So tonight as Rachel and I escorted Kate to the Airport in Entebbe for her flight home, I questioned myself on whether or not I was ready to leave Jinja, Uganda. I knew the three hour trip was for Kate. I knew that I was 12 days away from my own flight, and that tonight was not meant for me. At the same time however, all the emotions and anxieties of my own departure filled my mind. It caught me off guard, it sat awkwardly before me asking, "What did Rebecca Ferrara bring to the table? What change did Rebecca bring to the women of Suubi? To Uganda? Could you be doing more here? Are you really ready to leave? Is that really all you've got? I thought you were going to accomplish something great with your time spent in Uganda? What happened? ect....Every and any fear that could lead me down a road of guilt, succeeded.
When people that I loved and looked up to gave me advice about my trip to Africa, they all shared one common sentence, " You will learn more from them, then they will learn from you."
At first I did not want to believe. Not because I thought that I had a hand full of wonderful miracles to offer others, but because I wanted to know that my coming to Africa would bring about some change, and not just within myself. I wanted my trip to mean something, for the women to remember me, to have reached a special place in their hearts. I wanted and still want to know that they are able to get something out of my being here. I am not satisfied with myself being the only person that benefits. I do not want to only take wisdom and kindness that the women gave freely home with me, but I yearn for them to have gained something great from me, from Suubi.
So after feeling horrible for about 6 minutes altogether, I decided that meditating in a more positive light was necessary. First, I did not come here to represent myself. When I filled out the volunteer application, I was applying to spend time working with Light Gives Heat (Suubi). I came down here to help out in whatever way possible. Not for myself, not by myself. If anything were to remain with these women of Jinja it is Suubi, and will always be Suubi. So what if my name, my person is forgotten. Suubi is still apart of their lives. There is a friendly face buying a necklace from them every Saturday that cares about them. There have been many faces that have given up time, friends, family, and comfort to represent this CBO. I have accomplished a goal. I cared. I came. I learned. I love/loved these women.
Yes, there are many parts of my heart that want recognition. I would be lying and acting modest if I said that I did not care about appreciation. That is something that I need to defeat though. I have learned to give without giving. It's not about me and how special I am. It's not about my life story, it's not about me. I wrote that twice, I am still convincing myself you see.
My motives are being challenged and my heart corrected every week. It is a struggle that I am so grateful for. Something that I know I will always remember. It may seem easy to not need gratification. But when you travel halfway across the world to "make a change", human expectations lead you to anticipate results from your sacrifice. No? Yes.
Yes, I believe that I have learned many amazing things that I will remember forever. I would never take these three months back. I would not change these beautiful women for one second. I would not make things easier. I would not want to make things harder either ;)
I want exactly what happened and nothing more. If these women love me, then they love me. If they forget my name a week after I leave, yep that sucks, but I hope they remember at least a white girl that brought some of God's light to their eyes who volunteered for Suubi. I hope they noticed some joy always, some sorrow when times were trying, some gratefulness while being welcomed so openly. I hope they noticed Suubi, love, and God during my time spent with them. It would be great if my name stuck in their heads but from now on I am not going to expect that. Its just focusing on the wrong things. And that's not the feeling I want to leave with. I don't want to label my trip as "failure" if they can't remember me. I am so happy for this opportunity. I am so thankful for the support that I have received from everyone at home and here. I am completely okay with the idea of my learning more than them now that the weeks have passed. I am happy that I can have memories to indulge myself in while I am home and reflect on lessons learned. All I want is for them to feel loved, and important. And to me, they all are.
Thursday, December 3
Sunday, November 29
He gives. He takes.
Last week one of the ladies that I have been visiting with Kate lost her baby boy. She was carrying the baby for 10 months. She was in so much pain being pregnate that she has missed the last four Suubi meetings because she was unable to walk to Danida. last Tuesday, while four of us girls were in Kampala helping with a shipment, Lillian went into labor. Kate was really excited because she has been filming four women who were pregnate and she was unsure if she would be-able to have closure for Lillian's story, since the other three women have delivered already. I was glad Kate was able to be there, yesterday I was at least. She raced to the clinic and got there right after Lillian delivered. It was a quick delivery, which is good because she has been in so much pain with this baby. She was holding her baby boy with one arm and the other arm was outstretched and praising God. She was so joyful, though also exhausted. She had finally had her child. She was unsure of the sex, so now that she knew it was a boy, she named him David after the founder of Suubi. Wednesday morning Kate and Rachel woke up early in order to take the van to the clinic and pick up Lillian with her water basins, blankets, soap, tea, and new baby. It's a long walk from the clinic to Walukuba East, which is where she lives, so that is why we have been escorting them by the van. Emily and I walked into town in order to get some arrands done. We were both meeting up with Kate and Rachel after so we called them to see when they would be able to pick us up. We waited. About 10 minutes later we recieved a phone call from Rachel saying that we would have to wait longer and that they were soon on their way. 20 minutes later they drove up and told us that Lillian's baby boy david died. Kate told us, and as the first words left her mouth to start speaking the bad news, tears were rolling down her face. I was shocked. I was not able to cry, but I knew that Lillian was not okay and that she was so sad by everything that was taking place. Instead of going on with our plans for the rest of the day like planned we all took a detour and drove to Lillian's to drop off some stuff that we were helping them transport. As we pulled up I sugested we pray since we all did not know how to act or what to do. We prayed and once we were done the families car was pulling up to the home. This was everyones first time back home since being at the hospital so i felt like i was intruding standing there holding pots of food and carrying blankets and stuff. I felt like we should just bring it all by another time and let them have alone time to be together as a family. We were ushered in however. Betty, a friend of Lillian's, was sitting on the couch to our right when we came inside the home. In her arms was baby David's body wrapped up in a blanket. She started to cry. She was so sad. My heart instantly broke for her's. Simon, the husband, was calm and softspoken. He offered us seats and told us to make ourselves at home. I sat by Betty and gave her a hug. She was still crying and so i just kept holding her as she held the baby. Once we were in the house for a while Lillian entered. She took two steps then reached her hands to the ground and collapsed. Her head hanging and body slouched over, Lillian started to cry. She started to pray in Acholi. Started to pray in tounges. She would raise her hands in the air asking why and then transitioned her spirit back into praising God. She recognized only her pain as she cried out, her loss was great, and not once did she try to censer her sorrow as she lay on the ground. I had not seen any person open themselves up to being so vulnerable in front of people like that before. We all prayed in a circle as she layed there continuing on in her prayers to God. Everyone was hoping for a wave of comfort to flow into the room and suround Lillian and her family. It was hard to pray when i knew so much had been lost. But it's the only thing that helps in a time like that so we all did. We each said our own goodbyes at different times. Left Lillian and her family and sat in the van. The rest of the day was lost in the shadow of Lillian and her family. Everything else did not really matter. She was in my thoughts during other visits. Throughout the day. Please pray for her family. They need God's Love So So Much.
Thanks
Thanks
Sunday, November 22
catch up
Short but Long...What I Did... What I Thought.
29th,
Did -A bunch of volunteers and I modeled new flavors for Light Gives Heat in the heart of Jinja Town.
Thought - Being a model in a third world country is the strangest feeling ever. Seems to be the last thing anyone would ever think to do, that is to make yourself all done up and pose in front of cool colored business walls wearing awesome beaded necklaces when most people walking around you don't have more than fifty dollars in their name. Also there were random children wanting to be in the pictures. Trying to scare the photographer, trying to stand ridiculously close to me while posing.
30th,
Did- Kate and I Boded to Danida so we could visit Carol and borrow a "Gomas", which is an African women's traditional dress for important events. Kate wanted to try it on for size for Halloween. So that was fun.
Thoughts- Our boda driver got upset, refused to take our money, asked for a larger amount, flipped us off, we made the amount larger, still refused, we offered him the money and he dropped it on purpose and refused, we thanked him for the ride and continued to walk away, he grabbed me forcefully and furiously, I spun my arm out of his grasp and pointed at him with all the strength that one finger could muster and said "no" as if speaking to a Dog. Sorry that we were not compliant to your ridiculous request but that does not mean that you can grab me. I did not say that, but its what I was thinking. Instead I told him that he was not aloud to grab me and then I walked away. Shortly after I just started crying as I walked off. Kate then spoke pretty darn strictly to the man she told him that he had lost our business and that we would "never take from" him again. Ha!
31st,
Did- Suubi meeting on Halloween!!!! All the volunteers in the house, actually all the girls, decided to dress up for the buying of necklaces, our annual Suubi meeting every Saturday.
Thoughts- The women loved it....mainly they loved Kate because she was wearing a Gomas and it was hilarious. The women did not know what to do with their surprise. Most women looked at me and Rachel as if we were normal. Which I thought was funny because we clearly were not dressed normal. Rachel was wearing a cowgirl outfit, freckles on her face, hair in braids, cow girl hat, bandanna. And I was a hippie wearing a purple tie-dye shirt 14 Suubi necklace, a flower scarf around my hips, bell bottoms, no shoes (which was not that different from normal), headband around my forehead, and a peace sign marked on my face. Yep, not really the style back in America. :) I thought is was funny.
1st,
Did- I got to go to the gym!!!!
Thoughts- I am a very happy volunteer. Not only because I was able to go work out and get some good stretching in and lifting but also because it was my anniversary with Scott. Yes.
2nd,
Did- Rachel and I woke up early and made Epoh workers lunch. We sorted through beans. Cut and sauteed garlic, bell peppers, tomatoes, and onions to add to the boiled beans. Beans and Rice...yum.
Thoughts- They loved it. We sat there and were able to visit them at the new building and give them some creative homemade cards that we made for them one day. We brought the craft and basin around for them to wash their hands. Passed out bowls and silverware, food (the key ingredient), and of course LOVE. :) Boy, was that cheesy enough, maybe, but so so much fun.
3rd,
Did- SICK AGAIN.
Thoughts- Not fun.
4th,
Did- I felt much better so I decided to go visit a woman with Kate. We walked to the villages and ran into some friendly faces, one of them being a Suubi woman named Daisy. Real quick lesson. In Uganda you don't refer to a woman by her first name but by the name of her first child. So Daisy has a daughter named Rachel, meaning that everyone calls her Mamma Rachel. Okay lesson aggerned. We decided to walk along side Mamma Rachel on the way to visit Yasinta. Visited Mamma Otim (Yasinta) then walked to the Suubi building to see if women were waiting there to ask question about the new flavor.
Thoughts- I was walking next to Kate and Mamma Rachel and quite honestly getting really bored. Some school kids were walking with us, holding my hands and giggling. They just love being around white people. Everyone here thinks that white people are tight with Obama, have power to command the military, have several spouses each, and also are celebrities. Its a small misconception really. So I was becoming bored of them walking with us and just holding my hands. There was no interaction, plus it happens to me almost everyday, and I am so used to it, and it's no longer cute like I thought it was when I first got here. So I decided to run. That was a move they weren't expecting. There I was running away from the children as a joke and they began to follow. My evil plan was working. We were playing. After the children all caught up with me I stopped, walked a few steps, started to count to three out loud, then once I hit three I started to run again. This time the kids anticipated my running and ran also at three. Mamma Rachel was still behind with Kate at this time, and I was told, Laughing extremely hard. Once the kids parted to their homes I asked Mamma Rachel if she would like to race. She got really embarrassed and said that she would not race. We reached an area that she approved of finally because she pointed at the school's front and back yard and said "We race here." I got all excited that she actually wanted to run with me. I quickly gave Kate my stuff to hold and Kate pulled out her camera waiting for the "Kodak moment."
We established the track, Kate counted to three, and on three we were off. At first I was not sure if I was supposed to run full out or if I should wait a bit and see how serious she was about racing. As fast as she started was as fast as I learned to run full out. She was so small, so kind, so quiet, but she had her game face on. She knew her strategy. She beat me to the inside advantage. She gr abed the supporting poll of the building to fling her body in the direction of the finish line and her legs moved so so fast. I was completely beat. And I have a picture to prove it. :)
note- Start working on cardio at gym. I was too out of breath for how short that race was.
After we showed her the picture of her beating miss whitey we said goodbye and were off to Yasinta's home. Yasinta's was fun as always. We helped her sort through rice. Watched her as she gave her newborn baby boy Patrick a bath. We talked, I gave her a necklace that I had made (the women rolled the beads though). Ate with her and just hung out. I loved it. This was my fourth visit to Yasinta's so it's less formal than most visits and very much like friends hanging out.
5th,
Did- Sick
Thoughts- Again?
6th,
Did- Sick/Randy's Birthday Celebration/Mexican Theme Night/ MJ movie night
Thoughts- I love food. I love chocolate birthday cake. I love Randy. I like Micheal Jackson's songs!!!!
7th,
Did- Worried about not being able to buy necklaces from the woman because of cash flow problems. God Provided!!!!! Suubi Meeting (the meetings take about 3 hours)
There are 91 women. Eight people helping with the buying process.
varnish checkers
length checkers
style checkers
clasp checkers
money checkers
and
signature checkers
Thoughts- I wish I had time to meet every single woman. I wish that when they came to the front to hand us their necklaces that I could speak perfectly to them and be able to just talk. But I love seeing the woman that I do know. I love getting to laugh with a woman that does not speak English very well, it's a bonding moment, and I can't get enough of it. I love seeing Joyce's smile. I love seeing Florence with her crazy bright neon green necklace. I love how every time I see Immaculate's face I wonder if she remembers me. I love watching Emily cut in line, Catherine and how she is always mothering me and making space for me when I first enter the room. I love watching Prisca, she is so humble. I love seeing the women bring their babies to Suubi. They are all so cute (but they smother them in clothes. It's hot out and they have beanies and sweaters on, as well as being wrapped up in a blanket. I just don't understand.) I love looking at how beautiful the women all are. How each one of their faces are different, even though sometimes it's hard to tell them apart. I think Obama is funny when she comes into the room and gets really animated about whats going on. She raises her hand in the air and lets out an Acholi "iyeeyiyeyiii". I love getting to tell the women that they look smart, or when a necklace is beautiful getting to say that it is. I love goofy Margaret, gorgeous Betty, Christine, and Joyce. I love seeing Mariam with her bracelets, awesome earrings, her smart outfits, and smile(she's just cute with her fashion.), Agnus and her laugh.....man I just love these little things about each woman. I could go on, but it would be too long. :)
8th,
Did- Kate, Alex, and I went to go visit Translator Betty (yes, translator is apart of her name).
Thoughts- I got to get an up close and personal look at Ugandan toes (picture)
I was taught how to peal a mango the proper way (picture)
I was fed an amazing lunch (picture)
I made a huge ordeal about casava (a type of root that is gardened in Uganda)... Betty even gave me a bunch of casava for take away. (picture)
I learned how to prepare casava (picture)
I watched an Akon music video (picture)
I had a great conversation with one of the only modern thinkers I have run into in Jinja.
I was given mangos.
I got to hold a precious baby.
I laughed.
I learned.
okay it was a great time.
9th,
Did- Went to the first Suubi official dance lesson. Visited Emily and Stanly with Emily and Alex.
Thoughts- I need to work on my Acholi dancing. Joyce 1 and Joyce 2 love to dance. I love watching these woman dance. I am mystified as to how they get their bodies to move like that.
Emily and Stanly are too cute. (Stanly is a white man from Ireland, 70 years old, he has huge bulging eyes, very polite, likes to sing out loud, loves Abba and country, I think he has the hots for Ugandan women because Emily is his second Ugandan wife. Also he loves Africa wine, wants to start a business importing mushrooms into Jinja and is in the process of building a new home for him and his wife. Last and most important Stanly is a very socially awkward and goofy person.) yep.....interesting. :)
10th,
Did- Visited a women named Christine.
Thoughts- She forgot I was coming so that was a little uncomfortable at first because I felt like I was intruding. She thinks that rats running around the house are normal. She is really sweet and I am going to visit her again this Friday (being the 20th).
11th,
Did- EMERGENCY PURCHASES!!!!! Rachel informed me that we were tripling our order from the women this week last minute. So my task was to go into three different villages before English and pass out 8 stoppers to each woman on top of the four that we had given them the previous Suubi meeting. That's a lot of money, Praise the Lord!!!!
Thoughts- I walked around the villages all day with Christine who I visited the day before. She helped me find the women's homes, because there is no way I could remember where 91 women live, even if I brought the address book (cause that's way too confusing too).
I felt blessed, so so blessed, to be able to go up to each woman and tell them that we are able to buy more. Each woman was so excited. My favorite reaction was when I went to Babu. Christine and I approached nine of the ladies. They were are gathered on the steps listening to Ugandan music talking and preparing lunch together. They turned as we neared and jumped up in excitement just to see me. I got to tell them and then we did a little victory dance. :) Joyce even gave me a sweetie (candy). Yum!
12th,
Did- Alex and I went to Masese to feed 1,000 children.
Thoughts- Kinda a bummer day actually. It was just me and Alex and things just were not working out for us. Oranges were not on time. So then we told all the kids to start forming lines. But then the oranges got there finally. We told the kids to go back and sit while Alex and I counted out 900 oranges before we started. Yep. Then as we were serving, Alex serving rice and with me serving beans, we discovered that food was running low. Give more, or give less. It's just never fun giving children less when you see that they are in need of more. In the end it all worked out. But the fear of dissapointing the kids is a horible fear indeed; So I am very glad that it all worked out.
thats all for now. sorry I got so behind on my blog. hope you are enjoying these and thank you all for the support. It means the world to me. You really have no idea.
29th,
Did -A bunch of volunteers and I modeled new flavors for Light Gives Heat in the heart of Jinja Town.
Thought - Being a model in a third world country is the strangest feeling ever. Seems to be the last thing anyone would ever think to do, that is to make yourself all done up and pose in front of cool colored business walls wearing awesome beaded necklaces when most people walking around you don't have more than fifty dollars in their name. Also there were random children wanting to be in the pictures. Trying to scare the photographer, trying to stand ridiculously close to me while posing.
30th,
Did- Kate and I Boded to Danida so we could visit Carol and borrow a "Gomas", which is an African women's traditional dress for important events. Kate wanted to try it on for size for Halloween. So that was fun.
Thoughts- Our boda driver got upset, refused to take our money, asked for a larger amount, flipped us off, we made the amount larger, still refused, we offered him the money and he dropped it on purpose and refused, we thanked him for the ride and continued to walk away, he grabbed me forcefully and furiously, I spun my arm out of his grasp and pointed at him with all the strength that one finger could muster and said "no" as if speaking to a Dog. Sorry that we were not compliant to your ridiculous request but that does not mean that you can grab me. I did not say that, but its what I was thinking. Instead I told him that he was not aloud to grab me and then I walked away. Shortly after I just started crying as I walked off. Kate then spoke pretty darn strictly to the man she told him that he had lost our business and that we would "never take from" him again. Ha!
31st,
Did- Suubi meeting on Halloween!!!! All the volunteers in the house, actually all the girls, decided to dress up for the buying of necklaces, our annual Suubi meeting every Saturday.
Thoughts- The women loved it....mainly they loved Kate because she was wearing a Gomas and it was hilarious. The women did not know what to do with their surprise. Most women looked at me and Rachel as if we were normal. Which I thought was funny because we clearly were not dressed normal. Rachel was wearing a cowgirl outfit, freckles on her face, hair in braids, cow girl hat, bandanna. And I was a hippie wearing a purple tie-dye shirt 14 Suubi necklace, a flower scarf around my hips, bell bottoms, no shoes (which was not that different from normal), headband around my forehead, and a peace sign marked on my face. Yep, not really the style back in America. :) I thought is was funny.
1st,
Did- I got to go to the gym!!!!
Thoughts- I am a very happy volunteer. Not only because I was able to go work out and get some good stretching in and lifting but also because it was my anniversary with Scott. Yes.
2nd,
Did- Rachel and I woke up early and made Epoh workers lunch. We sorted through beans. Cut and sauteed garlic, bell peppers, tomatoes, and onions to add to the boiled beans. Beans and Rice...yum.
Thoughts- They loved it. We sat there and were able to visit them at the new building and give them some creative homemade cards that we made for them one day. We brought the craft and basin around for them to wash their hands. Passed out bowls and silverware, food (the key ingredient), and of course LOVE. :) Boy, was that cheesy enough, maybe, but so so much fun.
3rd,
Did- SICK AGAIN.
Thoughts- Not fun.
4th,
Did- I felt much better so I decided to go visit a woman with Kate. We walked to the villages and ran into some friendly faces, one of them being a Suubi woman named Daisy. Real quick lesson. In Uganda you don't refer to a woman by her first name but by the name of her first child. So Daisy has a daughter named Rachel, meaning that everyone calls her Mamma Rachel. Okay lesson aggerned. We decided to walk along side Mamma Rachel on the way to visit Yasinta. Visited Mamma Otim (Yasinta) then walked to the Suubi building to see if women were waiting there to ask question about the new flavor.
Thoughts- I was walking next to Kate and Mamma Rachel and quite honestly getting really bored. Some school kids were walking with us, holding my hands and giggling. They just love being around white people. Everyone here thinks that white people are tight with Obama, have power to command the military, have several spouses each, and also are celebrities. Its a small misconception really. So I was becoming bored of them walking with us and just holding my hands. There was no interaction, plus it happens to me almost everyday, and I am so used to it, and it's no longer cute like I thought it was when I first got here. So I decided to run. That was a move they weren't expecting. There I was running away from the children as a joke and they began to follow. My evil plan was working. We were playing. After the children all caught up with me I stopped, walked a few steps, started to count to three out loud, then once I hit three I started to run again. This time the kids anticipated my running and ran also at three. Mamma Rachel was still behind with Kate at this time, and I was told, Laughing extremely hard. Once the kids parted to their homes I asked Mamma Rachel if she would like to race. She got really embarrassed and said that she would not race. We reached an area that she approved of finally because she pointed at the school's front and back yard and said "We race here." I got all excited that she actually wanted to run with me. I quickly gave Kate my stuff to hold and Kate pulled out her camera waiting for the "Kodak moment."
We established the track, Kate counted to three, and on three we were off. At first I was not sure if I was supposed to run full out or if I should wait a bit and see how serious she was about racing. As fast as she started was as fast as I learned to run full out. She was so small, so kind, so quiet, but she had her game face on. She knew her strategy. She beat me to the inside advantage. She gr abed the supporting poll of the building to fling her body in the direction of the finish line and her legs moved so so fast. I was completely beat. And I have a picture to prove it. :)
note- Start working on cardio at gym. I was too out of breath for how short that race was.
After we showed her the picture of her beating miss whitey we said goodbye and were off to Yasinta's home. Yasinta's was fun as always. We helped her sort through rice. Watched her as she gave her newborn baby boy Patrick a bath. We talked, I gave her a necklace that I had made (the women rolled the beads though). Ate with her and just hung out. I loved it. This was my fourth visit to Yasinta's so it's less formal than most visits and very much like friends hanging out.
5th,
Did- Sick
Thoughts- Again?
6th,
Did- Sick/Randy's Birthday Celebration/Mexican Theme Night/ MJ movie night
Thoughts- I love food. I love chocolate birthday cake. I love Randy. I like Micheal Jackson's songs!!!!
7th,
Did- Worried about not being able to buy necklaces from the woman because of cash flow problems. God Provided!!!!! Suubi Meeting (the meetings take about 3 hours)
There are 91 women. Eight people helping with the buying process.
varnish checkers
length checkers
style checkers
clasp checkers
money checkers
and
signature checkers
Thoughts- I wish I had time to meet every single woman. I wish that when they came to the front to hand us their necklaces that I could speak perfectly to them and be able to just talk. But I love seeing the woman that I do know. I love getting to laugh with a woman that does not speak English very well, it's a bonding moment, and I can't get enough of it. I love seeing Joyce's smile. I love seeing Florence with her crazy bright neon green necklace. I love how every time I see Immaculate's face I wonder if she remembers me. I love watching Emily cut in line, Catherine and how she is always mothering me and making space for me when I first enter the room. I love watching Prisca, she is so humble. I love seeing the women bring their babies to Suubi. They are all so cute (but they smother them in clothes. It's hot out and they have beanies and sweaters on, as well as being wrapped up in a blanket. I just don't understand.) I love looking at how beautiful the women all are. How each one of their faces are different, even though sometimes it's hard to tell them apart. I think Obama is funny when she comes into the room and gets really animated about whats going on. She raises her hand in the air and lets out an Acholi "iyeeyiyeyiii". I love getting to tell the women that they look smart, or when a necklace is beautiful getting to say that it is. I love goofy Margaret, gorgeous Betty, Christine, and Joyce. I love seeing Mariam with her bracelets, awesome earrings, her smart outfits, and smile(she's just cute with her fashion.), Agnus and her laugh.....man I just love these little things about each woman. I could go on, but it would be too long. :)
8th,
Did- Kate, Alex, and I went to go visit Translator Betty (yes, translator is apart of her name).
Thoughts- I got to get an up close and personal look at Ugandan toes (picture)
I was taught how to peal a mango the proper way (picture)
I was fed an amazing lunch (picture)
I made a huge ordeal about casava (a type of root that is gardened in Uganda)... Betty even gave me a bunch of casava for take away. (picture)
I learned how to prepare casava (picture)
I watched an Akon music video (picture)
I had a great conversation with one of the only modern thinkers I have run into in Jinja.
I was given mangos.
I got to hold a precious baby.
I laughed.
I learned.
okay it was a great time.
9th,
Did- Went to the first Suubi official dance lesson. Visited Emily and Stanly with Emily and Alex.
Thoughts- I need to work on my Acholi dancing. Joyce 1 and Joyce 2 love to dance. I love watching these woman dance. I am mystified as to how they get their bodies to move like that.
Emily and Stanly are too cute. (Stanly is a white man from Ireland, 70 years old, he has huge bulging eyes, very polite, likes to sing out loud, loves Abba and country, I think he has the hots for Ugandan women because Emily is his second Ugandan wife. Also he loves Africa wine, wants to start a business importing mushrooms into Jinja and is in the process of building a new home for him and his wife. Last and most important Stanly is a very socially awkward and goofy person.) yep.....interesting. :)
10th,
Did- Visited a women named Christine.
Thoughts- She forgot I was coming so that was a little uncomfortable at first because I felt like I was intruding. She thinks that rats running around the house are normal. She is really sweet and I am going to visit her again this Friday (being the 20th).
11th,
Did- EMERGENCY PURCHASES!!!!! Rachel informed me that we were tripling our order from the women this week last minute. So my task was to go into three different villages before English and pass out 8 stoppers to each woman on top of the four that we had given them the previous Suubi meeting. That's a lot of money, Praise the Lord!!!!
Thoughts- I walked around the villages all day with Christine who I visited the day before. She helped me find the women's homes, because there is no way I could remember where 91 women live, even if I brought the address book (cause that's way too confusing too).
I felt blessed, so so blessed, to be able to go up to each woman and tell them that we are able to buy more. Each woman was so excited. My favorite reaction was when I went to Babu. Christine and I approached nine of the ladies. They were are gathered on the steps listening to Ugandan music talking and preparing lunch together. They turned as we neared and jumped up in excitement just to see me. I got to tell them and then we did a little victory dance. :) Joyce even gave me a sweetie (candy). Yum!
12th,
Did- Alex and I went to Masese to feed 1,000 children.
Thoughts- Kinda a bummer day actually. It was just me and Alex and things just were not working out for us. Oranges were not on time. So then we told all the kids to start forming lines. But then the oranges got there finally. We told the kids to go back and sit while Alex and I counted out 900 oranges before we started. Yep. Then as we were serving, Alex serving rice and with me serving beans, we discovered that food was running low. Give more, or give less. It's just never fun giving children less when you see that they are in need of more. In the end it all worked out. But the fear of dissapointing the kids is a horible fear indeed; So I am very glad that it all worked out.
thats all for now. sorry I got so behind on my blog. hope you are enjoying these and thank you all for the support. It means the world to me. You really have no idea.
Monday, November 2
thank you
Hey Guys!!!
Sorry it has been too long since I have posted anything. Some of you may have been thinking the worst, but let me please let you all know, that I am safe, I am over my 13 day illness (we still do not have a name for it.)Still don't know what my body was thinking. All I know is that I am feeling much better now and for that I am so thankful. Thank You Jesus! :)
Symtoms encluded :
cough
fever
chills
nausea
diareaha (awful experiences are now associated with this word)
stomache pains
loss of appititte (loss of weight)
vomit (my personal favorite)
weakness (trembles)
lack of energy (being tired just after waking up...really annoying.)
To be completely truthful, I wanted to book a flight home maybe 4 times during my quarinteen. I was getting a little discouraged after the fifth day, feeling like I was not pulling my weight as a volunteer, not getting the satisfaction of rest because I was unable to sip on a warm cup of campbells. Everyone in the house was out and about being productive and Miss Rebecca was a joyious moopy mess. Pleasure indeed.
Today, sun is up, along with myself.
Ate a nice hearty breakfast (yes! food looks good again!)
Got some good talks in with Jesus.
Excited to get back in the game.
Excited to go into town.
Excited to go buy beans. (hey i've not been to the market in 2 weeks, its silly, but worth getting excited about.)
My agenda for the day, being a rather light load since I don't want to get carried away while still on the road to recovery, includes going to town and buying beans so that I can bring EPOH lunch on Monday with the others. (Kate, Emily, and Rachel)
Post this blog.
Finish my blog about Funeral.
Come home and work on English class for 3 o'clock.
English
Home
Go to Flavours with Kate and see Agatha for her Birthday
and Sleep.
Oh and praise the Lord for this last week. I may have been sick, and two mornings ago was definately not the best memory to look back on, but despite the circumstances that follow with being sick, God really blessed me. Somebody came up to me and gave me a huge gift. Somebody that I did not know very well, somebody that I had not expressed a need that i had to. They told me that God was leading them to give to me, and so they gave. I was blown away, and overwhelmed with disbelief. It was a beautiful gift. And it has taken the bitter taste of being ill out of my system.
more to come. thank you for all of your prayers!
I miss you guys!!!!
Sorry it has been too long since I have posted anything. Some of you may have been thinking the worst, but let me please let you all know, that I am safe, I am over my 13 day illness (we still do not have a name for it.)Still don't know what my body was thinking. All I know is that I am feeling much better now and for that I am so thankful. Thank You Jesus! :)
Symtoms encluded :
cough
fever
chills
nausea
diareaha (awful experiences are now associated with this word)
stomache pains
loss of appititte (loss of weight)
vomit (my personal favorite)
weakness (trembles)
lack of energy (being tired just after waking up...really annoying.)
To be completely truthful, I wanted to book a flight home maybe 4 times during my quarinteen. I was getting a little discouraged after the fifth day, feeling like I was not pulling my weight as a volunteer, not getting the satisfaction of rest because I was unable to sip on a warm cup of campbells. Everyone in the house was out and about being productive and Miss Rebecca was a joyious moopy mess. Pleasure indeed.
Today, sun is up, along with myself.
Ate a nice hearty breakfast (yes! food looks good again!)
Got some good talks in with Jesus.
Excited to get back in the game.
Excited to go into town.
Excited to go buy beans. (hey i've not been to the market in 2 weeks, its silly, but worth getting excited about.)
My agenda for the day, being a rather light load since I don't want to get carried away while still on the road to recovery, includes going to town and buying beans so that I can bring EPOH lunch on Monday with the others. (Kate, Emily, and Rachel)
Post this blog.
Finish my blog about Funeral.
Come home and work on English class for 3 o'clock.
English
Home
Go to Flavours with Kate and see Agatha for her Birthday
and Sleep.
Oh and praise the Lord for this last week. I may have been sick, and two mornings ago was definately not the best memory to look back on, but despite the circumstances that follow with being sick, God really blessed me. Somebody came up to me and gave me a huge gift. Somebody that I did not know very well, somebody that I had not expressed a need that i had to. They told me that God was leading them to give to me, and so they gave. I was blown away, and overwhelmed with disbelief. It was a beautiful gift. And it has taken the bitter taste of being ill out of my system.
more to come. thank you for all of your prayers!
I miss you guys!!!!
Friday, October 16
Funeral on Tuesday
Andrew's grandmother died while we were in Sipi. The next day I woke up to find that the funeral was Tuesday, which happened to be that morning. It made me really sad to hear that his Jaja (grandmother) had died. She raised him, so I know that it was as if his mother died. Both his real parents had died already, and his 13 year old sister died last year of aids. Andrew has his uncle now, which from the sounds of it, he does not seem that involved with his life. As much as the day was about Andrew I could not help but to think only about my life. My dad. My brother. Last September. Scott. Scott's dad. My mind was in so many places that morning. Rachel told me the service was at ten and that if I wanted to go I could. I was decided on not attending, but then realized that I am not here for myself, I am not here for my comfort, and to sit at home and be gloomy about my life was going to bring Andrew no support, even if I did not know if all that well.
So we all set off to the village. If Uganda you do not wear black for a funeral. Or shall I say, it is not a requirement. If you wear your best, and care, that is all that matters.
We got to Andrew's. He had lost his voice kinda, and was very sad. His cousins and second cousins were all around and there were some friends of Jaja's in her house sitting inside and sleeping. Randy, Rachel, Kate, and I took a seat outside under the shade and talked with Andrew about how he was. We told him we were sorry. We were intruduced to some friends and family. We were told about how the day would play out, and also were told about the cost of the funeral. As all of this was going on, I was dazed. I kept thinking about how Andrew's behavior was so similar to mine last year. He was getting things organized, staying busy, being polite to whomever, keeping his compossure. I shed a couple tears here and there. I knew how to be there for him but at the same time knew that the only way to be there for someone like that is just to literally be there, to sit, to listen, to ask only a couple questions, to be silent, and to pray.
He asked us to follow him into the house. So not knowing anything but to follow, i took off my shoes, stepped inside, and right there in front of me was Jaja's coffin. It was sitting on the foor about 3 feet from the entrance. It was a beautiful coffin and there was glass right where her face was and also glass on the bottom along the sides. Wow I dared not look where the face was. I was really shocked. Ah! Not the best day of my life. Not at all.
I will tell you more about the service later. The internet cafe is closing. sorry.
"a good friend holds the hand of the weak man."
"you are good friends. you are here even when there is pain."
"many people are friends when there is joy, it is a real friend to be there when there is sorrow."
So we all set off to the village. If Uganda you do not wear black for a funeral. Or shall I say, it is not a requirement. If you wear your best, and care, that is all that matters.
We got to Andrew's. He had lost his voice kinda, and was very sad. His cousins and second cousins were all around and there were some friends of Jaja's in her house sitting inside and sleeping. Randy, Rachel, Kate, and I took a seat outside under the shade and talked with Andrew about how he was. We told him we were sorry. We were intruduced to some friends and family. We were told about how the day would play out, and also were told about the cost of the funeral. As all of this was going on, I was dazed. I kept thinking about how Andrew's behavior was so similar to mine last year. He was getting things organized, staying busy, being polite to whomever, keeping his compossure. I shed a couple tears here and there. I knew how to be there for him but at the same time knew that the only way to be there for someone like that is just to literally be there, to sit, to listen, to ask only a couple questions, to be silent, and to pray.
He asked us to follow him into the house. So not knowing anything but to follow, i took off my shoes, stepped inside, and right there in front of me was Jaja's coffin. It was sitting on the foor about 3 feet from the entrance. It was a beautiful coffin and there was glass right where her face was and also glass on the bottom along the sides. Wow I dared not look where the face was. I was really shocked. Ah! Not the best day of my life. Not at all.
I will tell you more about the service later. The internet cafe is closing. sorry.
"a good friend holds the hand of the weak man."
"you are good friends. you are here even when there is pain."
"many people are friends when there is joy, it is a real friend to be there when there is sorrow."
Sipi Falls
October 13th, 2009
So over the weekend Kate, Alex and I traveled to Sipi Falls. We actually were only gone for a day and a half, but still the vacation away from Jinja for a little bit was a great idea. We woke up early on Sunday morning, sat in a matatue for about 2 hours, left in matatue by 9:30 , arrived in Mbale about 4 hours later, hired a driver to take us up to Sipi, and finally came to our destination in the afternoon. We quickly unloaded our stuff at a beautiful camp-lodge area called Crow's Nest. Took a few deep long breaths, admired the beautiful view of each waterfall (because there are four), then we're changed and ready for our 2 hr. hike.
Our guide's name was Patrick. He has lived in Sipi his whole life. Is now 24 years old. Has been seriously dating a girl named Solivia for the last one and a half years. He is not wanting to be married yet, at least not till he has more money saved up. He currently is a self-employed Sipi Falls Trail Guide and has been doing so for the last 6 years. The top of his head came to about my chin. Kate saw six toes on his left foot and I noticed that his calf’s were the size of oranges. He was good looking in a small boyish way and his smile was pearly white and pretty perfect. So now that you have a mental picture of who Patrick is, I will continue on.
Sipi is gorgeous. By far, one of the most luxurious places that I have been on this earth. It was more tropical then I was anticipating. Every plant and every flower I saw was new. Green was the theme and I loved it. It rained six minutes into our hike, Alex's mind made up, we continued. The trail was narrow, path muddy, steep steps that went down at a 35 degree angle, with rickety steps and railings. It was no doubt made by village hands. The path was extremely slippery that we all made a bet that whoever falls flat on their face or butt has to pay 1,000 Ugs (meaning fifty cents). Luckily nobody fell that day. The waterfall (Sipi number one) was beautiful, the hike was well worth the matatue ride, and the exercise was exceptional. YES! I LOVED IT!
It was great getting to be around nature. So refreshing. It was good to have peace. To not hear children screaming (the fun kind of screaming), to not hear cars, or the Muslim prayer, it was great to have a little bit of peace and a little bit of quiet.
TO SUM IT UP
We had four hours of hiking the next day, traveled back to Mbale. A man I did not know on the ride there kept playing footsie with me. That made me uncomfy for sure. Oh well, if you just move your foot and glare at the person they normally stop. He did.
We changed vehicles in Mbale, from van to matatue. Got home finally and was able to talk to my mom which was really nice and good to hear her voice, awww ;). Very true though. Then I slept.
LOVED IT!
So over the weekend Kate, Alex and I traveled to Sipi Falls. We actually were only gone for a day and a half, but still the vacation away from Jinja for a little bit was a great idea. We woke up early on Sunday morning, sat in a matatue for about 2 hours, left in matatue by 9:30 , arrived in Mbale about 4 hours later, hired a driver to take us up to Sipi, and finally came to our destination in the afternoon. We quickly unloaded our stuff at a beautiful camp-lodge area called Crow's Nest. Took a few deep long breaths, admired the beautiful view of each waterfall (because there are four), then we're changed and ready for our 2 hr. hike.
Our guide's name was Patrick. He has lived in Sipi his whole life. Is now 24 years old. Has been seriously dating a girl named Solivia for the last one and a half years. He is not wanting to be married yet, at least not till he has more money saved up. He currently is a self-employed Sipi Falls Trail Guide and has been doing so for the last 6 years. The top of his head came to about my chin. Kate saw six toes on his left foot and I noticed that his calf’s were the size of oranges. He was good looking in a small boyish way and his smile was pearly white and pretty perfect. So now that you have a mental picture of who Patrick is, I will continue on.
Sipi is gorgeous. By far, one of the most luxurious places that I have been on this earth. It was more tropical then I was anticipating. Every plant and every flower I saw was new. Green was the theme and I loved it. It rained six minutes into our hike, Alex's mind made up, we continued. The trail was narrow, path muddy, steep steps that went down at a 35 degree angle, with rickety steps and railings. It was no doubt made by village hands. The path was extremely slippery that we all made a bet that whoever falls flat on their face or butt has to pay 1,000 Ugs (meaning fifty cents). Luckily nobody fell that day. The waterfall (Sipi number one) was beautiful, the hike was well worth the matatue ride, and the exercise was exceptional. YES! I LOVED IT!
It was great getting to be around nature. So refreshing. It was good to have peace. To not hear children screaming (the fun kind of screaming), to not hear cars, or the Muslim prayer, it was great to have a little bit of peace and a little bit of quiet.
TO SUM IT UP
We had four hours of hiking the next day, traveled back to Mbale. A man I did not know on the ride there kept playing footsie with me. That made me uncomfy for sure. Oh well, if you just move your foot and glare at the person they normally stop. He did.
We changed vehicles in Mbale, from van to matatue. Got home finally and was able to talk to my mom which was really nice and good to hear her voice, awww ;). Very true though. Then I slept.
LOVED IT!
Saturday, October 10
Trees
God is Good.
God Hears.
God Speaks.
God Leads Us.
God Walks Close and Protects.
He is a Good Father.
He Knows.
He Yearns for Our Love.
Today God pushed me to do things on my own.
I had not gone to the ATM. I carried nothing with me but 200 shillings (basically 20 cents).
Everyone had left the volunteer house. I sat at home. Wanting to delay my day from taking off and then being done too early. It was noon and I made myself something for lunch. Went into my room and made a button yarn craft with a verse on it (inspired by my friend lindsay's gift to me).
I wrote "Romans 12:12" on it and on the button below I wrote "God Hears".
I did this because it has been hard with my visits to except so much from these women who do not even know me. They send their children out to buy soda. To buy Mendazies. They make us Posho and Greens. I am overwhelmed at how much they give, at how great a visit from me (a stranger) is an honor. So I figured it was my turn to give.
I ended up leaving the house later then everyone else. In fact nobody was home at all.
As I began to walk to the villages, with each step I took, my thoughts wandered to my skin condition. I had noticed a mysterious rash on my skin the last couple days and with no idea as to what it was, the only conclusion was the sun, or my medicine for malaria. I started to worry that it was the sun, and then was regretting my walk to the villages starting so late in the day. Later in the day means the sun is high in the sky and beating down pretty hard. So I began to pray. I was kinda kidding, but at the same time thought it would be a cool idea if God sent me somebody to give me a ride. I kept walking and walking and then before I knew, only 50 feet from the house, a man on a motorbike behind me appeared and asked " would you like a ride". Typical question for them to ask me, because most boda drivers think that white people are completely incapable of walking further then a couple yards. I told the man that I had no money and that I was sorry, but no thank you. He then looked at me with a smile on his face and said "I will take you for free".
WHAT?!?!? I laughed in my head. This is pretty rare. I thanked God for the happy intrusion from the man and said Sure!
Apparently my face was a little too excited about the free ride because the driver asked me why I was so happy. I told him that he was an answered prayer because I asked God for a free ride. From there we just talked. I came to find that my prayer dudes name was Moses, that he graduated from college, and that he loved his job. He asked me a lot about myself. Why I was in Jinja and for how long. What it's like in America, and so forth.
We finally got to my destination and as a dismounted from the bike he told me to put his phone number in my cell and to give him a call when I needed a ride back that way I could get home safely. I told him it would not be for another 3 hours, and he was completely fine with that. So a happy camper I now was. I told him thank you, said goodbye, and began walked towards the Suubi building. However something was not right. There was no Suubi building. Anywhere in sight in fact.
"I think I'm lost" i thought to myself. Oh well. So I began to walk around houses, smiling at people, feeling pretty free about the situation I now found myself in. I met a lady named Dorthy, who sat on a mat outside her front step. She was rolling beads but she was not a member of Suubi. She actually was not with any N.G.O. But she was very sweet and we talked for a bit after she asked me what the heck I was doing over by her house. I told her I was lost, but that I was fine, not worried that much about it, and that I really enjoyed visiting with her. I then asked her if she wouldn't mind assisting me with a project I had in mind, after all she was rather talented (her beads were amazingly well done), and she willingly agreed. After we talked for a bit more, she asked me where I was trying to go. After I told her, she slipped on her shoes, but her things inside, and began walking away from her house waving at me to follow her. Ugandans are always insistent like this when it comes to helping or giving. I followed and right around the corner was a lady named Immaculate. Immaculate was a member of Suubi and apparently a neighbor of Dorthy's. She greeted me, asked me to take a seat in the shade of her yard, so I obeyed. Dorthy said goodbye, and I sat. After a while I realized that I was passed off like a hot potato and I had really no idea what was going on, but I felt honored that Immaculate was okay with me sitting and watching her clean her families clothes. So I just sat and talked every once in a while. He family was in and out of the yard. I met her husband and children, and maybe 10 more minutes passed and Immaculate looked at me and said "we go". At this point in the visit I was like a newly trained puppy. I was extatic to obey any command. Every time I did, the story kept getting cooler and I found that I was really happy about having a day that was completely unplanned. After all, the only reason why I wanted to go to the Suubi building in the first place was so that I could wander around, trying to meet some women, whoever really. As I jumped from my chair and followed Immaculate, She was multitasking with her baby boy, trying to get him fastened around her back with a piece of long fabric while asking me about myself. We footed for about 15 minutes then came around a corner and WHA LA!
the Suubi building. She introduced me to a lady named Jennifer, Joyce, Florence (who I already knew, but what the heck). I met them all and then again Immaculate left me and I was left at Joyce's house. This time watching her clean clothes. We talked. Laughed, walked around trying to find people that were interesting in dancing, trying to find people that were interesting and free to teach 91 women how to dance (now that's intense)...and finally said goodbye to each other after 3 hours.
To sum what happened in those three hours up....because i am in the mood to write a book apparently.
I met six awesome people.
met a guy (white) named Ryan, 26, speaks three languages, and holds a bible study in the village every Tuesday at 3.
Got to share my bible with a lady as we read through John 15.
Got to be served by women all day, none of them were expecting me.
Never called Moses cause my phone was out of minutes, but another man came up and offered me a free ride (i could get used to this). It was really nice cause it was dark at this time, and it is dangerous to walk home at night alone.
wow.....what a cool day.
Thanks God!
God Hears.
God Speaks.
God Leads Us.
God Walks Close and Protects.
He is a Good Father.
He Knows.
He Yearns for Our Love.
Today God pushed me to do things on my own.
I had not gone to the ATM. I carried nothing with me but 200 shillings (basically 20 cents).
Everyone had left the volunteer house. I sat at home. Wanting to delay my day from taking off and then being done too early. It was noon and I made myself something for lunch. Went into my room and made a button yarn craft with a verse on it (inspired by my friend lindsay's gift to me).
I wrote "Romans 12:12" on it and on the button below I wrote "God Hears".
I did this because it has been hard with my visits to except so much from these women who do not even know me. They send their children out to buy soda. To buy Mendazies. They make us Posho and Greens. I am overwhelmed at how much they give, at how great a visit from me (a stranger) is an honor. So I figured it was my turn to give.
I ended up leaving the house later then everyone else. In fact nobody was home at all.
As I began to walk to the villages, with each step I took, my thoughts wandered to my skin condition. I had noticed a mysterious rash on my skin the last couple days and with no idea as to what it was, the only conclusion was the sun, or my medicine for malaria. I started to worry that it was the sun, and then was regretting my walk to the villages starting so late in the day. Later in the day means the sun is high in the sky and beating down pretty hard. So I began to pray. I was kinda kidding, but at the same time thought it would be a cool idea if God sent me somebody to give me a ride. I kept walking and walking and then before I knew, only 50 feet from the house, a man on a motorbike behind me appeared and asked " would you like a ride". Typical question for them to ask me, because most boda drivers think that white people are completely incapable of walking further then a couple yards. I told the man that I had no money and that I was sorry, but no thank you. He then looked at me with a smile on his face and said "I will take you for free".
WHAT?!?!? I laughed in my head. This is pretty rare. I thanked God for the happy intrusion from the man and said Sure!
Apparently my face was a little too excited about the free ride because the driver asked me why I was so happy. I told him that he was an answered prayer because I asked God for a free ride. From there we just talked. I came to find that my prayer dudes name was Moses, that he graduated from college, and that he loved his job. He asked me a lot about myself. Why I was in Jinja and for how long. What it's like in America, and so forth.
We finally got to my destination and as a dismounted from the bike he told me to put his phone number in my cell and to give him a call when I needed a ride back that way I could get home safely. I told him it would not be for another 3 hours, and he was completely fine with that. So a happy camper I now was. I told him thank you, said goodbye, and began walked towards the Suubi building. However something was not right. There was no Suubi building. Anywhere in sight in fact.
"I think I'm lost" i thought to myself. Oh well. So I began to walk around houses, smiling at people, feeling pretty free about the situation I now found myself in. I met a lady named Dorthy, who sat on a mat outside her front step. She was rolling beads but she was not a member of Suubi. She actually was not with any N.G.O. But she was very sweet and we talked for a bit after she asked me what the heck I was doing over by her house. I told her I was lost, but that I was fine, not worried that much about it, and that I really enjoyed visiting with her. I then asked her if she wouldn't mind assisting me with a project I had in mind, after all she was rather talented (her beads were amazingly well done), and she willingly agreed. After we talked for a bit more, she asked me where I was trying to go. After I told her, she slipped on her shoes, but her things inside, and began walking away from her house waving at me to follow her. Ugandans are always insistent like this when it comes to helping or giving. I followed and right around the corner was a lady named Immaculate. Immaculate was a member of Suubi and apparently a neighbor of Dorthy's. She greeted me, asked me to take a seat in the shade of her yard, so I obeyed. Dorthy said goodbye, and I sat. After a while I realized that I was passed off like a hot potato and I had really no idea what was going on, but I felt honored that Immaculate was okay with me sitting and watching her clean her families clothes. So I just sat and talked every once in a while. He family was in and out of the yard. I met her husband and children, and maybe 10 more minutes passed and Immaculate looked at me and said "we go". At this point in the visit I was like a newly trained puppy. I was extatic to obey any command. Every time I did, the story kept getting cooler and I found that I was really happy about having a day that was completely unplanned. After all, the only reason why I wanted to go to the Suubi building in the first place was so that I could wander around, trying to meet some women, whoever really. As I jumped from my chair and followed Immaculate, She was multitasking with her baby boy, trying to get him fastened around her back with a piece of long fabric while asking me about myself. We footed for about 15 minutes then came around a corner and WHA LA!
the Suubi building. She introduced me to a lady named Jennifer, Joyce, Florence (who I already knew, but what the heck). I met them all and then again Immaculate left me and I was left at Joyce's house. This time watching her clean clothes. We talked. Laughed, walked around trying to find people that were interesting in dancing, trying to find people that were interesting and free to teach 91 women how to dance (now that's intense)...and finally said goodbye to each other after 3 hours.
To sum what happened in those three hours up....because i am in the mood to write a book apparently.
I met six awesome people.
met a guy (white) named Ryan, 26, speaks three languages, and holds a bible study in the village every Tuesday at 3.
Got to share my bible with a lady as we read through John 15.
Got to be served by women all day, none of them were expecting me.
Never called Moses cause my phone was out of minutes, but another man came up and offered me a free ride (i could get used to this). It was really nice cause it was dark at this time, and it is dangerous to walk home at night alone.
wow.....what a cool day.
Thanks God!
hospital
Hey....so much has happened.
On Thursday I was able to jump in the van with Rachel, speed around downtown Jinja going in and out of stores searching frantically for birthing supplies. Christine one of Suubi's women, was in labor at Jinja Hospital and Kate and Rachel were dropping by her house to visit and they soon came to find she was about to pop....so of course, we all deligated jobs. Kate's location was by Christine's side so that she could get awesome footage and be support, while Rachel and I were on a mad dash to find everything Christine needed on her list of things to supply the doctor and nurses in order for the birth to be clean and comfortable (because in 3rd world countries you supply everything needed for the birth. Fom a trashbag to deliver on, gloves for DOCTOR (cause there is only one.) and nurses, shot for the pain, and of course you bring your own baisin for all the blood.) It was quite a culture shock that is for sure. And that is only 1/4 of the list. I don't want to bore however so I will continue.
We got everything we needed off the list. Took us a while, but we suceeded. Raced to the hospital and walked into the small 10x12 room that had two other women besides Christine who were in labor, one of which, was going to be giving birth to a dead baby due to a miscarraige. The room held awful smells, unclean walls and floors, a sink full of bugs, a bucket with bloody paper and trash, and Christine, a lovely lady with a bubbly personality and a great smile. Christine was not happy and not doing well. Her "paining was great". (as they would say.)
She had no energy to muster a hello, a smile, or even a look. She was "in a tug-of-war" with her child. Kate was strong and was able to keep herself under composure, as for myself, I felt faint, and knew that if I did not make my way outside I would vomit because of the horrible smells.
Rachel and I sat outside and talked. She experienced the same thing last year with another Suubi women. She said that she almost passed out a couple times and that she had to leave during the birth because there was so much blood and the smells were the same as I described. It was nice to know that I was not alone in that.
I would try to go back into the room every once in a while, thinking that I would be able to muster the strength and that maybe I would be able to watch a lady give birth...nope. Too much. Each time my stomach was screaming at me, confused as to why I kept trying to tough it out. It was obvious to everypart of my body except my mind that I would be unable to bare the conditions. This being a main reason why the medical field is not the practice that I wish to pursue, incase you were wondering.
I feel like my blog is already getting too long, Ah! I feared this (they would say this too, "i fear" "i pain", sorry i tend to write and talk like this now lol)
After 4 hours maybe longer, Christine finally gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. She named him Randy after the Randy that is staffing and married to Rachel down here. I love that about the people here. If they know you, and they think you are neat, their next child is called by your name. I got to hold baby Randy. Oh my goodness, I will never ever forget feeling his tiny little heartbeat all the way from the back of his little body. His whole body was a heartbeat. He was so adorable and precious. His eyes were very much alert. He was looking all over the room, moving and staring right up at me. I loved it. Christine had won the battle. She is the strongest lady ever. Betty her best friend was also strong. She was by her side the whole time. Cleaning everything that was messy (no details needed here), encouraging Christine, helping with the doctor and nurses, helping with you name it, everything. So basically the main person that helps you, really throughout all of this, is the person you bring with you. Best-friend, mother, neighbor, anyone but who the hospital provides. It is so SO BACKWARDS from the states.
We left, wished her well, saw her the next day and brought her breakfast.
She was in a room of about 40 women who all had just given birth. As we were visiting a lady who had just had a c-section was wheeled through the room on a metal lift. They had her laying on her stomach and they were not moving her with caution at all. I am still upset when I think back on her face. I remember them bringing the lift over a devit on the floor and how the whole table that she was on julted. I remember her expressing a look of pain as her mouth formed a shape as if she had just said " Oo". Why were people not caring? Why was there no pad, something soft for her to be laying on? Why was the hospital only employing ONE doctor? Why did all of these women have to cunger up their own supplies? Everything was a reality check the last couple of days. I felt like I had actually experienced one of the main cries of Africa. A more improved medical EVERYTHING. Doctor's, nurses, supplies, facilities, sponsor's, everything needed to be different. There is so much to fix, it is too overwhelming. Too much to take on and feel responsible for, it is too far away to grasp. Only small things are going to happen while I am down here, I realized. And unfortunately those changes will not be for the men, women, and children of Uganda, but instead, for me. My perspective of poverty is being changed, my heart is being molded and squished differently by God, and my least favorite, I am seeing that somethings can't be changed.
Well that is a bit of my week. some other highlights.
I drove for the first time on the opposite side of the road to the Suubi meeting. Oh man that was exhilerating :)
Rolled my first 20 something beads. Took me 6 tries the first bead. Ha ha.
Went to my first Catholic service this morning. Loved it.
Had great internet luck everytime I went to flavours. Praise the Lord!
Absolutely love reading "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne.
Having a hard time not missing home. Really miss Scott, my brother, and my mom.
God is teaching....He always does.
love you all everyone. Thank-You So Much for prayers and support.
you rock!
Becca
On Thursday I was able to jump in the van with Rachel, speed around downtown Jinja going in and out of stores searching frantically for birthing supplies. Christine one of Suubi's women, was in labor at Jinja Hospital and Kate and Rachel were dropping by her house to visit and they soon came to find she was about to pop....so of course, we all deligated jobs. Kate's location was by Christine's side so that she could get awesome footage and be support, while Rachel and I were on a mad dash to find everything Christine needed on her list of things to supply the doctor and nurses in order for the birth to be clean and comfortable (because in 3rd world countries you supply everything needed for the birth. Fom a trashbag to deliver on, gloves for DOCTOR (cause there is only one.) and nurses, shot for the pain, and of course you bring your own baisin for all the blood.) It was quite a culture shock that is for sure. And that is only 1/4 of the list. I don't want to bore however so I will continue.
We got everything we needed off the list. Took us a while, but we suceeded. Raced to the hospital and walked into the small 10x12 room that had two other women besides Christine who were in labor, one of which, was going to be giving birth to a dead baby due to a miscarraige. The room held awful smells, unclean walls and floors, a sink full of bugs, a bucket with bloody paper and trash, and Christine, a lovely lady with a bubbly personality and a great smile. Christine was not happy and not doing well. Her "paining was great". (as they would say.)
She had no energy to muster a hello, a smile, or even a look. She was "in a tug-of-war" with her child. Kate was strong and was able to keep herself under composure, as for myself, I felt faint, and knew that if I did not make my way outside I would vomit because of the horrible smells.
Rachel and I sat outside and talked. She experienced the same thing last year with another Suubi women. She said that she almost passed out a couple times and that she had to leave during the birth because there was so much blood and the smells were the same as I described. It was nice to know that I was not alone in that.
I would try to go back into the room every once in a while, thinking that I would be able to muster the strength and that maybe I would be able to watch a lady give birth...nope. Too much. Each time my stomach was screaming at me, confused as to why I kept trying to tough it out. It was obvious to everypart of my body except my mind that I would be unable to bare the conditions. This being a main reason why the medical field is not the practice that I wish to pursue, incase you were wondering.
I feel like my blog is already getting too long, Ah! I feared this (they would say this too, "i fear" "i pain", sorry i tend to write and talk like this now lol)
After 4 hours maybe longer, Christine finally gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. She named him Randy after the Randy that is staffing and married to Rachel down here. I love that about the people here. If they know you, and they think you are neat, their next child is called by your name. I got to hold baby Randy. Oh my goodness, I will never ever forget feeling his tiny little heartbeat all the way from the back of his little body. His whole body was a heartbeat. He was so adorable and precious. His eyes were very much alert. He was looking all over the room, moving and staring right up at me. I loved it. Christine had won the battle. She is the strongest lady ever. Betty her best friend was also strong. She was by her side the whole time. Cleaning everything that was messy (no details needed here), encouraging Christine, helping with the doctor and nurses, helping with you name it, everything. So basically the main person that helps you, really throughout all of this, is the person you bring with you. Best-friend, mother, neighbor, anyone but who the hospital provides. It is so SO BACKWARDS from the states.
We left, wished her well, saw her the next day and brought her breakfast.
She was in a room of about 40 women who all had just given birth. As we were visiting a lady who had just had a c-section was wheeled through the room on a metal lift. They had her laying on her stomach and they were not moving her with caution at all. I am still upset when I think back on her face. I remember them bringing the lift over a devit on the floor and how the whole table that she was on julted. I remember her expressing a look of pain as her mouth formed a shape as if she had just said " Oo". Why were people not caring? Why was there no pad, something soft for her to be laying on? Why was the hospital only employing ONE doctor? Why did all of these women have to cunger up their own supplies? Everything was a reality check the last couple of days. I felt like I had actually experienced one of the main cries of Africa. A more improved medical EVERYTHING. Doctor's, nurses, supplies, facilities, sponsor's, everything needed to be different. There is so much to fix, it is too overwhelming. Too much to take on and feel responsible for, it is too far away to grasp. Only small things are going to happen while I am down here, I realized. And unfortunately those changes will not be for the men, women, and children of Uganda, but instead, for me. My perspective of poverty is being changed, my heart is being molded and squished differently by God, and my least favorite, I am seeing that somethings can't be changed.
Well that is a bit of my week. some other highlights.
I drove for the first time on the opposite side of the road to the Suubi meeting. Oh man that was exhilerating :)
Rolled my first 20 something beads. Took me 6 tries the first bead. Ha ha.
Went to my first Catholic service this morning. Loved it.
Had great internet luck everytime I went to flavours. Praise the Lord!
Absolutely love reading "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne.
Having a hard time not missing home. Really miss Scott, my brother, and my mom.
God is teaching....He always does.
love you all everyone. Thank-You So Much for prayers and support.
you rock!
Becca
Wednesday, September 30
That's What She Said
Selfish Me -
Why in the world did I come here again? I am away from my Fiance, my country, my home town, my family, my friends/church, I am away from my favorite language in all the world (ENGLISH), my Fiance (did I already mention that?), familiar foods that I crave twice a week like Chipotle, I miss walking on pavement, and driving my car and listening to whatever CD I so choose, at whatever volume that is not "too loud". There are so many things that I miss, I could even go on. I miss meat, cheese, fruits like berries, peaches, mandarins, apples, and oranges. Where did the good chocolate go? Yes these are the cries and struggles of an American girl in a third world country. Pathetic? Not yet. I miss being stared at by people who actually care if they are caught in the act. Here people just stare at you cause you are white. You would think that after staring back for 6 seconds, the eye contact would be broken by the original stare-E, but nope, people just love to stare here. Hey, maybe they will even laugh at you? Right in your face too. Cause how silly are we (American folk) to care about getting ripped off by a bunch of Ugandans at the market. It's not like we are buying our groceries every week and trying to get reasonable prices so that our money is an existing factor come week eleven.
Happy, Content, and Completely Satisfied Me -
I Love Africa! The Volunteer house, the people I am living with, the people that help out and live here (Betty, Kimby, Nancy, George, and Sharon), and taking my time as I walk places.
I love not caring about what time it is, but rather, calculating the day by the placement of the sun in the sky... or lack-there-of. Teaching English classes on Wednesdays with everyone is really fun and a great time to get to see the women talk and be themselves. I particularly am found of the rainfall that occurs every once in a while here. How it falls unexpectedly for as long as it wishes. Commanding the attention of everyone as the sounds shake the ground and as rain falls politely into neat puddles situated on the mud side streets and main roads. People everywhere take refuge in their home or under the roof of an unfinished house as they wait for the performance to end. Waking up in the mornings and having a good two hours before anyone gets cracking on their day fun alone time (Randy being the exception of course. He always seems to be on his way to town by nine). Also, having quiet time that seems never ending during the evenings keeps my heart happy. Missing people, yet knowing that I am in a place right now in life that I will never duplicate ever again helps bring contentment my way. Hearing God speak. That's been the topper of it all. God is speaking and I love hearing from Him. :)
That's pretty much it for now. I will try to blog less in each post that way you are not reading a book each time you check in.
Love you all!!!
Thanks for prayers and support.
(compliments to Randy for the totally brill title)
Why in the world did I come here again? I am away from my Fiance, my country, my home town, my family, my friends/church, I am away from my favorite language in all the world (ENGLISH), my Fiance (did I already mention that?), familiar foods that I crave twice a week like Chipotle, I miss walking on pavement, and driving my car and listening to whatever CD I so choose, at whatever volume that is not "too loud". There are so many things that I miss, I could even go on. I miss meat, cheese, fruits like berries, peaches, mandarins, apples, and oranges. Where did the good chocolate go? Yes these are the cries and struggles of an American girl in a third world country. Pathetic? Not yet. I miss being stared at by people who actually care if they are caught in the act. Here people just stare at you cause you are white. You would think that after staring back for 6 seconds, the eye contact would be broken by the original stare-E, but nope, people just love to stare here. Hey, maybe they will even laugh at you? Right in your face too. Cause how silly are we (American folk) to care about getting ripped off by a bunch of Ugandans at the market. It's not like we are buying our groceries every week and trying to get reasonable prices so that our money is an existing factor come week eleven.
Happy, Content, and Completely Satisfied Me -
I Love Africa! The Volunteer house, the people I am living with, the people that help out and live here (Betty, Kimby, Nancy, George, and Sharon), and taking my time as I walk places.
I love not caring about what time it is, but rather, calculating the day by the placement of the sun in the sky... or lack-there-of. Teaching English classes on Wednesdays with everyone is really fun and a great time to get to see the women talk and be themselves. I particularly am found of the rainfall that occurs every once in a while here. How it falls unexpectedly for as long as it wishes. Commanding the attention of everyone as the sounds shake the ground and as rain falls politely into neat puddles situated on the mud side streets and main roads. People everywhere take refuge in their home or under the roof of an unfinished house as they wait for the performance to end. Waking up in the mornings and having a good two hours before anyone gets cracking on their day fun alone time (Randy being the exception of course. He always seems to be on his way to town by nine). Also, having quiet time that seems never ending during the evenings keeps my heart happy. Missing people, yet knowing that I am in a place right now in life that I will never duplicate ever again helps bring contentment my way. Hearing God speak. That's been the topper of it all. God is speaking and I love hearing from Him. :)
That's pretty much it for now. I will try to blog less in each post that way you are not reading a book each time you check in.
Love you all!!!
Thanks for prayers and support.
(compliments to Randy for the totally brill title)
Monday, September 21
One Week
Well it has been one week as of today. I had my first Ugandan meal, first English class on wednesday, first taste of a goat, watched a chicken named La Tormenta get murdered, plucked, and gutted. I went to Kampala with the team, watched our first shipment of necklaces take place. Ate at a wonderful mexican restaurant and also got to see a movie. I had my first Suubi meeting where I was introduced to all the ladies of Suubi, helped clasp and bundle, what seemed like 200 necklaces. I struggled with the internet here for two hours. For only one to two pages of loading and sending e-mails to take place. Every time, it never fails :)
Road in my first Matatuu, which is an eight person taxi that normally crams 18. Over all travel time estimated in this vehicle, 3 1/2 hrs. Our night guard George started a church in the Matumba District and he invited us to attend. O man, loved church! It was so awesome to see people clapping, singing, and dancing. Plus we were 45 min late to church because of our matatuu and they were nice enough to hold the service till we arrived. They welcomed us at the van once we arrived and walked in with us. Once we walked in people started to clap and sing. I truly felt blessed to be embrassed by all of them. It was so good to get a taste of what church looks like in Africa. I felt God there, and i think there was a point where i almost cried because I felt His spirit, it was beautiful.
anyways.....
I do miss home.
Been thinking about scott, my mom, and my brother Anthony.
miss my dad. It was one year since his death on thursday. I thought it would be hard for me being home. But God always takes care of us. Kate let me borrow her phone to call my brother. When the call failed she offered to walk with me to the internet at like 10 at night so i could write him. BLESSING :) It made me cry she is so nice. Rachel and Kate both gave me hugs before they left on their outings that day and were encouraging. Randy and I had a really good talk the night before about our dad's and how things are really hard when it comes to memories and them not being around anymore. I feel the longer i know these people the more i feel like they are family....and they are. :)
I got mad the other day. It's funny we were at the mall in Kampala and i decided to sit aside while randy and rachel were ordering coffee and icecream from a store. I was kinda running low on money for the day so sitting outside sounded like a nice alternative to eating. However right after i sat down a boy, around the age of 16, came up to me, well dressed and healthy looking, and started to tell me that he did not have a father. Right as he was about to pull out his hand asking for money I just stood up and walked away and said "I don't have any money, sorry." It was really rude of me and I was really surprised at my reaction. I went back into the store with everyone else and was just kinda ticked for a long time. I am so sick of people wanting money from me just cause I am white. I am tired of EVERYONE bumping up the cost of things cause they think they can squeeze more money out of me. I am sick of people thinking that I am better off then them. I wanted to lose my temper at the kid and tell him my dad died too. I wanted to tell him that not every white person you see has a picture perfect life. I wanted to tell him to back off and let me just have some me time. I wanted to do everything but look at things from his side of life. I did not want to try and put myself in his shoes and think to myself, "I wonder if this is because of how he was conditioned to think?"
well yeah got mad, told the others what had happened, and it took me a while to let it go. It actually took me to the ride home. Everyone was either sleeping or listening to music and Randy and I just started to talk about things here in Uganda and our trips to Europe in the past. He really helped me to look at the situation in a more diplomatic way. I won't forget the example he used because it was very humbling to hear and except, but so so SO true.
he said, "how many americans when driving in their car and stopped at a stoplight see a bum on the street, roll up there windows and look away till the light turns green again?" In my head i'm thinking most times ALL people that i know do that. So then he said," It's the same here. People see a white person and instead of being conditioned to look away and roll up their car windows, they smile and pull out their hands expecting money." BAM! (that was me getting hit in the face)
"It's something they learn here, and you should try to not take it personally."
i have to have grace
i have to be understanding
i can't let it put a bad taste in my mouth about the people here. cause we are all God's children and He loves us. maybe i can't pay attention to all of them, and maybe i won't give them money...but they are all people. i need to love no matter how used i feel. i need to love and know that i am blessed.
Saturday, September 19
I can't be all things to ALL PEOPLE. I will never be black. Thus will always be viewed as Mazzoongoo (white- in lugandan)
Well hello!
My first week in Jinja is wraping up.
It is Saturday the 19th, the day of my first Suubi meeting (buying necklaces from the women). It starts in about 2 hours so i am just getting in some blogging at "Flavours", and yes i spelled that right. It's a restuarant/ internet cafe. I have been sitting here for over an hour. 60 minutes of that hour were spent trying to get the internet to work. Everytime i go to a cafe this happens. :) i am excepting it as my bad luck that will follow me throughout my time in Jinja. It is very unfourtunate but the truth.
Well let me catch you up really fast on what has been going on while i have been here.
I LOVE THE PEOPLE LIVING IN THE HOUSE!!!!
Praise God they are awesome people who are encouraging and funny.
I would have had a very dull 3 months if i thought these people were without personality.
The more i get to know Kate the more i love her.
She is a very bold person with a great sense of humor and energy. She has been my escort for my first week in Jinja, along with Rachel who is staff. Rachel also has a confident personality. She is married to Randy (who is also staff) and they are great. Alex is my cousin and he and i came down here at the same time together to help out.....he is okay i guess.....jk.
- sorry if i repeat myself. i have a difficult time remembering what i have already covered in my previous blogs-
Wednesday Kate, Alex, and I went into the village of Baboo to visit a lady named Agnus, who is apart of Suubi. There are i believe four villages on the south east side of main st./our house that we visited. The first one being Baboo. It took us 45 minutes by foot to walk there, and as we walked we passed many schools full of kids. All in uniform, all playing in the yards, and all of them waving at us as we walked by saying "Mazzoongoo, how are you?". Some of the kids just pointed and started running towards the fence saying "Mazzoongoo...Mazzoongoo!!!". It was really cute, and really funny the different reactions depending on age. If you are from the ages 2-13 you are really excited to see a white person walking down the street. You greet them, wave, practice the english you learned in school by saying "hi" or "bye". If you are 13-17 you ask for money from white people you see on the street, or my favorite...stare. If you are 17 and up you say, "Mazzoongoo you owe me my money." or maybe "Mazzoongoo you take me home with you." and sometimes in the very unfortunate case for a girl, i hear, "Mazzoongoo you come home with me." And at that my friends I have to laugh, and I call them silly or I say no way. Or they just stare. Never have I seen a person stare discreetly either. Well hello!
My first week in Jinja is wraping up.
It is Saturday the 19th, the day of my first Suubi meeting (buying necklaces from the women). It starts in about 2 hours so i am just getting in some blogging at "Flavours", and yes i spelled that right. It's a restuarant/ internet cafe. I have been sitting here for over an hour. 60 minutes of that hour were spent trying to get the internet to work. Everytime i go to a cafe this happens. :) i am excepting it as my bad luck that will follow me throughout my time in Jinja. It is very unfourtunate but the truth.
Well let me catch you up really fast on what has been going on while i have been here.
I LOVE THE PEOPLE LIVING IN THE HOUSE!!!!
Praise God they are awesome people who are encouraging and funny.
I would have had a very dull 3 months if i thought these people were without personality.
The more i get to know Kate the more i love her.
She is a very bold person with a great sense of humor and energy. She has been my escort for my first week in Jinja, along with Rachel who is staff. Rachel also has a confident personality. She is married to Randy (who is also staff) and they are great. Alex is my cousin and he and i came down here at the same time together to help out.....he is okay i guess.....jk.
- sorry if i repeat myself. i have a difficult time remembering what i have already covered in my previous blogs-
Wednesday Kate, Alex, and I went into the village of Baboo to visit a lady named Agnus, who is apart of Suubi. There are i believe four villages on the south east side of main st./our house that we visited. The first one being Baboo. It took us 45 minutes by foot to walk there, and as we walked we passed many schools full of kids. All in uniform, all playing in the yards, and all of them waving at us as we walked by saying "Mazzoongoo, how are you?". Some of the kids just pointed and started running towards the fence saying "Mazzoongoo...Mazzoongoo!!!". It was really cute, and really funny the different reactions depending on age. If you are from the ages 2-13 you are really excited to see a white person walking down the street. You greet them, wave, practice the english you learned in school by saying "hi" or "bye". If you are 13-17 you ask for money from white people you see on the street, or my favorite...stare. If you are 17 and up you say, "Mazzoongoo you owe me my money." or maybe "Mazzoongoo you take me home with you." and sometimes in the very unfortunate case for a girl, i hear, "Mazzoongoo you come home with me." And at that my friends I have to laugh, and I call them silly or I say no way. Or they just stare, and i have never seen a person stare discreetly either.
So anyways, we finally reached Agnus's home. It was a two room home with cement a floor, walls, and ceiling. She has pasted newspapers/magazine articles or pictures up on the walls as decoration. She had a piece of fabric hanging as her door in the front and a large blanket hanging up after her two chairs that were in the first room to devide from the bedroom. Sorry if that was confusing. :) Whenever you visit someone in their home in Uganda and they are expecting you, you always come hungry. Agnus had cooked up quite a meal to serve us. She had a whole pot full of Posho (which is like a fluffy corn meal), greens (basically spinich...with tons of salt) and green sauce (which had sim sim in it...so spinich chopped up with a peanut butter indian flavor paste)
She served us with forks, which was very nice of her because normally they eat with their hands here. We stayed for about an hour or so and talked about her kids. Which she had three and another kid she took care of was her brother's son. We heard her story. If she was from Jinja or not. I asked her if she liked dancing or singing. She said no....but she was blushing, so i think she really does. :) Some friends of hers came by to say hi, i think they were making fun of me cause i kept tapping my foot to the music outside and humming and they pointed at me and i heard my name as they laughing and mimicked my swaying and tapping of foot. LOL i am determined to see Agnus dance now :) i know she can!
well thats all for now....i cant be late for the meeting.
bye bye
My first week in Jinja is wraping up.
It is Saturday the 19th, the day of my first Suubi meeting (buying necklaces from the women). It starts in about 2 hours so i am just getting in some blogging at "Flavours", and yes i spelled that right. It's a restuarant/ internet cafe. I have been sitting here for over an hour. 60 minutes of that hour were spent trying to get the internet to work. Everytime i go to a cafe this happens. :) i am excepting it as my bad luck that will follow me throughout my time in Jinja. It is very unfourtunate but the truth.
Well let me catch you up really fast on what has been going on while i have been here.
I LOVE THE PEOPLE LIVING IN THE HOUSE!!!!
Praise God they are awesome people who are encouraging and funny.
I would have had a very dull 3 months if i thought these people were without personality.
The more i get to know Kate the more i love her.
She is a very bold person with a great sense of humor and energy. She has been my escort for my first week in Jinja, along with Rachel who is staff. Rachel also has a confident personality. She is married to Randy (who is also staff) and they are great. Alex is my cousin and he and i came down here at the same time together to help out.....he is okay i guess.....jk.
- sorry if i repeat myself. i have a difficult time remembering what i have already covered in my previous blogs-
Wednesday Kate, Alex, and I went into the village of Baboo to visit a lady named Agnus, who is apart of Suubi. There are i believe four villages on the south east side of main st./our house that we visited. The first one being Baboo. It took us 45 minutes by foot to walk there, and as we walked we passed many schools full of kids. All in uniform, all playing in the yards, and all of them waving at us as we walked by saying "Mazzoongoo, how are you?". Some of the kids just pointed and started running towards the fence saying "Mazzoongoo...Mazzoongoo!!!". It was really cute, and really funny the different reactions depending on age. If you are from the ages 2-13 you are really excited to see a white person walking down the street. You greet them, wave, practice the english you learned in school by saying "hi" or "bye". If you are 13-17 you ask for money from white people you see on the street, or my favorite...stare. If you are 17 and up you say, "Mazzoongoo you owe me my money." or maybe "Mazzoongoo you take me home with you." and sometimes in the very unfortunate case for a girl, i hear, "Mazzoongoo you come home with me." And at that my friends I have to laugh, and I call them silly or I say no way. Or they just stare. Never have I seen a person stare discreetly either. Well hello!
My first week in Jinja is wraping up.
It is Saturday the 19th, the day of my first Suubi meeting (buying necklaces from the women). It starts in about 2 hours so i am just getting in some blogging at "Flavours", and yes i spelled that right. It's a restuarant/ internet cafe. I have been sitting here for over an hour. 60 minutes of that hour were spent trying to get the internet to work. Everytime i go to a cafe this happens. :) i am excepting it as my bad luck that will follow me throughout my time in Jinja. It is very unfourtunate but the truth.
Well let me catch you up really fast on what has been going on while i have been here.
I LOVE THE PEOPLE LIVING IN THE HOUSE!!!!
Praise God they are awesome people who are encouraging and funny.
I would have had a very dull 3 months if i thought these people were without personality.
The more i get to know Kate the more i love her.
She is a very bold person with a great sense of humor and energy. She has been my escort for my first week in Jinja, along with Rachel who is staff. Rachel also has a confident personality. She is married to Randy (who is also staff) and they are great. Alex is my cousin and he and i came down here at the same time together to help out.....he is okay i guess.....jk.
- sorry if i repeat myself. i have a difficult time remembering what i have already covered in my previous blogs-
Wednesday Kate, Alex, and I went into the village of Baboo to visit a lady named Agnus, who is apart of Suubi. There are i believe four villages on the south east side of main st./our house that we visited. The first one being Baboo. It took us 45 minutes by foot to walk there, and as we walked we passed many schools full of kids. All in uniform, all playing in the yards, and all of them waving at us as we walked by saying "Mazzoongoo, how are you?". Some of the kids just pointed and started running towards the fence saying "Mazzoongoo...Mazzoongoo!!!". It was really cute, and really funny the different reactions depending on age. If you are from the ages 2-13 you are really excited to see a white person walking down the street. You greet them, wave, practice the english you learned in school by saying "hi" or "bye". If you are 13-17 you ask for money from white people you see on the street, or my favorite...stare. If you are 17 and up you say, "Mazzoongoo you owe me my money." or maybe "Mazzoongoo you take me home with you." and sometimes in the very unfortunate case for a girl, i hear, "Mazzoongoo you come home with me." And at that my friends I have to laugh, and I call them silly or I say no way. Or they just stare, and i have never seen a person stare discreetly either.
So anyways, we finally reached Agnus's home. It was a two room home with cement a floor, walls, and ceiling. She has pasted newspapers/magazine articles or pictures up on the walls as decoration. She had a piece of fabric hanging as her door in the front and a large blanket hanging up after her two chairs that were in the first room to devide from the bedroom. Sorry if that was confusing. :) Whenever you visit someone in their home in Uganda and they are expecting you, you always come hungry. Agnus had cooked up quite a meal to serve us. She had a whole pot full of Posho (which is like a fluffy corn meal), greens (basically spinich...with tons of salt) and green sauce (which had sim sim in it...so spinich chopped up with a peanut butter indian flavor paste)
She served us with forks, which was very nice of her because normally they eat with their hands here. We stayed for about an hour or so and talked about her kids. Which she had three and another kid she took care of was her brother's son. We heard her story. If she was from Jinja or not. I asked her if she liked dancing or singing. She said no....but she was blushing, so i think she really does. :) Some friends of hers came by to say hi, i think they were making fun of me cause i kept tapping my foot to the music outside and humming and they pointed at me and i heard my name as they laughing and mimicked my swaying and tapping of foot. LOL i am determined to see Agnus dance now :) i know she can!
well thats all for now....i cant be late for the meeting.
bye bye
Wednesday, September 16
first day in uganda + first full day in jinja
Hello Everyone!!!
Whelp i live in Jina now. Kinda crazy. Kinda a big deal. It is so different here.
Alex (my cousin) and I got here safe and sound. We had a nine hour layover in London, so we decided to go site see as much as we could. We saw the Buckingham Palace and the "clock", aka Big Ben but i guess we never actually went inside and saw Big Ben. Anyways we went back to Heathrow Airport and slept on chairs as we waited for our next flight to Enntebe, Uganda. Right as they started to board the plane i got sick and started to throw up. Not fun at all. but dont worry it was not that i was sick or anything, i just took my malaria pill when i had not eatin anything. I have learned to always have a meal before now.
We finally arrived in Enntebe. It is green, with beautiful clouds, clouds that are bigger than anything i have ever seen in America or anywhere for that matter. Lake Victoria is beautiful and makes everything surrounding it exotic and new. We walked off the plane onto a bus that drives us to the airport and the first thing i jot down in my mind is... humidity, and lots of it. The other thing that struck me was being the minority. At last i am out of Grand Junction, CO, where everyone is white and a farmer ;)
Rachel, a staff member, and Gover the driver, met us outside.
3 hours of driving to our new home, was the next thing on the list. Stop and go, stop and go. I was getting so car sick. Traffic was out of this world. We probably were in Kampala (nothing bad going on there) for two hours because of all the traffic. Yeah, it should have been a ten minute drive or so through. Okay anyways......We get to Jinja, we almost run over a man that darted across the road, i got my first glimpse of the Nile, and the car ride was finished. Solid ground was very refreshing after two days traveling.
The house that we are staying at is very nice. Very modern. We got unpacked, met Randy, who is Rachel's husband, and then we're off to get lunch at a place called "Two Friends". This place was awesome. It looked like a resort and guess what? They treated us to lunch which was very sweet of them. We ate, talked about expectations, ourselves, Jinja, culture, suubi, and of course food!!!! We got back met the other volunteers being, Heather, Kate, and Ryan. All really cool people who were welcoming fun to talk to and hang out with. I got to meet Betty, who lives in the back house with her one year old son Kimby. She is very sweet. She treats you like family as soon as she meets you. She calls me Auntie Becca and Alex Uncle. I love it! I call her Betty.......duh i am still American. :) I barely unpacked my room, instead i grabbed a chair and started to write Scott (my fiance who lives back in Colorado). I miss him, but not in a bad way where all i think about is wanting to be home. Which is good. Walked into my room fell sleep i was out.
Day Two-
Wow, its real. I heard chanting this morning. First thing you hear is the Muslim prayer right before the sun rises.....next chanting through the streets, right in front of the house. It was so beautiful. Everyone is up and getting ready. Ryan and Heather are packing cause they are leaving today and I am getting ready for the day. First full day in Jinja....bring it on!
Alex, Ryan, Heather, Rachel, and I leave the house on our way to get some chores done.
We exchanged our money, met Agnus and Alice, who are two of the tailors for the EPOH project. EPOH, being hope spelled backwards. Instead of paper necklaces they work on scraps of material to make purses. :)
So yeah the room that they now sew in is in the back of Rita's store....a lady who has this awesome shop off of main street. Then we went to cell phone stores to try and buy one, but they were out of the cheap ones that we wanted. So we will wait till today hopefully.
Walked around the town. Learned where everything is. It is so crazy that i am actually here. The roads are dirt. The people mostly poor compared to the U.S's standards. 10 dollars here can last you a week. You can get lunch and drink here for the price of $2.50, and its a big lunch too. Oh yeah there are these crazy birds here.....most people call them storks, I call them ugly. These are not the kind that bring babies and that are friendly looking, they eat trash and are balding and also have huge gross faces. Yuck :) i will put pictures up soon! Anyways they are about 5 foot and normally you see them walking about picking at plastic or being lazy. I think if i were to predict my next nightmare it would involve me running from one of those creatures. Oh yeah did i mention i ate goat yesterday...... :)
Okay well that's about it....oh yeah i did go and workout at the gym yesterday, the showers there are bomb!
love it. It was really good to practice ballet and to weight lift too. Whelp got home, we bought drums in town today so Alex and i were banging on those and having fun. Moses one of the little boys came inside and gave it a try too. He is cute and knows English, but is too shy to speak it unless its Alex talking to him. No actually working yet, just getting the basics down.
I did try to decal my first pink bead the other day. That was really hard. I smugged it and kept it :) but yeah. Came home everyone ate dinner. bed time!
day three - work in progress. :) first day teaching English...... so happy!
Whelp i live in Jina now. Kinda crazy. Kinda a big deal. It is so different here.
Alex (my cousin) and I got here safe and sound. We had a nine hour layover in London, so we decided to go site see as much as we could. We saw the Buckingham Palace and the "clock", aka Big Ben but i guess we never actually went inside and saw Big Ben. Anyways we went back to Heathrow Airport and slept on chairs as we waited for our next flight to Enntebe, Uganda. Right as they started to board the plane i got sick and started to throw up. Not fun at all. but dont worry it was not that i was sick or anything, i just took my malaria pill when i had not eatin anything. I have learned to always have a meal before now.
We finally arrived in Enntebe. It is green, with beautiful clouds, clouds that are bigger than anything i have ever seen in America or anywhere for that matter. Lake Victoria is beautiful and makes everything surrounding it exotic and new. We walked off the plane onto a bus that drives us to the airport and the first thing i jot down in my mind is... humidity, and lots of it. The other thing that struck me was being the minority. At last i am out of Grand Junction, CO, where everyone is white and a farmer ;)
Rachel, a staff member, and Gover the driver, met us outside.
3 hours of driving to our new home, was the next thing on the list. Stop and go, stop and go. I was getting so car sick. Traffic was out of this world. We probably were in Kampala (nothing bad going on there) for two hours because of all the traffic. Yeah, it should have been a ten minute drive or so through. Okay anyways......We get to Jinja, we almost run over a man that darted across the road, i got my first glimpse of the Nile, and the car ride was finished. Solid ground was very refreshing after two days traveling.
The house that we are staying at is very nice. Very modern. We got unpacked, met Randy, who is Rachel's husband, and then we're off to get lunch at a place called "Two Friends". This place was awesome. It looked like a resort and guess what? They treated us to lunch which was very sweet of them. We ate, talked about expectations, ourselves, Jinja, culture, suubi, and of course food!!!! We got back met the other volunteers being, Heather, Kate, and Ryan. All really cool people who were welcoming fun to talk to and hang out with. I got to meet Betty, who lives in the back house with her one year old son Kimby. She is very sweet. She treats you like family as soon as she meets you. She calls me Auntie Becca and Alex Uncle. I love it! I call her Betty.......duh i am still American. :) I barely unpacked my room, instead i grabbed a chair and started to write Scott (my fiance who lives back in Colorado). I miss him, but not in a bad way where all i think about is wanting to be home. Which is good. Walked into my room fell sleep i was out.
Day Two-
Wow, its real. I heard chanting this morning. First thing you hear is the Muslim prayer right before the sun rises.....next chanting through the streets, right in front of the house. It was so beautiful. Everyone is up and getting ready. Ryan and Heather are packing cause they are leaving today and I am getting ready for the day. First full day in Jinja....bring it on!
Alex, Ryan, Heather, Rachel, and I leave the house on our way to get some chores done.
We exchanged our money, met Agnus and Alice, who are two of the tailors for the EPOH project. EPOH, being hope spelled backwards. Instead of paper necklaces they work on scraps of material to make purses. :)
So yeah the room that they now sew in is in the back of Rita's store....a lady who has this awesome shop off of main street. Then we went to cell phone stores to try and buy one, but they were out of the cheap ones that we wanted. So we will wait till today hopefully.
Walked around the town. Learned where everything is. It is so crazy that i am actually here. The roads are dirt. The people mostly poor compared to the U.S's standards. 10 dollars here can last you a week. You can get lunch and drink here for the price of $2.50, and its a big lunch too. Oh yeah there are these crazy birds here.....most people call them storks, I call them ugly. These are not the kind that bring babies and that are friendly looking, they eat trash and are balding and also have huge gross faces. Yuck :) i will put pictures up soon! Anyways they are about 5 foot and normally you see them walking about picking at plastic or being lazy. I think if i were to predict my next nightmare it would involve me running from one of those creatures. Oh yeah did i mention i ate goat yesterday...... :)
Okay well that's about it....oh yeah i did go and workout at the gym yesterday, the showers there are bomb!
love it. It was really good to practice ballet and to weight lift too. Whelp got home, we bought drums in town today so Alex and i were banging on those and having fun. Moses one of the little boys came inside and gave it a try too. He is cute and knows English, but is too shy to speak it unless its Alex talking to him. No actually working yet, just getting the basics down.
I did try to decal my first pink bead the other day. That was really hard. I smugged it and kept it :) but yeah. Came home everyone ate dinner. bed time!
day three - work in progress. :) first day teaching English...... so happy!
Wednesday, September 9
day before gone
hey.
so i am leaving for uganda in four days.
i am leaving my room, my bed, most clothes that i own, and my life in four days.
this is very real. :)
ps. it's about one o' clock in the morning on wednesday september 9th, and all i can do is think about how much packing a should probably get a move on, and second, how much i will miss the good ole states. or maybe i should sleep. i think that's the winner. night!
so i am leaving for uganda in four days.
i am leaving my room, my bed, most clothes that i own, and my life in four days.
this is very real. :)
ps. it's about one o' clock in the morning on wednesday september 9th, and all i can do is think about how much packing a should probably get a move on, and second, how much i will miss the good ole states. or maybe i should sleep. i think that's the winner. night!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
