Saturday, August 1, 2009

Tis better to give than to receive...

(stay tuned--just reminding myself of something I want to write about next time)

I'm sorry--finally an update!

I think I owe everyone who reads this an apology for my lack of posts. I know that I'm OK, but I forget that all of you don't necessarily know where I am or how I'm doing. Therefore, I'm sorry for not posting in quite a long time.

I am now safely back in Washington and am adjusting to life back in the States. I've been so busy since I left Africa (traveling to Spain, London, and now home) that I really haven't had too much time to just reflect on my experience...until tonight. My flatmate, Erin, and I sat down to discuss my trip a bit. The conversation turned to discussing missionary work, why we do it, locations, needs, personal growth, faith, etc...haha we got onto numerous topics. I have so much swirling around (or as Anthony would say--"marinating") in my head right now that I can't even figure out what to write...I guess what it boils down to is I have a hard time rationalizing raising thousands of dollars to take a group of teens (or adults!) on a short-term mission to Africa when just donating that money to a trusted non-profit would go so far...but on the other hand, it is so hard to really impact people and help them have life-changing experiences without them experiencing them firsthand. Hmmmm....

Honestly, at times I just wanted to cry tonight as Erin and I talked and watched some of the videos I took of kids singing, dancing, and praying in Uganda and Kenya. The people who live and work at Loving One by One's orphanage feel like my family. I look at each of their faces and I can hear their voices, I know their personalities, and some of their stories. A big part of me feels like I've abandoned them; although, I'm comforted by my belief that God will never abandon them and deep in their hearts they know that He is all they truly need. Why isn't that good enough for me? Oh my gosh, I get it! A light bulb just went off...that's just it...they don't "need" me...I'm fun to have around and I teach them and play with them and pray and dance and love them but they don't NEED me...they get that. They know God is all they need...I'm just the cherry on top! (and I say "I" for ease of communicating my thoughts but "I" could be replaced with any person in their lives). As I look around my room at all my belongings, it kind of makes me want to throw up. BUT not sick enough to get rid of it all. WHY? Why do I still have a desire and an attachment to "stuff"???

A few more thoughts and then I have to go to bed...one of the unexpected outcomes of my trip has been all the awesome conversations I've had with people regarding mission work, poverty, hunger, family issues, faith, and the list goes on...and I'm not talking about flippant conversations...I've had several extensive conversations surrounding these issues. God has opened so many doors and I have a feeling that many more will be opened in the next few months. These issues can be so overwhelming, and I've definitely determined that they are some pretty complex issues that no amount of foreign aid will "fix"... BUT a man I met waiting in line at Gatwick airport in London had one idea for breaking down stereotypes and unifying the human race (among other issues as well) and that is to travel! Seems simple doesn't it? He made the point that if more people traveled, we would have more of a grasp of other cultures and an awareness of issues in other parts of the world. Once someone has traveled to a new place, they will more than likely have some kind of attachment to it and then be willing to defend it...ok, I know I'm not communicating very well what I'm meaning so feel free to converse with me about it! To summarize, it's like the ripple effect...person travels to a country...that alone will boost the country's economy which in turn could provide more jobs which would mean more money which could lead to more food on the table and with a full belly it has been proven that kids do better in school which can lead to them having more opportunities in higher education, better jobs...and the effect goes on and on. And to think all of that could happen solely based on people traveling to "third world" or "developing" countries...

OK I'm exhausted...

Many people have been wondering about pictures. I plan on posting more thoughts/reflections/stories from my travels this summer and adding pictures!!! So keep checking back. Some pictures should be up within a week.

Re-reading my post I just realized how big of a hypocrite I sound like...I start by saying I have issues with all the money spent to travel to a place like Uganda for a short term mission trip (don't get me wrong- I was grateful to get to go to Uganda and serve God this summer and I still believe that's where He wanted me and would love to go back but I don't necessarily think it's cost effective for someone to go just for a week or something along those lines), and then I end with insisting that people travel more. I didn't mean to contradict myself...more of what I'm really trying to say is that in some cases I think it's more critical to donate directly to a cause but as a long-term "solution" I suggest that everyone in the world travels more...Hope that makes more sense!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Good-bye Uganda / Hello Kenya

Staying at the Home for 3 days was the perfect way to complete my time in Uganda. It was so wonderful staying with the kids and the mommas. I also got to teach there. One day second grade and the next 1/2 day 2nd and 1/2 day 1st. That was fun! Teaching is very different here...a lot of recitation and rote learning. But kids are the same everywhere!

I left Saturday morning, and I was on the verge of tears most of Friday night. Everyone got up bright and early Saturday morning to send me off. LOTS of hugs and a few letters. :)

I didn't have any problems traveling to Kenya by myself. I arrived in Mombasa in the afternoon. My brother, Adam, and his friend, Robert, were there to pick me up. My brother's new place is fantastic! Two bedrooms, two baths, sitting area, and kitchen. It's only about a 10 minute walk from the beach. Walking along the beach Sunday afternoon I actually felt like I was back in Australia. It has been nice just relaxing for a couple days after always being "on the go" in Uganda. We're in the city today using the internet and doing a little sightseeing.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Last week in Uganda...

Today, we went back to the school LOBO started. There are 65 children in grades 1-4. We joined them for chapel this morning, and then we broke up into groups of 3 and each group spent 20 minutes in each "classroom." The first graders have their own room but the other 3 grades share one giant room with wood dividers. This was very distracting because it got very loud! I asked one of the teachers about it, and she said that it is very hard to teach because you can hear everything that is going on in the other 2 grades. My group told a little bit about each person and we showed them on a world map where we are from. Then we taught them how to play "Heads up, 7-up." The seemed to enjoy it once they got the hang of it.

I'm not really feeling well right now...think it's just a cold or maybe a sinus infection. I'm really tired too. I was up late learning African dances with some of the guest house staff and some team members. Haha bet you wish you could see video of that! Don't you worry, we took some video of it! I haven't even mentioned them yet, but there are 4 people in their 20s that work at the guest house we're staying at. They are so much fun! Three of them can speak English fairly well and the fourth one just smiles alot! We always ask them to teach us more Luganda (the language here). Oh and we ask them to dance for us too!

I get to stay at the Home (LOBO's orphanage) for 3 extra days, but the rest of the team leaves bright and early Wednesday morning. Therefore, they had to say goodbye to the kids last night. I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO relieved that I didn't have to say goodbye and that I get to spend a couple days with them. Shafiga was crying, and I kept telling her I'll be back Wednesday. She wouldn't let go of me until I promised that I would be back Wednesday. Agghhh! It's a catch-22 because I know I'm going to get even more attached when I stay with them for 3 days! I don't know how I'm going to leave them...

Y'know the slum I wrote about in my last post? We're going back there tomorrow to hold a medical clinic. I received a last minute donation right before I left and that is going to pay for the 3 doctors for the clinic. God is so awesome to provide us with enough money to bring some medical care to this desperate area. I don't think I can say it enough...THANK YOU for supporting me and the Ugandans on this mission trip. Thank God for bringing me to Uganda this summer to serve Him.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." -Gandhi

God bless.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Slum (wed. 24/6/09)

Yesterday was by far the most difficult day for me. We went to a pre-school in a slum. The British founder of the school took us out into the slum to introduce us to the families of some of the children. You know the commercials where the little child is standing there all dirty with shacks crumbling behind him saying "for only a dollar a day..."? Well, that's exactly what it was like. Smelling it, seeing it, touching it, hearing it...that is their reality. It was so difficult to experience...and to think that the beautiful little children in the pre-school LIVE there...

(outta time, but I'll try and come back to this)

The Nile (Tues. 23/6/09)

I'm running out of time (internet cafe), and I've only been giving highlights! We really jam our days so full of stuff! The need is so great here, but it is very tiring.

We took the kids from the Home to the Nile River today... a little fieldtrip for them. Of course Shafiga was my partner. Right when she got on the bus, she sat in my lap and opened the small pocket of her little backpack. She handed me a letter she had written me on a scrap of paper she had found around the house. "Auntie, I spelled your name right. Auntie, I spelled your name right!" She was so proud that she had written "Ant Brita" on the letter (haha got my name right but missing the "u" in aunt!). Now remember this is a 1st grader...she wrote me a whole letter about my name, that she loved me, and asking me if I loved her and God. My eyes started tearing up, and now they are again just typing this! Director Sherry said she had to have done it on her own because they have paper at the Home, but it was written on the back of some packaging directions. That letter means so much to me. I told her I do love her and God. She is my little angel. I thank God for her. Oh and I was asking Sherry for more of her story, and when she originally came to the orphanage she was Muslim. Now she is a proud Christian and she literally glows when she gets to share her faith with others.

The Island (Mon. 22/6/09)

Today was quite the adventure! We went to a part of town that rarely has mzungus (white people) to get on a boat to go across Lake Victoria (second largest lake in the world...following Lake Superior--extra tidbit of knowledge :)). Now imagine a giant wooden rowboat with a little motor on the back...that's what we put 20 people in to cross the lake! Just before getting to the island we have to go through a narrow channel...probably about two feet of water on either side of the boat. Well, when we got to where we could see land, there was an abandoned boat across our path! Ken had to get out of our boat and onto that boat to move it out of our way. Haha so another boat FULL of wood decided that it didn't want to wait so it starts coming toward us right as we get the boat moved. We're all saying there is no way that both boats can fit and it was a looong way back to the open water and he was not backing down. So we just moved over as far as we could and the boat made it through!! We were all ducking because it had all this wood hanging over the side. So we survived that but our next form of transportation was riding boda bodas. These are little mopeds that travel at crazy speeds--very popular form of transportation in the city too. Debra (one of the teammates) and I got on the back of this lil boda boda for our 6 minute ride up to the school. I loved it, but most of the team members were terrified. All of the kids we passed along the way were so excited to see us...they were jumping all around and waving. The school sits on a hill, so when our boda boda came into the clearing and up the hill we were greeted by hundreds of kids screaming and running full speed down the hill at us...the warmest welcome I have ever received! This school was by far the poorest we've seen. The classrooms literally had one chalkboard and benches for the kids to sit on. That was literally it. I even saw some garbage smooshed together to make a football (soccer ball). One classroom had a few desks but that was it. The kindergarten class was held outside under a tree with a 4x2 chalkboard at the front and a couple wooden benches to sit on. We played with the kids, sang and danced with them, gave them de-worming pills, gave them each one toy, a sweet (piece of candy), and a biscuit (sweet crackers). They were so grateful--a lot of them knelt down at us to say thank you.

Sunday @ the Home

I'm in an internet cafe right now, so I'm going to try and catch up a bit on some posts...I'll do different ones for different days...

Last Sunday afternoon, we went back to the orphanage (we call it "the Home") run by the organization I'm with. We were all very excited because the children are so wonderful and there are only 12 so we can get to know each child. Shafiga was her usual rambunctious self--chasing me with grasshoppers and putting them in our shoes. I also played badminton with Henry. I had a couple mosquitoes land on me, but thankfully no bites! Then we all had a snack of popcorn, watermelon, pineapple, poundcake, and soda. No wonder they love it when the Americans come to visit! So we're all sitting at the table eating our snack, and I noticed that Shafiga would not take her eyes off of me. I just kinda ignored it and kept eating. Well, I started to notice that she was copying EVERYTHING I was doing. When I'd put popcorn in my mouth, she'd put popcorn in her mouth. I started to eat some fruit and she didn't have any fruit left on her plate, so she gave me this look like "No fair! what are you doing?!" She was really good! Everyone started watching, and we were trying to hold in our laughter but it was so cute. She kept a straight face the whole time, and she started to just pretend if I was eating something she didn't have on her plate. What a crack up! I already know I'm going to have a super hard time leaving her.

After snack, the kids sang and danced to some worship songs for us. Then they did their usual night prayer routine. They sit down and sing a couple more songs, a couple children read a Bible story, they recite words or phrases they remember from the story, and then they share what the story means. To close, they pray together. One of the mamas (the women who take care of them) said, "Who wants to pray?" At least 5 of their hands shot up...now remember only 12 children live there. Typically in my life experiences, only 1 (or 0!) person volunteers to pray. That was really inspiring to me to see nearly half of these children eager to pray. So the Mama let all the kids who raised their hands pray, and pray they did! I was shocked by the maturity of these 7-9 year old kids' prayers. They love God so much, and they are so grateful to have Him in their lives. This was a very powerful way to end the night...

Monday, June 22, 2009

Medical Clinics

The first 3 full days (Thurs-Sat) we held medical clinics. My job for these clinics was to take stats on the patients. A Ugandan woman would write the patient's name and age on a booklet and then the patient would come to one of four triage "nurses" (me and 3 others in the group) to have their symptoms, temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate taken and recorded in his/her booklet. I had a blast playing nurse and by the third day, I caught myself trying to diagnose them in my head. We were blessed to have a couple translators to help us understand their symptoms for those who didn't speak English. The first clinic was held in a Sudanese village in Kampala. Imagine an 8x12 room for 4 stats people and their patients and the "pharmacy." The pharmacy was one table with all the drugs layed out and 3 people filling prescriptions. We only had benches for intake which made it a struggle as I had to hold everything on my lap and write on my lap. Some of the babies have never seen mzungus (white people), so they would scream just being near us. One 10 monthish old baby literally about jumped out of her mother's lap because she was so afraid when one of the nurses tried to touch her. It was hilarious because I've never seen a baby react like that...we were all cracking up...even the locals. My booty and back were very sore at the end of the day from sitting hunched over on a wood bench for about 6 hours straight without getting up once! The next day we had desks (we were at a school) to work on which was so much easier! The third clinic was way outside of town in an AIDS village--most of the parents have been wiped out from AIDS, so the grandparents (jaja) are raising the children. We also opened a "clothing shop" so children could come in and pick out one outfit. This was very special for them because they NEVER get to pick out their own clothes. One little girl said, "I'm never ever taking this dress off." It is humbling how grateful the children are for ONE new outfit. I was kept so busy with the clinics that I never really had a chance to feel sorry for the people or really think through their situations...also, the people are SO SO FRIENDLY and smiley that you wouldn't think they were so poor if you didn't see them.

AHHHH! So much to write and think about...that's all for now though...

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

I'm in Uganda!!!

I arrived safely in Uganda this morning. No problems getting here--other than it took 2 days of travelling! I met up with the rest of the group in London, and then we all came into Uganda together. I'm still in shock that I'm really here. Our director, Sherry, and our driver, Henry, met us at the airport. Everyone's bags made it! Our first stop was at a hotel to exchange money. Then we went out for lunch--pizza! I made the comment that I never thought my first meal in Uganda would be pizza. :) It wasn't Pizza Pizazz, but it was pretty good! After lunch, we went to the school that Loving One by One started. The kids knew we were coming, so they lined up and we all went down the line saying hello. The children were so friendly. Lots of hugs, high-fives and "pound its." I introduced the "double pound" (2 fists), and the kids followed that up by saying "Boom shaka-la!" Then they put on a little show for us...singing and dancing. It was fantastic. I REALLY wish that the internet wasn't so slow because I really want to upload the videos. It's boring for me to just explain it...you really need to see it! Next, we went to the orphanage that they started. They are only approved to have 12 kids live there right now. The kids were SO CUTE! They hardly let us out of the van because they were so excited to hug us! I made a friend right away, Shafiga. If I remember correctly, she is 6 and FULL OF ENERGY! The kids performed some songs and dances for us too, and then they gave us a tour of their house, garden, and swingset. I can't wait to go back and see them! Now we're back at the guesthouse, Maria's Place. It is wonderful! I share a room with 2 other women, and the 3 of us share one bathroom. We're all tired from all the traveling and can hardly wait for dinner, so we can go to bed! (It's almost 5pm here now...) Uganda is beautiful...it's greener than I thought and the people are very friendly...I still can hardly believe I'm here!!!

Monday, June 15, 2009


Here I am Bug spraying all my clothing.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Hunger in Kenya

Tonight I was cleaning my room when I came across World Vision's summer magazine. The cover story was about hunger in Kenya, so of course I opened it and started reading the article. Before I even got to the article though, I came across a story about a Texas church running an ad in the paper apologizing to the community. The headline proclaimed "We were wrong." Under the headline it stated, "We live in the land of plenty, denying ourselves nothing, while ignoring our neighbors who actually have nothing. We sat on the sidelines doing nothing while AIDS ravaged Africa." So true! I'd have to say that I don't exactly ignore our neighbors who actually have nothing, but it's so easy to get caught up in "me" and not share my plenty with others. When questioned why the church ran an ad in the paper, the pastor said it was because the people that they have hurt are all outside the church so it wouldn't make sense to just acknowledge this injustice among their church community. This also got me thinking...are we so busy trying to reach and please everyone in our church community that we're missing the bigger picture? What about the global community? What have we done for them lately?

OK next page...in the "why i love being a child sponsor" section a woman makes the comment "I know that had my sponsored child's family seen our circumstances, no matter how bleak they appeared to us sometimes, it would have seemed to them a life of privilege." In case you don't know, I'm a child sponsor through World Vision (hence, the magazine laying on my bedroom floor...oh and my roommate, Erin, works for WV...the headquarters are in the city where I live so I actually know quite a few people that work there) Anyway, I digress...I sponsor a lil guy in Ethiopia named Abdo. I could hear me making that same statement. Let's be real...I live a life of privilege! This really helps put things in perspective...

I could go on and on and on...but I do have to plug the WV Experience AIDS National Tour. It came to Puyallup last year, and I went to it. I HIGHLY recommend it. It turns out that the kid I was (you're assigned a kid's story at the beginning of the tour) is really from Uganda. How interesting that almost exactly a year later I'm going on mission to Uganda. For more details go to: www.worldvisionexperience.org

HaHa so I'm finally getting to the hunger part...to better understand the global food crisis a writer and photographer spend 5 days with a family in Kenya eating only what they eat. The first day they are there the family wants to kill a goat in honor of their visitors (i.e. so there is more to eat). They finally convinced the family that they really just want to eat what the family typically eats. After some debate, one of the men agrees but says that they will have to take something with them when they leave to remember them by. These people hardly have anything and they want to give these 2 Americans a gift?! Why am I so selfish sometimes when I have more than enough? I probably wouldn't even notice if some of my stuff was gone. It reminds me of a quote that I keep on my vanity mirror by Mother Teresa, "The less we have, the more we give. Seems absurd but it's the logic of love." Guess some of us (probably most of us) are still figuring out what love is!

Kari, the writer, comments, "It occurs to me that when you don't have food, you always think about getting food. When you have plenty, you dream up ways to make it taste better." and/or you don't think anything of it because you have it and/or you want more because it tastes so good! Ever happen to you? Now that I've called it to your attention you're thinking about it and you know it's true! Haha so if you know me at all you may be thinking, "You're always thinking about food and you have food" which is true to an extent but really I'm not...I just enjoy food and I tend to joke about how much I love it! Sorry I don't know if that makes sense, but it made sense in my head...

Get this...turns out that the family in this article is Catholic! Small world...speaking of the global church! Hmmm...they dance when they bring up the collection to the altar...hmmm African liturgical dancers?!? ;) (that was for the staff at St. Vincents)

I'm not going to explain the whole article, but it is amazing how much hunger affects other areas of your life: sleep, school, thinking, dreaming, physical activity, health, etc. I believe you can check out the whole article and even watch a video at www.worldvision.org/magazine. The title of the article is "Five Days of Hunger."

Y'know I constantly had to remind myself throughout that article that guilt and remorse aren't going to feed hungry people. Being more aware of the nearly 1 billion hungry people in this world, trying our best not to waste food, and sharing our resources with people who truly are in need are steps we can take to battle hunger. I could feel something stirring inside of me as I read this article. It made me even more excited for my trip to Uganda; although, I think this experience will stretch me more than I can imagine...

So my room is still a mess, my sheets aren't dry, and it's past my bedtime; yet I'm still living a life of privilege. I feel like sharing some of what I read and my thoughts are just two little things I did today to raise awareness of this very real global issue.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Spill

Alright...off to a rough start in the blogging world.  My gel ice pack just leaked all over my bed and then Michael just spilled a huge Big Gulp on the floor.  Shammie to the rescue!  Thanks Daddy-O for getting me that.  OK- here I am.  T-12 days to departure.  Busy getting ready and finishing up the school year at work.  I'm just trying to trust that I'll get everything done!