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.