Over the mountains and through the jungle to Bundibugyo electricity goes

About a year ago huge mango trees came crashing down along the Bundibugyo road and a new kind of tree went up. The power lines have made it over the mountains and electricity is now available, though few are able to afford it. On the mission we have been using solar and have not yet tapped into the new source. Its effect on us has been from a distance. You can tell which shops are connected as kids gather out front to dance to the blaring music. Occasionally I am kept up by a neighbor showing a kung fu sounding movie. Traditionally when there is a death or a wedding drums beat all night to keep away evil spirits. Blaring music through the night is the new solution, a use of technology that I would never have considered. Duka’s with services like printing, photocopying, and cd burning are popping up. Even saw one with a popcorn machine the other day.

So we have “enjoyed” the changes of electricity at an arms length... until now. Now it is up close and personal. Our cement walls have been hacked apart. Holes for the outlets were pounded leaving a mess of rubble and fine cement dust hanging in the air. Then fresh cement was flung back into the gashes and craters in the wall. Everything book shelf, couch cushion, item on a counter top had to be moved out or covered up. This would be all well and good if they came in did the work and so mess could be cleaned and the house back in order. But here I sit over two weeks following the initial chisel pound and as I type the electrician can be heard clomping around in the ceiling and I’m still wiping cement dust off tables and shelves. Whether it is rain, not having someone to cook them lunch, or International Women’s day that has kept the MEN away... the installation continues. Getting electricity has turned into a cultural experience. African’s are not exactly time oriented. God faithfully provides grace to be flexible and forgives my eye rolling and impatience when they want to show up after noon when we are at work, or when they all leave 10 minutes after arriving because they need some tool, or when wet cement is left all over the counter. He gently shows me my own faults and my own ways of putting other things in front of what really matters. And reminds me that loving people is more important than being able to charge my phone or turn on the lights on a rainy day.

post hacking

post cement

International Women's Day

There was rain last night clearing the cloud cover that often shrouds the mountains in Bundibugyo, but today the sun was beating down. I squinted as it seemed to reflect off everything including the green grass of the Christ School soccer or pitch. The starting whistle was yet to blow and I could feel sweat already trickling down the back of my legs. Today was Women‘s Day, an international holiday that I have celebrated for the first time. Ugandan schools were out for the day and Illuminet, one of the Christ’s School teacher’s thought it would be fun to have a match between the Christ School girl’s team vs. the CSB female teachers, teacher’s wives and women from the mission. Ashley, the girl’s coach and pretty much an amazing athlete gallantly took midfield which involved the most running. Jennifer and Heidi were solid defenders and I played up top going head to head with feisty Nora who gave me a run for my money every time I got the ball.

Students lined the field gasping and awing with each good play. I felt so honored to be playing with these women and girls. In a place where just outside the school gates it would be inappropriate to wear pants, many women are uneducated and will spend their days having babies, cooking over 3 stones, and hauling fire wood and water, these teachers are role models, giving hope that it is possible to get an education and pursue a career. These girls are the future of Uganda studying hard and learning that they can enjoy playing futball like any boy. Also being poured into them is the hope that only Christ can give. That He loves them and has a future for each of their lives. And it is His love that gives them value. He is the one who will be there to lift them up not just on Women’s day but every day.

Nora Steeling the ball away

Kids, cookies, and cards

The other day I was in the middle of making some cookies. It never fails that whenever I am in the middle of something there is a knock at the door. This time it was some neighbor kids with requests of “ompe massi” and “ompe cards”... give me water, give me cards. It is a constant battle for me to have a gracious heart, but today it was hard to resist their smiling white teeth (or lack there of) and mischievous dark eyes. Kiemanual always tries to hide behind the door and jump out and scare me. So I obliged with the water and gave them the cards, but told them I was cooking and couldn’t come out and play right now. As I was inside baking away I could hear them outside talking and laughing with each other singing even as they played. Wonderful sounds really. And my heart went out to them. Behind their demands for water and whatever is a desire for love, acceptance not unlike my own. I just seek it in different ways. I decided to bring out some of the warm cookies and play a round or two of cards. Africa is slowly teaching me to lay aside some of my task orientedness. God is showing me how to love others more than myself and also showing me that it actually will bring me more joy if I rely on Him and do it. My heart was full today when Kiemanual came and took my hand today at church. God still has a lot of work to do on my selfish heart but he has promised to not give up on me.

The Honeymoon is over

Life in Bundibugyo has been a bit different these past few weeks. A bit more raw. I knew the honeymoon period was over when I came down with a fever and other flu symptoms that made me ever so thankful for indoor plumbing. The team is bare bones with the Clarks, Nathan and myself being the only ones. The comfort of running from one American home to another is not there. I don’t like being alone in my house and have felt lonely for the first time since arriving. I seem to be lacking purpose with the kids gone and no one to teach. Our school was broken into again revealing my accusatory heart. My hopes to focus on language have been thwarted with extended illness and I feel like my attempts are just not getting me anywhere. I have felt inadequate and overwhelmed as I face the new responsibilities of the scholarship program at Christ School. I am tempted to look at all of this and question why am I here? And be discouraged and wallow in self pity. Or I can see the mercy of God in placing me here at this time under these circumstances. What is going on is that the Holy Spirit has lit a fire in my hear, one that convicts and reveals sins of self-centeredness and drives me to seek Him.

The truth is that because I am self-centered, I have a hard time loving people. But there is another truth that is mine for the claiming... Jesus loves being with me anyway. And my worth doesn’t come from work that I a doing. And he is always around when I am lonely.(we actually seem to have more quality time that way). He loves it when I come to him confessing my selfish reasons for wanting to learn Lubwisi. And he is there to give grace to faithfully struggle with a language that is so hard for me. Jesus was already perfect for me, so I don’t have to have it together or know what I am doing as I jump into the scholarship program at Christ School. And his grace abounds, forever faithful, forever forgiving, forever loving me and helping me to believe it!

R.A.T.S. (Rwenzori Adventure Training School)

Or as I so affectionately like to call us... the rat pack! It’s not every day that you get to spend 45 minutes of class time hunched over a pyrex bowl full of tadpoles, making sketches estimating with confidence their length to be 6 mm. Naomi’s exclamation, “They look like rats with no legs” Which is quite accurate I might add. I am accustomed to the pressure of the ever ticking clock and an average of 55 minutes with my class of 30 students. The freedom to take our time and feel the excitement in discovery is great. RATS is an in between term chance to enjoy life in East Africa and all it’s educational opportunities before we get back to our normal curriculum in February.

JULIA NATURE JOURNALING

I have a couple of young naturalists as students, examining bugs, noticing spores on ferns for the first time. We venture out into field and forest with our jars to collect specimens. I have admit that there are now about 10 grasshoppers missing at least one of their six jointed appendages due to Ephriam’s intense capturing methods. We take trips through the banana trees down to the river. We sit and observe dragon flies buzzing or the swarming butterflies or perhaps the smell of the sandy clay. Topista a guest teacher, has been giving us lessons in Africa crafts. Today we made soccer balls out of banana fibers (I think it was a hit for Quinn, who at age 7 already has plans to teach this skill to his children) Tomorrow will be basket weaving from palm leaves. (definitely more educational than underwater basket weaving)

QUINN AND HIS FOOTBALL

Cocoa is a big cash crop around here. The sent of drying/ fermenting cocoa beans lining the roads can not be escaped. Last Friday our adventures took us to the cocoa grove of Usta a friend of mine, where we would learn how to harvest. The kids were excited, as was I despite my apprehension about how buggy it would be. I am a bug magnet even in the states and on the equator in a place that gets a good bit of rain... well lets just say the first couple of weeks here I could have easily been mistaken for someone with chicken pox. Even bug spray does not seem to deter these pests from their quest for my blood. I have learned to be prepared. I wore pants under my skirt, socks with my crocks, as well as long sleeves. It was toasty but dampness is preferable to the itch and I could cocoa harvest anxeity free. So we began. Usta showed us how to identify the ripe ones by color. Jack could be seen with the long handled pod picker while others used pangas (large knifes) and other like myself picked them off the ground. Once the pile was assembled we all gathered for the debeaning. There was much laughing and chatting in Lubwisi what I could not understand, these people love to have a good time, even while they work. Pods were cracked with the panga revealing the white gewy beans, then passed on to us to be scooped into a basin or piled on a banana leaf. The empty pod is simply chucked over the shoulder (these pods double as bug dream homes) As we worked we snacked on the sticky beans. You can put them in your mouth the residue is a sweet/sour milky sensation. The left over bean is just spit back into the basin. All in all the excursion was a “sweet” experience ending in a gift of sugar cane from Usta for our help!

Just another day in the life of a R.A.T. (Rwenzori adventure trainee)...

UNRIPE COCOA

Having myself an African Christmas

Some might see the weather outside as frightful as the temperatures continue to rise and the sides of the road are becoming covered with dust. But the blinking, colored LED lights on our artificial tree are truly delightful.

There is no doubt that this Christmas is going to be filled with many firsts of both the frightful and delightful variety. I am frightfully far from family for the first time at Christmas. Last week in advent we focused on home and what that is. Christ was both an IDP (internally displaced person) born away from his earthly parents home and a refugee as he was on the road to Egypt to escape death not long after his birth... not to mention the fact that he left heaven. Even as an adult Jesus had not a place to lay his head. What Christ did means more to me this Christmas. It also has helped me to long for my real home which is the place he is preparing for me in heaven. Because the truth is that only He can fill the home shaped gap in my heart.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE KIDS- MUJUNI

KIM AND LYDIA AND FRIEND DECORATING OUR TREE

So much of life here is like what it would have been like 2000 years ago. While people aren’t riding donkeys, you are sure to see goats and cows all along the road. People live with their animals in their house and sleep on dirt or straw and cook over a fire. A couple weeks ago we went camping in Queen Elizabeth’s game park. We sat around the campfire faces glowing from the blaze singing Christmas carols. Every time there was a line about stars we would lean our heads back an look up at the sky that was just littered with them. Across the lake we heard a lion roar. I was assured that it was far away but one can’t help feel a little nervous. I thought then about the shepherds to whom the angles came to tell of Christ’s birth. Shepherds who had bathed at an even more distant time than I. Shepherd’s who routinely heard the roars of animals, and whose job it was to actually defend the sheep from these beasts. Dirty, smelly, thieving perhaps but braver than I. And yet when the angles appeared to them they were “sore afraid.” I have never been totally sure what that means but you can be sure they were shaking in their sandals. Then these guys went running into town to find this one worthy of such an introduction.

JUST UP THE HILL FROM MY HOUSE

Last weekend I left this world and drove the 8 hours to the other world of Kampala. A world of stores that resemble Wal-mart and you can get iced coffee and Indian food. On Sunday we went to Kampala Presbyterian Church and saw a Christmas cantata. It was an amazing blend of African and western cultures with a choir of over 100. Dancers and an angel with a great Ugandan sense of humor wearing a white suit, derby hat, and wings. Comparing the chaos of the census to the elections minus the tear gas. Heidi made a comment that she always imagined the angels singing classical music, but after this choir we weren’t so sure. It was amazing!

KAMPALA

I am sure there will be many more special things that God wants to show me about the kind of God He is this Christmas. I am praying the good news of our savior, God of the Cosmos, coming to a nobody town, sleeping with smelly animals excites and awes you like it did the shepherds and changes your life like it continues to change mine.

Weebale kubugha Lubwisi

“Thank you for speaking Lubwisi”. I have been counting my blessing lately and this phrase is one that I am thankful for. Learning Lubwisi... or at least making an attempt has been a struggle. I mean, try saying “weebale kuntegheeleliya”. This is the simple reply of “thank you for listening” At this point I smile and just say “weebale” (way-ba-lay). The other day I went to the market in Nyahuka in need of potatoes and an avocado, determined to practice my Lubwisi. I had written a few of the hard parts on a note card. I glanced at it just prior to hopping across the stepping stones through the mud into the many little tents of the market. It was a week day and much less crowded. Though, the dried fish section was just as potent. I found a lady with potatoes and greeted her. Pausing, I gave an initial smile of apology, took a deep breath, and blurted out my request for 3 heaps of potatoes. Even though I butchered it and got a verification response in English, I still received smiles from the lady selling. I then went on to find avocados, the word for this is more simple and I only wanted one. A much smoother interaction.

I was feeling pretty happy about all this and started back up the dusty road with a smile on my face, ready to greet anyone who wanted to talk. I stopped at a little compound where there are always people sitting to greet. I have this problem that I spit out my few sentences of greeting and people continue on thinking I can understand them. I stand there like a deer in the head lights shaking my head. I decided to try out a new phrase. “I am going, bye” So I say “aghenda, weesalo.” about 10 people stop their sombe pounding or whatever and burst out into laughter. I had just said, “She goes... bye” I decided this was a good time to make my exit, but not with out hearing the last words from the fellow I was conversing with of “weebale kubugha Lubwisi” While I am sure there will be many more blunders ahead, and people at this compound still randomly start laughing when I pass, I am so thankful to be living among gracious people, who not only love to laugh but also love that I am trying. Their warmth is a blessing. I look forward to the day that I can actually tell them this.