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 1st. 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!
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