Reality

Reality hit home this week in Uganda.  It began on Sunday when I nearly broke my toe because I tripped over a rock. I learned something about myself… don’t look at your blood or else you will throw up… 3 times to be exact, with African kids staring at me the entire time.J A police lady/ ex EMT was here and gave me an intense bandage.  It is definitely not broken, Hallelujah, it just needs some time to heal.  Next comes Monday night.  Due to fear and worry I thought something was terribly wrong at home.  I was awake from 1 am to 4 am until I was finally able to go to sleep in hopes that God had his hand over my friends and family back at home.  Once I found out that things were okay, I felt silly.  God is teaching me a balance of what it means to “fear god” and to not worry.  It’s a tough lesson, a lesson that made me extremely sleepy the next day.

 On Tuesday, the day seemed to be going about its normal routine; devotion in the morning, planning and projects in the afternoon, money management, and teaching in the school.  As the 12 of us were eating our dinner, Andy and Sylvia (our leaders), told us that they had news to share with us.  A new team had arrived and they had gone to Barlonyo earlier that day.  If you have been following my updates, you can remember that my experience at Barlonyo was heart breaking.  Hundreds of people lost their lives here, many women were raped and killed, children abducted as soldiers, and many staff members shared the gruesome details of what cleaning up the next day was like.  When we went to visit, we met Flavia.  The 3 year old was as small as a 9 month old and was thought to have HIV.  We desperately wanted to get this child medical attention and seek out a way to adopt her into the COTN full time care program. When we met her June 21^st we sat in frustration trying to figure out a way to help her.  Since then teams have gone back and have been able to give her and her siblings food and the staff has been considering practical ways we could help her.  On July 25^th, only a month later, a team went with supplies and food for her.  When the asked about her, they told her that she had died just a couple of days before.  She died. Flavia died.  I touched this child’s tiny little legs and many people on my team held her in their arms.

 Before coming, I asked that God bring me to the forefront of His reality.  I didn’t want to have a sugarcoated experience in Africa; I wanted to be in their world.  Well that did it for me.  I am humbled knowing that she is free from pain and in the arms of a loving Father.  However, I am still left with frustration toward an imperfect system.  The reason we could not take in Flavia was because not every child at COTN is fully sponsored.  It makes sense; you shouldn’t have more kids if you cant feed the ones that you have already. You see the commercials of starving kids, you hear the HIV statistics, you hear that it is less than a dollar a day to provide for a child here, but sometimes it takes seeing it to actually break your heart.  My heart breaks over the system.  Its not that they don’t want to help every kid in Uganda, they just cant.  They need help.  They need businesses.  They need communication.  They need sustainable products.  The problem is bigger than my mind can comprehend.  Once again, I am trying to solve poverty.  To be honest the week got even more real. But I really cannot do it justice with words. I am willing to share it with you, but in person would probably be better. 

            On the brighter side of things…. My relationships with Janet and Jeffery continue to grow.  Janet ran for “dom capitain” this week. Despite being incredibly nervous she practiced her speech for me, it was precious. After a vote, she lost by one vote.  I was so proud of her though.  When she found out she lost, she was still filled with joy because her good friend had won.  She even led worship for the kids after the election. Jeffery, my African papa, is just the best.  He is unlike other African man.  He actually works, is willing to help, and loves on the kids.  He is such a great example to the other men.  He is respected and loved by all of us.  This week he told me he had a dream that he and my dad (American dad) were in a river splashing around together.  It was so funny.  He didn’t know why he had this dream and didn’t know what river it was in.  He also told me has been praying that I come back and said if I don’t come back, he needs mommy and daddy to come. He asked questions about Sarah this week too.  I think he understands that even though I love being here, I have to go back because I have people who I love and love me back at home. I feel very blessed by my relationship with him, I truly feel like I have an African family. 

            On Thursday we had the most intense rainstorm yet.  It often rains at night here and is so refreshing after a hot day.  This storm was unlike the others.  At 4 am rain came through the windows and lightning brightened up the room.  Alyie and Megan’s bunk bed became a lake of water.  After the rain stopped, we had to double up.  Megan slept with me and Alyie slept with Laney.  Four girls on a squeaky bunk bed. TIA.

            Please be praying for the next week that we have here.  As our last week here, it is very busy and extremely bittersweet. Thanks again for your support, love, and prayers.  

hippos, elephants, lions O MY!!

Being in Uganda thus far has been amazing and transformative to my heart.  Its also has consisted of rice and beans everyday, bucket bathing, and sometimes just so exhausting.  This week was unlike any other week we have had here.  Before I get carried away here are some of the highlights:

1.     Being at prison ministry sitting next to Laney.  She squeezed my hand so tight that it was almost numb.  She conquered a huge fear and I am so proud to be her friend.

2.     Dancing at a Ugandan wedding.  They claimed the wedding cake was “ a weapon of mass satisfaction,” and the Holy Ghost fire made the frosting.  My opinion… not so much. 

3.     I killed a spider with my foot while using the squatty potty.

4.     I acted as Satan this week for the “armor of God” lesson while Alyie killed me with her “sword of the spirit.”  I waved my hands in the air like a goblin and she made a “shink, shink” sound with each jab. 

5.     We gave our money management presentation to the staff, I even wore my business lady outfit! There was about 20 staff members there for the one hour power point presentation.  The staff loved it!  They had so many questions in hopes to gain a better understanding of the system.  We are naming the currency “Lirallings” and they even talked about expanding this to other COTN locations (Haiti, Sierra Leone, Malawi)… for now we will just work on perfecting Uganda.  The money got printed and it looks amazing!!

6.     A bug that looks like a worm with wings came into our room at night… and brought 20 of its friends.  We called the strange insect “wormy bug.”  Wormy bugs are incredibly gross looking and impossible to kill.  It caused chaos among 10 girls for about an hour before bed Monday night. 

7.     Worshiping with 60 Ugandan orphans in the center house during a rainstorm.  Beatrice (3 yrs old) feel asleep in my arms and I had to run her back to her room in the rain.  After getting her dry, I tucked her in, kissed her on the forehead and she feel asleep. Priceless.

This week was our mid trip retreat.  With less than 3 weeks left we finally got to go on the safari we had been waiting for.  The original hotel got filled up quick and which meant we got upgraded.  This hotel was immaculate I literally fell to my knees when I saw the bathroom.  We ate like kings and took advantage of the free coffee.  After a ride on the Nile River where we were greeted by hippos, elephants, and a gorgeous waterfall, we topped off the day with a swim at sunset.  The next day I was on top of a safari car within 30 feet of a lion and in arms distance reach of an elephant.  Gorgeous giraffes surrounded us while the sun poked through the morning air.  I could not have asked for a better experience.  After just one night it was back to the children’s village.  They were so happy to have us back and it felt good to be home.  Our time is flying by.  I am so excited to embrace the next couple of weeks here, but also very excited to take what I have learned here into my life at home.  Thanks for all of your love and support!

tribal dancing, prison, and a whole lot of chicken

First off: If you want to see pictures, check out facebook.  For some reason it takes a thousand years to download to blogspot, but not on facebook.  Also I apologize again for the length, I just cant minimize my week into a paragraph. Also i have been able to access my gmail for 2 weeks. aka im not ignoring you i am just practicing being amish apparently! Anyways, Enjoy!

Center Day: Center day.. it’s a family day!  On Saturday COTN puts on an all day event for the COTN and VPP kids and the entire community.  It starts at 8am and doesnt end until around 5.  Needless to say, its exhausting.  Throughout the day there is a welcome ceremony, different workshops for the kids, workshops for the family, HIV testing, games, a snack and a meal, and eventually a closing ceremony.  We had a team here from Real Life Church in Valencia and they did the planning for all the workshops, we were just obligated to help out. Workshops included teachings about brushing your teeth, telling your testimony, a bible story, and even STD information (for the older kids).  The community member got a seminar based on the importance of physical tough to their kids ie: hugs, back rubs, etc.  This is definitely something all Ugandans can learn about.  I am pretty sure I am just going to be shaking hands for a solid month when I get back without even realizing it.  The kicker for this center day, was we were all taught the “traditional dance,” and asked to perform for the closing ceremony. HILARIOUS. Lets just say these little 8 year-olds know some provocative dance moves.  I took advantage of the situation and did all 3 dances.  I painted my face with mud and wore a skirt that enhanced my dancing skills.  Enjoy the pics on facebook! I even have a video to share when I get home!

Prison: We went back to the prison this Sunday.  It was way better this time.  I was not as nervous and the men claimed to have remembered me.  I feel like they appreciated us coming back.  I was with 5 other girls and we each spoke about something on our heart.  I spoke on Romans Chapter 7, trying to emphasize the point in finding satisfaction of where you are and to surrender gods plans for your life, even if for the time being, it is jail.  I found that some men are in prison simply because they couldn’t pay taxes. It made me much more relaxed.  At the end, 11 men came forward to recognize Christ as their savior.  Hallelujah. 

Rest and Solitude: What we see and do here can be pretty intense.  We are given one day a week to sleep in, read, walk, discuss, and just be girls.  I have realized the importance of rest.  Last semester I worked or went to school 7 days a week.  Having a day to process has done wonders for me and is something that I am determined to implement into my life when I get back home.  Adios 7 days a week. Hello weekend!

The Brisk Walking Team: Because we don’t have a gym, we have found alternate ways to get our blood pumping.  Chelsey, Savannah and I are what we call, “The Brisk Walking Team.”  We get up at 6:45 am and walk for about 45 minutes. We do push ups, sit-ups, and squats.  Unfortunately for my brisk walking team members, Megan realized she brought a pair of tennis shoes that are just my size.  I may not be with the walking team every morning and run instead, running is a pretty important part of my life at home so its nice to have a piece of that here in Uganda. 

Money Management:  Things are moving right along!  We got a list of items and prices that have been approved.   Alyie finished designing the money and they loved it.  The design is being sent to Kampala (capital city) this week to get printed and laminated.  We are hoping to have an all staff presentation next Monday to discuss the implementation process.  SO FUN!

Babies home: Ugh. The babies home isn’t what you think.  The babies constantly are sitting in their pee or poo and have flies all over them.  They are not fed enough nor frequent enough.  A lot of the babies were sick this week and it didn’t seem to bother anyone but us.   I held baby Rodger the whole time.  He came in having malnutrition and I don’t think he has made a whole lot of progress. He has the tiniest legs and arms I ever touched and I making the slightest facial expression is tough work.  They gave me corn on the cob to feed him and I about laughed in their face.  I gave it a valiant effort but he couldn’t even hold the piece of corn, how was he supposed to eat it? Shouldn’t they know he is incapable of this?  Then they gave me this chalky drink substance to feed him, again I gave it a valiant effort and he tried, but just screamed and screamed and screamed.  This is the fourth time I have seen Rodger and that was the most noise I have ever heard him make and he was so exhausted after.  I sang to him underneath a tree and he eventually fell asleep.  On our way out I tried to tell the nun he would not eat and that I thought he was sick.  They simply said they were out of milk and gave him a piece of bread.  I was fuming by this point.  I know it is not the nuns fault, they just don’t have the resources to provide to all these babies.

Farwell Dinner:  The team that was here has been here before so they decided in their fundraising to earn enough to provide a meal that would treat the kids like royalty.  In Uganda that means, a piece of meat, potatoes, yogurt, and a soda.  We all were assigned jobs to help out.  Alyie and I got put on cooking duty.  Again, HILARIOUS.  We helped fry potatoes, praying to dodge the hot oil every time we threw in the raw potatoes.  The told us e to do it slowly, or technique was to throw it in and run.  When pulling out the potatoes, smoke filled our eyes. Next we helped prepare chicken. It was cooked already but not like America cooked.  I had to pull out a stomach on one and several had premature eggs still attached.  We dipped it in sauce and then fried it too.  It was a dirty job, but Alyie and I received respect from the elders because of that. Holla!

VPP:  I hoed a garden and fetched water.  Just another day in the life living in Uganda. 

Ugandan Friends: Jeffery and I continue to bound. I played a pratcial joke on him this week and he found it hilarious.  I took his seat cushion and hid it and took the stuffed animals on his dashboard and put them in the steering wheel, which led me to accidently making the car alarm go off.  He found it very funny.  He introduced me to his wife, Mary, and one of his daughters, Pasqueen (best name ever).  Mary called me her daughter and Pasqueen called me her sister.  They are slowly becoming my African family.  Jeffery called his daughter Rebecca and we talked on the phone. She told me she had heard a lot about me and exclaimed, “Rebecca, it is you! I am your namesake!” 

Janet (a COTN kid) continues to play mind games with me. One day she asks for me, the next she runs away.  This week she was sick.  While I was teaching her to make a keychain, she felt very dizzy and cold.  She went to her room to rest.  I went to check on her and she needed more blankets.  I sat next to her and asked her if she wanted me to pray for her, she said yes.  When I was sick she told the girls to tell me she was praying for me, so I felt like it was my duty to return the favor.  I sat with her for a while and eventually told her goodnight with a kiss on the forehead.  These are the moments that are irreplaceable and moments you can only get by living in such close proximity to these kids.  I am able to see the kids on their good days and bad days and it only makes me love them more. 

Computer training: I helped Hardson with typing skills.  I taght he about “home row.”  I even gave him homework and told him if he doesn’t finish it by next Friday, he will get double next time. ( he is a grown man, married with 4 kids) I love being the teacher!

Movie Night:  The team left which means movie night for the interns!  Our favorite cook, Sam, made us an amazing dinner that was basically rib fajitas! AYE, AYE!  We watched Indiana Jones. and made me appreciate the ride at Disneyland much more!  We went by the supermarket, bought sketchy chocolate and enjoyed a glimpse of the US of A. 

In other news:  Safari this week! I am sad I didn’t get to watch Harry Potter at midnight.  Some of the girls talked in british accents to commerate the day.

Until next time… amare metek

Becks

my week of hope

I am so excited about this week! I have been able to really get started in what I had planned to help with this summer.  I am also becoming more comfortable living in the village and with my overall surroundings.  I am learning more and more about the culture here and it is rocking my world, both good and bad.  I had come to Africa with preconceived notions about it from my last trip and the more I learn the more my ideas change.  Enjoy!

Computer training- We started training the staff with the computers! I was originally the only person signed up for this job, but because there was such a large variety of needs we brought some of the other interns to help out.  I assisted Dennis, who takes care of the Jesus Film project at COTN.  We did basic Word programming skills and got to know the symbols on the toolbar.  It was so great to see the joy that he experienced while learning what I consider to be such a fundamental skill.

Health- African sickness…. You got me.  I basically had malaria without getting malaria.  I haven’t been bit by a mosquito (knock on wood) so I know I didn’t have it, but I had similar symptoms… look them up if you are feeling inclined to know details!  I stayed at the guesthouse for a night and ate only toast for 36 hours.  I slept with the fan on and took a running water shower, which basically did the trick along with some antibiotics. When all was good, they gave me real food.  In America you ease in with something like soup, not in Africa.  A full plate of rice, a chicken leg, and egg plant was what I got.  I wasn’t havin it so Papa T made me his one and only box of Velvetta Mac and Cheese because I had been such a cooperative patient.  I will never look at Mac and Cheese the same.  It should be considered as a culinary masterpiece. 

Movie Night- We had a teacher team here for a week and since they left we were able to take over the guesthouse for a night.  We went to a movie store that allows you to rent a movie for 50 cents and for another 50 cents, they will illegally copy it for you.  Holla!  We watched “Life As We Know It,” drank Fanta, and made popcorn on the stove.  It was a piece of home that was much needed.  Our illegal copy failed to copy the music in the movie so it was a little strange, but still amazing!

Hospital-  On Sunday after church we headed to the hospital.  Words cannot do this justice so I will make it as valid and brief as possible.  The power of healing is very much believed in here and is very much respected.  We first walked into the maternity ward. Beds aligned the room with topless women everywhere, laying close to their babies that had been born a week or less.   We were able to talk to the women and individually pray for the health and happiness for them and their new precious baby.  This was the easy part.  Next we walked into the malnutrition ward and that’s when we were all praying that God keep us together.  I first walked over to a woman who was holding a baby who hadn’t been eating (not sure of the reason).  The baby was swollen all over his body all the way up to his face where I was met with the sight of his rotting teeth.  I gently touched the baby and he let out screams of agony.  This small precious baby was in so much pain and it seemed like no one knew why, there wasn’t even a nurse in sight.  We prayed.  I have often felt that my prayers are inadequate especially in front of Africans who scream and shout and often quote scripture.  At that moment it didn’t matter.  God needed to hear me, his daughter, cry for help.  He needed to hear all of his daughters cry for help.  My teams’ heart was broken.  This was a majority of their first time in this type of situation, yet we were able to hold it together and move bed to bed.  God prepares us for what we will experience, and I believe he prepared my eyes and my heart for that moment.  I still walked out with a tear streaming down my face and found myself questioning, “why them and not me?”  I could write for days about this but I will save you time and leave that for the conversations when I get home J (Mark 2)

Lira Babies Home- Babies, babies, babies. Stinky, stinky babies.  It was bath time this week.  I had tried to wash a kid last week and it scarred me because he was so scared of my skin color.  I decided to opt out this week and let the other girls take a shot at it.  I instead helped one of the nuns do laundry.  It was nice to feel like I wasn’t just helping the babies but instead allow God to use me to help their caregivers too. 

Money Management- So I had originally signed up to assist in a money management project.  I didn’t really understand it until being here.  We went to an orphanage called “Otinowa” which is ran by an American couple from Oregon.  This place is amazing.  It cares for the housing and schooling for 250 kids.  We took a tour because it is what COTN is modeled after.  We were able to learn about their money management system and in return realized what COTN wanted for their kids.

            The system entails creating a fake currency for the village kids so that they can learn to save and prioritize their money, eventually leading into overall responsibility.  The staff at COTN is very excited about the idea but doesn’t really know where to begin.  Myself and three other girls have made this our summer project with a goal to have it ready to introduce to the kids by August 1^st.  The kids will have to purchase things such as toothpaste, soap, and shoes because they have a problem with the kids overusing their materials with an attitude of expectancy to just get another one (much like American kids!)

            We are responsible for designing the money, holding staff meetings, and the overall plan for implementation of the system.  I am so incredibly excited about this project.  It was so nice to take out my computer, discuss ideas, and organize my thoughts.  Communication is tough and we are trying to be incredibly careful about making the staff feel as involved as they can, so that there is a greater chance that they follow through with changes even when we leave.  The nationals run COTN so their input is essential to making this project valid.  Prayers for effective communication for this project are needed!

 Village Partnership- Being in the village is on my top 3 favorite things we do in Uganda.  This week we went to Miriam’s house. Miriam’s parents both died of AIDS and no one in her village would talk or touch her because they feared she had the disease.   She goes to school at COTN but isnt in full time care.  An amazing family found her in the village and took her in as their own child.  We helped Mama Margaret hoe the garden and fetch water.   It was hard work!  She told us that all the people that walked by considered us hard workers because we were out in the sun doing garden work.  YES! THE LOCALS LIKE US!!  We sat on the rug and got a lesson on how to sit like African woman, because apparently we were sitting like boys.  Margaret brought out Fantas and biscuits (cookies) to show her gratitude to us. We know these families aren’t made of money, but yet they still insist on treating us like royalty. Her hospitality was so humbling.  On our way out she even gave us all necklaces that she makes and sells in the market.

Coming up- We are all looking forward to our safari in two weeks! We are doing a boat ride on the Nile River and then a land safari also.  It is nice to look forward to 2 days where we can just enjoy being tourists in Africa! Sorry my I have been lacking in the picture department I hope these can suffice!

Would you rather??

Each day I anticipate a new adventure, but it seems to go by so slow, but somehow I am here again.  Sitting and thinking about my week.  We had a teacher team come help this week so transportation was rough, but I still was able to find joy in this culture, in these people, and with my team.

 My relationships with the children are growing and I admit I have my favorites.  First we have Janet.  She is an extremely stubborn 15 year old girl. She always asks for me, and when I come its like she doesn’t want me there.  Next we have Monica.  She is probably 5 years old and I want to stick her in my suitcase.  She has the cutest giggle and loves to be held.  She crawled into my lap one night this week and after a short time, she was holding on to me tight and fast asleep.  Then we have Gloria.  She is 13 years old and is precious.  She tells me I am funny and strong.  She asks all sorts of funny questions.  She finds it fascinating that my dad likes to cook and that we have a magic box that cleans our clothes (my attempt to explain a laundry machine.)  She told me I look like the mother of Jesus and asked me what the name “Rebecca” meant, I told her, “the gifted dancer.”  She believed me. I must have impressed her with my skills. 

The babies home was different this week. We didn’t get pep talk, we just went for it.  I tried to bathe a baby and she just cried the entire time. She was still so cute.  I also played with a little girl named Monica (not to be confused with the other Monica).  We knew she was paralyzed and tried to be as cautious as possible.  Chelsey and I were playing with her and all the sudden she fell back on her head and began to sieze.  It was so scary.  We had no idea what to do and Chelsey yelled for help.  One of the nuns came and she didn’t even flinch.  She began to tell us that she also has epilepsy (cool thanks for the warning!).  This little girl is so full of joy and it broke my heart to hear more of her condition. 

Me and some of the girls attempted to go on a run. It went okay minus the fact I was in Vans and we were almost trampled by some cows along the way.  We also ran through a little village, we made a baby cry and run back into the house because of our skin color.  I love being the first white person kids see, its like being a celebrity.

This week has been filled with some pretty intense conversations, both challenging and enlightening.  The girls are such a blessing to me.  We all came to Uganda praying to be transformed and I can already see that happening for each of us (Romans  6: 1-8). 

Read with Caution:
I also had a CRAZY conversation with the locals.  We went to our village partnership homes again.  Jill and I helped pull plants from the ground and then took the leaves off for some sort of sauce they were going to make.  While taking off the leaves, Jill and I found ourselves whispering to each other, “is this really happening.”   I don’t know how it started, but it started with them telling us about a tribe (not close to us) that kidnaps kids and eats them. Yes. Eats them. As in cooks them, and eats them.  It then drifted into what the LRA did in towns very close to us.  Susan told us stories of tribes that would be attacked by the rebels.  She said that the rebels would take out pots and cook people and force their family and friends to eat them.  If they couldn’t eat them they would be killed and if they did, they would be considered strong enough to be a part of the army.  She said there was a school where the head master was killed and the kids were told to eat him.  It then got turned into the most disturbing game of “would you rather.”  They asked me if I would rather eat my friends or die. I couldn’t believe they were even asking me this, but for them, this is reality.  They said that if you chose to eat your friends you had to appreciate them like a meal.  You had to say thank you and you couldn’t cry or vomit or else you would be considered weak. The conversation drifted into the fear during that time and what they would do if the rebels came back.  They both said they would stay with their families and let it be God’s will because they wouldn’t have enough money to run. 
I asked them about their views on the United Nations and America. James told me the UN was good for food but nothing else.  He also said that without America they would all be dead.  He said that some countries may hate America, but as an American coming to Uganda, you will be nothing but loved.
            The intensity dwindled with a conversation about pets.  I told them I have turtles and they were fascinated.  Why would you have turtles? When you call, they don’t even come? Whats the purpose? To be honest I don’t really know.  No offense Mufasa. 

            Please be praying for my health and the health of my team.  We are useless without happy bodies.  I have been challenged everyday and my thoughts are scrambled, I need prayer for clarity as well.

Dangaber

BTW: Held a baby goat, ate a bug, acted as Angel Gabriel for our birth of baby Jesus skit. TIA.