Week Three

Time is flying by here. I have a new family in the EAC team, I am learning so much about the world and discovering myself. In the US everything is so rushed and planned and synchronized that no one has time to really reflect on life. Here in between long bumpy car rides and exhausted afternoons at the house, I am left with so much time to really wonder and dream, even in the midst of living with 28 people in a small home. As much as I miss the American comforts of Cheez Its and sleeping without a mosquito net, I know when I'm back in the states, I will be truly longing to live at the Ugandan pace again. As I am reflecting, I have started to question what I value and prioritize in the world and I have also reaffirmed my core beliefs. I just hope I can somehow figure out how to bottle up the lessons I am learning here and bring them back to America to apply to my everyday life.

This week has been a fairly typical week. Tuesday we went to a primary school for a feeding/worship program and a secondary school in the afternoon. Going to the schools really is a blessing. These kids are in classes of fifty plus and are starving for the attention of an adult, so being able to deliver that undivided attention to them is a very humbling experience. Wednesday we went again to my favorite project, Katelemwa and saw the most loveable kids in the world. As corny as it sounds, I am convinced that God gave kids who suffer from disabilities a greater ability to love and be loved than kids who don't. Thursday we went to a new babies home (where we could actually hold the babies!) and then again to Remand Home. Friday we cleaned up the house and the street (which was a lot more work than it sounds) and Saturday, we drove to the source of the Nile in Jinja for a day of relaxation and bonding as a team. Sunday, after church a few of us went to the Market in Owino (which makes Chinatown in New York look tame) then to a random food court in a mall for an overpriced pizza. However, after eating posho, mateoke, rice, beans and pineapple for two meals a day every day, we all wanted a taste of American food again, no matter what the price, and it tasted SO good.

The new babies home I went to this week, Nssaymba was really a treat. When we walked in, a swarm of twenty kids aged 2 to 4 literally ran into our arms, and lucky for me, the tallest,heaviest, oldest boy ran straight to me. His name was Patrick. I am not kidding, this kid weighed 75 pounds while everyone else weighed like 30. Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but the point is, the kid was heavy. Then the rest of the team went to do some physical work around the home and I was asked to look over the 20 kids at the playground and keep them from wandering off. I assumed one of the ladies who worked there would be with me and the playground was fenced off, but I was wrong on both counts. The precious big boy who ran into my arms at the beginning soon became my arch nemesis when he discovered his favorite game was to bolt out of the playground to go get a good look at the Muzungus cleaning the yard. And of course whenever I ran after him to bring him back, several of the toddlers would follow. Not to mention, when I finally caught this boy, he would refuse to walk and I would have to carry him back. He was laughing and smiling and having a great time, but I was feeling a little ticked at him, to say the least. Anyway, eventually more of the volunteers came and helped me and it settled down and after we fed the kids breakfast, as a group, we just sat with them and played and Patrick came and plopped right into my lap and turned into the sweetest boy in the world. I would tickle him and his face would be overcome with contented joy. After about three seconds of him in my lap, I completely forgave the irreparable damage he had made on my back and patience earlier in the afternoon. Then when it was time to leave, I told him I had to go and in perfect english he said "I'll miss you!" and that was the closest I've come to crying since I've been here. That little troublemaker stole my heart and taught me so much. So many people in this world we perceive as a nuance, a troublemaker or a general disturbance to society. We only see them from our perspective and look at how they are imposing on us instead of how we can serve them. But when we humble ourselves and take the time to love on these people, their rough exterior opens up and we can see their ability to love. I won't forget Patrick and if you want to put a face to a name, he is the one in my lap in my profile picture on the right.

Remand Home was also incredible this week. In the small group discussion, we asked volunteers to share their story and their testimony and wow, was I unprepared for that. Many of the kids are in the juvenile correctional facility for crimes they did not commit or petty crimes that in their situations, are easy to understand,such as theft. But one boy in my group gave a chilling, but eyeopening story. He told about how growing up, his mom was awful to him and he absolutely hated her. In fact, his hatred for her made him hate all women and all girls. He began to seek out girls to beat and hurt because he felt so much hatred. Eventually one day he was caught trying to break into a woman's home and arrested and subsequently, taken to Remand Home. At the home, he learned about the Gospel and learned right from wrong and swears he will never ever hurt another person again, and I believe him. But, he continued with his story and said that deep down, he still felt the desire to hurt women. God had healed him of his actions, but not his thoughts. I know some of you probably do not want to read this story because it seems incomplete and depressing, but to me, it is so real. The fact that the boy could admit, in a room full of women, that he was still plagued by these thoughts was such an honest and genuine thing to do. Also, it made me really think about his mother and what she must have done to him. What kind of sadistic things could a person do to a child to turn them into a violent, hateful person. And what kind of things happened to the mother to turn her into such an unbearable person to live with. The influences we have on people can really really hurt a person and alter the direction of their life, especially with young kids. Yet on the flip side, the positive interactions and positive influences we have on people can also heal a person and redirect their lives. It seems elementary to just now realize the impact Empower A Child is having on the lives of these children just by investing time in their lives, but better late than never perhaps. At the same time, knowing this is also a call to action and bears the burden of a lot of responsibility, not just on the mission field, but in life. Every single interaction we have with another human can make or break their life. I think we should all keep this in mind.

I have so many more stories and reflections from this week, but I know the power of being concise and brief, so I will leave my other stories for a later date. Tomorrow we are leaving for the village to build a house, so we will leave the modern westernized house with electricity, running water and beds in the city for a more humble house in the village away from distraction. I am excited for what this experience will teach me.

And I'll leave you with a verse.
"Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth."
-Ecclesiastes 11:9

Take heart, if you are reading this blog right now, you have so much to be thankful for. You can afford a computer, you can read and you have at least one person who cares about you (me). Life gets really really hard sometimes, this I know, but we are blessed in so many ways.

I love and miss all of you so incredibly much.