Babies!!!

Oh my, how could I have forgotten to talk about the pineapple. It is so sweet and so delicious, and the bananas, they are much sweeter too. The kids eat the skin of the mangoes, ew! And the corn, no matter how it is cooked is rubbery and bland.

Oh God of my salvation! Even if my mother and father abandon me, the Lord will hold me close. Psalm 27:9-10

Today we went to Sanyu Babies Home. A Christian home for abandoned and orphaned babies. I really wanted to bring one home with me, correction, I want to bring one home with me. However, it is not an easy or cheap process, so no Ugandan orphans for me.

While I was in playing and singing with the 6 month-2 year olds a class came in from a neighboring district and sang and held the babies. It was a brief interaction but hopefully a meaningful one that encourages the school children to serve often, love more and be grateful.

I do hope all of the babies find a home, or can somehow get reintegrated with their families. Currently there are probably 60 babies ranging from one week to 4 years of age residing at the home. They are very well cared for and loved by all the mamas. The parable of the lost sheep has been on my mind recently and Matthews recalling of the parable has a great verse, Matthew 18:14, "In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost". I hope the babies are all found, I mean look at their gushy faces, who wouldn't want to kiss them to pieces!

Food

At the end of my last blog I brought up food, which beckons me to offer some more insight to the food here in Uganda. I might have shared a bit earlier but have a few other interesting things I think you might be interested in. (Also, my friend Caroline wanted to hear about the food, so this one's for her!)

First, I'd like to talk about storage in general. Here, they keep their eggs in the pantry, not in the fridge, they also have storage containers for the eggs that you take with you to the grocer/market, no recycled cardboard here. And then milk comes in bags and are kept in the freezer until the night before they are used when the cook puts the two bags she needs for the next morning in some water overnight. The unripened plantains (matoke) are left outside (I previously posted a photo on FB of a man on a bicycle with a bunch, that's how many we buy weekly), also outside are buckets. One is full of rice, two are full of sweet potatoes and others are full of charcoal brickets (I'll get to cooking next). Then the pumpkin, Irish (which are red potatoes), watermelon, pompom (Papuya) and greens are put under the kitchen prep tables. Oranges here are actually green, which is soo disconcerting, I have yet to eat one, but they are stored on a basket next to the prep tables, along with ginger roots and onions. Bananas and avocadoes are stored on the dining table in large baskets and often are covered in fruit flies. (Disgustingly enough I moved the kitchen prep tables the other day so Uncle Godfrey could sweep, clearly he hadn't swept there for some time, the rotting plantains were gag-worthy).

So we actually have a gas stove/oven which is hooked up to a propane tank, but only certain things are cooked indoors. Rice and the meat, along with the greens are prepared indoors, but most other things are cooked outside over charcoal brickets which are placed in a little metal bucket. Our clean drinking water is boiled on the charcoal, as is beans and posho. The cook, Auntie Monica, also cooks the plantains and sweet potatoes outside wrapped inside of banana leaves, I need to get a photo of this for you to really understand (I owe you one).

A couple other random items of note...I've tried the African tea, and just can't get past the smell of it. Posho and beans are for lunch every day, when we go on outreach days though we have PB&J. not sure when I get home if I'll ever want PB&J or posho again. The meat often has bones on/in it and the kids practically eat the bones as they clean them off and leave not a trace of meat. I eat less than the tiniest child, unfortunately since the food is very carb-heavy I have yet to lose much weight.

I tried to cook for the kids one night, bought black beans (instead of kidney beans), corn, and a mexican seasoning, along with some chillies, and diced up tomatoes and peppers to make a nice Mexican style meal over rice. That was the last time I do that, first of all I didn't add salt, I never cook with salt, but these kids can't live without it, so right off the bat it was bad. Then the chillies were more than they could handle, I think only 2 children actually got a bite of the chillies. Brenda was one of the two poor things that got a hot pepper; she was forced to finish the meal (not by me) and when she came to thank me for the meal (again, something they do culturally), she had tears streaming down her face. I'm not sure if it was because of the heat or because she was forced to finish her food. Poor baby. The fried plaintains and chapati were good though! Needless to say I'm staying out of the kitchen for the remainder of my time here, well, maybe I'll be a sous chef, but definitely never the head cook!


　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

A mid-week Sabbath

Today was my day off. I work hard all week, well, at least according to Ugandan standards; every week someone tells me, slow down, take a break, you work so hard. If you know me, than you know it probably is true, I'm always on the go, always burning the candle at both ends. But my boss Bob will tell you that I work hard, but when I go on vacation, I shut work out of my life and know how to thoroughly enjoy myself. And every Wednesday I shut down and thoroughly enjoy myself. Today, I went to even greater lengths.

I woke up around 9, most mornings I am helping bathe the kids by 6:45. For some reason Oscar couldn't sleep and we both happened to be on Skype, so I got to talk to him for a few minutes and introduce him to 3 of the kids before the signal got bad. Then after some light housekeeping in my room, which really I don't consider work because I love and crave cleanliness for my own clarity and function, headed off to the market. Yes I would participate in getting food items for the house, but I also looked for a colorful belt to add to my wardrobe (without success) and bought cucumbers and zucchini.

The biggest treat was on the way home from grocery shopping. I got dropped off at a salon and for a 45 minute long full-body, with oil, massage. My back has been hurting for quite some time, leaving me most days with a limp, but as of late it has been improving, I just wanted to give it a little boost. So this 45 minute massage that would have cost me at least $75 at home, cost me a whomping $8!!!! Well, $10 when you include the tip, my mom would be so proud of the bargain! I left feeling really great, the masseuse had put a medicated oil on my problem area and dug her elbow right in.

When I got home, I made myself a late lunch of tuna with some chopped veggies...mmmm!!! And prepared a salad for supper. I have not had a salad in over a month. It wasn't the best, because the spinach isn't as tasty as home and I used some other unidentifiable green, but it was delicious. Really, I'm craving salads, when you don't eat many veggies, a salad sounds amazing! Today was my Sabbath and it felt so good!

Street Ministry

Today was an outreach day!

This morning we went to a government run special needs facility for those with mental retardation, it was both a school and a home. Although they encourage new families to have their children go to school just as their "normal" siblings do, most often the families drop them off and then go into hiding so as to skirt the responsibility of having a child with mental incapacities. There is such a negative stigma in this culture, but as I think about it, we're (Americans) often not much better. After an introduction and tour we got to work, sweeping and mopping their rain and refuse trenches, this was some dirty work. Sweeping and mopping in America is vastly different from Uganda, plus we were cleaning these outdoor spaces, which also seemed very foreign. The brooms they use are dried straw bundled together and they are about 2 feet long, requiring a lot of bending. They don't have dustpans at this facility so we use a shovel as the dustpan and make our best attempt to sweep the garbage and debris onto the shovel. The mopping portion involves filling a jerry can (a common way of storing and transporting water), scattering powder soap across the area and pouring the water out while using a short-bristled 'American' broom to scrub the area and push the soap and water towards the drain/discharge.

Because previously people have come and taken photos of the government home and then posted them on the internet asking for money and then never given it to the home, photographs can no longer be taken at the special needs home. The government is also suspicious of their home being criticized when compared to private institutions, they are doing the best they can with the budget they receive, but it is far from pretty.

At 1 pm we headed for our next outreach destination, a ministry for street kids, specifically 10-17 year old boys that live on the streets of Kampala. The organization is called A Perfect Injustice. After a quick game and some praise music with the 40 or so boys and a few little ones scattered about I began to read the story I had written the night before. The rest of my team acted out the story that was about everyone serving a purpose, and I used a quote from Jeremiah about God knowing his plan for us to tie it in Biblically. After allowing the kids to do some coloring, a few volunteers began treating minor wounds, while others began putting the meal together, posho and beans. Mice were actively trying to get at the food as well, what horrid conditions. Despite the dirt and grime and mice, this was, so far, the most fulfilling ministry work we've done. The poverty and lack of opportunities for these children was so ripe, their tattered clothes and lack of discipline was heart-wrenching, it hurt to leave them as they ate.

I arrived home dirty, like really dirty. I could beat my pants and watch the dirt and dust fly off. And I smelled, I smelled from my sweat, and I smelled from being around all the kids that probably hadn't bathed in weeks.

God, thank you so much for absolutely everything you've given me, from a roof over my head to more than 1 meal a day, thank you for keeping me from begging, thank you for giving me running water. Thank you that I can be in Kampala to serve a purpose, your purpose for my life. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.    

one month

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!!!)

　

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.                                                                         

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!