Saturday 25 May 2013

Snapshots

It has been a little while since I wrote an update on my blog. I thought that I would post some pictures to show you a little bit of what I have been up to. Consider these as snapshots into my life as it has been of late.
 
 
Cooking with the Hope House ladies
 
 
For the last few months I have been meeting with these ladies. We have had a sharing time/bible study together Sunday afternoons. I have loved getting to know them. They have beautiful hearts. They also have painful stories. I have had the privilege to learn bits and pieces of these stories.  The ladies have all been through the API Hope House project. This project was offered to women who felt hopelessly trapped in prostitution in the slum of Kivulu. It lasted two years and taught them jewelry making and small business skills encompassed in God's message of love and hope.  API is hoping the run another project like this. If you want to know more check out this http://www.ugandaarise.org/ you can also read a little about of some of the ladies I know.

 
A few weeks ago we got chatting about cooking. The Ugandan way to cook is to use charcoal on a little cook stove. They cook a lot of beans and rice. Hardly anyone knows how to use an oven. They just aren't practical. We talked about things we liked to cook. They ladies wondered if I could teach them to make chicken soup. I wondered if they could teach me to make japati. So a few days later we had a cooking date. We ended up eating the chicken soup over rice, instead of putting some rice in the soup. . It is very Ugandan to put any type of sauce or broth over rice and eat it that way.  We decided this was a mix of Ugandan and Canadian way. It was delicious.
 



 
A Treat at Program


The last few weeks there has been a team here from the states. They have been helping out at the street program. On one of the days they decided to bless the boys and get something special for them to have for their meal.  Fish it was. But here in Uganda they eat all the fish pretty much. The head is good part of the fish and is used! This is Benjamin, happy with his fish supper. The boys always share their food saying "Auntie, you take!" On this day Benjamin was no different. These boys want to share with you especially if it is special.  And in case you are wondering, the fish is rather good here!
 
 
A Birthday Gift
 

 
I have been helping teach Sunday school in Grace Church which is in the Kivulu slum. Uncle Abdul translates for me. I love having him translate for me because he does such a good job. His heart of the street boys is amazing. He knows what it is like for them since he spent time on the streets himself as a young boy. The boys respect and listen to him. African church is a strange mix of noise and worship. They louder the better I think must be their motto. I am the only white person that attends this church currently. They have translators, but most of the worship songs are in Lugandan. Last week I decided that singing in Lugandan is practically speaking in tongues for me. I know a little of what the songs are saying, but mostly not. So I just make up what they mean in my heart!
 
After church is finished I walk out of Kivulu. Some of the boys often walk with me. They say they are my body guards. Sometimes they even puff out their chests and strut a little to fit the part! I do feel safe with them though. At this point there is a lot of trust that has developed on both our parts. It is probably a little bit of a funny sight, a muzungu walking down the streets trying her best to communicate with a small pack of grubby boys who are her friends. People sometimes give us strange looks. On this particular Sunday there were four boys walking with me. One of them pulled a branch off a tree that we walked by (there are so many beautiful flowering trees here in Uganda) and waved it around and repeatedly yelled rather loudly "happy birthday!" We started getting some even stranger looks! I am not sure that he knew my birthday was only a few day away. I think he just thought it was a funny thing to say. But regardless when he gave it to me it made me happy.
 
 
An Afternoon of Swimming
 

 
One program day the boys got to go swimming.  We rented the pool. The boys were very excited. The problem is that most of the boys can't swim at all. We kept them to the shallow end for safety sake. I got in with the boys with was an adventure in itself.  There was a lot of splashing!

 
 
The Van


Another adventure that happened to me in the last week is that the API van got stuck on the way to the land. We are in the rainy season now. Because of this the roads have gotten quite rutted and hard to drive. While trying to avoid ruts on one side, we slipped into the ditch on the other. Unfortunately the ditch was filled with the neighbours crops... It took a good hour and most all the boys from the boys house man power to get us out! The neighbours were understanding and we made compensation for the mishap.

Jethro

 
 
For over a month now Amy and I have been living with a family we know as API looks for a new volunteer  house.  Shawn and Sarah have the gift of hospitality. They are easy to hang out with. Sarah is due with their second son in August. Jethro is their other son. They adopted him from here in Kampala over a year ago now. 

 
Jethro is a character. He loves to joke and make funny faces. He is my little buddy and time I am cooking. I do no think a day passes were we are not laughing at something he does or says. I am really grateful for Shawn and Sarah and their family.
 
 
Another Resettlement
 

 
Yesterday I got back from the far reaches of western Uganda. We were talking a little boy named Felix home to his family who lived in the hills near the great lakes. This trip involved two overnight bus rides. We rode ten hours in a bus from Kampala and then proceeded the next hour or so in the back of a little white Nissan pickup. This picture was taken before the other twenty people joined us in the back! This was a whole new African adventure for me.

 
Felix with some of his family. They were happy to see him. We are praying he stays home.

 
On the way back the ride got even more exciting. We didn't want to wait for the evening bus as we were hoping to get back to Kampala sooner than later. The only other option was the pickup. But it was loaded with beans and the front was already occupied. So we perched up on the sacks of grain for the three hour trek out of the hills back to paved roads! Secretly I was hoping to have the opportunity to ride in the back of these trucks so I didn't mind at all!

 
At one point we got stuck on a hill. The weight of the beans plus us was too much for the truck. We all unloaded except grandma (jaja as they are called here) who continued to perch in the spare tire. I love doing resettlements. I love meeting the families of the boys. I love seeing their expressions when they first see their child again.  I love seeing more of Uganda. It is a truly beautiful country. The area we were in was all hills and farms. I love seeing grandmas in spare tires and all the Ugandan culture that comes with that. It makes me happy!

So there are a few snapshots of my life over the past couple weeks. I am blessed to be here.

2 comments:

  1. Hey Rach:
    Such a delight to read what you are up to of late...which sounds like quite a lot! They are going to miss you there...
    Love ya!

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  2. Loved reading the stories Rachel! You are adventurious- praying for you and your fellow adventurers!

    ReplyDelete