Another day...

I'm sorry about my fragmented blog last time. I had only 20 minutes to write it and no time to edit afterwards. I'll have to keep this one short, too, but I wanted to give you a little background on where I am since my last blog was more about what I've been doing. The people here are amazing- friendly, beautiful, and welcoming. The women here have got to be the most gorgeous in the world. Their skin is flawless and they are all done up so beautifully- hair and make up immaculate, dressed in their best. It is a city so I guess it's not surprising that people dress better here than in the rural areas. :)
The food has been really good- beans, rice, pineapple, beef, peas, chapati (extra thick tortillas- Raquel and I are hooked on these already), and bread.
I also wanted to give you a little background on African Hearts, the organization we are working with. It was started by four Ugandan guys in their 20's, who wanted to get kids off of the streets and to safety and a better way of life. These are the most amazing guys I have ever had the privilege to meet. They are strong, full of life and joy, and full of a desire to make a difference in their country and to these kids. The organization is comprised completely of people in their 20's. I was incredibly impressed by that. They are an inspiration to me.
Well, yesterday we got a day of rest, which was much needed. We went to church in the morning. The first service was at 8 am for kids from the streets. Watching the sing praise to God in their native language really moved me. Then when the pastor taught the lesson, most of the kids just laid their heads on the table and slept. Jess told me that this was a good sign that they felt safe here enough to do that and no one was going to interfere with that. If they wanted to sleep, they could. I love that.
We went to the regular church service after that. It was so American. I admit that I was a little disappointed but was also grateful that I understood what the pastor said and could sing along with the songs. :)

Well, that's it for now. We go to the slums today so I'll have lots to tell you tomorrow. Love you all and hoe to hear from you soon. I miss everyone!

First Impressions

Here I am in a new country, in what feels like a world away from anything familiar. At the same time, so much is similar to my experience in Zimbabwe 6 years ago that I feel at home too. I have to admit that the first day was the most difficult. I have a lot of culture shock to get over but today was much better. When we first landed, we walked off the plane and felt at home. I could smell Africa exactly as I remembered it. After going through customs (which took an hour and a half, even though there were only a few people there- our transition to Africa time) we got a taxi. Our driver, Sard, was eager to tell us about things to see in Uganda and pointed out various sites to us as we drove the 45 minutes to Sanyu Babies Home, where we would be staying. Only a little ways from the airport and our driver was pulled over for speeding. It was quite entertaining actually because the police at that stop knew his name and seemed to know him well. They peeked in and asked how we had like our 5 km journey.

We saw the beautiful Lake Victoria to our right, and Sard pulled over to let us take pictures at one of the beaches on our way. Then we rode the long main road to our house. I loved being able to see so much of the country on our way. It is so green you wouldn't believe it. It feels like i am in some tropical place. Once we got to the city, it was less green and more like any other city- crowded and dirty. We got to our home and had plenty of time to settle in. Basically, we're in a guesthouse, next to the Babies home, with about 13 other guests. They all volunteer at the home so we don't see them much.

A few hours later, our fearless leader, Jess picked us up and we headed oer to the other guesthouse, where a team of about 20 were staying. They are from Colorado, a few from Oregon and Canada. Most are teenagers, which surprised me. what a mission trip to go on as a teen!
Anyway, they'll be here for 10 days so we'll see them for a short time. We got to spend the day with them as we were all oriented to the city. Jess planned a lot for us to do so we would stay awake and get over our jet lag faster. It worked!
We walked about an hour to the center of the city of Kampala, which was a little traumatic. I have never been more on guard or my life as i have been walking the streets on Kampala.
There are taxis (which are like vans that fit about 13 people that don't stop for anything. You have to just walk out into the road and walk right next to cars, which seem to have a mind of their own. There are no lanes, no signal lights, no rules! No wonder every one tells me the number one way people die in Uganda is by car accidents! The team became very close to each other yesterday, as we had to grab onto each other for dear life just to cross the streets. Seriously, groups have a better chance of getting cars to stop so we all stuck together. The one guy from Canada, James, became a protector for Raquel and i and stayed i the back and heped us et where we needed to o. He said, "I need to watch out for my girls". (He's looking into adopting another baby from Uganda- he has three from various countries in Africa so far).
Anyway, after lunch and exchanging money and sitting at a coffee shop, we all went to Sanyu Babies home and helped the kids eat and get ready or bed. Another crazy experience! 50 babies, 30 volunteers, mayhem.

We fed them, changed their diapers and put them to bed. A few hours later, we were all exhausted but much better for it. Those babies were adorable. They range in age from 0-3 years.

They don't always have more than 2 volunteers so the fact that we had about 3 and still had a crazy ordeal, I don't know how those women do it everyday. Honestly.
Needless to say, Raquel and I slept like babies and woke up refreshed after 10 hours of sleep. Time to start a new day.

Today we visited a street kids program at a church in the city. After lessons, we hung out with the kids or over an hour. They loved taking pictures on our cameras and teaching us card games.

Jess, our leader/coordinator, is in the picture above, with Paul, another African Hearts leader.
We spent most of our morning there. I loved those kids. They reminded me of my experience at Just children foundation in Zimbabwe. That was always m favorite part so I fell in love with these kids instantly. After that we took a long taxi ride to one of the orphan home in Senge. This home was started by African Hearts and houses 13 boys who have been taken off the streets. Now they lie at the house and go to school and are in a marching band. Awesome The were fun. We took a taxi most of the way then took Bodas down the road to the house. These are motorbikes. Everyone in town takes them. You usually see women straddling them sideways with skirts on. It was a pretty fun ride. Thank goodness I've had plenty of experience on a motorcycle to prepare me because it could have been scary otherwise.
We hung out with the kids at the house for hours, playing cards. It was pouring down rain once we got there. Thunder storm and everything so we just stayed inside. we got a car ride back this time, rather than Bodas in the rain.

Well, that's the short version of everything so far. I'm at the internet cafe now and only have a few minutes left. Wow, 20 minutes at a cafe flies by. I wanted to at least give everyone an update so that's it for now.

There's plenty more i could tell you but that's what we've been up to. I am glad to say that even though I had a tough first day things are looking up. I miss people at home like crazy but God brought me this far. He will not abandon me.

Almost there, but why am I going?

I can't believe that I am finally embarking on my much anticipated adventure! I leave on a jet plane tomorrow night at 6:50 pm. I suddenly don't feel ready. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I am excited about traveling somewhere new, about meeting new people, about going on this trip with my best friend, about visiting Africa again, about holding babies everyday for a month, about growing as a person, about growing closer to Jesus, about having the opportunity to witness miracles, about challenging myself to get out of my comfort zone, about learning new things, about sacrificing the things I love (comfort, time with family and friends, the things of home), and about doing what God has told me to do.

I am nervous about getting sick, about forgettng something important, about being away from my family, friends, and boyfriend for a month, about things changing at home while I am away (what will I come back to?), about feeling miserable without my comforts of home (running water, chiropractor, chocolate), about what I might have to eat, and about not having enough money to get by when I return.

When it comes down to it, though, knowing all of this and knowing that there is much more I can't possibly anticipate, I still choose to go to this exotic and possibly dangerous place. Some people have asked my why I'm going. They don't seem to understand why I would choose this life for a month when I could go to somewhere like Italy or Spain or England. I choose this because I desire to be challenged and I desire to grow as a person and a follower of Christ.

I know I am not of this world when I say that I am eager to give up everything I know and love to do something challenging and scary, possibly something that will make me very miserable in the process. Who knows what I will encounter? And yet, I do it because God has told me to pick up His cross and follow Him. Being comfortable is easy and I love it but the more comfortable I get, the more lazy I get and the more I miss out on in my limited time on this earth. I have felt called to Africa for some time now and when I chose to answer God's call, He made everything happen that I needed in order to get there. That is an answer to prayer and I can't deny that He wants me there. I feel blessed that he speaks to me this way and that he rewards me in huge ways when I listen.

I am eager to become a stronger, more compassionate person through this experience. Every time I do something like this, I learn so much about myself and I grow as a person. I don't know if you want to call them goals, but I do have a few personal things that I am eager to see happen while I am in Uganda:
1. I want to become closer to Raquel, my spiritual sister and one of my closest friends.
2. I want to grow closer to Jesus.
3. I want to be used to help the children and people we will meet.
4. I want my relationships back home to be bettered by who I am when I return and by the time we all have away from each other (this is always the true test of friendship).
5. I can't wait to see miracles first hand and God's amazing work in action! I want the stories I see to be a witness and encouragement to those at home, reading my blog every weeek.

The coolest thing about this list is that it mirrors Raquel's exactly. Yet another sign of how amazing God is and what He did to bring us together for our shared adventure. I can only become richer through what I will experience this next month. This is why I go.

UGANDA!

As most of you know, my best friend, Raquel, and I have been talking about our desire to go to Africa for a long time now. We started planning a trip to Uganda about 8 months ago and were all set to go with a secular global volunteer organization. Well, about 3 months ago, we both felt God telling us to change our plans. WHAT? But we like having an exact schedule of what we'll be doing and where we'll be! Well, God had a different "plan". We listened.

We told the organization we weren't going. We requested our refund. We waited. A month went by and we still didn't know what we were doing. We waited. We prayed every week for guidance. Where could we find a place that could use us in Uganda? We kept meeting people who knew people there. So, we emailed them. We were making connections but nothing was resonating with us yet. God was telling us to wait. We searched diligently online for organizations who were there or organizations who were going. We still had no idea what we were going to be doing. All we knew was that God was saying "Go." Money kept rolling in. We kept praying. We kept waiting.

We held a last minute garage sale and God gave us $800! We said,"Okay, God. You are still telling us to go.". We were going on faith now. We requested the dates off of work. Still no flights purchased, still no organization to go with, still no place to live once we got there. We waited. Another few weeks passed. Then one day, with 6 weeks to go until our departure date, Raquel emailed me, saying that a Christian organization (African Hearts) had contacted her regarding volunteering on the exact dates we had already planned to go. How did they find us? GOD. It turns out that they are doing exactly what we have been longing to do more than anything else- spending time with kids on the streets and in orphanages. It was God's answer to our prayers, so clearly!

All of a sudden, things were falling into place. We booked our flights, got our vaccinations, and started packing! This organization fits us better than anything we had imagined. We will be spending all our time with kids. No schedule of subjects to teach, no skill set needed (just our style :). We can just BE. We can be with kids, loving them, learning from them, investing in them.

We will be spending three days a week in the city's slums, giving medicine to the kids who live there and spending time with them. In the afternoons, we will spend time with the boys from the orphan homes that African Hearts takes care of. We will teach them Bible classes, music, games, and art. During the evenings, we will live at a Babies' orphan home (also sponsored by African Hearts). On Sundays, we get to take our boys to church. On our free days, we have the flexibility to go wherever we were needed or simply spend time with the various people we are sure to meet.

On some Thursdays, it turns out we may be "preaching" or giving our testimonies to the kids at another orphan home that we had contacted earlier. Even though we will not be working with them as we had anticipated, they still want us to come. We're also going to go visit a little girl who Raquel sponsors through World Vision. Uganda is exactly where we are meant to be. God told us so. Isn't it amazing to be so completely in His hands? I couldn't be more in awe.