Tomorrow will mark my one month anniversary of being in Uganda. In addition, or perhaps because of my mission to serve others, I've been learning a lot about myself, ways to come through what I struggle with, and things that really don't matter so much anymore. I'm becoming more grateful for all that I have, not just material things, but anything you could consider a blessing; family, electricty, a job, the skills and talents I have.
What I've really come to realize is so important is communication; good, sound communication. When it is lost you lose respect for each other's time, commitments, feelings and the like, you lose touch with what other people's values are. I wish I could teach Ugandans, and honestly it seems to be a prevailing characteristic in much of Africa, how to communicate more effectively. The reason I am told that often people don't communicate is because of sensitivity, for instance they don't want to offend someone else in offering a better way of doing something. Hello Uganda, how much more could you prosper from talking, from listening!?
One thing that I've also been struggling with, but also working on, is not fixing systems. People do things the way they do them, and despite wanting to suggest another way, for a small or large system, its not my responsibility to change it. I struggle with this at home, wanting to do things the just way, the right way, but I am only me and can only fix so much. Luckily, the book Wrecked I am reading has helped me acknowledge sometimes its better to go support the established systems than try and balk the system and do it your own way.
One month down, two more months full of great learning experiences and wonderful opportunities to bless the children of Rafiki and the people of Kampala.
(To those of you trying to comment on my blog, I wish I knew a way to make it easier, but I just can't figure it out, so if you want to drop me a line and let me know you're reading: Laurabev@aol.com; thanks for viewing my page over 1300 times faithful friends!!!)
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Passionate Ugandans
Last night I went to Passion Conference in Kampala, Uganda. For only $4 I saw Chris Tomlin and Christy Nockels, two great praise leaders, and Louie Giglio, the minister for the Passion church in Atlanta, GA and originator of these reknowned world performances. I didn't even get the student rate, which was less than $1; it was so inexpensive, all so that the young people of Kampala could praise God. And boy did they show up, thousands of people gathered on the Makerere University's sports field to sing How Great is our God and other famous songs and hear a great sermon about knowing Jesus (not knowing about Jesus, but knowing him). It was great to praise Him with thousands of other young Ugandans. Despite their poverty, their physical conditions, the corruption and disappointments, they came to worship and offer up great honor and glory and thanksgiving.
As I stood on the field and looked around I thought how amazing it is to see people, who seemingly have nothing to be grateful for, be the most thankful, the most worshipping, and the happiest for this opportunity to praise God. I'm reading two books right now, one is by Jeff Goins called Wrecked, every college student should read it. As I sometimes contemplate if architecture is the path I want to stay on, it is so affirming to read this book about becoming wrecked through adventures, seasons of our lives and in making commitments. The second book I've only read the first chapter of, its called Not a Fan and I am reading it in tandem with my house church back in Philly. It is taking a closer look at whether you are a follower of Jesus or just a fan...I'd like to quickly affirm that I am a follower, but I think in some ways I'm just acting like a fan.
I've got some challenges ahead and I'm so thankful for last night's experience and what it offered me and the people of Kampala.
As I stood on the field and looked around I thought how amazing it is to see people, who seemingly have nothing to be grateful for, be the most thankful, the most worshipping, and the happiest for this opportunity to praise God. I'm reading two books right now, one is by Jeff Goins called Wrecked, every college student should read it. As I sometimes contemplate if architecture is the path I want to stay on, it is so affirming to read this book about becoming wrecked through adventures, seasons of our lives and in making commitments. The second book I've only read the first chapter of, its called Not a Fan and I am reading it in tandem with my house church back in Philly. It is taking a closer look at whether you are a follower of Jesus or just a fan...I'd like to quickly affirm that I am a follower, but I think in some ways I'm just acting like a fan.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Passion 2012
For those of you in the Praise & Worship Christian world I am heading to Passion Kampala 2012 tomorrow and am super pumped to hear Chris Tomlin, Christy Nockels and Louie Giglio speak and perform! Passion Conferences happen worldwide every year and concentrate on bringing more people to Christ and strengthening Christians through praise music and inspirational speaking.
Today we went to a craft market, I was so overwhelmed with options I could hardly buy a thing.
Looking forward to sharing what tomorrow has in store! Thank you all for your comments, I love when people comment, and thanks for the encouragement on my safari photos, its either the camera or the best of the 1000 photos I snapped!
Today we went to a craft market, I was so overwhelmed with options I could hardly buy a thing.
Looking forward to sharing what tomorrow has in store! Thank you all for your comments, I love when people comment, and thanks for the encouragement on my safari photos, its either the camera or the best of the 1000 photos I snapped!
Thursday, September 27, 2012
The Safari!!!!
My Murchison Falls Safari Adventure:
Day 1:
We left Kampala at 7:30 a.m., and unlike any other experience in Uganda, that was the scheduled time to leave and we actually honored it! We drove until about 1:30 towards the northwest of the country, closer to South Sudan and Congo before we started the safari with chimp tracking. Unfortunately there were no chimps to be found, but we tried hard, we hiked for about 3 hours, non-stop and covered about 12 km. We did however see a Green Mumba (snake), a turtle, baboons, a red-tailed monkey, black & white monkeys, and a blue peacock-looking bird (I'm horrible with animal names).
I've been struggling with pain in my back, and between falling in the mud, getting ants in my pants (and let me tell you, those suckers pinch and hurt!!!), and hiking for 3 hours I was limping by the time we headed towards camp. Red Chili Hideaway is perfectly situated about 1 km from the Nile, where there are no tsese flies that love mazungu blood, we slept in tents, but they had beds inside...score! The food at the hideaway was really fantastic too: chicken curry, chicken kuku pata, a burger!
After a fun first day with my safari partners; 1 Australian, 2 Americans, 2 Germans and 2 Dutch, we laid low the first evening, probably from exhaustion. The warthogs and hippos, however, did not. They didn't get too close, but they were roaming amidst the camp all night.
Day 2
I woke up this morning and watched the sun rise over the Nile River, right then, my day was made, I had an unforgettable experience. But that was only the beginning.
We took a quick ferry over to the north side of the Nile to begin our 4 hour game drive at 7 this morning. The first animals spotted were antelope, and the second were elephants, elephants running and jumping through the land. It was too far to get good photos, but it was unforgettable to watch. Next came giraffes, and we saw probably 100 giraffes, old ones, young ones, males and females. We saw probably 5 varieties of antelope, and its amazing how different they all are. The water buffalo were great to watch grazing and running. We also saw tons of hippos and different species of birds.
After lunch back at the Red Chili Hideaway we went out for our cruise on the Nile, I drank a beer on the boat called Nile Special, and can now say 'I drank a Nile on the Nile'. The cruise was quite picturesque, but a bit slow-going, toward the end of our 20 km cruise the guide named David said, "Laura, keep watching 1 o'clock, in ten seconds you'll see it". It was Murchison Falls and it was incredible! Over 300,000 cubic meters of water go over Murchison Falls per second! It was the most breathtaking, most majestic experience of my life jumping off the boat and hiking 2 km to the top. It was also, the most demanding physical hike of my life. Worth every minute of pain as I am continuing to limp from my back pain and the 12 km trek the day before to try and see chimps. Words really can't describe it, hopefully my pictures are worth a thousand words!
On our way back to camp we happened across some water buffalo bathing in mud, they do this to keep the flies at bay, what a sight to see! After a cold shower and a nice dinner, we spent our evening looking at the day's photos and chatting around the campfire. Again, it wasn't a late night, maybe I didn't head to bed until 10:30 or 11, but I'm glad I went when I did because within 5 minutes of crawling in bed I started to hear this chomping noise. I looked through the screen in the window of the tent and literally 1 foot from my head was a hippo, it took all self-control to not scream from fright. Who else can say they were 1 foot from a grazing hippo?
Day 3:
I survived the nighttime visit from my hippo friend and some intense wind and finally the rain arrived. We left camp by 8:30 to head home with rhino trekking on the way. Unfortunately about 5 km into our trip the mud had overtaken the exit road, there was one other way to go, but it did add at least 3 hours to our trip, on top of it being rainy and slow-going. We did get to see more of the countryside and I was grateful for that, the surroundings can be anything from tropical to jungle, savannah to farmland, forest to sandy plains, it really is a diverse environment. Seeing villages of authentic African huts was really interesting too.
We arrived at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary by 2 pm for lunch and some trekking. Luckily, Ziwa is a well-funded, very organized NGO and so we trekked in boots to keep our shoes from getting muddier than they already were and were able to see a mama and baby rhino within a few kilometers walk. We saw the baby nursing and then she got up to graze and let me tell you, regardless of rhinos not being aggressive towards humans I was quite nervous when she came within 15 feet of me!
After 12 hours in the car we finally made it back to Kampala; dirty, exhausted, but completely fulfilled with our expectations for the week. It was amazing to see all of God's creation in Uganda!
Day 1:
We left Kampala at 7:30 a.m., and unlike any other experience in Uganda, that was the scheduled time to leave and we actually honored it! We drove until about 1:30 towards the northwest of the country, closer to South Sudan and Congo before we started the safari with chimp tracking. Unfortunately there were no chimps to be found, but we tried hard, we hiked for about 3 hours, non-stop and covered about 12 km. We did however see a Green Mumba (snake), a turtle, baboons, a red-tailed monkey, black & white monkeys, and a blue peacock-looking bird (I'm horrible with animal names).
I've been struggling with pain in my back, and between falling in the mud, getting ants in my pants (and let me tell you, those suckers pinch and hurt!!!), and hiking for 3 hours I was limping by the time we headed towards camp. Red Chili Hideaway is perfectly situated about 1 km from the Nile, where there are no tsese flies that love mazungu blood, we slept in tents, but they had beds inside...score! The food at the hideaway was really fantastic too: chicken curry, chicken kuku pata, a burger!
After a fun first day with my safari partners; 1 Australian, 2 Americans, 2 Germans and 2 Dutch, we laid low the first evening, probably from exhaustion. The warthogs and hippos, however, did not. They didn't get too close, but they were roaming amidst the camp all night.
Day 2
I woke up this morning and watched the sun rise over the Nile River, right then, my day was made, I had an unforgettable experience. But that was only the beginning.
We took a quick ferry over to the north side of the Nile to begin our 4 hour game drive at 7 this morning. The first animals spotted were antelope, and the second were elephants, elephants running and jumping through the land. It was too far to get good photos, but it was unforgettable to watch. Next came giraffes, and we saw probably 100 giraffes, old ones, young ones, males and females. We saw probably 5 varieties of antelope, and its amazing how different they all are. The water buffalo were great to watch grazing and running. We also saw tons of hippos and different species of birds.
After lunch back at the Red Chili Hideaway we went out for our cruise on the Nile, I drank a beer on the boat called Nile Special, and can now say 'I drank a Nile on the Nile'. The cruise was quite picturesque, but a bit slow-going, toward the end of our 20 km cruise the guide named David said, "Laura, keep watching 1 o'clock, in ten seconds you'll see it". It was Murchison Falls and it was incredible! Over 300,000 cubic meters of water go over Murchison Falls per second! It was the most breathtaking, most majestic experience of my life jumping off the boat and hiking 2 km to the top. It was also, the most demanding physical hike of my life. Worth every minute of pain as I am continuing to limp from my back pain and the 12 km trek the day before to try and see chimps. Words really can't describe it, hopefully my pictures are worth a thousand words!
On our way back to camp we happened across some water buffalo bathing in mud, they do this to keep the flies at bay, what a sight to see! After a cold shower and a nice dinner, we spent our evening looking at the day's photos and chatting around the campfire. Again, it wasn't a late night, maybe I didn't head to bed until 10:30 or 11, but I'm glad I went when I did because within 5 minutes of crawling in bed I started to hear this chomping noise. I looked through the screen in the window of the tent and literally 1 foot from my head was a hippo, it took all self-control to not scream from fright. Who else can say they were 1 foot from a grazing hippo?
Day 3:
I survived the nighttime visit from my hippo friend and some intense wind and finally the rain arrived. We left camp by 8:30 to head home with rhino trekking on the way. Unfortunately about 5 km into our trip the mud had overtaken the exit road, there was one other way to go, but it did add at least 3 hours to our trip, on top of it being rainy and slow-going. We did get to see more of the countryside and I was grateful for that, the surroundings can be anything from tropical to jungle, savannah to farmland, forest to sandy plains, it really is a diverse environment. Seeing villages of authentic African huts was really interesting too.
We arrived at Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary by 2 pm for lunch and some trekking. Luckily, Ziwa is a well-funded, very organized NGO and so we trekked in boots to keep our shoes from getting muddier than they already were and were able to see a mama and baby rhino within a few kilometers walk. We saw the baby nursing and then she got up to graze and let me tell you, regardless of rhinos not being aggressive towards humans I was quite nervous when she came within 15 feet of me!
After 12 hours in the car we finally made it back to Kampala; dirty, exhausted, but completely fulfilled with our expectations for the week. It was amazing to see all of God's creation in Uganda!
The farmer and the field
On my journey to northwestern Uganda I keep seeing individual women out in the fields, sometimes with a few small children nearby, and a hoe in her hands, and I think of two Biblical sayings, summarized below:
1. The harvest is plenty, but the workers are few. Matthew 9:37
2. You reap what you sow. Galations 6:7
These two sayings seem so much more real here among the primitive agricultural and farming techniques. 9.24.12
1. The harvest is plenty, but the workers are few. Matthew 9:37
2. You reap what you sow. Galations 6:7
These two sayings seem so much more real here among the primitive agricultural and farming techniques. 9.24.12
Sweet Little Oscar
Three precious things have happened with Oscar (the boy in the orphanage, not my boyfriend) this week:
1. He came running up to me and said you have to see Brenda's shirt, you have to come see, so I followed him intrigued. Brenda was wearing a Rafiki Africa Ministry t-shirt and on the back was the Bible verse they had learned from James the previous week, it is also the motto for the organization. As a new reader, he had suddenly discovered that he knew what it said and was soooo excited to show me.
2. I told the kids the other day in the courtyard to stop killing God's creatures, they quickly pick up caterpillars, ants, flies (which by the way are sooo much slower than flies in the US) and they don't mean to often but they do harm the little bugs, and sometimes they go straight to killing them, especially the lizards. So about 30 minutes after I tell them how important it is not to kill God's creatures, Oscar comes up to me and tells me that him and Joel had prayed to God and asked for forgiveness in killing his creatures.
3. Last night as I was praying for the boys Oscar was being disruptive, I finished my prayer and told him that it is inconsiderate to disrupt during prayer time when we are asking God for our needs and thanking Him for what he gave us. I then turned to Jerom who was asking a question, and by the time I was done Oscar leaned over his bunk and said, "Auntie Laura, I'm really sorry for disrupting during our prayers and I won't do it again."
Adorable right?! 9.24.12
1. He came running up to me and said you have to see Brenda's shirt, you have to come see, so I followed him intrigued. Brenda was wearing a Rafiki Africa Ministry t-shirt and on the back was the Bible verse they had learned from James the previous week, it is also the motto for the organization. As a new reader, he had suddenly discovered that he knew what it said and was soooo excited to show me.
2. I told the kids the other day in the courtyard to stop killing God's creatures, they quickly pick up caterpillars, ants, flies (which by the way are sooo much slower than flies in the US) and they don't mean to often but they do harm the little bugs, and sometimes they go straight to killing them, especially the lizards. So about 30 minutes after I tell them how important it is not to kill God's creatures, Oscar comes up to me and tells me that him and Joel had prayed to God and asked for forgiveness in killing his creatures.
3. Last night as I was praying for the boys Oscar was being disruptive, I finished my prayer and told him that it is inconsiderate to disrupt during prayer time when we are asking God for our needs and thanking Him for what he gave us. I then turned to Jerom who was asking a question, and by the time I was done Oscar leaned over his bunk and said, "Auntie Laura, I'm really sorry for disrupting during our prayers and I won't do it again."
Adorable right?! 9.24.12
Friday, September 21, 2012
the scenery
The power has been out a lot recently, so I'm just catching up on my blogging!!
I just played bananagrams, its a word game, I haven't played a game in weeks, it felt sooo good! Haha!
My safari is coming up in just a few short days, thanks to Mom and Dad! Two of the missionaries serving with me just went on one and were 15 feet from a lion...I can't wait!
I'm going to attempt to describe Kampala...
Outside the center of Kampala are several hills, I assume the wealthier live on these hills because mixed within the diverse lush, green, foliage are the metal red roofs of homes. I've differentiated between wealthy and poor based on housing types, imagine that, me the architect. The poorer folks live in poorly constructed brick or wood stick-framed (real sticks, not 2x4's) homes with dull, rusting corrugated roofs, and they are found in the lower lying areas of Kampala. Often times the little market stands on the side of the road can't be differentiated from the poorer homes. The wealthy often live in concrete-walled homes that have stucco, stone or brick fenestration, but mostly stucco. Nobody builds with wood 2x4's or 2x6's.
The foliage ranges from palm trees to common deciduous trees and then on a "walk to see God's creation" I smelled it before I saw it...a pine tree! There is sugar cane all over, and other fruit-bearing trees that I can't identify. The dirt roads are a burnt red color, on dry days the dirt blows everywhere, on wet days it is a muddy mess. Today for example I attempted to walk in the market where we get our produce, I don't know how my legs maintained me, I was slipping and sliding everywhere and needed a shower promptly upon return. The streets are always covered in people goin from here to there, or milling about. Sadly, the unemployment rate in Uganda is over 70%, and us Americans were distraught at 10% unemployment! Many peddle for money helping you in the market, as boda-bodas or selling cell phone time and newspapers, or having their own little market on the side of the road, some even wheelbarrow their goods around.
Today was also my first day in the actual center city part of Kampala, there are a few 10 story buildings, some with modern reflected glass even, but most buildings are 4 stories. The streets are congested with cars, boda-bodas (motorcycle taxis), van taxis, buses, and trucks, and I have yet to see a traffic light. Literally every time you leave the gated courtyard you put your life in God's hands, riding is intense, driving would give me a heart attack. Most places, strip malls, grocery shopping, banks and general businesses have security men with shotguns; it is becoming less shocking to see the police, traffic police and security guards bearing arms. Church even requires you to pass through a metal detector because of the large gathering of people.
It is not uncommon to see a child's bare bottom as you drive along our road, so many are without, pampers and sanitary napkins are a luxury for far too many. Most of the kids are covered in the red dirt of the earth, but any child that is in school is in their uniform, dresses for the boys, shorts and a collared shirt for the boys, both wear knee-high socks. On sport days they have athletic uniforms. The market women often wrap fabric around their skirts or pants to keep from getting their clothes dirty, but teachers are dressed to a T. Men can be wearing anything from a t-shirt and jeans to dress slacks and dress shirts.
I just played bananagrams, its a word game, I haven't played a game in weeks, it felt sooo good! Haha!
My safari is coming up in just a few short days, thanks to Mom and Dad! Two of the missionaries serving with me just went on one and were 15 feet from a lion...I can't wait!
I'm going to attempt to describe Kampala...
Outside the center of Kampala are several hills, I assume the wealthier live on these hills because mixed within the diverse lush, green, foliage are the metal red roofs of homes. I've differentiated between wealthy and poor based on housing types, imagine that, me the architect. The poorer folks live in poorly constructed brick or wood stick-framed (real sticks, not 2x4's) homes with dull, rusting corrugated roofs, and they are found in the lower lying areas of Kampala. Often times the little market stands on the side of the road can't be differentiated from the poorer homes. The wealthy often live in concrete-walled homes that have stucco, stone or brick fenestration, but mostly stucco. Nobody builds with wood 2x4's or 2x6's.
The foliage ranges from palm trees to common deciduous trees and then on a "walk to see God's creation" I smelled it before I saw it...a pine tree! There is sugar cane all over, and other fruit-bearing trees that I can't identify. The dirt roads are a burnt red color, on dry days the dirt blows everywhere, on wet days it is a muddy mess. Today for example I attempted to walk in the market where we get our produce, I don't know how my legs maintained me, I was slipping and sliding everywhere and needed a shower promptly upon return. The streets are always covered in people goin from here to there, or milling about. Sadly, the unemployment rate in Uganda is over 70%, and us Americans were distraught at 10% unemployment! Many peddle for money helping you in the market, as boda-bodas or selling cell phone time and newspapers, or having their own little market on the side of the road, some even wheelbarrow their goods around.
Today was also my first day in the actual center city part of Kampala, there are a few 10 story buildings, some with modern reflected glass even, but most buildings are 4 stories. The streets are congested with cars, boda-bodas (motorcycle taxis), van taxis, buses, and trucks, and I have yet to see a traffic light. Literally every time you leave the gated courtyard you put your life in God's hands, riding is intense, driving would give me a heart attack. Most places, strip malls, grocery shopping, banks and general businesses have security men with shotguns; it is becoming less shocking to see the police, traffic police and security guards bearing arms. Church even requires you to pass through a metal detector because of the large gathering of people.
It is not uncommon to see a child's bare bottom as you drive along our road, so many are without, pampers and sanitary napkins are a luxury for far too many. Most of the kids are covered in the red dirt of the earth, but any child that is in school is in their uniform, dresses for the boys, shorts and a collared shirt for the boys, both wear knee-high socks. On sport days they have athletic uniforms. The market women often wrap fabric around their skirts or pants to keep from getting their clothes dirty, but teachers are dressed to a T. Men can be wearing anything from a t-shirt and jeans to dress slacks and dress shirts.
Prayer Mountain has monkeys
Monday, September 17, 2012
Random kid stuff
Random Rafiki children things:
Oscar heard we were going to go for a walk so he came up to me and said, "Are we going on a walk to see God's creation?"
Emma, the littlest guy (and man is he a little one, maybe 20 pounds at nearly 3 years of age), constantly says, "Auntie, you see", and he just wants you to watch him jump or show you his drawing, he tries so hard to be like the bigger kids and impress us! Recently he has found a toy that resembles the shape of a cell phone, he is constantly calling me on it for a conversation about nothing.
The kids look at every small thing on their skin and have to show you it, as if they were bleeding to death, when there is just a lump from a mosquito bite or an old scar. All they want is some love and attention.
Brenda when she is dancing is hilarious, she puts her hands in the air and shakes her hips like she was a belly dancer, usually this is after she eats supper and her little belly is bulging from the food; she is beautiful, I fear for her when she gets older, all the boys will love her.
Carol, I thought was the shy one, based on the meek-looking photo I saw of her before meeting, well that little girl is the most talkative of all, again she is 3, probably close to 4, and about 24 pounds. She will talk to you until you tell her to stop.
I've realized Fauziya stutters only when you ask her a question, whether difficult or hard, and when she is tattling on someone, but hardly ever when she just walks up and wants to talk...interesting.
Jerom is a little pudgy and has the cutest smile, sometimes when he looks at you and smiles he'll raise his eyebrows up real high a few times, ina cute childish flirtatious way, its adorable.
Joshua is the biggest kid, definitely would blend in as an American, as a result he is always helping, always leading the praise time before bed and always the one in charge. Sadly, he was found scavenging for food ont he streets so sending him to the trash can to throw something away can be dangerous as he'll take out something that looks good and eat it.
Joel wasn't feeling that great yesterday, so he played house with me and took care of our baby doll, he's I think 7, so I find it interesting that he'll still sit with me and play along instead of running after someone or a soccer ball.
Annet has the most beautiful eyes, but when you send her to bed for misbehaving she won't talk to you for half an hour in response to your punishment of her. Ms. Attitude, her and Brenda!
Cocus has this squeaky kind of voice and the most precious of laughs that infect you with laughter.
Don has very few teeth, luckily his adult teeth haven't come in, so he's just without teeth temporarily, but it makes him have this sweet lisp that you just want to make him repeat something to hear it again.
Esther, when she is playing, is constantly making me birthday cakes out of sand in a bucket with beads on top, or making me food out of toy safari animals.
I'm sure there will be many more moments of random cuteness from the kids to share...
Oscar heard we were going to go for a walk so he came up to me and said, "Are we going on a walk to see God's creation?"
Emma, the littlest guy (and man is he a little one, maybe 20 pounds at nearly 3 years of age), constantly says, "Auntie, you see", and he just wants you to watch him jump or show you his drawing, he tries so hard to be like the bigger kids and impress us! Recently he has found a toy that resembles the shape of a cell phone, he is constantly calling me on it for a conversation about nothing.
The kids look at every small thing on their skin and have to show you it, as if they were bleeding to death, when there is just a lump from a mosquito bite or an old scar. All they want is some love and attention.
Brenda when she is dancing is hilarious, she puts her hands in the air and shakes her hips like she was a belly dancer, usually this is after she eats supper and her little belly is bulging from the food; she is beautiful, I fear for her when she gets older, all the boys will love her.
Carol, I thought was the shy one, based on the meek-looking photo I saw of her before meeting, well that little girl is the most talkative of all, again she is 3, probably close to 4, and about 24 pounds. She will talk to you until you tell her to stop.
I've realized Fauziya stutters only when you ask her a question, whether difficult or hard, and when she is tattling on someone, but hardly ever when she just walks up and wants to talk...interesting.
Jerom is a little pudgy and has the cutest smile, sometimes when he looks at you and smiles he'll raise his eyebrows up real high a few times, ina cute childish flirtatious way, its adorable.
Joshua is the biggest kid, definitely would blend in as an American, as a result he is always helping, always leading the praise time before bed and always the one in charge. Sadly, he was found scavenging for food ont he streets so sending him to the trash can to throw something away can be dangerous as he'll take out something that looks good and eat it.
Joel wasn't feeling that great yesterday, so he played house with me and took care of our baby doll, he's I think 7, so I find it interesting that he'll still sit with me and play along instead of running after someone or a soccer ball.
Annet has the most beautiful eyes, but when you send her to bed for misbehaving she won't talk to you for half an hour in response to your punishment of her. Ms. Attitude, her and Brenda!
Cocus has this squeaky kind of voice and the most precious of laughs that infect you with laughter.
Don has very few teeth, luckily his adult teeth haven't come in, so he's just without teeth temporarily, but it makes him have this sweet lisp that you just want to make him repeat something to hear it again.
Esther, when she is playing, is constantly making me birthday cakes out of sand in a bucket with beads on top, or making me food out of toy safari animals.
I'm sure there will be many more moments of random cuteness from the kids to share...
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Washing feet and playtime
Wow, I am wiped! I got up and washed the windows of the house before the kids got up this morning. Then after bathing and feeding them, they helped clean the trash bins and buckets, while we did more laundry. I peeled potatoes (they call them irish potatoes), oh my goodness did I peel a lot! I think I'm going to buy the house a peeler, that would have been easier than the knife I was using. As I was sitting their thinking about it I realized, I hope that every time I use my peeler, or another modern convention that Rafiki doesn't have, I am going to thank God for his provisions. I hope I stick to this, then I'd really be praying without ceasing! Anyway, I made 8 PB&J sandwiches in anticipation of our afternoon swimming time. We ate an early lunch, but as we ate the rain began to pour. So much for swimming, or so we thought. After a brief nap we woke them up since the skies has cleared. In two shifts we transported all the kids and staff/volunteers to the recreation park where we swam and played on the playground for hours! After bathing and dinner we did our usual devotions and let them watch 1/2 an hour of a movie, but by 9:20 they needed to go to sleep, and so did I! What a fun day for the kids! 9.15.12
Friday, September 14, 2012
Teaching and a wonderful day!
A day at school for those 4-5 goes like this: arrive before 8, stand in your class line, sing a few songs while the headmaster inspects your nails and clothing with a beating stick in hand for those misbehaving, but then puts you up in front of everyone to be ridiculed if you don't look proper. Afterwards the children file into their rooms and I go through a few songs I know with motions for them, and then they sit down for work. It takes them 1.5 hours to write:
Today is Monday, 10th September 2012
My name is Laura.
I am in Middle Class.
Write Numbers 0-20:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Match the shapes:
triangle, circle, square and kite (which is a diamond)
Then they have a snack of porridge and a roll. After 30 minutes of playing outside they come in to have Teacher Fiona tell them a story and then ask them to write:
Today is Monday, 10th September 2012
My name is Laura.
I am in Middle Class.
Draw a picture of a man helping a blind man.
And again, it takes them an hour to do this task...its astounding!!! 9.12.12
I had such a fun and rewarding day, I think I've come to realize that I treasure the days where we serve more than when we stay home to clean the orphanage and tteach and play with the children. I think it is because I feel more needed at the places we go, lucky for me starting next week we're going to do 2 outreaches/week.
Today we went to Elizabeth House, a place for children with special needs. Mary, a former orphan at Rafiki, lives there with severe mental retardation. This place was on a much higher par in terms of conditions than the place we were at last week, and they were very organized and had plenty of work for us to do. We painted an entire exterior of a house (less 1/3 of a wall because we ran out of paint), cleaned the large classroom/gathering area and then sang with the children, read a Bible story and did some shading (coloring) with them. They were so precious to see dancing and laughing and having a good time, oh and they got us doing some traditional African dancing too, it was hilarious!
I also made a t-shirt design for Rafiki Adventures, the Director Joseph runs a safari company and is trying to get it up and running, and so I'm hoping to get it on the computer and have some t-shirts made in the States. Joseph was really encouraging of my work and interest in helping.
And then the climax of the day was girls' night out to celebrate Joanna, another missionary's birthday! We went to a westernized cafe that had burgers, wraps, paninis, fries, etc. Needless to say it was a treat to not eat rice and beans this evening!! There were 9 of us that went out to celebrate, which included some other mazungus (white people) that I've never met before, we laughed for about 3 hours. It felt like being at home, well, until the power kept going out sporadically, we even got a slice of chocolate cake...yum! 9.14.2012
Devotions: I've been leading devotions about every three nights and I'm having a really good time doing it. I've created my own approach and its been, I think, really powerful, well at least for me. Its kind of like having our own house church ever night...Storehouse folks, can you imagine house church every night?!
I decided I wanted to talk about the fruits of the spirit the other night, and then read the verses leading up to the fruits and realized how much more powerful a tool they are when needed to combat our sinful nature (what is offered in the verses previous to the fruits). I've read both the sinful nature part and the fruits part, but never in tandem, and so it led me in a totally different direction. I wrote down the fruits, in no particular order, on a peice of paper for everyone present. And I decided to do them out of order so that when you looked at them, you didn't get the rhythm or hierarchy present in the verse, I thought it might be helpful reviewing them that way. At the bottom of the slip of paper I wrote vs. sin, so that we can all remember in responding to the way that we desire to go we should be considering the way God wants us to be.
We're always going to be sinful, but hopefully I can work on battling that sin with some of the fruits. 9.14.2012
Today is Monday, 10th September 2012
My name is Laura.
I am in Middle Class.
Write Numbers 0-20:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Match the shapes:
triangle, circle, square and kite (which is a diamond)
Then they have a snack of porridge and a roll. After 30 minutes of playing outside they come in to have Teacher Fiona tell them a story and then ask them to write:
Today is Monday, 10th September 2012
My name is Laura.
I am in Middle Class.
Draw a picture of a man helping a blind man.
And again, it takes them an hour to do this task...its astounding!!! 9.12.12
I had such a fun and rewarding day, I think I've come to realize that I treasure the days where we serve more than when we stay home to clean the orphanage and tteach and play with the children. I think it is because I feel more needed at the places we go, lucky for me starting next week we're going to do 2 outreaches/week.
Today we went to Elizabeth House, a place for children with special needs. Mary, a former orphan at Rafiki, lives there with severe mental retardation. This place was on a much higher par in terms of conditions than the place we were at last week, and they were very organized and had plenty of work for us to do. We painted an entire exterior of a house (less 1/3 of a wall because we ran out of paint), cleaned the large classroom/gathering area and then sang with the children, read a Bible story and did some shading (coloring) with them. They were so precious to see dancing and laughing and having a good time, oh and they got us doing some traditional African dancing too, it was hilarious!
I also made a t-shirt design for Rafiki Adventures, the Director Joseph runs a safari company and is trying to get it up and running, and so I'm hoping to get it on the computer and have some t-shirts made in the States. Joseph was really encouraging of my work and interest in helping.
And then the climax of the day was girls' night out to celebrate Joanna, another missionary's birthday! We went to a westernized cafe that had burgers, wraps, paninis, fries, etc. Needless to say it was a treat to not eat rice and beans this evening!! There were 9 of us that went out to celebrate, which included some other mazungus (white people) that I've never met before, we laughed for about 3 hours. It felt like being at home, well, until the power kept going out sporadically, we even got a slice of chocolate cake...yum! 9.14.2012
Devotions: I've been leading devotions about every three nights and I'm having a really good time doing it. I've created my own approach and its been, I think, really powerful, well at least for me. Its kind of like having our own house church ever night...Storehouse folks, can you imagine house church every night?!
I decided I wanted to talk about the fruits of the spirit the other night, and then read the verses leading up to the fruits and realized how much more powerful a tool they are when needed to combat our sinful nature (what is offered in the verses previous to the fruits). I've read both the sinful nature part and the fruits part, but never in tandem, and so it led me in a totally different direction. I wrote down the fruits, in no particular order, on a peice of paper for everyone present. And I decided to do them out of order so that when you looked at them, you didn't get the rhythm or hierarchy present in the verse, I thought it might be helpful reviewing them that way. At the bottom of the slip of paper I wrote vs. sin, so that we can all remember in responding to the way that we desire to go we should be considering the way God wants us to be.
We're always going to be sinful, but hopefully I can work on battling that sin with some of the fruits. 9.14.2012
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
no power...ugh!
We lost power last night at about 8 pm and it came back around 10:30 this morning, it was the best time to go out but when it happened again tonight I thought, 'Oh no, is this how it will be every night?'. Luckily, it came back on within 20 minutes!!
But I think the lack of power was the beginning for me of a difficult day. Emma, the littlest child just didn't like me this morning, probably because I was trying to teach him shapes and colors. And then I found myself frustrated with the kids often, before devotion time I made them sit silently for several minutes to think about their behavior, and then prayed with them for patience for their aunties and uncles and prayers for their behavior to have good listening ears, to remember to keep their hands to themselves, etc. I'm also most frustrated with a few things related to the staff and other volunteers that I just am not understanding. Please pray for guidance and wisdom in addressing this frustration for me. You know me, ever the productive, efficient, fair one...I'm struggling.
I did/do have two ways of being encouraged though:
1. Tomorrow is my day off and I can rest and take a break.
2. The kids have done really well learning their Bible verse, thanks to Auntie Joanna teaching it using some sign language! The verse is the motto for Rafiki ministries: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after widows and orphans in their distress and to keep from being polutted by the world. James 1:27
Thanks for your prayers, your love and reading my blog!
But I think the lack of power was the beginning for me of a difficult day. Emma, the littlest child just didn't like me this morning, probably because I was trying to teach him shapes and colors. And then I found myself frustrated with the kids often, before devotion time I made them sit silently for several minutes to think about their behavior, and then prayed with them for patience for their aunties and uncles and prayers for their behavior to have good listening ears, to remember to keep their hands to themselves, etc. I'm also most frustrated with a few things related to the staff and other volunteers that I just am not understanding. Please pray for guidance and wisdom in addressing this frustration for me. You know me, ever the productive, efficient, fair one...I'm struggling.
I did/do have two ways of being encouraged though:
1. Tomorrow is my day off and I can rest and take a break.
2. The kids have done really well learning their Bible verse, thanks to Auntie Joanna teaching it using some sign language! The verse is the motto for Rafiki ministries: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after widows and orphans in their distress and to keep from being polutted by the world. James 1:27
Thanks for your prayers, your love and reading my blog!
Sunday, September 9, 2012
special needs and pen caps
This morning after bathing and dressing the children and walking them to school, I made lunch for our day at Katalemwa Home for children with special needs.
In Uganda having a child with a mental or physical disability is extremely frowned upon ( as if it were a choice), often the father leaves the mother after bearing a child with a disability, blaming her for the child's condition. The family often hides the child in the home to risk being shunned by the community.
Luckily Katalemwa is making great strides to improve the persona of these handicapped children. They invite not only the child to come for assessments, therapy and schooling or play, but also the family so that the parents can learn how to care for the children at home, what exercises to do with them to strengthen limbs or correct a limp; of course not all the diseases are fixed easily, if at all, but Katalemwa does as much as they can. It does cost the families some money but they are getting food, housing and therapy for their child and that is so important. Unlike in the states where disabled people can get social services and support the Ugandan government doesn't acknowledge the need by offering similar programs.
I love the consideration of sustainability, community and changing this negative stigma of the disabled children that Katalemwa offers to Ugandans! 9.6.12
It is Saturday, not even 10 pm, and I am wiped! I think I am having an allergy to something, perhaps in my room, which makes me weeze and cough a bit, but its so much better than getting malaria.
So the fears they instill in you: malaria, well, I have yet to get bit by a mosquito or see one, I guess my morning application of OFF! Deep Woods is working (haha got one this morning {Sunday}), either that or they want to scare you enough that you take it seriously, which I am, but it doesn't seem as much of a problem in the city. Another fear that many had for me was the people, not knowing them (outside of the orphanage) and not fitting in, well, at least daily I get, "Hello Mazungu" (I might change my name), but everyone is super friendly and happy to see you and hoping to sell you their goods or services.
This morning we took the children to get some immunizations at a clinic, most of them are so brave and don't even cry when they are getting their shots, they come out ready for you to read them their next book or play something with them. I'm quite impressed, although we did have an issue with Carol, the smallest girl, who usually is bouncing off the walls with excitement and joy, ended up coming down with a fever of 106!! And she is soo tiny! Luckily at the hospital she was checked out and given a clean bill of health...no malaria, and some asprin to help bring down the fever.
The most frustrating thing about the children is that they put everything in their mouths, a pen cap on the floor, a piece of thread, garbage, stones, literally everything!! I am really going to have to come up with a lesson on hygiene and what is appropriate. Apparently I am the most-teacher like of all the workers and missionaries (thanks mom for passing that gene and some lesson plans along to me), I'll speak more to their teaching style and how it differs from ours perhaps next week, I think I am going to school with the children this upcoming week to teach a lesson, or at least help...oh boy!! 9.8.12
In Uganda having a child with a mental or physical disability is extremely frowned upon ( as if it were a choice), often the father leaves the mother after bearing a child with a disability, blaming her for the child's condition. The family often hides the child in the home to risk being shunned by the community.
Luckily Katalemwa is making great strides to improve the persona of these handicapped children. They invite not only the child to come for assessments, therapy and schooling or play, but also the family so that the parents can learn how to care for the children at home, what exercises to do with them to strengthen limbs or correct a limp; of course not all the diseases are fixed easily, if at all, but Katalemwa does as much as they can. It does cost the families some money but they are getting food, housing and therapy for their child and that is so important. Unlike in the states where disabled people can get social services and support the Ugandan government doesn't acknowledge the need by offering similar programs.
I love the consideration of sustainability, community and changing this negative stigma of the disabled children that Katalemwa offers to Ugandans! 9.6.12
It is Saturday, not even 10 pm, and I am wiped! I think I am having an allergy to something, perhaps in my room, which makes me weeze and cough a bit, but its so much better than getting malaria.
So the fears they instill in you: malaria, well, I have yet to get bit by a mosquito or see one, I guess my morning application of OFF! Deep Woods is working (haha got one this morning {Sunday}), either that or they want to scare you enough that you take it seriously, which I am, but it doesn't seem as much of a problem in the city. Another fear that many had for me was the people, not knowing them (outside of the orphanage) and not fitting in, well, at least daily I get, "Hello Mazungu" (I might change my name), but everyone is super friendly and happy to see you and hoping to sell you their goods or services.
This morning we took the children to get some immunizations at a clinic, most of them are so brave and don't even cry when they are getting their shots, they come out ready for you to read them their next book or play something with them. I'm quite impressed, although we did have an issue with Carol, the smallest girl, who usually is bouncing off the walls with excitement and joy, ended up coming down with a fever of 106!! And she is soo tiny! Luckily at the hospital she was checked out and given a clean bill of health...no malaria, and some asprin to help bring down the fever.
The most frustrating thing about the children is that they put everything in their mouths, a pen cap on the floor, a piece of thread, garbage, stones, literally everything!! I am really going to have to come up with a lesson on hygiene and what is appropriate. Apparently I am the most-teacher like of all the workers and missionaries (thanks mom for passing that gene and some lesson plans along to me), I'll speak more to their teaching style and how it differs from ours perhaps next week, I think I am going to school with the children this upcoming week to teach a lesson, or at least help...oh boy!! 9.8.12
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
The Market
The food is good, although basic, breakfast for me is usually bread with jam, then lunch is poncho (its some flour based food) with beans and carrots, snack time is always fruit: watermelon, pineapple, bananas or mangoes. Supper is the only variable, but always includes rice, and then usually a meat and vegetable combination in a sauce. That is definitely the tastiest, or perhaps the way auntie monica (the cook) makes cabbage is the best, either way she is great at providing for everyone; there are 12 children, 5 workers and right now 3 missionaries.
Tomorrow we are going to serve at a home for children with special needs and I am looking forward to the opportunity to play with them, love them and share Jesus' love with them.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Day One
Words can not express how amazing it was to pull up to the orphanage and have ten adorable children running at you screaming, "Auntie Laura is here, Auntie Laura, Auntie Laura"! And they'll let you scoop them into your arms and hug them. It was an overwhelming experience full of immense love for these amazing little children. Its hard to do anything but hug and kiss them.
Last night they all sang praises to God while Moses and Godfrey played the drums, then I read them a Bible story, and off they went to sleep. It was a long day of travelling and I am so happy to be here! Day one is over, so many more to enjoy...
Last night they all sang praises to God while Moses and Godfrey played the drums, then I read them a Bible story, and off they went to sleep. It was a long day of travelling and I am so happy to be here! Day one is over, so many more to enjoy...
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