Home Alone--Party!

Mama Jane had to go into town 2 weekends ago to do some things for her older children.

So, me and the 12 children were home alone! Whoo!

Of course this doesn’t really mean much as everything runs about the same whether there is an adult present or not.

Except for the fact that the children felt compelled to have a birthday party.

But who to have a birthday party for?
For we do not know anyone’s birthday!

The stuffed animal of course!

Sharif (the boy who is a little feminine and a very good home-maker) was the host and coordinator. He came outside earlier in the evening and said, “Auntie Juliette, we are going to have a birthday party tonight! We will sing, we will eat, we will drink! I am going to start preparing!”

And prepare he did.
He cut up some (non ripe) mangoes beautifully (which they eat all the time).
They put “jolly jus” on the mango as well as in some water (Jolly jus is like kool-aid, but they eat it plain).
They brought out all of their little toys and special prizes and pictures and set them up on the table.

I had been wondering what I could do with the balloons, stickers, and candy I had brought and was just waiting for a good occasion. The occasion arose!

So I gave them some balloons to blow up and stickers to decorate.

Then one of them brought me a note “inviting me to the party.”

Precious.

So after devotional, we sat around in a circle, ate mango, drank jus, and of course, Sharif prayed and told us a story from the bible, because you cannot have a party without the Word! =)

Then they did some traditional dancing for me.

Then I played some music on my computer.

Then I gave them each a piece of candy!

What a fun party!

Thank you! Thank you!

From Mama Jane! (this is a GOOD story, PLEASE read!!)

I must thank every single one of you that supported my trip financially (and in other ways). As you know, I received more than I needed to live on.

So I said, “Lord show me how to use this extra money while I’m there!”

Well, as you can imagine, there has been lots of things I could use it on here at Bethany Village surrounded by 177 orphans.

Last week, most of the Bethany kids were sent home from school because they did not have socks on. And socks are part of the dress code. (it was just one of those days that the teachers decided to crack down.) Well Uncle Francis sorted it out with them, so that they could go back the next day.

He told me that, yes of course he knew they needed socks—they also need underwear, and have for a little while now. But it cost about $500 to by socks and underwear for 177 kids and they just haven’t had the money. Currently, they were about $175 short, so he was going to see what he could do to scrounge that up in order to get the needed items next week.

Well of course I hear this number and I think, ‘uhhh is this something to use the money on, Lord?’

Well the next day, a mission team came here to do a VBS. I was talking to one of the ladies about how amazing this orphanage is and how there are so many specific needs that I learn about every week and its so overwhelming because all I do is think about all the money I have and all the money my friends and family have and how just a few hundred dollars can make SUCH a difference here.

And I said, “Like the kids need socks. That’s only $175. I have that in my account. Should I give it to them?”

And she says, “Wait, is this like a legit need they need right now? Because my dad gave me $200 to give away while I’m here and I’ve just been looking for something particular to give it to. . . .Can you find out if I can just give that to Uncle Francis or what?”

BOOM! DONE!

This was incredible to me.

Okay so, how to use my money, Lord?

Well Mama Jane has a son named Raymond who has gotten accepted into University. This is huge here. But what is even more huge is the cost of university. It is only like $450 U.S. dollars, but that is a ginormous amount to an African, especially a single-mother African. About 3 weeks ago, upon being asked, I started praying that the Lord would provide government assistance for Raymond (which is very rare here). Last week, we found out he got it!!!!!!!!!!! It was incredible for me to see the Lord answer the specific prayer.

Mama Jane was exuberant.

Well on Thursday I came home and Mama looked distraught. This woman is the type that wears her emotions on her sleeve. So when she is happy, she is REALLY happy. And when she is, she is really sad. It broke my heart to see her like this. She finally found enough strength to tell me that Raymond’s government assistance was only covering some of the costs of school. And he had to have $200 the nedt day in order to enroll.

She had planned on going into town that day to enroll her precious son in a bright future. To give him a chance at a real career. To allow him to fulfill his desire to LEARN, LEARN, and LEARN. To give him a chance to “do something more.”

But now her hopes were crushed. There was no way she could provide for him. She already owed her employer money for paying her other daughter’s high school fees. And her other daughter is “sponsored” by Africa Renewal Ministries to go to high school cause she can’t afford those fees. . .

She just can’t make it.

So I prayed. Then I talked to Uncle Francis about if I could help. (they will still need to find a way to pay a smaller fee every semester, but at least the big bulk of it will be taken cared of)

Just as sad as that woman was earlier in the day was as happy as she was when I handed her the $220 to bring to her son the next day. I told her the Lord gave me extra money through all my friends and family to bless someone with and this seemed to be the time.

I did gave it to her right before devotional that night, so you can imagine the sounds of praise that were coming from the Alma house that night. The children didn’t even know what was going on, but even they were praising louder simply because they could feel the change in their mother.

It was beautiful.

“God really brought you here for a reason, mwande wange!” (“my daughter”—she likes to call me this)

Going to university in Uganda is not like going to university in America. Raymond will have a completely different future. And so will his mother and sisters now.

I felt like my life was different now too.

I felt like the Lord had provided for me.

I feel connected to Raymond very deeply, though I have never met him, simply because the Lord brought me to live with his mother for a while.

I couldn’t help but praise the Lord for the opportunity to not just send some money to an organization for a child to go to school, but to be right there in the heart of it.

My friend and mother needed something. And I had it. So I gave it.

If someone needs, and you have, you give. So simple.

Yet so many times, we just don’t know what people actually need. Or we don’t actually know the people who need a bunch of things so it feels weird to give what we do have.

Real, live people with real, live stories need things every moment. But if you’re not next to them, it’s hard to know what they need or how you can help.

But if you move yourself closer to those in need, it’s AMAZING how you can be used.

How can you can be blown away.

How you can be truly and deeply, beyond words, blessed—like I was tonight.

If you feel like you want more. If you feel like you need more blessings. . . .

Move your body, your heart, your mind to those that have less and let yourself be a blessing.

You will be blessed beyond your wildest dreams.

But if you don’t move, in some way, you may never know.

(thank you again to all of you for providing this opportunity for us—you, me, and them!)

Some random cute pics of kids!

Yesama, lookin good!! This little boy is so precious. They think he's "bad" but i don't quite get it. I think he's just 4. . .

Sassy Christine, look at her work it! This pretty much describes Christine right here

My kids at the pre-school!! yay for finger painting!

Yay for bubbles! i brought two bottles and of course they LOVED it.

Its so funny how such a simple thing can bring SO much joy. . . .

I finally caught the chickens in the house when there was good enough lighting to take a picture! These little guys are always in here. And here he is just making himself comfortable on the couch!

He just squeezed himself right on through the bars! Look at his friends watching him through the window!

Sorry. . .

I’ve realized I’ve probably overwhelmed most of you with too much information on here.


I’m trying to slow down. That's why I've done a couple of only picture posts. . .


So I hope those of you that really did want to stay updated, but can’t keep up with me, are able to catch up on all the past blogs right now before too much more comes. . . .

Typical Sunday

This is how the kids iron their church clothes if they forget to do so the night before when we have 2 hours of the generator to use the electric iron.

Crazy, huh?

Sharif cutting do-do.

Mmmmmmm. . . .


Everyone wakes up early on sundays and gets to work! so much cooking to do! food must be almost ready by sunday school at 9ish

Everyone has a part!

i love cabbage!

We even have to have two stoves going!!

SOme food covered in banana leaves which is REALLY special and you mainly only get on sundays!

My plate of food. Cabbage. Cassava. Sweet potato. Cooked banana with ground nut sauce (which they aboslutely love, and i do not. . ..)

The 4 year old's plate of good. Yep, just grab a fish from the lake and throw it in the pot, then throw it inyourmouth. NOtice how huge this plate is for a 4 year old. and he its every last bit.

Lunch time!! Notice how many of them are hiding. Many of them are SO shy from pictures! Its hilarious

The lighting isnt great, but i hope you can see something. . . . .

Yay for sundays!

My walk to work

This is the main road that the clinic, school, and some Bethanyhouse are on. My walk is like .2 mile.
Here's the school.

Here's some pedestrians along the way.


This is the clinic/the office i work with Uncle Francis.


This is just one of my daily sites.


This is my favorite view. Its when i stand right outside the office door. The breeze is marvelous up their and its just so beautiful.

And this is one of the ginormous ant hills that are everywhere!

There's a quick glimpse into my daily life!

Gardening and Orphans

My first time at the garden (each house has a large plot of land where they grow things to eat) was interesting. The ground was so dry and rocky, I just couldn’t see how anything could grow. And they grow beans literally right on top of cassava. . . and I’d never seen that before. And it was just so simple and natural. No water hose. No irrigation system. No organic composted soil. No shoes. Just a hoe for a tool. So basically, not what I had been learning about at the great agriculture university of Texas A&M.

Nor what I had really experienced in my tiny bit of gardening experience.
And Aunt Kim, I do wonder what the nutrients are like in the vegetables. It seems like they would be lacking, but perhaps not!

Well a couple hours after we finished—it rained! And it continued to rain all week! So that’s what it is like to depend on God for food! When you have no hose, all you can do is pray for rain! When we went back to the garden the following week—the beans had sprouted beautifully!
I was amazed that things were growing.

But it has been raining pretty much every day now—we must be in the rainy season!
The next Saturday, we went further down the slope to where we will be planting Irish potatoes. We had to clear out all the bush and cultivate the soil. When I had asked Mama Jane if I could come with them earlier that morning, she was so hesitant. And then when I kept trying to help in the garden, she kept trying to give me the easiest thing to do.

I wanted to be like, "woman, I know I look like a skinny little muzungu who can’t do anything, and yes I can’t do what you can do, but girl give me a hoe and let me go!"
So with enough persistence, that is exactly what I got to do! I think they were all amazed that I could dig the land well, I didn’t mind having dirt all over me, and I didn’t mind not wearing gloves and getting blisters. One of the kids kept trying to take the hoe from me because she thought I must be tired.

Oh how good it was to do some physical activity! (I am totally going to gain weight while I’m here with the massive amount of carbs and starches they are feeding me and very little physical activity)As Ross sings, I believe "it’s good to labor with my hands, it’s therapeutic to my soul in ways that I don’t understand." It was great to work hard!
I did have to go in a little bit before they did, though. I was starting to get sun burnt and being the responsible muzungu that I am, (see, mom!) I went inside.

Physical Affection

There is not much of it here. And there is nothing wrong with that. . . except for I don’t know what to do with that when it comes to these children. For instance, what is one of the first things you think of when you think of what you would want to do with orphan children? Perhaps something like, run up to them and hold them so tight and just hug, hug, hug them? Well realistically, I wasn’t expecting to really want to do that all the time. But I did/do want to hug them bunches when its appropriate, especially when they are hurt, sad, tired, etc.
I do not really ever see Mama Jane embracing them. I mean there is much fun, laughter, great conversation between all of them and Mama, but not much physical affection.

Of course, this IS Uganda.

But still.

So I’m trying to figure out how I, personally, should handle this. I am not a super physically affectionate person anyways, but I know how much children need that. . . It was very hard for me one day when Christine (5 yrs) came inside literally bawling and just stood there while a few of us, including Mama just sat at the table. She finally told Mama that one of the older kids had hit her. Mama simply listened and then disciplined the other child. (of course I was sitting there with no idea what was happening until afterwards)

What I wanted to happen in that scenario is for Christine to run inside to a mother’s arms that will hold her and console her. For Christine to instinctively know "when something hurts me, I run to mama’s arms." Yes, Christine knew to run inside and yes, mama jane righted the wrong that had been done to Christine by disciplining Anita and yes, mama jane told Christine she was sorry.

But my instinct tells me Christine needs more than that.

But maybe I’m wrong.