figured him out. He seems very bright. He seems to make fun of the others sometimes though—but maybe not. He gets “shamed” easily (embarrassed) and it is kind of funny how he hides his face. He will make a good leader. He looks like a typical soccer player.

Peter—Age 13
What a good boy and leader. Such a sweet spirit. Always taking care of the others. Mamie speaks so highly of him and Ashraf and how they are such a good oldest boys. He is very smart also. I like to watch when he is in charge. He is not arrogant or demanding of attention—he just does his job respectfully.

If it seems like I have any favorites—that may be true but I don’t know. Sure I am a little closer to some than others, but all in good time. The thing is, every time I look at one of them, smile, and then wipe their stoic face off and smile at me—my heart melts. Every single time with every single kid. And I think to myself, “oh how I love this child.” It is so funny how serious they look all of the time. And they look at you with those serious eyes. . . and of course I cannot help but smile every time. . .and it is like they are taking by surprise and burst into a beautiful smile. I wish I could capture this on video.

So those are my wonderful children!
One of them is HIV positive, but I would rather not say who because I don’t want them to be labeled “the one with AIDS.” Sorry, maybe later.

This is Our God

One day I had lunch with Sahi. She is on staff here and is from Ethiopia. It was very encouraging to be with her for several reasons. She speaks the second best English here next to Uncle Francis, she cooked a delicious meal, and she has an extremely encouraging story of what our Miraculous Father has done in her life. Ethiopians cook with lots of seasoning, so as Sahi put it, she brought my tongue back to life after eating all of the rather bland food here. I told her how my family cooks with lots of spices and seasoning so not to be shy with the spice—it really did make me think, “Oh hello taste buds! It’s nice to know you’re still there!”

Also, I know this is a bold statement but it is complete truth—I had THE best cup of coffee I have ever had in my life. It was Ethiopian coffee and she put cinnamon in the grounds—wow. I must figure out how to get more!

Sahi’s story in a nut shell is that she was the first one in her Jewish family to know Jesus at the age of 13. The family wanted to literally kill her for her faith because it was against the law in Ethiopia at the time. She prayed for them for 9 years. One Christmas she came home and the entire family of 10 had come to know Jesus and were repenting for the way they treated her and praising her for her perseverance. The entire village around her family’s home persecuted them—stone their house and such for many years. But currently almost all of the village now follows Jesus! They transformed the entire village! Also, Sahi shared how before she knew Jesus, she was extremely sick all of the time—she couldn’t eat most foods, couldn’t sleep, etc. But once she started following Him, her health was transformed miraculously! What a mighty God! Sahi had many hard years, had to have much patience and endure much pain—but the Father is faithful and powerful!

Another story that brings me to praise. . . . Mama Jane
Mama Jane did not come to know Jesus until her early 30’s. She was a single mother of two and struggling to provide her children and herself. She also suffered severly from Malaria. She said she would take any pills she could find. She would take whatever random people would give her. Sometimes it worked, but it kept coming back. But once she came to know Jesus—the Malaria never came back! It has been 9 years and she has not had one episode! And she has taken no medicine! How incredible is that?

Yes, He heals us.
Yes, He loves us that much.
Yes, He did it in these women’s lives AND He wants to do it our very Western lives.
Yes, He is so mysterious and powerful.

Riots & Washing & Blessings & babies

The Town

I went into Kampala (the capital) with Uncle Willy and Auntie Milly one day to get some more food and such things I needed. I definitely got to experience a little bit of the “unpredictable” nature of Africa. First off, we had to sit and wait for 2 hours to get all the supplies for the clinic.

Well good thing we got out of there when we did, because literally not long after we left downtown, a riot broke out. Apparently somebody had prevented the Buganda King (one of the tribal leaders) from going into a certain region for a tour/visit or something and many people were upset about it and wanted an explanation. So they rioted in the streets. Breaking into places and such. The police actually killed some of them too. Well we were some miles away from this so we were safe—do not worry. But when it was time to go home, there was a HUGE traffic jam because of the riot. What should have taken us 20 minutes, took us 3 and half hours! (luckily I had brought a book & bought a Uganda Newspaper) I was wondering how I was being so patient, because as most of you, I am not usually described as a patient person. But I think it was simply because I did not really have anything else to be doing—and hey, its Africa!


We had to go a different way home, so Uncle Willy just followed the cars in front of him. Traffic ended up going through a “slum.” I must say, I was overwhelmed with the amount of stimuli I was taking it. The “road” we were on, was not really a road but a tiny, extremely bumpy pathway for cars(?) to pass. People were walking all around us. I wished so much I could have videoed this because words simply can not explain it—but it was dark. . .and I don’t think that would have been a good idea anyway. =)


Smashed in wall to wall were little shack-like-things. I would say they were all between 5-8 ft wide and 8-12 ft deep. There were fruit stands, “grocery stores,” barber shops, churches, video stores, internet café’s (with like 6 desktop computers in there which was one of the strangest sight to see out there), homes I think—you name it and there was probably a tiny version of it there. Music blaring. People just sitting everywhere and watching. Children running everywhere. So many different smells. Some had some sort of electricity but most did not. Although I think uncle willy was a little nervous because he had never been there before, I was enjoying the opportunity to observe. I felt safe because I was with 2 Ugandans I know, in a locked car.


But maybe “enjoying” it isn’t the right word. It was definitely interesting. My mind was overflowing with thoughts. I have seen similar things to this before and my life is pretty much all about learning about these kinds of things, but wow—I was left stupefied by the question of, “what am I supposed to be thinking about this right now? What do I do with this?????” I hope to elaborate on this one day. . .


Hand-washing
I got to wash my laundry today! Something which I hope I do not have to do many more times! Three tubs of water, a bar of soap, my crouching body, and my little ‘ol hands. . . If you have never depended on washing clothes by hand before, please take some time, the next time you use your washing machine to praise God for your blessings. =) I do not even know how well I washed some pieces because I just wanted to be done. Again—another reason why they may live a more dirtier life—its too much work!


Blessings

Irene wanted to wash “the muzungu’s” clothes but of course Mama Jane does not let the kids wash any of dishes or clothes because they “won’t do it good enough.” And of course, according to her, I deserve the best. =/ She came in while I was washing and said, “I see you struggling all the time and I pray for Jesus to bless you! You really do have a love for Africa. You could have so many things, like a washing machine, and you came to Africa! You are so good!” And the night before, she said, “we are so thankful for your love. You have done like Jesus says and given up everything to come here with us. . . I can tell You have a special love for us. Thank you so much.”



Well of course I tried to tell her that it is not me, but God who has given me this love and I can’t explain it. And they are the ones that are actually blessing ME so much. And I really am hardly doing anything. And I just want to live life like them because that is the heart God gave me, that is why I’m doing all of this. God told me to come be with them so I really want to BE with them.

She was telling me this as an encouragement, which it was, but it also kind of made me feel bad. Like seriously lady do not sit here and praise me. You are taking care of 12 kids that are not your own. You have so much less than me. You work so much harder than me. You are so very smart (she really is). You have so many burdens. You gave up much to come live here. I am just doing this for a few months, come on.


Baby Home

Spent Sunday night with a young Western couple in a nice apartment. It was very refreshing. Physically and emotionally. They live next door to another young American couple so that was nice too. Made me not feel so alone! They assured me that their first week (well, first month) was absolutely overwhelming also and that it takes like a month or so to figure out what your purpose is around these parts. Awesome. . . haha. Well I may have found it!? I got to go to the baby home where there are only 4 babies for now—until they get their permit. Turns out they need lots of help! And as it turns out, the true desire of my heart is simply to take care of babies/children. . .funny how that works. Also, Amy, the 27 yr old Canadian is the director of this whole thing that just started a month ago and she needs lots of help on all fronts. So we’ll see when I’ll be going there!

Muzungu!

Story Time
One day Francis took me on the four-wheeler to the “landing site,” which is about a 30 minute ride away. The main road through this area is literally a dirt pathway. We went through all of the little villages and it was so interesting. These people truly live out in the bush. It was an absolutely beautiful ride, minus all the bumps in the road.
The highlight for me was the children who literally went crazy when I drove passed them. One group excitedly jumped up and down, waving their arms off, yelling “Muzungu! Muzungu!” (white person) And then when I responded with a smile and a wave, holy cow, you would think I was the President. Another group literally ran down the road after me, yelling the same thing. I had been told this would happen but it is still so funny when it actually does. Of course Uncle Francis was making fun of me and my fame the whole time.
But don’t worry, every celebrity has their haters. For white people in the bush,t he fearful ones are the kids 3 or 4 and under. We stopped to buy fish from one lady and I was sitting on the four-wheeler, safe distance away from a maybe 1- 1 ½ year old child. After about 30 seconds of looking at me, she/he literally started bawling. If I tried to do anything to make it better, oh no it just made it worse. It just kind of makes me laugh more than anything. I mean I hate that I make babies cry, but the idea that a little baby is literally scared to death of me—this little ol white girl who loves babies, just because I got something wrong with my skin —it just cracks me up.


Uganda Culture:
My 2nd day here, Michael taught me about the greeting that I had been receiving all day and had no idea how to respond. Uganda Christians typically will greet someone by saying, “Praise God” and shaking your hand. Well how the heck do you respond to that??? Fortunately Michael told me you just say “Amen.” I’m still getting used to this. . . .I am also trying to greet people with “praise God” but it just feels so weird!! Could you imagine if I did that back in Texas????

Not only do they greet with that phrase, but it is common for them to constantly throw out phrases like “Priase the Lord,” “Hallelujah,” and the like. OF course at church this is 95% of the English I hear, but it is not only at church—its all the time. I am starting to think that if I ever do not know what to say or I want to say something positive to them and I’m tired of saying “that is good” or “that is true”(which I find myself saying all the time), I can just start saying “Praise the Lord,” “hallelujah.”
Haha, it is hard though. I laughed a little inside every time I say these phrases. So please forgive me if I come back to America as one of “those” Christians.

It seems that much of the English they know has to do with God. All the names of the Lord like “provider” “redeemer” “comforter,” etc. And things like “God fulfills his promises.” “God is so good.” “God loves me so much.” Oh and “God is ABLE”—that’s a big one! Things that sound very cliché and simple to us American Christians that have gotten burnt out on such things. But I’m not sure if it means they are “simple” or if it is just the only English they know to talk about God (which is THE #1 thing they want to talk about.) And of course, I believe it is the latter. It just takes a little adjustment for my cynical mind to hear those kinds of things all the time. But I think it will do good things for my heart and mind to hear these words ALL the time. =)


So there is a piece of the culture!

Some Stories

Some stories

Children Observations
I know I can’t understand the language and I haven’t been here very
long but the children really don’t seem to complain very much. Sure
they don’t’ always do their chores cheerfully or do them right, but I
haven’t seen much disrespect or disobedience from the kids. And they
work so hard! Half their day or more is chores, garden, school, and
things like that. It is good—it is just SO different than America! I
mean these kids really know how to work.

The children are not perfect of course. Though they are very different
than American kids and are very hard workers, mama does still have to
get on them for not doing a chore right. They have to repeat the
chores if they don’t do it right. And the other day Mama was talking
sternly to them because they wouldn’t share the food with Bridget!
(mama’s biological daughter who is 15)

I am simply amazed by how they get up every morning to praise the Lord
and pray and then jump into chores! That’s how they wake up! No
sitting around and watching T.V. or video games or lounging. Then they
either go to school or go to the garden or maybe play.

Mama Jane was gone for Bible study Monday night and had to go to town
all day on Tuesday. So the kids just take care of themselves. Peter,
the oldest boy (13), takes charge. It is just so strange for me to see
all these kids doing taking care of themselves. (And it is extremely
hard for me to not take charge. But I do not know anything that is
going on so I can’t discipline them if I wanted to and I don’t even
know if I would know what to discipline them for. And they really have
got it under control so….) Things get a little more crazy when mama is
gone. A little less organized. A little louder. More screaming—though
I’m not sure what they are screaming about. Its real interesting
though.

Story #1
Carol took my plates from me one night (which of course still had
plenty of food in it because I can not eat like them). I was watching
her so thought I can learn what to do with dirty dishes and such (once
they start letting me.) I saw her put one plate down, lean over, and
try to sneakily eat my left overs. Derek was watching her and he
glanced up at me as if he was on the “look out” for her. I tried to
act like I hadn’t seen. I felt bad that I didn’t eat all my food of
course I wanted someone to eat it but I didn’t know how to offer it
up.
Since then, I’ve asked mamma about it and told her I want the kids to
eat my left overs. She said she would give it to the little ones. The
“little ones” are 4-5 yrs old and they already eat a HUGE mountain of
good. I’m talking potatoes, rice, beans, cooked bananas. It is crazy
to me how these little beings can do that. It is also interesting how
Mama jane serves me first, then the 2 little ones and herself. Then we
can start eating while a couple of the older kids serve the other 10
kids….

Challenge
I love sitting in my room and just listening to the noises and voices
all around me. I love hearing Mama Jane pray from 3am-whenever. It is
the one time I am okay with not knowing Luganda. If it was Enlgish I
would be drawn to the words and unable to sleep. But just knowing that
she is praying for all of us in the house and singing praises to our
king is so wonderful. It helps to calm my nightly fears a bit! Bridget
(her biological 15 yr old daughter) also joined her to do this when
she was here. Isn’t that amazing? She says her soul cannot make it
through the day if she does not do this. Isn’t that so beautiful? Oh
how I long for the discipline and extreme love and dependence on my
savior to do things like that!

Story #2
I was playing with the kids in the field the other day and I saw Irine
pick some things up off a mound of dirt/ant hill and put them in her
mouth. It made my stomach queezy. I asked them what it was and Sharif
patted the mound and said, “Irine likes to eat this.” I was so
confused. I think it might have been a fruit of something that I am
unaware of. Or something that was not dirt…but it still made me
stomach feel weird for a while….

Oli otya? Gyendi! (“How are you? Good!” in Luganda)

So I re-read that last update and I’m sorry it was so crazy and
sounded like things were not so good.

Things are great and they get better every day!

All things in good time!

Also, I realize I am writing to many different readers who want to
know many different things. I going to try to put a heading above each
different thought/story so that if you are not interested in that sort
of thing you can skip over it. Like a lot of the details about what
the food is like or my bathroom, a lot of people do not want to know,
but I know my family does. So just skip through it!

Turns out I am using my little stove! Toast, eggs, spaghetti, boiling
my own water. Again, not necessary but I think it took some pressure
off of Mama jane. And it IS nice to not always eat their food.

For all who know about my dilemma with cutting my hair. . . great
decision! In fact I wish I would have cut it shorter! There is just no
need for it. Its just something else I have to worry about
cleaning—and my body is enough. It stays dirty so I just wear it in
bandanas 24/7.

My room:
Francis made more room in it for me. We put up my mosquito net that I
brought from the states and it is much better. I’m still not sure if I
was allergic to that other one or what, but my eyes are good now. I’ve
gotten used to the bugs. They stay away from my bed. As long as the
ghekos are away from me, I’m good. And as for the “mice” I was
hearing….I still don’t know. I mean I am pretty certain that is what
it is. So sleeping is not my favorite time. It would be okay if
it/they were not so LOUD! And of course, if I was certain they would
not come inside…

Bathroom:
The bucket in my room is my favorite. =) Who would have thought I
would ever say that? The outhouse could be worse, but it is probably
my least favorite place to be in this village. I just hate having to
empty the big bucket of water in the toilet and then go fill up the
bucket out of a huge dirty tub. Too much work. And the smell….and the
darkness….Bah, not worth it.

The Devotionals in the Morning and NIght
Around 6 30 an absolutely beautiful noise to the Lord is made! It is
just so natural for them. They simply love to sing and dance. And they
do it so stinkin well. Lots of praises to the Lord in Luganda. With
lots of clapping. And then a few English tunes in there like “I’m
trading my sorrows.” One of the older boys will play “drums” on an
empty bucket, which is just so cool to me. They all walk around the
living room/dining room while they sing, dance, and pray. They are
mostly in their own little worlds with their eyes closed sometimes,
unless they are looking at me of course. =) Then they all start
praying at the same time. It would have been a lot cooler if I could
understand them.

Tonight (Saturday night) they sang all the songs in English…I think
they were trying to include me more. I’m trying to jump into it more
and more, but I’ll need a little more time till I can throw myself in
unashamedly! Then we read a passage in English. Then someone
translates for the little ones. Then Mama jane asks questions. They
just started reading through the whole Bible, so we are in Exodus
right now.

I got up for the first time at 6:30 with them and joined, instead of
just listening from my room. Mama jane was sleeping in a bit too. She
gets up them up if they don’t wake up, but she went back to lay down
it seems. Peter, the oldest boy, led the bible discussion. It is so
interesting and beautiful to see these kids ranging from age 4-13
praising the Lord together, reading the bible together, and then
coming up with questions to ask each other. And there doesn’t seem to
be any rush. Even when it is 8:30 at night and they haven’t eatin
supper. They just take their time and seem to enjoy it.

Food:
First off, they eat late! It is weird to me. They eat breakfast
between 9-10 on holidays/weekends and earlier on school days. Lunch is
around 2-3 and dinner is at like 9:30! Mama jane asked me tonight when
we usually eat dinner and I said around 7. But I didn’t mean I needed
to do that here! Well she got my dinner out before everyone else at
like 8:30 tonight.

Last night something seriously smelt like burning marijuana….for
dinner. The smell of pot usually makes me gag and want to throw up.
Sorry, it just does. So you can imagine what my nose was telling my
stomach when the smell was in fact not coming from a joint but from
the food in front of me. I thought for sure it must be from the
“greens” but no, it seemed to be the beans! I made myself take 2 huge
bites of the greens (because I realized it was only me and mama eating
them so it must be special. Plus I know I need to take advantage of
anything green I can give my body.) Well my mouth simply does not like
the tastes of greens (“Dodo”) and never has. I have a feeling I’ll be
using the whole swallow-food-with-a-gulp-of-water-trick pretty often!
I have also never liked most beans. And we have these often. I just
try to eat as much as I can, mix it with rice, and use water. Turns
out, it looks like I’ll be going back to my picky days where all I
really want to eat is plain rice and extremely plain and bland posho.
Even when the stuff doesn’t taste that bad, there is still the thought
in the back of my mind, “remember an hour ago I saw the rice come out
of a back closet, not bagged, on an open tray where Bridget picked out
some of the “bad” things from it. And the beans—the 2 yr old and 7 yr
old rinsing them in a bucket with their hands then laying them out on
the cement slab.” I know cooking things gets rid of all the germs but
its still something my mind and eyes will just have to get used to.

Today I saw the pigs at the farm and I distinctly thought to myself,
“these are the most disgusting animals I have ever seen. I don’t know
if I ever want to eat pork again.” An hour later for lunch, Mama Jane
came in with a plate for me saying, “have you ever tried pork?”
Mmmmmmmmmm.

Africans can EAT. A lot. When I told Mama Jane I couldn’t eat all
that she had served me, she began telling me how Africans can eat so
much. “They say we can move mountains. You know, we have the faith to
move mountains…we put a mountain of food on our plate and we speak the
word, and its gone!” This made me laugh. It is true! They do make a
mountain of food on their plate. And I’m talking about the tiniest
child. And every child eats it all! And it is hardy food like rice,
beans, posho (flour and water.)

Tonight Mama asked if we eat fish with the bones in them in America. I
said no most of us do not. . .but my grandpa actually does. She said
“maybe he came to Africa and learned.” This made me laugh! Tell Bobba
he’s got something in common with these people.. . .actually Bobba
could live the best out here for sure.

I helped peel the bananas tonight! (it is hard for them to let me
serve so it’s a big deal when I get to do it! Also, these are cooking
bananas. They love these and eat them a lot. They are not like the
bananas we eat.) Sharif (10 yr old boy) made it look SOO easy. I
watched him do many of them. Finally, I asked if I could join. Dude,
who knew peeling the skin off this kind of bananas with a knife could
be so hard! I felt like I was learning to cook with Nanee and Bee but
I just couldn’t do it right! I told Mama that I want to learn how they
cook because my family really likes to cook so I want to be able to
tell them about it.

Tonight (Sunday) Mama told me to make spaghetti in my room. “We are
eating pork again tonight and even though you have only been eating a
very little bit, I think you do not need any more.” Haha! So she
noticed that I’ve only been eating a tiny bit of the pork! That is
good! Noodles and butter were a nice alternative tonight, but plain
noodles just does not taste like it did when I was a kid!

Hygiene
Its just too much work! That is why many Africans don’t do it! Ha…or
maybe that’s just why I don’t want to do much of it….but don’t worry,
all my Worriers, I am staying clean! The hand-sanitizer really is very
helpful cause it is basically all I’ve got most of the time.

It will just take my mind and eyes time to get used to the fact that
they never really wash their hands. They clean, play outside, pick up
dirt, and then eat. With their hands of course. And they are fine.
They do “bath” every night though which is more than the people in
other villages do.

It is interesting too because they mop the house every day. A rag and
soapy water, scrubbin those floors. And they clean the “toilets” every
day. They do a lot of “cleaning,” it is just different than ours.


Weather
Could not BE more perfect! Like seriously, if ever there is a place in
the world that has “perfect” weather, it is Uganda.
Sunday was the first rainy day. I just love watching and listening to
the rain fall on all the banana trees all around the house. So
peaceful.

The noises
There are only 2 noises that I could do without and one of those I
absolutely hate. The repetitive, like an alarm clock, bugs at night.
And the awful “mouse” noise. It is RIGHT above me every night and so
loud and it just sends chills through my body. I do hope I can get
used to it. But I am also praying it will just leave. =) So you can
pray for sleeeeeep.

But there are so many wonderful noises!! I simply love sitting in my
room and listening to the kids talk and play right out my window. I
love their voices. I love their laughter. I love the wind blowing the
banana leaves. I love the rain. I love the birds! I love the singing.
I love the make-shift drums. When walking around the village it is
common to hear at least one of the houses all singing praise songs
together. Someone will be on the drums and others will be singing. How
wonderful!

The kids
I will write a post about each one of them or something. Give them 2
days and they warm right up to you! They took me around and taught me
many games and much Luganda in the afternoon on the second day. It
just took me showing interest in learning from them and I was in! They
are absolutely wonderful. I am so glad I am living in their house!!

I have so many stories and observations about them and its only been 5
days. . . .

Mama Jane
We had a great conversation tonight about her story, about each of the
kids, about me, about God. It was so great! She is wonderful and I
think we will get much closer. It will just take time.

Story of the day
Sharif asked me today, “In America, is there a machine that brushes
your teeth for you?. . . In America, do you tell a machine that you
are hungry and then you go away, come back and then it makes food for
you?....In America, is there a machine that baths you?”
If you think about it, we kind of do have 2 of those things. =)

Prayer
The hardest thing is the language. It is just hard to do anything
because I am always unsure of everything. For instance, I never know
when it is okay for me to jump into conversation with a question
because, lets say there is silence—you would think that means I can
jump in—but what if it was just a pause in conversation and I totally
just interrupted! These are the things I think about. And then I just
feel bad always asking “what is everyone doing now?....and now?....and
now?” Soon enough I hope I will learn the routine and will not need
language! And I’m just going to need to get over myself and be bold
too. (I wrote this a few days ago, and as I keep saying, things get
better every day but I will always need prayer for this)

Where to Start, attempt #2 :)

Please forgive me for the sporadic nature of this blog. I don’t know if I’ve ever had so much on my mind to share. I recommend reading this in stages or something. I was going to break it up but I don’t know when I’ll be on the internet next, so here it all is. Read a page a day or something!

The travelling days were great! I had some great conversations with: an elderly man from Pakistan who shared a row with me on the plane, an Australian preacher named Jim from my hotel who went to the mall also (great convo about modern Christianity and learned a lot about Australia), an Muslim guy from NY at the hotel about Islam and Christianity, Mohamed from Somalia/USA/Uganda on the plane ride here (he was so helpful! I learned so much about Africa from him). I met some others but those were the highlights. I am usually really shy in these situations (when I don’t know anyone) but I felt like all of these conversations were from the Lord and very natural. Just some little blessings.
My first taste of Uganda was the wonderful breeze that kissed my face the moment I stepped off the plane. It was glorious. Francis and Michael were there waiting for me. I got to know Michael (the missions coordinator) while Francis went to look for something he lost at the airport. It was a very encouraging first conversation. From the airport, Francis, Michael, and Joshua (our driver) went to Kampala. It was a beautiful drive and I felt like I was with 3 big brothers. All three of them are so nice, very funny, and wonderful body guards. Francis insisted that I get some things to make me more comfortable like a two burner gas stove to put in my room along with a pan, a pot, macaroni, eggs, bread and butter. This is so that I can conveniently make my own few at first while I’m getting used to the food here. Very considerate of him but I felt like it was way too much and unnecessary. I guess we will see if he is right….i don’t foresee myself cooking my own things, ESPECIALLY at first, but we’ll see.
We went to a place just like Wal-mart and a super market, both of which were very nice and I could have forgotten I was in Africa. Except for the 100% black people around me. Which leads me to my next point—why did I forget to dye my skin before I came?? =) Wow, I have never wanted to change the color of my skin as badly as I have on just this half day I was here. People warned me about all the stares and attention I would get, and they were right. And it actually wasn’t even that bad today. Its just that I can FEEL the fact that I’m the only white person for miles. And I know allll of the assumptions that go along with that. And then there’s the blaring fact that I can’t understand anything anyone is saying. Which just screams white American even more. Yuck. I knew the language thing was going to be an issue but you never really know until you experience it. I got my first taste of that today. Got a long road ahead of me!
Travelling evaluation:
Flying with Emirates = excellent! (amazing airline. Gave me free hotel with free meals. Everything was above and beyond with them)
Getting the cheapest flight and having to have a lay-over in Dubai = wonderful! (I felt like this place was the capital of the world. So many different nationalities! The tiny bit I saw was real cool)
Purchasing my backpack = excellent! (its just made things so much easier. I love it!)
Taking 70 pds of luggage on a wheeling suitcase instead of a duffle-bag = life saver! (prizes for heather and mom for telling me to do that. I don’t know what I was thinking!)
Forgetting my computer charger = awful. Cost me $145 in dubai to get a universal one. But at least I got one right!
Forgetting towels = stupid. Not sure exactly what I’m going to do about that. . .
Thinking the flash lights I brought would be for gifts = wrong. They are going to be my best friends.

Oh and after being in the car for 10 minutes we got pulled over! It was for something stupid and Francis talked our driver out of the ticket but I must admit, it was very interesting for me. It really is all about talking! The law is so different here. No bribery though! Just honest discussion!

We didn’t get to Gaba till right when it was getting dark. Francis was real sorry about this, but did I care? No way. It was a market day so the place where we get on the boat was absolutely crazy! I wiiiish I could have gotten pictures of this but it just didn’t work. First we pull into the fish area. I don’t even know how to describe it. First off, there was trash everywhere. And a cow eating out of it. (we were in the car throughout all this, don’t worry, you Worriers). Then there were huge wooden box looken things that were actually stoves to smoke the fish. And I mean huge. And then huge piles of fish skin. You can imagine the smell. And then tons and tons of people selling tons and tons of things. And we’re driving through all of this. It was simply too much to take in on my first day.
But we weren’t finished….

Then we get on the boat to go to Bethany Village. This is pretty much the only realistic way to get to where I’m living which is crazy. And awesome. We unload all my stuff onto this large wooden boat. There are pictures of these on the ARM/Bethany Village website if you’re interested. Some others came along with us. I met the first woman I will hopefully get to know more! Sayhi from Ethiopian. Extremely nice. After waiting a long time for various things, we take our night, 20 minute boat ride to Bethany Village.
Mom, its just like riding out on Lake Travis….except in a wooden boat sitting on a 2 by 4! =)
They were all so worried about me “taking a boat ride during the night,” but I loved it! It felt so nice. I must admit though, I am so glad I do not get sea sick or have a weak stomach. After the day I had, riding on that boat at night, I can imagine some people would have a hard time. Praise God he made me the way he did. It was very nice!
I do admit it is a little unfortunate I got here so late. It just made things a little more awkward for introducing and getting settled. And I was soooo tired. It’ll be fine though.

I met my “family.” Twelve absolutely beautiful children ranging from ages 2-13. My house mom is “Auntie Jane.” She seems very nice but her English is not so well so this will probably be an issue for me. I went next door to Uncle Willy and Aunt Milly’s (the director and nurse) for a late dinner. They have 3 kids that are precious. They were shy at first but definitely warmed up to me more than I was even ready for! (I was exhausted.) We ate a “normal” Ugandan meal of beans, beef in a gravy, rice, fried banana, and potatoes. Not bad. Not great, but not bad. I can definitely handle that!

As for describing my living situation, I don’t really know where to start. I don’t want to paint a bad picture….but I must admit it is going to be quite an adjustment for me. The bed is fine and all, its just that. . .first off this mosquito net is a curse and blessing. It makes me feel very protected from the bugs all around. But I think I might be allergic to it or something cause my eyes are freaking out! On fire! Could be something else though.
Well lets just say, I went to bed at 11 and it is 2:30 right now. Why can’t I sleep? Could be the knowledge that there are little bugs all around. (not big scary ones , but annoying little ones that still give you the hibby jibbies) It definitely has to do with the noises: the crickets, the ghekos, the mice(????), the kids making noises like animals, talking in their sleep, snoring, and just moving I guess, random noises that I have no idea how to identify, the weather is okay but im not using covers so that’s different, I had to pee for a good 2 hours before I did anything about it. I guess I just got the creeps and it’ll take some time to get used to.

So the bathroom….wow, my thighs seriously are going to be beast when I come back. Yep, all squatting. Outside. Only flashlights. Flush with a bucket of water. Not even sure where to fill the bucket up. Definitely some bugs in there. Everyone can hear you. Can’t go during sleep time so I get a nice little bucket to pee in during the night. (which I am very grateful for because I admit I don’t really want to go out there by myself at night nor do I want to wake someone up)

Things I’m most worried about:
--language. I can already feel myself getting frustrated by the fact that I don’t know what anyone is saying most of the time. And Francis is the only I’ve met thus far that speaks English really well.
--house mom. I’m just going to need a lot of boldness. And a lot of patience. And prayer that she has favor on me! And that we can figure out how to communicate!
--sleeping. I know it will get better. I just hope the sooner the better.

Things I’m most excited about:
--the children! I just think its gonna be good. Hard. Really hard remembering their names! But really good!
--life really is going to be much more quite and simple. Exactly what I’ve been praying for!
--I really and truly am going to have to depend on the Lord as my best friend. ALL the time. This, too, is what I’ve been praying for. Man, God is faithful….even when you don’t really want him to be…=)

One thing that has been really cool was as soon as we starting driving away from the airport, all of my senses were brought back to my time in Papua New Guinea. The smells, the sights, the life-style. I was having flashbacks like crazy. I only wish I had my PNG friends with me! (Lik LIk bel toko!)
There have been many moments thus far that I have been so thankful for that experience/preparation in PNG. I really do think it is and will help me for my time here.


---next day---
The next day was better. Talked to Francis about what things will look like and all. Was awakened by the kids singing praise songs to the King. It was beautiful. Oh and my house mom wakes up at 3 am to pray and sing because “that is when Jesus prayed a lot and its so quiet. It’s the best time.”
Got my room all set up nicely. Got to know the kids a tad bit more.

A chicken greeted me when I opened my bedroom door in the morning. Its like a pet, just walks around the house.

Honestly, I don’t think im going to be able to write on here much. So I’m sorry this is so long but this will probably have to last you a while. We tried to get the internet last night for an hour when I finally got to gmail and it stopped. So don’t expect much internet communication from me at this point. =( Its got its pros and cons, ya know. But I do hope I get a little better access then thus far.

--3rd day----
I went on a tour of the place today. It is beautiful. Again, reminded of PNG. The internet is awful though. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to put pictures and all of that up. Who knows how much I’ll be on here….i dont think ill be able to put up pics or anything ever which stinks real bad because i simply can not explain things to you in words. the closest thing i can see is if you remember my pics from PNG, that is very similar. it really is so beautiful here though. wonderful weather. nice and quiet and peaceful.