Living the Life

Hi Family and Friends!

Well it is the start of a new adventure for me. I am now living in Uganda, well probably just for the next two weeks, but it feels like living here. I am fortunate enough (along with another girl from the team and their Peace Corps rep) to be staying on the property of True Vine the church/boarding school that Hope 4 Kids supports that I have told you about. They built a guest house, and for Africa standards the guest house they built is a MANSION! A mansion with no running water that is! Yeah, they keep losing the water because instead of putting a large water tank in to feed into a small water tank, they have put in a small water tank to feed a large water tank, which leaves no pressure to push the water through and the WHOLE school, medical clinic and church use the water, so water is available for about 2 hours a day (if that). I have become a pro at Bucket Bathing! Yes, I do actually fill a basin with water, add some boiled water so it is not so cold, then stand in a bath and use a small cup to pour water over me. It is interesting to say the least and makes me feel like part of the culture. It actually isn’t that bad, but considering how much sweat comes off of my body everyday, it will be nice one day to come home and take a real shower. That being said, we really do live in luxury though. They have done everything they can to make our accommodation as “American” as possible. Which in a way makes me feel bad, as we do not need all that they are trying to provide us and I wish they were providing for themselves instead. The only other part of living on the boarding school property is that the orphans love to peek into our windows and bang on our door. You need to tell them, “you have bad manners and this is not okay.” But I feel bad and just smile and then I create a problem. So now, I must be stern. Good luck with that, right?

However, it is a blessing to be on the property and see where some of the money that everyone who supported me is going. To be able to see the children in the boarding school everyday, and see them smile knowing that they are being given a chance for education and decent living. I get to see my sponsored child, Fiona, everyday while I am here. She is a top student and that makes me feel proud. We see the clinic in operation and witness healing that may otherwise not have taken place. Yesterday I was helping Elizabeth (the H4K director of sponsorship) take pictures of the children and give out blankets and mattresses to those who do not have any and are not living at the boarding school. There were over 250 sponsored children here yesterday. Trying to get them all in line was quite the task, but we got it done and they were all smiles. They also held a workshop for the caregivers to teach them about Proper nutrition, hygiene, family planning and overall how to care for the orphans so they do not get sick and so they can continue to stay in the sponsorship program and receive education.
I also had the good fortune of being able to accompany a woman from H4K, who is still here with her husband, to go out into the jungle where she supports a 120-year-old woman. She met this woman a few years back on a trip when she was interviewing Ugandan women for a book she was writing. Wazimba (the 120-yr-old woman) lives in a very small hut and cannot walk. However, she is gracious and kind and was so happy for the visitors. She was full of joy when Rachel handed her a new dress and some food. The pictures will show you more detail (when I get them going… sorry!). The road to her home was like being on Mr. Toad’s Wild ride at Disneyland, though most of the trips to the villages are like that. Rachel is now going to be interviewing the teen girls who prostitute for a living and she hopes to begin fundraising for them and building them a community where they no longer have to prostitute and can be educated. Included in that cause she will hold workshops for their caregivers that will help to educate them on why they cannot sell their daughters. Things that we would never consider doing, the people here do because they have no choice in their minds. Rachel will help the girls to find projects they are good and with small macro loans they can hopefully begin their own businesses.

As I have said before there is much to do here in this country and at times I feel like I don’t know how to be of help. I am still just trying to figure out my place and try to understand how I can be of service in such a small period of time. I hope when I do leave here that I have made at least just one small difference in even one person’s day. It is hard to tell in such a small amount of time, what your purpose has been, but I hope someday, I will be able to come back and continue to help these people. In the meantime, when I am back in the states, I will continue to love Africa, the people and never forget what I have seen here.

The one thing that I have come to learn the most about is patience when it comes to time. There is no such thing as normal routine. Days are long and much of it is filled with sitting and waiting. And for me that is very difficult, as many of you may know my go, go, go personality! But, I have learned that if you need to get to town and someone takes you, you may spend hours there, and they will still be waiting in their van for you. Just sitting and talking to friends in the same spot and you will have had no idea that they were waiting. And you say, “I am so sorry to have had you waiting. I did not know that you wait for me” and they laugh and say “it’s okay, we just wait.” Can you imagine if we took someone to town and then waited for them? And didn’t mind? What a concept to be so kind and serving!
Next week I will go with Kendra (the Peace Corps volunteer) and Christina (the other H4K volunteer) to hold some workshops at the 7 villages that H4K sponsors. They each have a clinic and we will give lectures to the villagers on Health, Nutrition, Family Planning and also bring the women from the True Vine Clinic to do immunizations and de-worming. It will be interesting and I am really looking forward to that. I will keep you posted.

We are also going to have an American Thanksgiving with the other Peace Corps volunteers in the area on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Ah, we will make some real American food and we hope by then to have running water and enough electricity to make a turkey (that may I add will be killed ON OUR PROPERTY!!!) . HAHA one can always hope. Well there is always the Ugandan way, which is to build a fire pit INSIDE your HUT! I will be leaving Uganda probably on the 1st of December to do some traveling and then to Zambia to work with my cousin Cary. I will probably just spend a week in Zambia, as he may be off to a more populated part of the country to get materials that are not available in Mansa.

Once again, I have to say, there is SO much to do. So many who need help and aid, and who also want help. It would be my pleasure to be able to host some of these people I have come to know here in Uganda in my American home. I hope to have that opportunity. I also dream that one day I may be in a position to come here with my husband and find either a village, school, group of orphans or young women whom we can support and help create a more fruitful life. I know my time in Africa will not end after December and that I will be back and will continue to give in all the ways that I am blessed to do so.

If at anytime you feel a need to sponsor a child or lend financial support to a community or village or project, please let me know and I can help connect you to the right people or make sure your donation is being used for the correct purpose.

I look forward to the continuing adventure. Stay tuned. Please keep me posted on how things are in your neck of the woods. Remember one day for you is like a week for me. While your days still go on with your normal routine, my days are long and though you may not think I am missing anything, I feel like I am. I love you all and hope you know that your prayers and your financial support are all going to great causes.

PS. Sorry if my post are too long! I just have a lot to share ☺