Joys of School

Despite the tough things happening now, God has still blessed me with the joy of seeing progress and growth in many of the kids during school. I've shared a little about about school, and mentioned in my last post about how some of the progress we have seen is just so encouraging! But I wanted to share just what this looks like and how awesome the past two days have been! 

Rachel, who is around 7 or 8, is a spit-fire of child, has a huge smile, loves getting into messes, isn't our best listener (has some trouble with keeping attention on a task or instruction), has an awesome laugh that can't help but make you smile, has such a deep voice that can be quite loud, cannot walk but can crawl faster than any child I've ever seen, loves to dance bouncing back and forth on her arms, and when we first started school hardly got any question right. 

I mentioned school has been slow in terms of progress and moving forward on goals and objectives, but for most of these kids this is the first time they've been in a school-like setting and their first exposure to really any letters or numbers, so I have been very humbled in thinking how I'd like to see progress and movement in school, to what is actually going to work with these kids. With that said, we have been working on six different letters (AINPST), both the letter sound and recognition of the letter, for the past month a a half, as well as the numbers 1-5, again both recognizing the numbers and being able to count to 5. Emily has a curriculum base from England, so we have this video that we watch that has a little song for each letter that practices the letter sounds so we are getting exposure to all the letters but primarily focusing other instruction on the 6 mentioned. Also in literacy, we are practicing their names - being able to recognize their names and the letter that it starts with. We we focus on numeracy, we have a couple of songs that we usually will sing that practice rote counting, then will do different activities that practice counting "how many" of something, recognizing and matching number symbols, or simply rote counting. Some of the songs and activities will practice rote counting higher than 5, but like the letters, we are primarily focusing on 1-5. 

Now let me tell you how Rachel is doing. On Monday and Wednesday this week we worked on our literacy objectives, and Rachel was a rock star! After singing our letter songs, when Emily was practicing with our 6 key letters, Rachel identified every one with the sound that each letter makes! It was quite surprising, but so exciting and I think had all of us cheering her on:) Then in breaking into our groups and working on names, Rachel not only recognizes her own name and can tell me it starts with an "R", but can recognize about 8 of the other kids names who are in this group with her, knows that Paul's name starts with a "pppp" sound, knows that Razia's name is not hers but that it does start with an "R" too! I know these sound like little things but they are huge accomplishments! Then today when we were practicing numbers and counting she counted to number 12 by herself! She hasn't quite mastered number recognition but rote counting is getting so much better! Again, may not sound off the wall exciting, but this is me and such a place where I find joy! And not only is she learning so much, but she's excited about it! The smile that takes over her face when she gets a question right is the reason I want to be a teacher and do what I'm pursuing! 

Just a little of joy to add to the hardships that have been going on this week. Despite it all God is still good.

Rainbows and Promises

We saw a rainbow yesterday, and I think it made my day. I love lots of things in the sky - definitely have an obsession with stars, love seeing the beautiful colors of sunsets and sunrises, and really like seeing rainbows and being reminded of the promise they represent. 

"I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth... Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth." 

Genesis 9:13,16

What a promise that reminds me truly how faithful and trusting our God is in how He forever has kept, is keeping, and will keep His promises.

Here are some other promises I cling to, especially in the midst of trials and hardships. 

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

Joshua 1:9

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight."

Proverbs 3:5-6

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. I will be found by you."

Jeremiah 29:11-14

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

John 14:18

"And we know that in all things the Lord works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."

Romans 8:28

"And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."

1 Corinthians 10:13

"And so we will be with the Lord forever."

1 Thessalonians 4:17

When I was 16 I remember going to the hospital with my family to say good bye to E-ma (my grandma for those of you who didn't get to know her), and I remember being overcome with feelings of not knowing what to say, and even when we left, not knowing if I had said everything. Looking back, I don't think our goodbyes are ever going to feel sufficient, for it's always going to hurt to actually say good bye when the person is no longer here. On Saturday I had another one of these moments - except instead of saying goodbye to my grandma, I walked into the hospital room to say goodbye to a six year old beautiful little girl. Zuena was admitted back into to the hospital on Friday and then later transferred to another hospital that has a better/more advanced heart care center. On Saturday, Erika, who was with Zuena at the hospital, didn't know how close the end was so a few of us went to the hospital just in case. I think it was one of the hardest things I've ever done, just because it was so hard to see this beautiful little girl, whose life has always been so full of joy, energy, and spunk, lay there in so much pain/discomfort and hooked up to so many wires - and then me having to selfishly think about saying good bye. We've been told that she looked better on Sunday in comparison to the other night which maybe is good, but at the same time it's so hard seeing her the way she is and knowing that sometime, probably sooner or later her little body is going to shut down. I wrote about Zuena earlier in my trip, and prayers were answered. She came home for a little more than two weeks and was back to her joyful, playful self. I pray expectantly, knowing God has the power to heal her, but don't want my prayers to be selfish if it is the time He is calling her home. Please pray for those whose lives this little girl has touched and whose lives she has been a part of far longer than mine. I know many people here are struggling, as am I, in clinging to the promises that God has with us - but I am thankful for His reminder in yesterday's rainbow. I am also thankful we have His Spirit for when "we do not know what we ought to pray for, [He] intercedes for us" (Romans 8:26). 

Other updates on the past week:

- Last Tuesday celebrated 50 years of Ugandan independence! We had quite the Independence day celebration complete with the killing and cooking of 14 chickens, other wonderful Ugandan food prepared by our Mammas, signs made by the kids in school, and a huge paper mâché flag, also made by the kids in school. I think every other person here killed a chicken, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it - maybe next time:)

- Mary Grace's (another volunteer) mom and aunt came last Wednesday, and has been so fun having a couple mom figures around. They are staying at a pretty nice place in town with hot showers and Mary Grace and I have taken advantage of these a couple of times:) They are also just so funny in being here and have made a blog while for their week trip to recount the stories of "Laverne and Shirley" haha. So many of their interactions remind me of my mom and Cathy, so it's been fun having them here!

- School is still going really well and it's so fun and wonderful to see the progress of some of the kids! It's all very slow, but being able to see small steps of progress and the excitement of a child, makes the small steps so worth it:)

Lots of love sent to so many at home!

Calling vs Task

As a Christian, how many times have you heard others (or maybe yourself) say, "I'm just trying to figure out what God is calling me to do," or "what is God's calling for my life?" or "God has called me to do this or that or be here or there"? If you've been around me, you have heard it a time or two. My future is definitely something I struggle with, and if I could I would love to have a conversation with God and take notes as he tells me what the next many (hopefully) years of my life will look like. I know that this is where faith comes in and I need to trust in God's plan for my life, but like I already said, I struggle with this, but definitely think it's something God is trying to teach me a lot about. 

The other day in a devotional that I'm doing, by Beth Moore, she wrote that "the concepts of calling and task are often confused," and that our calling as Christians is actually to "surrender [our] lives to His will." This really struck a chord with me because I so often fall into thinking about His "calling" for my life, instead of the tasks that He has set before me. God calls me to drop everything I have, pick up my cross daily, and follow Him (Luke 9:23) - and from there He will lead me. I am not "called" to go somewhere by myself, because He walks in front of me, and promises never to leave nor forsake me. Walking through this all, my prayer has come to be that I do not see the Lord's calling for my life as a struggle or stressor that I am constantly trying to figure out, but as something I can find rest in because my only calling is to follow Him. 

Practically speaking, I am praying through where I am going to be next May after graduation. I get this question all the time, and besides wanting to teach, I don't have much of an answer. I try all the the to really give this to God, but yet I still get caught up in trying to picture it myself. I want to be a follower of Christ and have all I do reflect that, in that I am seeking His guidance in everyday steps, and not trying to figure out the next years. 

Just a little about what I'm learning - more of an update coming soon. 

Homesick?

Saturday I went to the Nile Resort to get internet and a little alone time just to spend reading and such, and during that time I was going to write a brief update, but I was slightly overcome with feelings of homesickness and just really couldn’t get anything down. Even in the midst of it all I am still loving it here, but I was just struggling to get anything “on paper” that didn’t sound sad. So I forfeited the idea and just thought I’d get around to it later, which I’m doing now.

This past week, I don’t want to say was typical – because I don’t really think such a thing really exists here – but I just felt like it flew by and it took seemingly a lot of effort (as in having to go back and read in my journal) to think about what we did last week. Here’s a brief update of some of the more interesting things that happened last week (keeping in mind that we still have school everyday):

- Monday: During naptime I set up a hammock on our front porch between two of the pillars and read for a solid two hours. This has become a favorite “naptime” activity for me because it is so quiet and so relaxing in comparison to the craziness, which I also adore, that happens every other second of the day. But I know when my time has come to an end when I start getting little pokes in my back, eyes peaking over the side, or little voices saying “Auntie B, also me.” :) Then that night we all went over to Pastor Terry’s house for dinner, and I know I talk about good meals a lot, but I feel they are few and far between so when we have one I feel it has to be noted! We had tacos, which were delicious – and Mexican twice in a week is a great week for me!

- Tuesday: Nothing oh so exciting happened today except that I got a package and a letter in the mail! Granted they were both from my parents, but it was still awesome to get! The package was so fun, and filled with lots of my favorite, much missed, American treats – dark chocolates (yay!), French vanilla coffee creamer, instant coffee, peppermint tea, green tea with peach, luna bars, and some others! Good day!

- Wednesday: Jessica, one of the other volunteers left today, which was sad to see her go. Her mom was here for 10 days before, so not only was it fun to have a mom figure around, they are both some of the sweetest people I have ever met, so just both of their company was a joy in and of itself. Her mom brought a ton of pumpkin things with her – everything from pumpkin bread mix to cookie mixes to canned pumpkin to pumpkin marshmallows – so this morning we made homemade pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes! We “skipped” school and just had a fun morning in the kitchen! This was Jessica’s third time to Ekisa, and seeing the impact that she has made with these kids, our Mammas, and just the community at large here in Jinja is amazing. It was also hard to see her good byes, especially to the kids, because I really can’t imagine having to do this in about a month and a half.

- Thursday: Today Mary Grace (another volunteer) and I took two of our boys, Jason and Jamil, into town just to get them out and about! It was so cute and you would have thought we made their lives! We took bodas into town (my burn is healing slowly but surely) and the boys were on cloud 9 :) Then we went to a little coffee shop and got them sodas and cookies, also such a highlight, then walked to the supermarket, then got bodas home. It was so fun to walk around town with them and just see them on such a high! Then for our afternoon school activity we were doing cooking and making chapattis (flour, salt, and water, fried with oil in a pan), but a very typical Ugandan dish. They turned out alright and we ended up making them later for dinner too.

- Friday: I went to Kampala with Erika (our nurse), Josey (another volunteer), Hilda (one of our young Mammas) with her 6-month old son Joven, and Sam, and Zuena. Sam and Zuena both had doctors appointments, and Joven we just wanted to get checked out by the doctor there. It was such a long day. I know I mentioned appreciation already for American medicine, but this reaffirmed it all the more, as well as for American hospitals and American time. We left our house around 8:30 a.m. and got home around 10:30 p.m. (and it’s only about 1½ to 2 hours to Kampala), and the entire day we essentially spent waiting for one thing or another – Zuena’s blood to be drawn, Sam’s x-ray, Joven’s scans, results for all of them, doctors to read them, another hospital/clinic for Joven, you get the idea. But long story short, Sam’s foot is healing so well, there is no more infection in the bone, we don’t have to be soaking it anymore and he needs to start walking on it :) Zuena’s blood work came back with some hesitations, but some medications were altered so hopefully it all work out and get better. Prayers for this little girl are still needed. On our way home, Sam fell asleep on my lap (don’t know if I’ve mentioned that seat belts are nonexistent) and it pretty much made my life. Right before he fell asleep we were all laughing and playing around and then he said, “Auntie, I want to sleep,” I said ok, and he laid his head over and went to sleep.  This little boy is almost too much for me:)

- Saturday: Already gave you an idea of what happened early Saturday, but it did get better. I’m not really sure what caused me to get so homesick, maybe thinking about Anna’s homecoming, UVA football games, the fall weather, or just not being able to pick up the phone and call home at will, but I was just caught up in the fact that life is continuing to go on at home. I know this sounds super self-centered, but I was just realizing I am missing a lot at home, and then was just hit with the fact that I wasn’t prepared for these kind of emotions. I have been here more than I month and yesterday was the first time I was brought to tears in thinking about home. I know it’s fine, and probably completely normal, but I just don’t think I was ready for these kind of feelings and it really caught me off guard. So needless to say, most of the day yesterday I was in a bit of a funk. Then last night Mary Grace and I went over to Pastor Terry’s to watch the Virginia Tech game (remember how I said he like VT – go figure) but it was nice to get out of the house and get to watch some football. I won’t lie and say I wasn’t that upset seeing them losing:) haha. But when we got there it was just Pastor Terry and his wife Debbie, and he was asking us about our days and how we were doing and I mentioned how I was feeling a bit homesick, and he told Debbie to stand up and she gave me a “mom hug” and then he gave me a “dad hug” and let’s just say both of them were much needed!

- And today, Sunday: It’s been a great day - church, lunch, and then I went to a Bible Study that started today through church. Kind of like a community group, but I’m really excited because it’s 7 weeks long so I get to be here for the entire thing and it’s not like I’m coming in the middle or leaving early. And I got to talk to Mom, and Anna briefly, but for about 40 minutes on the phone and that made my weekend:) I’m pretty blessed with such an amazing family, and especially one that supports me in being here and absolutely everything I do!

Sorry this was super long, but it’s a bit of an update on life right now!

Passion: Kampala

It was a crazy night last night, but so incredibly amazing! I was blown away multiple times in thinking that this was actually happening here in Uganda and that we were in Africa and not the States. I've never been to the Passion conference in Atlanta, but i know enough to share some differences of last night:) First up, it was in the middle of a futbol field at a university in Kampala. Me being the ignorant American I sometimes am, was half expecting the football stadium at UVA, and I don't know, maybe even inside?! Silly. It was literally a big dirt field, with some grassy patches, and maybe two sets of rickety bleachers on one side. But it was incredible! They brought a huge stage that the set up and everyone was crammed right in front of the stage and extended wayyyyy back! I thought we were a little far back but I didn't realize that we were so close to the front and there were thousands of people behind us! I heard this morning at church that there were close to 30,000 people there! Can we talk I about crazy!? Then, not only was the whole atmosphere worth being blown away by, but worshipping with Chris Tomblin and Christy Nockels, and hearing Louie Giglio speak, was all the more awe inspiring and so powerful! The whole event lasted from 7 to about 11 and we got home around 1, so a very long night, but so wonderful! I'll definitely be trying to go to the one o Atlanta this year if I can:)

And what a week even before yesterday!  I feel like it could take me forever to explain everything and all that we have been up to and doing! But it has been great! First, as of Friday, I left the states exactly 1 month ago, and as of today I have been in Jinja for 1 month:) This seems absolutely crazy to me because it does not at all seem like this long at all - which I'm not really sure is a good thing or bad thing haha! I think I'm just going to list things that have been happening, because I doubt it will flow very logically.

- Tuesday on my way back from town, I burnt my leg on the exhaust pipe on the boda boda. Not my brightest moment and will probably have quite the scar to show for it - it's about three inch long and an inch wide, and blistered/bubbled like crazy

- Wednesday morning most of us went out for breakfast at a little place in town called Ozzie's, which is owned and operated by this little Australian missionary woman named Jude, who i think has been here for 20-30 years. It was a fun morning and good time to spend with the other volunteers and coordinators! Later that day, Mary Grace, another volunteer, and I went over and shot basketball at our pastor's house, which was fun to get outside and do something besides run haha. Also, side note to Dad - apparently they have Thursday night basketball (similar to your Friday nights) and they invited us to play one week:) I'll let you know how it goes! 

- Thursday we had Special Olympics at our house for the kids with games such as a three legged race, an egg toss, balance an egg on a spoon, a tire race, and finished it up with silly string and water balloons! Such a cute day and so many laughs and crazy moments! Two of the best stories of the day involved the eggs - one, being when Rachel thought she could eat it (for whatever reason) and bit straight into it, and two, Zeke took an egg right up to Paul and cracked it on his head, not very appropriate but we all couldn't help but laugh:) 

- Thursday night there was an encouragement night hosted by an organization, Mercies for Mammas, for the women serving in Jinja, or close to, where they had a catered meal, then worship, and time for prayer in small groups, just so we could meet new people and make connections with others in the community. It was a really sweet night and fun to see what a community there really is here, as well as continue to meet new people. Then when we left they had goodie bags for us with lots of American goodies!

- Friday, we had a team come to Ekisa of about 20 older women from Australia, who were absolutely precious, and they came to pamper our Mammas! They said that often places will have teams to come play with the children, but rarely is there attention given to those who care day-in and day-out for these very kids! They set up in different areas of the house and yard foot massage, hand massage, facial, and back massage stations and the Mammas took turns throughout the day going through them. Then at the very end, they invited us to go through too, and it was wonderful and so encouraging. Every lady you talked to was so interested in your story and took the time to just listen and encourage. Then at the end they would ask to pray over us and the work we are doing - whether it be for three months, like me, or kind of indefinitely, like Emily. I just felt blessed to be able to be a part of it!

- Friday night we made fajitas, with homemade salsa and guacamole, and Emily had downloaded the new Grey's Anatomy, which aired Thursday for those of you who don't know, and we watched it on a projector (we may or may not have invited a guy friend over to bring the projector without telling him what we were watching). It was a great night haha. 

- And then, yesterday, as I already explained was amazing in and of itself! I feel like I'm running out of positive adjectives to really describe the joy that is filling my life right now in both small day-to-day activities, like the kids progress with learning letters in school, to the big things, like being able to go to Passion. I am so thankful for having the support behind to come here and follow God's plan for my life right now. I am so happy!

Resorts and birthday parties

Not that I don't LOVE these kids, but a little bit of a break from routine this weekend was much needed. Friday evening Zuena came home from the hospital! We were all very excited and it was such an answer to prayers. Now it has been almost 4 days having everyone back in the house and I pray that we stay like this:) Having Zuena back home was reason to celebrate, even thugh she fell asleep pretty early, but we ordered pizza and made a brownie boxed mix from the U.S! Next best to Thanksgiving haha. 

I have come to love Saturday mornings - and I think this is going to continue to be the case, and even more so, when I am actually a teacher and getting up much earlier than I am here haha. Here we start school at 9, but setting my alarm at 8 is wishful thinking. Kids are up between 6 and 6:30 and hang out right outside my room, either on the porch or in the living room - so sleeping through them is nearly impossible. But on Saturday mornings I at least get to know I don't have to get up for anything and try my hardest to lay in bed until 8, and then even still I get to get my breakfast and coffee and lounge all morning. It's pretty great! This Saturday, Erika, one of the girls here, asked if i wanted to go to the pool after we changed Sam's foot bandages, and obviously I said yes! First, it should be noted Sam did not cry at all and instead was giggling and laughing while trying to bite me and call me "Jaja B" (meaning grandma B) - I first called him Jaja Sam because he has such a grandpa laugh haha - but he did so great and we are all so happy to see it getting so much better! But around 10:30, Erika and I headed to the Jinja Nile Resort, which you pay 6,000 shillings (equivalent to about $2.25) and you get to swim at their pool that overlooks the Nile river. It's absolutely beautiful and being there laying out, swimming, and reading was such a vacation day. There are all sorts of tropical trees and plants and we even saw 3 monkeys! The weather was beautiful and we really couldn't have asked for a more beautiful, relaxing day! And then it was still fun to come home and dance and sing with the kids later that night:)

Then Sunday we had a birthday party for Ditte, a little girl here! It was a Tangled theme princess party and it was the cutest! Coming home from church Emily got all set up, complete with a dress up box and tea party! It was so precious and so fun seeing the kids dress up, play, and celebrate:) All in all a great weekend! 

I'm really looking forward to next weekend as well! The Passion Conference (yes, the one held in Atlanta every year) is coming to Kampala! Not the entire conference, but just a night of worship and such, and we are going! I have really been wanting to go, so am so excited I get to go next weekend - yes a much smaller scale, but in Uganda!? So cool!! I'll definitely be letting everyone know how it goes:)

My heart for kids

"Every child you encounter is a divine appointment. With each one you have the power and opportunity to build the child up or tear the child down."

Dr. Wess Stafford, President of Compassion International

From the book "Too Small to Ignore" - great book and challenges us to 'change the world one child at a time'! 

I started reading this book on Wednesday (it's Emily's), and this quote was somewhere in the first couple of pages and I loved it. I read it once and agreed with it, but reread it a couple more times and allowed it to really sink in - Reread it, does it hit you as powerful?! Because I think it should. So much so that I think it has power to change how we look at, act towards, and believe in children - of every race, socioeconomic status, gender, ability level, or the like. 

Here's a story about my day, the day I read this passage. A little back story - the cow field that I mentioned earlier as right across the path from our compound, is actually not a cow pasture, it's an airplane landing strip. I know you'd think it'd be hard to confuse, but airplanes are few and far between landing in Jinja, and the grasses are pretty tall so people just let their cows graze there..pretty funny. And then the airstrip itself is just a red dirt flat road-ish a little over a mile long. So long story short, because it's so infrequently used by actual planes, we will go run and/or walk on it. On Wednesday afternoon/early evening, I went to run with another volunteer who wanted to walk. So we walked over and were almost immediately surrounded by kids. Then as soon as I started running a couple of them picked up pace and ran right along with me. At this moment all I could think was how it had been quite a long day, just hit the middle of the week, how I was really wanting this run to recharge me from the day, and I was so close to asking those couple of kids to maybe just run the other way. This sounds awful I know, but it's honestly what I was thinking because I didn't want to be asked a million questions and just wanted to be able to run in peace. Then as soon as I was about to say something this quote, which I had read earlier that day, popped into my mind and I couldn't say anything. I wasn't going to tear these kids down when all they wanted to do was run with me. For me it's easy to see big things as the work and hand of God, like being here or the friends in my life or being in Agape at school, but I also have to believe that He knows in advance the conversations that we are going to have and the people who are going to come into our life - and these children were no different. When I pictured these kids as being placed there by God, my run got much easier and I enjoyed their company as they kept stride with me. I even was able to laugh when one of the boys told me as I was breathing hard, "Here we run with our mouths closed." I then had to make a conscious effort to do this because he kept checking on me to see if I was trying haha - in this sense my run got slightly harder:)

I definitely think God used this moment to teach me how easily I read and accept truth yet fall back into the patterns of this world where I think I am the center. For those of you who know me know that I have a passion for children and working with them, but I truly believe that we all have the ability to build children up around us, whether it be family members, friends, or strangers who just want to spend a little time with you. 

I also believe that "[God] has made every[child] beautiful" and with that has placed them exactly where he wants them, to use their lives to touch us, or for ours to touch them.

Update on Zuena: she was discharged from the ICU Tuesday afternoon and is doing somewhat better. Her blood pressure is still low but we were hoping she could get discharged all together today, but they found a blood clot in her heart, so I think are waiting a little bit longer. Please keep praying for this little girl!