First Week...

Well finally, I am able to get some time to blog!  The first week here has been such an eventful week.  I’ll try to tell most of it.  Be prepared, it will be a long one!

I think my favorite thing about Uganda so far is walking along the streets.  There are sooo many children, and if you know me at all, you know that I love children, especially black children (there happens to be a lot of them here in Uganda).  When we walk through the streets, almost every child stops what they’re doing to wave and say “Bye, Mzungu!” which is Luganda for “Bye, white person!”  Some of them even run up and hug us.  They get sooo excited when they see a mzungu!!  Almost as excited as I get when I see a black kid!! (Those of you who know me well know what I mean.)

I also love going to Kampala.  Downtown Kampala is super busy, and people are everywhere.  It’s almost overwhelming, but exciting at the same time.  There is no such thing as personal space in Kampala.  And there is almost no order when it comes to driving and crossing streets, so traveling anywhere is crazy, especially in Kampala.  Basically, whoever can get there first has the right-a-way (this includes pedestrians).  Also, there are boda-boda’s (kind of like a motorcycle taxi; it’s a very convenient way to travel) that are zooming in and out of traffic all over the place, so when you cross the street, you have to be extra careful because they come out of nowhere!  So you can imagine what it’s like.  It’s really entertaining!

            
Oh, and I eat very well!  In Uganda, it is rude not to finish your food, and Momma gives me so much!!  One of the first days I was here, she said she was going to make me fat by the time I leave, so she expects me to eat a lot.  I thought I ate a lot before I came to Africa.  Apparently I didn’t.  It is so hard to finish it all.  But the food is good!  I’ve only tried one thing that I really didn’t like.  It was some kind of fruit (po-po maybe?), but I also tried jack fruit (I’m not really sure if that’s right, but that’s what it sounded like when someone offered it to me) and I loved it!!  Usually for the meals, there is rice with some kind of vegetable for a topping.  She also made potato soup, which was really good!!  I actually drank coffee a few days in a row!!  The entire cup!! (Again, those who know me well will understand how big of a deal this is.)

          
The orphanage is great.  I love the kids there so much!!  Most of them are so respectful and sweet.  For the most part, they have very good behavior, and they amaze me at how kind their hearts are.  Of course, they are still kids, and they have their misfits, but they can all be very sweet most of the time.  Their kind hearts remind me so much of Jesus’ servant-like attitude, and they are only kids. Also, the way they worship is mind-blowing.  They are all so in love with God, and they wholeheartedly and unashamedly worship him.  We could all learn a lesson from them.  When I am at the orphanage, I teach English, Math, Social Studies, Science, Reading, and Writing to Primary 3 students.  I’m really not a good teacher, so I don’t think I do a very good job, but I do it because they need a teacher.  I pray that God will get the glory somehow.  Most of the kids in the P-3 class are community kids, not the orphanage kids.  Here is a picture of some of the P-3 kids during class.  They all use this one desk, with no chairs, and one torn up textbook. (We have a group here working next week who will be fixing up the orphanage which is an answer to prayer!  Please pray that the kids will get more tables and chairs, and maybe even textbooks at some point!):

 Here is a picture of some of the kids at the orphanage:

I have to admit, I do have a few favorites at the orphanage.  They are Catherine (3), Abu (5), and Sumaiya (8).  They are all three siblings. Abu was the first to win me over.  He is missing his top front teeth, and his smile is to die for.  I first fell in love with him at church on Sunday when he fell asleep in my arms, and held on to me so tight.  However, he loves to pinch other kids and try to choke the little ones sometimes, so he has a little bit of a wild streak in him, but I think he is just in desperate need of attention.  I can’t help but love him!  Here is a picture of him:

Catherine and Sumaiya have scars all down their left arms, on parts of their faces, and some other places on their bodies from a fire.  And I have never seen more beautiful girls in my life.  The day I found out that Abu had two sisters, I fell in love with them, too.  About 30 minutes after Aunt Allen told me they were siblings, Sumaiya came and sat down next to me and started talking to me, completely out of the blue.  I didn’t try to go talk to her first, she just came to me.  We just sat there and talked for a really long time, and that’s when she won me over.  She was so sweet, mature and intelligent, and she spoke English very well, which made our conversation easier.  Here is a picture of Sumaiya washing clothes, (which is her favorite thing to do!):

While Sumiaya and I were talking, it started raining, hard.  So we went into the classroom and Abu, Sumaiya and I stood in the doorway and played in the rain for a while.  (I halfway pretended that I had adopted them and I was just playing with my kids haha) I loved it.  When it slowed down a little, we went inside the house and that’s when I fell in love with Cathy.  I started playing with her, and she didn’t really leave my side for the rest of the night.  She also fell asleep in my arms last night, and she was with me pretty much all day today, too.  She has such a sweet personality, just like Sumaiya, and is learning to talk very well, just not in English. :) Here is a picture of Cathy:

Here is a picture of Cathy and Abu together.  I haven’t gotten one with all three of them yet, but I will :)

I have only been to the Safe House a few times.  The Safe House is a safe place for former street kids to live.  These kids were taken in off the streets by Patrick to get away from homelessness, hunger, begging, stealing, drugs, and bear traps (yes, I said bear traps.  Some people put out bear traps in the slums to catch the street kids and put them in jail, because the kids are “nuisances”).  The kids at the Safe House were also very respectful!! They are mostly boys, except for two girls: Sarah, and Mercy.  Here is a picture of them braiding my hair (btw, before I knew what they were doing, they had put grease in my hair.  I only found out because I started smelling it.  It took me all week to wash it out of my hair):

Here are some of the boys from the Safe House:

A couple days ago, two of the boys ran away.  Apparently this is nothing surprising, but it was a shock to me because to me, it seems like a big deal.  What broke my heart most was that they came to the other volunteer Zhanna and I before they ran away, and one of them, (a 10-year-old boy) told David (the public relations guy who works here) that he just wanted to go back to the streets and die.  I couldn’t even imagine in my mind a ten-year-old saying something like that.  But he did.  So they have gone to the slums, and one more boy ran away yesterday, so please pray for them.  Patrick says most of them will come back, but we have to let them go, even though it’s so heartbreaking.

The slums.  Wow.  They are just like in the movies and pictures.  Trash piles everywhere, dirty half-naked kids everywhere, random people and kids sleeping on the sides of the streets, raggedy shacks used as houses, drugs, prostitutes, etc.  It is real, and it is devastating.

America has no idea what is going on in the world.  We are so blinded to this side of poor.  Before I came to Africa, I was already frustrated with how materialistic and greedy America was, but after seeing the slums, I realize just how greedy America really is.  There are not many that are poorer than those in the slums.  And the poorest of poor in America is nothing compared with them.  We need to stop being so greedy in America, and start sharing with the poor like the Bible illustrates (read about how Jesus lived the early church lived in Acts 2:44-45 and 4:32-34).  Even the Christians and churches in America are greedy.  And I’m not talking about giving 10 percent and then feeling like we’ve done our part and go on living comfortably.  I mean giving to the point where we have only what we need, so that those who don’t have what they need can actually survive.  Do you know that most of the street kids are on drugs and sniff glue just to drown out their hunger?  Here is a picture of one of them:

If Christians and Americans would share their wealth, everyone could have enough.  It amazes me how rich, yet unhappy, America is.  It seems like everyone is wanting more, more, more.  And I have been guilty of it as well.  We are never satisfied.  But I have met more truly happy people here than I ever have in America.  I know very few people in America who are happy the way that people here are happy.  Here in Uganda, they are so full of joy.  They are thankful for what God has given them, and they are content.  We could learn a lot from the people here.

There was a positive side of going to the slums, though!  At one point, we turned a corner, and there were about ten to fifteen little kids.  As soon as they saw us, they started yelling “Mzungu, Mzungu!!” and running towards us.  I was tackled by about 7 of them and most of them followed us as we walked throughout the entire slum.  It made the experience a little less depressing.  Here is a picture of them swarming us:

Well, I didn’t mean to write a novel, or for it to turn into a “let’s bash America” speech, but I just wanted to get out everything that I’ve been feeling since I’ve been here. 

Please be praying for the kids, especially the Safe House kids and the kids who are still on the streets.  They desperately need Jesus and they need love.  So many of them have been hurt badly, and so many things and people tell them that they are not wanted or loved.

Please pray for Uncle Patrick, Uncle David, Uncle William, Momma (Faith), and Aunt Allen.  They are working so hard to take care of the kids, and all of them have such big hearts.  Pray that God will continue to use them in mighty ways and that he will encourage them when things get hard.

There will be some more volunteers coming within the next few weeks, so please pray that God’s will will be done when they come and that God will use them to make his name great.

Lastly, please pray that God will use me to accomplish his will, whatever that may be.  I just pray that God’s name will be glorified whether I am sick, healthy, exhausted, full of energy, dead, or alive.  If I do not bring glory to God’s name or do what he calls me to do, then my life is a waste.

I hope everyone is having a great summer!  Bless you if you read all the way to the end :P