Well we finally made it to Busia. When we arrived late yesterday. As we pulled into town and it like we were celebrities. People were waving; kids were chasing the bus yelling Mzumba which means white person. We pulled into to the Guest House where we are staying and there must have been 30 kids at the gate. I got out to greet them and the first conversation I had was with a little girl about 10. She said that her mother had died and she had not eaten today and wanted to come in for supper. Welcome to Africa. I spent the next 30 minutes crying .
Today we started work on the medical center. For the first hour or so I played with the kids. Getting to know their names, and just playing around. Most of them do not speak English, but were really excited to learn some english words.
A quick note about Busia and how we got here. It is a border town that is both in Uganda and Kenya. Busia Uganda has one of the highest HIV rates in Uganda. Prostitution is ramped here. A lady named Sophie (who is a volunteer at the jail is from a village just outside of Busia). She now lives in Canada, but here whole family is here still. Douglas her son has helped Darrin coordinate all this.
So today I met a handful of other kids who were orphaned because of Aids, and many of them had HIV themselves. They live in mud huts, sleep on the floor, carry their drinking water, and as we found out do not see white people very often. We had 3 or 4 small children balling because they had never seen a white person before.
Today was a great day. We accomplished a ton on the building (we are building a brick building). And many of us got to spend time talking with people. We are extremely fortunate to have Douglas here with us. He knows these people, and he’s passionate about what we are doing.
It is so funny how my perspective has changed about what I can do. What is going on in Africa seem like such an overbearing, unattainable thing. But when you narrow it down to one town and one village all of a sudden there is excitement and anticipation for what we can do.
We have sporadic electricity, no running water and the Muslims call for prayer each morning at 5am, IT IS AWSOME!!! I love being here.
Tomorrow we are going to attend a church service in the village. This is not mandatory but a lot of the group is planning on going, please pray for this. Please pray for safety as we work and that we will be able to work hard to complete our tasks and form relationships with these people.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
A Day in Prison
Yesterday I seen something that blew mind!!
We had the opportunity to spend the day yesterday at Luzira Prison. When we first arrived we had a meeting with The OC (officer in charge). He is like the prison warden. Uganda has an open door policy when it comes to their prison system. They allow visitors and even cameras and video cameras (with special permission, which we got). This prison has over 3000 inmates and a ratio of 1 guard to 500 inmates. Hearing this my immediate response was that this place must have super tight security. He allowed us to visit the contemned part of the jail which has about 300 men waiting to be executed. As the OC took us into the wing, I noticed the most amazing thing. There were no cells. All 300+ inmates where in a common yard area. As we walked through these men shook our hands, and talked to us. The prison chaplain took us into a room where the inmates held chapel for us. Now here is the part where I lost it....
The room is filled with 200 Catholics, Anglicans, Protestants, and Muslims, and all of a sudden they start to sing and play homemade instruments. For 5 minutes or more all these men condemned to die, of different faiths, praise God like I have never seen before. I don't even know what to say about this, so I will leave it at that.
Next we visited the woman's prison. Their prison was a massive yard that had some cabin looking houses in it. Uganda is very pro-family so as we entered the yard I noticed woman with there babies, sitting in chapel. They have 25 ladies who have babies under 18 months, that are able to keep there children in prison with them.
Both prisons held chapels in which we were guests at. Each of us where introduced to the population and able to freely interact with the prisoners. They sang for us and thanked us for the sugar and soap we brought for them.
Honestly I was a little apprehensive to come on this "humanitarian mission" because I feel that Christ is my mission. But Africa is filled with the glory of God. The team has agreed to let Steve pray before meals!!! I have heard more that a few conversations regarding faith. And the African people are not luck warm, no matter who you talk to, they are praising God.
Today we are travelling to Busia to start building. Please pray for a safe trip.
PS. Phil and Shannon I talked to Mark yesterday. It was so funny, the lady at the guesthouse knows him. She is going to get him the bag and hopefully they can come over and see us when we get back to town.
PSS. Love you girls!!!
We had the opportunity to spend the day yesterday at Luzira Prison. When we first arrived we had a meeting with The OC (officer in charge). He is like the prison warden. Uganda has an open door policy when it comes to their prison system. They allow visitors and even cameras and video cameras (with special permission, which we got). This prison has over 3000 inmates and a ratio of 1 guard to 500 inmates. Hearing this my immediate response was that this place must have super tight security. He allowed us to visit the contemned part of the jail which has about 300 men waiting to be executed. As the OC took us into the wing, I noticed the most amazing thing. There were no cells. All 300+ inmates where in a common yard area. As we walked through these men shook our hands, and talked to us. The prison chaplain took us into a room where the inmates held chapel for us. Now here is the part where I lost it....
The room is filled with 200 Catholics, Anglicans, Protestants, and Muslims, and all of a sudden they start to sing and play homemade instruments. For 5 minutes or more all these men condemned to die, of different faiths, praise God like I have never seen before. I don't even know what to say about this, so I will leave it at that.
Next we visited the woman's prison. Their prison was a massive yard that had some cabin looking houses in it. Uganda is very pro-family so as we entered the yard I noticed woman with there babies, sitting in chapel. They have 25 ladies who have babies under 18 months, that are able to keep there children in prison with them.
Both prisons held chapels in which we were guests at. Each of us where introduced to the population and able to freely interact with the prisoners. They sang for us and thanked us for the sugar and soap we brought for them.
Honestly I was a little apprehensive to come on this "humanitarian mission" because I feel that Christ is my mission. But Africa is filled with the glory of God. The team has agreed to let Steve pray before meals!!! I have heard more that a few conversations regarding faith. And the African people are not luck warm, no matter who you talk to, they are praising God.
Today we are travelling to Busia to start building. Please pray for a safe trip.
PS. Phil and Shannon I talked to Mark yesterday. It was so funny, the lady at the guesthouse knows him. She is going to get him the bag and hopefully they can come over and see us when we get back to town.
PSS. Love you girls!!!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Day 1
Well we made it! Until last night I have had about 5 hours sleep in 2 days.
Kampala is very much like I expected it to be. Very crowded and that humid diesel smell like most 3rd world countries has. Wonderfully cute little kids playing ball in the streets, and hot. It was 28 degrees at 8am yesterday with 80% humitiy.
The guest house is very nice that we are staying in, and I feel very safe.
I guess as I sit here writing this I am really struck by the people of Africa. Relationships are so much more important to them than that of things. They are genuine in the way they treat you and not for their own gain. They are willing to open up their homes and have meaningful conversations with strangers.
Even at the end of day 1 I know I will learn more from the people of Africa, than I could ever give them. I am so excited to share more with you tonight about some of the people we have met.
Oh and by the way I ate a grasshopper today at the market.
P.S. Reagan and Maddie I am going to try to buy an internet card to Skpe you tonight. I love you so much!!
Kampala is very much like I expected it to be. Very crowded and that humid diesel smell like most 3rd world countries has. Wonderfully cute little kids playing ball in the streets, and hot. It was 28 degrees at 8am yesterday with 80% humitiy.
The guest house is very nice that we are staying in, and I feel very safe.
I guess as I sit here writing this I am really struck by the people of Africa. Relationships are so much more important to them than that of things. They are genuine in the way they treat you and not for their own gain. They are willing to open up their homes and have meaningful conversations with strangers.
Even at the end of day 1 I know I will learn more from the people of Africa, than I could ever give them. I am so excited to share more with you tonight about some of the people we have met.
Oh and by the way I ate a grasshopper today at the market.
P.S. Reagan and Maddie I am going to try to buy an internet card to Skpe you tonight. I love you so much!!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Leaving on a Jet Plane
I wonder how many blogs are titles this on the day of travel?
Well today we are going to be "Leaving on a Jet Plane", but unlike John Denver I know when I will be back. Today 16 days seems like an eternity to be away from our girls.
On the other hand I am happy that God has given me the opportunity to experience this with Ja.
The conversation in our house the past few weeks has been that of responding to God's call. I have been telling my girls that sometimes when God calls us to do things, those thing might be hard and unpleasant.
It will be hard for them to be without us for 2 weeks. It will be hard to spent 16 days with people we hardly know. And it will be unpleasant to see some of the stuff that we will see. So the question is how do we respond to His call when it has the potential of creating feelings that we normally would try to avoid?
Well last week I was listening to a podcast by James MacDonald. He said that we have the option of looking at the tough things in our lives as OBSTACLES or OPPORTUNITIES. And that times of adversities can draw us close to God. Not to say that this trip will be full of hard time and adversities (as I am sure they will be few and far between), but like a bucket of water when bumped you spill what you are full of. These will be the times when people will hopefully be able to see that I am different, and ask themselves why.
So today as we leave our girls, we leave with excitement and anticipation of the opportunities that God is going to provide us. And as a wise woman once told me (Melissa Gartly!!!) our children have a hand in this by letting us go.
Please pray for us as we travel today and tomorrow. Pray that we would be able to have good conversation with others and above all that God will receive all the glory.
Well today we are going to be "Leaving on a Jet Plane", but unlike John Denver I know when I will be back. Today 16 days seems like an eternity to be away from our girls.
On the other hand I am happy that God has given me the opportunity to experience this with Ja.
The conversation in our house the past few weeks has been that of responding to God's call. I have been telling my girls that sometimes when God calls us to do things, those thing might be hard and unpleasant.
It will be hard for them to be without us for 2 weeks. It will be hard to spent 16 days with people we hardly know. And it will be unpleasant to see some of the stuff that we will see. So the question is how do we respond to His call when it has the potential of creating feelings that we normally would try to avoid?
Well last week I was listening to a podcast by James MacDonald. He said that we have the option of looking at the tough things in our lives as OBSTACLES or OPPORTUNITIES. And that times of adversities can draw us close to God. Not to say that this trip will be full of hard time and adversities (as I am sure they will be few and far between), but like a bucket of water when bumped you spill what you are full of. These will be the times when people will hopefully be able to see that I am different, and ask themselves why.
So today as we leave our girls, we leave with excitement and anticipation of the opportunities that God is going to provide us. And as a wise woman once told me (Melissa Gartly!!!) our children have a hand in this by letting us go.
Please pray for us as we travel today and tomorrow. Pray that we would be able to have good conversation with others and above all that God will receive all the glory.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Malaria Madness!!
It is 12:45 am and I am sitting at my computer wide awake. For those of you that know me well you know that I normally struggle to stay up past 9:00pm. I think it has something to do with the malaria pills I am taking.
Well my friend Amanda has inspired me to blog about my trip to Uganda. I figure if she can write thought provoking, interesting and inspiring thoughts about her journey to Sudan, I can a least keep you informed of what we are doing.
So in 4 days we will be leaving to Uganda for 16 days. "We" being myself, Ja, 5 other Correctional Officers,a police officer, a Psychologist, a Native Elder and his wife, a pastor and the Chaplin. We will be travelling to Busia, Uganda to start the construction of a medical facility. Along the way we will visit a prison, maybe some orphanages and hopefully go fishing.
I love to fish. My main enjoyment in fishing is that I always catch more fish than Ja. But I also really enjoy the quiet, alone time with my husband and kids. Fishing is a perfect hobby for someone like me who "struggles" socially.
Now I know some of you are thinking that statement is a little far fetched. I hope that I don't come across to most of you as socially awkward. But the truth is that I have always struggled with making friends. This has resulted in some really bad decisions in my life. So naturally I feel a little anxiety about travelling with a group of other people that I hardly know. But the Lord is good and I am going to trust in his plan.
I have been thinking a lot about my life lately. About how I got to where I am, how God held me through some pretty bad stuff. I think this might be his way of preparing me to share my story.
So what does God have planned for me and 10 other strangers in Africa? I will keep you posted. In the meantime please pray for us, and if you see my girls give them a hug for me.
Well my friend Amanda has inspired me to blog about my trip to Uganda. I figure if she can write thought provoking, interesting and inspiring thoughts about her journey to Sudan, I can a least keep you informed of what we are doing.
So in 4 days we will be leaving to Uganda for 16 days. "We" being myself, Ja, 5 other Correctional Officers,a police officer, a Psychologist, a Native Elder and his wife, a pastor and the Chaplin. We will be travelling to Busia, Uganda to start the construction of a medical facility. Along the way we will visit a prison, maybe some orphanages and hopefully go fishing.
I love to fish. My main enjoyment in fishing is that I always catch more fish than Ja. But I also really enjoy the quiet, alone time with my husband and kids. Fishing is a perfect hobby for someone like me who "struggles" socially.
Now I know some of you are thinking that statement is a little far fetched. I hope that I don't come across to most of you as socially awkward. But the truth is that I have always struggled with making friends. This has resulted in some really bad decisions in my life. So naturally I feel a little anxiety about travelling with a group of other people that I hardly know. But the Lord is good and I am going to trust in his plan.
I have been thinking a lot about my life lately. About how I got to where I am, how God held me through some pretty bad stuff. I think this might be his way of preparing me to share my story.
So what does God have planned for me and 10 other strangers in Africa? I will keep you posted. In the meantime please pray for us, and if you see my girls give them a hug for me.
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