The Dog Days Are Over/A Picture Of Life in Uganda

My lovely friends made me this video right before I left Kaihura. I feel like most of our little village was in some part of it, and for that reason especially I love it so much. 

This Song

I can't seem to stop listening to it.

So simple and beautiful.

See You Later Kaihura

One week from today I will be flying out of Uganda and back to the United States. While I am very much looking forward to seeing all of my friends and family back in America, it is biter-sweet to be leaving the place I have called home for a year, and the people I have grown to love. This has been such an amazing year, full of ups and downs, crazy adventures, and so many experiences that brought growth.

I have so many great memories to take back with me: movie night at Hope Academy, where we huddled around a computer balanced on top of three stacked desks, seeing the transformation that has occurred in Everest’s life, riding on a boda for what felt like a million miles to a community that had just been given a new water well, trekking up the hill to Hope Academy in the mud and the rain to see an amazing/hilarious parade of skits and song and dance numbers at their graduation, sitting a the Village Art café on so many afternoons enjoying a soda.

I am truly grateful to have been able to have lived and worked in Kaihura with Bringing Hope to the Family. Even though I’m leaving for right now, instead of “goodbye”, I’ll just say “see you later Kaihura”.

A Year in Rewind

It's been over a year since I first came to Uganda to live and work with Bringing Hope to the Family, and it has honestly been one of the best years of my life. Soon I will be heading back to the States and I would love to share with you some of my favorite things about living in Uganda.

Friends: one of the very best things about this year in Kaihura is all of the amazing people I have met and the friendships that have formed. I've been so lucky to have found such great community here in Uganda.

Beautiful scenery: East Africa boast some amazing scenery. Western Uganda has beautiful rolling hills, and in Jinja you can see the sun set over the Nile River, and Mombasa is right on the edge of the Indian Ocean. It been so exciting to be able to travel to all of these beautiful places, and witness the beauty of God's creation.

Ugandan Culture: while Ugandan functions are often crazy long it's been really neat to be able to live and experience a totally different culture. There are certain aspects of Ugandan culture that I love, like the way people take time in their day for conversation, the slower pace of life, I know I'll miss that when I leave Kaihura.

Amazing people: I have been so privileged to meet and work with so many great people, most especially Faith and Peter, the two founders and directors of our ministry partners: Bringing Hope to the Family and Action Ministry. It is so inspiring to see these two people pour out their lives to bring hope to their communities.

The Sassers are Coming to Town

I am so excited to welcome the Sasser family back to Kaihura tomorrow! After being gone for almost a year the Sassers are bringing a volunteer team back to Kaihura, and everyone here will be so happy to see them! This trip is especially exciting because Peter Ochiel the founder and director of Action Ministry, where the Sasser family is currently serving will be coming to Kaihura as well.This will be the first time Peter and Faith will meet and we are so excited for these two amazing people to be able to meet, share ideas, and learn from each other. This is going to be a great time of visiting, sharing, learning, and giving, and I can't wait!

Rain Rain Go Away

Unlike most of the United States, Uganda only has two seasons. Dry and rainy. At the moment we are at the end of the rainy season, or so we thought. But this particular rainy season has been hanging on with a vengeance. March through May is supposedly the milder of the rainy seasons, as compared to September, October, November where is rains everyday no matter what. While the two very definite seasons make weather predications pretty easy, I really do miss the four distinct seasons of North America. Especially Autumn. 

It's interesting this little things that I find myself missing, like doorknobs, and Autumn. It makes me wonder what little things I'll miss from Uganda, maybe the hundreds of colorful birds, or the beautiful sunsets. It seems like no matter where I go I will be missing something. 

Up and Around!

You can read more of Everest's story here.

So excited to see Everest in his new wheelchair! Before this wheelchair Everest was completely bedridden every day, all day. I am so thankful to have been able to witness the amazing changes God is doing in Everest's life. I also want to thank everyone who has invested in Everest's life, thank you for letting God use you! 

Letting Go...

After living in Uganda for almost a year, you slowly start letting things go, it’s mostly because you would drive yourself crazy if you didn’t, but sometimes it’s because you just figure you’re in Africa, and you shouldn’t be held to the same standards as the rest of the continents.

What are these things that I’ve had to let go you ask?
For your convenience I’ve divided them into three main categories: bugs, myself, and other crap, of course I’ve had to let go of a lot of other things (like how things NEVER go according to plan), but I’m trying to keep things (relatively) brief.

Bugs:

In America I was pretty squeamish when it came to bugs. Which now, looking back is a bit amusing, because bugs in America are so infrequent, and often even cute (ex. Ladybugs). Anyways, when I used to come across a bug inside my house I would usually call my sister Emily to come and dispose of it for me. Which she would, and then look at me in disgust because I couldn't dispose of said bug myself.

My fear of bugs was something I had to let go very quickly, as Uganda seems to be the source and headquarter for most of the world’s insect population. Bugs invade my life so often, it would be impractical to do anything but ignore, squish, or pick them out of my food and throw them away.

I’ve learned that inevitably bugs will get into your food (ex. My friend Lauren ate a maggot on Tuesday while enjoying a mango), but then the question has now become: how much of my food have they invaded? Can a cut out the maggoty bit from this cucumber? Of course! I can just scoop around the white ants that always seem to be in the kimbo (shortening)? Why would you do anything else? No need to throw the entire pea pod away because of that worm, just pick around it, right? Right! I’m pretty sure those mosquito larva will die when you boil the water. They definitely will! I’ve let go of my aversion to dealing with bugs, and realize that while they are disgusting, vile little creatures, they can be easily ignored, or swiftly put to death.

Myself:

I by no means think that I have entirely let myself go, but I have to a certain extent.

I can still remember a time when I dressed nicely and wasn’t always a little bit dirty. That was before moths, hand washing, dirt, and sharp snagging objects took vengeance upon my clothes. I also constantly seem to have an assortment of bites, bruises, and scrapes all over me, enough that a friend’s young son was concerned enough to ask if he could put salve on my “wounds”.  Also, because of the sharp decrease of meat and dairy in my life, all of these “wounds” are scarring up very nicely, which, as you can imagine, is very attractive. I won’t even disgust you with the mangled, filthy state of my feet, I’ll just say that walking everywhere on dirt roads has never suited them less.

However, even though I don’t think I  (or anyone I know here) am living as our most polished selves, I really don’t feel like it matters that much. I like my scar on my arm I got in Mombasa, and the dress that is patched ‘cause it snagged when I was playing with Josiah, I don’t love my disgusting feet, but it’s part of life in Kaihura, and I wouldn’t want to be any other place.

Other crap:

So yeah, I’ve just had to deal with a lot more actual crap than I ever imagined. Aside for the latrine-style toilets, there is just poo everywhere. For months I thought mice were coming into my room, pooping, and disturbing nothing else, nope, that was lizard poo. The sheer amount that geckos must take a dump is baffling! I mean, they have such tiny little bodies, and it’s not as if there are gecko raves going on in my room every night, just the occasional lizard running across the wall, yet every single morning I will have to sweep my room free of little lizard turds.
Cow poop, chicken poop, lizard poop, goat poop, dog poop, people poop, it’s just all over the place. Once, a man whose nationality will remain anonymous (cough, polish, cough) took a dump in the water source for the whole village of Kaihura! What kind of person does that?!?! Later that same week my friend Jodie (not surprisingly) got very ill with giardia, which you get from coming into contact with feces, probably from her shower water (she wanted you to know that she doesn’t drink poop water). Yesterday I am positive Jodie and I walked through sewage water that some guy was scooping out of a drain onto the street. I'm not sure I ever had an aversion to poo, you don't come into contact with it too much in America, but  I'm definitely beyond caring about a little poo.

I think one of the most important lessons Uganda has taught me is to let things go, or more importantly, a lot of things probably aren’t as important as you think they are. It’s easy to get caught up in the small, unimportant details of life and ignore the things that really do matter. Uganda has done a good job of putting things in perspective.

The Big Two Five

I was a little anxious about this birthday, mostly because I'm now a quarter of a century, but also because this was the first birthday that I've ever spent out of the United States.

My little bit of anxiety turned out to be for nothing, this year so many people went out of their way to make my birthday special, and it turned out to be a truly great day.

On Sunday my friend Destiny and her family threw me a very delicious pumpkin themed birthday meal, and surprised me with video messages from my family and friends. 

On Tuesday I awoke to a decorated room (by Jodie the night before), and was whisked off to a crater lake with Jodie, Lauren, Bella, Steph, and Maeve (a new friend). 

We spent a wonderfully relaxing day at the lake, and then headed into town to meet some more friends for some indian food.

Dinner took hours, and was incredibly spicy, but it's not Uganda without a something going at least a little bit wrong. Nevertheless, dinner was a great time to catch up with friends. 

So yeah, birthday well spent. Last year I had absolutely no idea I would be spending my 25th in Uganda, but I am so incredibly thankful that I was able to celebrate here.

Remember That Time...

When you dressed up in pink and took a photo with a giant black hand?

 I came across this photo of me and Steph from my friend Prossy's wedding back in December. This was one of the best, most tacky days of my life. I've never worn more pink or body glitter, or danced as much in front of hundreds of people, but it was such a great day!

I have so many amazing memories of my year in Uganda, and I know when I get back to America I will wish for days full of dancing and enormous amounts of pink.

Adventures in Public Transportation!

My friend Jodie was literally attacked by a baboon a few days ago in a taxi, and while I've never had anything that dramatic happen to me, I thought it might be nice for you all to get a little glimpse at what riding in a Ugandan taxi is like.

A lil background: There are three types of car/bus/van vehicles you can choose from to get around in in Uganda. Busses and taxi vans are used for long trips, and taxi cars are used for shorter trips. In cars as many people as possible will be shoved in (I'm talking like double to seat amount), but for longer trips you usually have a seat to yourself.

Oh the things you will see...

Chickens: There are chickens everywhere! Sadly this also mean that chickens travel in taxis and buses too. On the floor, on the roof, on a lap, they are really just everywhere.

Vomit: I don't know why people vomit in taxis and buses so often, but they do. Usually they are super polite about it and throw up into whatever container they have with them: purse, briefcase, shopping bag etc.

Goats: Not as common as chickens, but they are still there every once in a while.

Street vendors: When taking a long trip you will inevitably stop somewhere, and once you stop the street food vendors will descend upon your vehicle like flies. Selling anything from street meat to yogurt in a bag these people will literally shove food in your face trying to get you to buy it. They might also ask to buy your ipod.

Boobs: Women breastfeed on taxis and buses a lot. They never cover up, and half of the time things are just left hangin out.

Speed bumps: Don't know why, but Uganda decided to put speed bumps on all of their major highways. On the highways people! Can you imagine going down the interstate and all of the sudden there are patches of speed bumps? Yeah, well it's not fun.

Waits: You will wait until your vehicle fills with people, may it be ten minutes, or two hours, a Ugandan taxi will not leave unless it is completely full.

All in all it is probably the least comfortable way to travel. Public transportation in Uganda does have one huge upside though, it is SUPER cheap, ergo the reason myself and almost everyone I know takes it, you can suffer through a whole lot if you only have to pay $9.60 to take a 200 mile trip.

Jinja

This past weekend some friends and I piled into taxi vans and set off for Jinja. Jinja is only 200 miles away, but because this is Uganda our journey took from 8:45 in the morning until 5:30 in the evening. We made it though, with shared headphones, and an unfortunate chicken hanging off the roof of the taxi, and the journey was well worth it. 

Did you know that the source of the Nile is in Uganda? In Jinja to be precise. So our long weekend was spent overlooking the Nile, which would have been beautiful if the Nile had just been a regular river, but because it's the Nile it was just infinitely cooler.

We basically spent the weekend laying around by the pool or in the pool, eating, reading, and exploring a little bit of Jinja. It was the perfect little relaxing getaway. 

This poor chicken kept coming loose from the top of our taxi, and just dangling from the roof carrier. It was pitiful, also something I'm pretty sure only happens in places like Uganda. 

There were so many of these little monkeys running around the camp where we stayed. They are harmless, and because no one seems to know their actual name most people just call them "Blue Ball Monkeys", because well...they have blue balls. 

I could not get over how beautiful sunset over the river was. What a beautiful world God made for us!

Kaihura

As unexceptional and probably trashy as this little village might look to an outsider, it's been a pretty great place to live for the past 11 months. 

A Bit of Randomness

Hey oh! Random update about what's going on here.

Just made some delicious biscuits and gravy for the army of people hanging out here in Kaihura. There are 7 other British volunteers around this week, which has been awesome, and I'm learning to cook for large groups.

By this time next week I will have seen the Nile! I'm going for a weekend in Jinja, where the source of the Nile is located. I'm pretty excited to have some downtime, and swim with the crocs:)

I'm reading through Matthew and I am in love with the sermon on the mount.

So yeah, that feels like about it...tomorrow is Ugandan Labor Day, so I'm planning on celebrating with with Oreo pudding!

Spring Happenings

For the last week and a half I’ve been visiting Mombasa and Action Ministry Know Think Act’s other ministry partner that works in a leper community. I’ve been staying with the Sasser family, Know Think Act’s international coordinators who live and work in Mombasa with Action Ministry. It has been a great opportunity to take some time off and relax, as well as spend some time getting to know Action Ministry. While I’m having a great time in Kenya enjoying the beach and the seafood, I would love to share with you some of what has been going on with me in Kaihura for the last month or so.

I have been spending a lot of time working in the Village Art Café helping them improve their customer service, and consistency with their products. It’s been nice to get involved in a new project and it will be great to see the café improve and become more profitable! Who knew so many years of working in a restaurant would become useful in Uganda?

A lot has been going on at the baby house at Home Again. Baby Gladys has been sick, and had to be taken to the hospital, she was having some trouble gaining weight, but the doctors prescribed her a special formula, and she appears to be slowly recovering. Even more recently the population at the baby house increased by three, a few days before I left for Kenya, Faith, myself, and a few others were called on to pick up three triplets whose mother had died during childbirth. So Eve, Eleanor, and Esther are the newest, littlest, members of Home Again. 

Some of you may have heard Everest’s story, but for those that haven’t: Everest was found in his home in terrible condition, he is paralyzed from the chest down, but his legs had been left in terrible condition, with open wounds that rats were eating on during the night. Everest was brought to the clinic where his legs were cleaned and treated. As he continued to heal Everest stayed in Kaihura, and began to help with basket making for the Village Art craft shop, he loves to do craft work and his products are beautiful. Recently Everest went to Kampala to a school that helps paraplegics learn to live more independently, and while he was in the city he was also fitted for a wheelchair that will help with his previously, very limited mobility. I got a call from Faith last week saying that Everest was coming home, so I am very excited to see him in his new wheel chair when I get back to Kaihura.

This next week is my last in Kenya, and I’ll make it back to Kaihura just in time to spend Easter with friends there. Coming back into Uganda will be the last time I have to renew my visa, which is a bittersweet thought. Even so I am very excited to see what God is going to do my last three months in Uganda, and will continue to do as a return to America. I want to thank you all for your continued love and support for me, while I am living and working in East Africa, it is very much felt and appreciated. 

Getting to Know Action Ministry!

A few days ago Katie, Chris and I visited Blessed Camp for their weekly planning meeting with some of the Action Ministry staff. It was great to get to know their staff and hear their vision for Action Ministry.

Right now Action Ministry consists of Action Church, Action Clinic, and Action School that teaches 1^st through 3^rd grade. Action Ministry was formed to minister to the community of leprosy victims that live in an area south of Mombasa. It is so encouraging to see how much the Action Ministry staff has done for this community, and how invested they are in bringing the love of God to those who suffer from leprosy, when much of the rest of the world had written them off.

It was super exciting to hear what future plans there are for Action Ministry, from income generating projects to leadership development classes, I’m so excited to see what God has in store for Blessed Camp and Action Ministry! Who knows exactly what the future has in store for Action Ministry, but whatever it is I am so glad to be partnering with a ministry who loves God, loves people, and is committed to making a difference in the lives of those around them.

A Week in Mombassa

A week ago armed with my passport and a ripped duffle bag, I hopped on a plane and headed over to Mombassa Kenya to spend some time hanging out with the awesome Sasser family, and visit Action Ministry Know Think Act's other ministry partner.

Thus far it has been a great trip! Mombassa is a coastal city, and the Sassers live right on the Indian Ocean, so there has been lots of swimming, and floating around in the very warm waters. I couldn't have wished for better company to enjoy the beautiful scenery with, Chris and Katie Sasser and their boys are super laid back, easy to talk to, and just fun to be around. I am so thankful for the amazing people God has put in my life during my time in Africa. 

One of the cool things about this area are the Massai that you can see walking around in town, or on the beach. On Sunday we were at a restaurant where we got to see some traditional Massai dancing, while I felt pretty touristy, it was awesome to be able to see something so completely different from anything else I've ever seen, and something that I know can only be seen in this area of Africa.

Tomorrow we are going to visit Blessed Camp, the leper colony that Action Ministry works with, bringing education, medical care, and God's love to people who society had labeled as outcasts. I'm super excited to see all that has been done at Blessed Camp, and see how God is changing lives in that community! 

Market Day!

A few weeks ago I was in a little bit of a slump, so in attempt to unslump myself I took the day off and had a proper market day! A market day was just what I needed to boost my spirits. In case you have never been to a market in Uganda I try my best to give you an accurate picture of what a day of retail therapy looks like for me.

Well my day started off pretty well because I woke up in my newly cleaned room. My room had seriously gotten out of control, this probably won’t come as a surprise to most of you, but I’m kind of messy. But on day my room was in a downward spiral of disgusting. However, after finding ants in my bed, I had had enough! I spent all morning cleaning, and now my room is sparkle clean, and will (hopefully) remain clean. So when I woke up to a clean room, it just started my day off right.

The market, my friends and I had decided to go to was outside of Fort Portal so that meant we had to get a taxi to take us the 40 km into Fort Portal. Usually taxis are crowded and hot and slow, but miracle of miracles we were able to hail down a private car (with leather seats!) and rode peacefully, and speedily into Fort Portal. I really cannot emphasize how awesome this ride in was, often when I get in someone’s car for a ride there then ensues some serious creeping, persistent (unwanted) flirting, and even a marriage proposal, which are made even more awkward because you are usually stuck alone in a car with this person for 45 min to an hour. The guy that gave us a ride in yesterday, is apparently one of the few not creepy Ugandan guys, and did not bother us at all!

Okay, back to the market. We went to a market that is a little further away from our normal market, and it was well worth the extra travel time.

This market was huge and a decent amount cheaper than our normal market. Maybe I should back up and describe the markets here: a giant conglomeration of stalls and tarps with piles of things on them, selling clothes, shoes, veggies, cookware, bags, fruits, etc. Usually filled with hundreds of people buying and selling things, and always trying to rip white people off.

Even though everyone will try to charge you a ridiculous amount of money for what they are selling, just because you’re white, I still usually come away with some pretty good deals, like yesterday I bought a dress that was originally from H&M for $1.20! Although I bought a couple of new clothing items yesterday, what I was really happy about was all of the fruits and veggies. I never really realized how lucky I was in America to have access to basically any fruit or vegetable I could ever want. In Uganda, that is not the case. In Kaihura your options are tomatoes, onions, sometimes carrots, sometimes, potatoes, sometimes, eggplant, sometimes avocado, sometimes peppers, and on the rare occasion cauliflower. Fruits are usually just pick from someone tree and given to you. Of late the veggie selection in Kaihura has been dismal, like only onions and tomatoes. While I love both of these foods, there is only so much you can cook with just the two of them. Yesterday at the market though we were able to buy carrots, peas, garlic, avocado, mangos, and passion fruit (there were also a ton of other produce options, but those were the ones we needed).

Basically yesterday was just a great break from everyday life, I got out of my slump, we made samosas for dinner last night with some of our veggies, and I've got a new dress. An all around win!

An Afternoon at Home Again!

I love spending time at Home Again, most especially at the baby house. A few weeks ago I was feeling a little deprived of cuteness so I headed over to the baby house for an afternoon of cuddles and cuteness. I would love to share some of my photos with you of my afternoon.

Mark Dunkin is a bundle of chubs, and loves taking selfies. 

Anna is growing into such a pretty little girl! I can't believe how big she is getting!

Joel is one of the littlest ones at Home Again, and is always crawling behind all of the others.

Adolf has one of the biggest bellies I've ever seen! 

2014 Recap (Thus Far)

 2014 is flying by, and before it gets too much later I wanted to share with you all some of what has been going on with me here in Uganda.

Kaihura rang in the new year rather quietly, only a few fireworks on main street, and once the clock struck midnight everyone you met began greeting you by inquiring “how is your new year”. Thus far my new year has been busy!

Schools in Uganda are on break all of January. So a lot of time was spent visiting the kids at Home Again: playing with the older kids, and spending time holding the babies (who don’t go to school, but are too chubby and cute not to spend time with).

Once school did begin again, Hope Academy Primary School (the school run by BHTF) opened their boarding section for the older students and my friend Steph and I have started a movie night for the students who board. To do this we have to stack two desks one on top of the other and set my laptop hooked up to Steph’s speaker on the desks. Then everyone crowds around, and munches on cookies, and watches awesome movies like Transformers 2.

January was a month of birthdays here in Kaihura! Steph, one of the British girls who work in Kaihura, as well as two of my good Ugandan friends all celebrated their birthdays within a few weeks of each other. Birthdays are not really celebrated in Uganda, but we broke tradition and threw a joint party with tacos and chocolate cake! 

At the end of January a new well was built for the community of Kyabajagara!

One of my favorite things that KTA and BHTF do is build wells. It was quite an adjustment for me moving here and not having indoor plumbing (we have a water tank and faucet outside). As inconvenient as that is, imagine how much worse it would be if the only place for you to get water was from a dirty borehole. So when we can bring wells to communities it will greatly increase sanitation and decrease waterborne disease it makes me so happy!

Travis Gravette, the founder of KTA also brought a volunteer team to Kaihura at the end of January. I really enjoy having teams here and getting to show them everything that BHTF is doing, This team was able to help construct the well in Kyabajagara, visit homes helped by BHTF, and spend a lot of quality time at Home Again with the kids.

On of the hardest things to happen yet in Uganda was the death of little Juliet. Juliet lived at Home Again, and was one of my favorites there. She was brought (with several of her siblings) to Home Again when she was suffering from a sever case of TB, her parents had died and left only her siblings to take care of each other. Once at Home Again Juliet recovered from her TB, but was left with some physical deformities.  That didn’t stop her from dancing, and laughing, and playing all over Home Again. I could always count on a big hug from Juliet, and that she would sing me a little song (often one she would make up) in a voice that was squeaky and raspy at the same time.  Juliet died of heart complications, a side effect of TB in early February. I am so glad Juliet was able to spend her last years happy and well cared for at Home Again, and I am so glad I was able to get to know that precious little girl.

And now, here March is. March in Uganda marks the beginning of rainy season, so we are gearing up with our raincoats and rain boots. March is also the beginning of the planting season, so we are expecting a lot of new corn, veggies, and beans to be planted at BHTF’s farm soon. I am looking forward to what the next few months have in store (hopefully a trip to Kenya), and to see what God will be doing here in Kaihura!

Lastly I would like to thank you all for your love and support. It means the world to me knowing that I have such an amazing support system who are praying for me and who loves me, even though most of you are an ocean away.