Ndege Dorm

What do hair whipping, conversations about snake houses and your favorite internal organ to eat, and eating cake face first have in common?  My seventh grade dorm girls!Every Thursday night I do dorm cover from at Ndege dorm with 10 wonderful 7th graders to give their dorm parents a night off. We do homework together in study hour, we are enjoying a biography about Amy Carmichael in devotions, I get to hear about 7th grade drama at RVA and life in the bush that is their home.  These girls have homes of origin range from the UK and Germany to Brazil and Korea.  Their parents are in place like Malawi, Tanzania, and Kenya.  They are such a diverse group of girls. 

It is never a dull moment with them.  A few weeks ago we were talking about life in Ella’s family’s village and she said something about a snake house.  I asked, slightly horrified, “What is a snake house?”  2 other girls looked at me like I must have been living in a cave to not know what a snake house was.  Ella simply said, “Its a house where snakes go”... “Oh... of course”.... I needed more clarification.  Specifically one is put up when an area is cleared to give all the homeless snakes a house that is not your house.  “OK.”

The birthday girl with her sister

 This past weekend I got to spend some extended time with the girls as their dorm parents were spending time with visiting family.  It was kind of like a sleepover.  On Sunday it was Sarah’s birthday.  I had previously found out that vanilla and strawberry were her favorite cake flavors.  Wonderful Kijabe HAS strawberries!  So I made a vanilla cake that was very sticky and a pain to get out of the pan, but with the help of Maggie and her ingenious idea to cut the cake into 2 pieces I was able to get it out.  And icing covers a multitude of mistakes.  And some extra strawberries help support a sinking center.  I also found out that Sarah’s favorite color is pink, so the strawberry icing was perfect.  (guess I should have expected this from the girl who told me, as she painted my nails, that the 3 things she always has with her are her nail polish, makeup, and jewelry.  Not all girls from the bush of Africa are tomboys :)  I didn’t have any birthday candles but they all seemed pretty pleased with the red tea light in the center.  After this, per their birthday tradition, everyone dug in face first and left not a crumb or a speck of icing on the plate.  I love my 6th graders, but 7th graders are pretty fun too.  I am blessed to be a part of their unique, wonderful lives.  And I am glad they can be one of the many parts of my life at RVA.

Strawberry delight!

Dorm tradition!

Titchie Field Day-Western Style

This has been a busy weekend.  Friday was open house where parents could visit and sit in on classes.  The seniors had "senior store" a food fundraiser for their senior trip.  As a result I have consumed half a dozen donuts and 2 cheese burgers in the last 48 hours!  And on Saturday in the elementary school (aka Titchie Swot) had field day.  I was out bright and early and met my 2 high school helpers to set up barrels for a horse race/ chase game that we came up with.

There were about 10 different "booths" set up around the field.  I put on my southern accent and introduced each group of students to my two best stick horses: Freeman and Molasses.  Just in case you were wondering Molasses is not slow, she just has a beautiful brown mane.  Our first group had only 3 kids, so the three of us leaders played with the kids.  Let me tell you, at this altitude I was plum tuckered out in about 5 minutes, and sweating for perhaps the first time since I arrived at RVA.  Fun was had by all and some of the kids even tried out their country accents too.  Here are a few snaps of my students enjoying the day.

Freeman can really fly with the right rider :)

My co-teacher Hanna!

happy girls

The Staff Hunt

To be student at RVA is kind of like being at camp all year long. I sit here on Friday night tired from the second week at school, but happy. I am still wearing my long sleeve shirt, wool sweater, scarf and fleece, not to mention my double layer leggings and yoga pants, and wool socks. Tonight we played a game called “staff hunt”. All the staff goes to hide in hedges, trees, ditches, one even in a trash can. Then 5 minutes later, about 100 children, kindergarten to 6th grade, are let loose to try and find us. Not being totally familiar with all the elementary grounds, I had staked out a somewhat comfortable looking flower bed that was away from a lot of the traffic. I made a b-line for it and wriggled around to get a comfortable position on the bumpy ground under the long leaves of the lilli like flowers. Did I mention I also had brought a hot water bottle? (another great idea) and I stuffed that under my fleece. I was feeling almost comfortable.


I soon heard screams of children hot on the search. In a little while I heard the foot steps of kids, and the beams of flashlights cutting through the dark night. (kids second grade and under got to have this advantage.) But no one bothered to inspect the flower bed very carefully. As it got quiet again, I began to wonder if I was sharing this spot with any other creatures, there was a loud russell on the other side of the bed. There was something dark sticking up and moving, fear struck in my heart for an instant as I considered if this could be my greatest fear... a snake? But as the moon light caught it I could tell it was the tail of a cat and I shooed it away. However at this point I was getting a little lonely and even hoping that someone would find me. Part of the game is that when kids find you, you give them a piece of candy. I still had my pretty big bag, so I decided to have a piece. Mmm, lemon. Then whenever kids would come near I would russell my candy wrapper in hopes they might get clue. Finally one of my students Joshua was passing by, a bright young guy. I was sure he would see me, he starred for a while. Finally I made a move and he saw me and then came with 3 others in his group to claim their piece of candy. Finally a little excitement! I waited and waited, I recognized the voice of another of my students saying that we still had 45 minutes! My hot water bottle was loosing warmth rapidly and my initially comfortable position was not so comfortable any more.... I ate another piece of candy.


Another one of my students found me with his group. Then little boy searching on his own whilst singing “Jesus loves me”, pronounced, “I found you” with no help from me at all. Then he said sweetly that I could keep his piece of candy for myself, he must have been pretty good and was already sick of candy! I told him thank you and that I had already been helping myself. Finally the finish bell rang and I climbed out of my hiding place covered with grass and dirt and made my way back the meeting hall. I met a few students on the way, and shared more of my left over candy. They had had a ton of fun, which was the point after all :) While lying on the cold ground wasn’t maybe my ideal way to spend a Friday night, I am thrilled to be here teaching these kids, a part of their lives and contributing to a fun Friday night! And I have to admit it wasn’t all that bad :)

I love Lucy and 6th graders

Last night was my second night eating alone in my house.  I have been overwhelmed with a wonderful welcome in my first 2 weeks here at RVA, having dinners with many of the RVA staff and their families.  I have been able to spend some great time being reunited with the Myhres.  This weekend I spent time in Nairobi with World Harvest Missionaries, and have been totally blessed by a visit from Josh.  But Josh had returned to Uganda, the Myhres are out of the country and I was left in my little house alone.  

I cooked up some veggies from Nairobi (the veggie selection here is wonderful!), warmed a leftover hamburger from one of the other few nights I have actually had to cook something, and sat in my little arm chair under a blanket watching a pre saved TV show on my laptop.  I finished eating and the episode ended.  I thought to myself, I really need to work on some lesson planning.  But I was warm under my blanket (we are not out of the cold rainy season in Kijabe yet and at 7,000 ft it can get pretty chilly)  I didn’t want to leave my warm haven.  I was feeling lonely and like I needed to indulge myself, so I started to watch another episode.  A few minutes in to the episode there was a knock at my door!  I jumped up and found my neighbor Lauren  (soon to be 6th grader and future student).  She greeted me in her peppy, smiley way and asked if I wanted to watch “I love Lucy”.  We had previously discovered that we shared this interest.  I couldn’t have been more excited!

Lauren ran down to her house to pick up the show and change into her PJs and I put on my pajama pants too.  Our viewing was frequently interrupted by restoking my little wood stove with Lauren’s help, the wood was green and had trouble staying lit.  Not long after we started watching, there was another knock at the door.  Three more of my future students playing “bigger or better” in attempts to trade their item for something in my house that was either bigger or better than their CD.  I found a bulky old suitcase that had been left in my care by a previous RVA staff person, definitely fitting in the “bigger” category,  and in my opinion “better” too.  They continued on to another house but Lauren and I invited them back, and sure enough in about 15 minutes they seemed to have gotten as big as they wanted to go, or they were tired of the cold.  So I now had 4 kiddos in my house, their chatter and company and Lucille Ball in the background made it anything but lonely.  At some point in our time the power went out and I stumbled around in pitch dark for a while trying to remember where the matches were.  Just as I had them lit, poof, power was back on.  The kids stayed a little longer before braving the Kijabe winds back to their homes, but it was a great night the first of many more to come I'm sure!

The past 3 years...

Bundibugyo can be a hard place to describe.  Pictures don't do it justice either, but hopefully this little slide show will help.  THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of you who have faithfully prayed and given generously taking part in what God has done in Bundibugyo, Uganda and in my heart.  Blessings to you! And Glory to HIM!

Life in Bundibugyo from Anna Linhart on Vimeo.

Rejoicing in Remembering Him

You never realize exactly how much you miss something until it is in front of you again.  I have experienced this over and over when first seeing family and friends, when I eat a bowl of ice cream, while sitting on the Carolina coast... the list goes on.   In the 2.5 years I have been in Uganda I have taken communion maybe 2 times.  And man have I missed it!  This summer I have been blessed to attend churches who take communion often.  God knew how much I needed to literally eat and be satisfied by what he offers.  

Last Sunday I sat in the pew, hand in hand with my grandma, Mimi.  Tears seeped out my closed eyelids as I was struck to the heart again with what Jesus has done for me.  I’ve been taking communion most of my life.  As a kid I remember it being kind of fun to eat in church. As I got older it took on more meaning and became more serious as I understood that we were remembering a broken body and poured out blood. Communion was not necessarily something I always looked forward to.  Admitting again that I don’t have what it takes, no amount of rule following, no amount of doing good or even confessing is enough.  He had to do it, he had to suffer, he had to die.  When I take communion I remember this.  But when Jesus told the disciples to “Do this in remembrance of me”  I think there was more too it than solemn remembrance.  

When I took communion 2 weeks ago at my home church the one serving, looked me right in the eye and said, “Do you believe he loves you?”  I heard myself say the obvious “yes” but he responded, “Well he does!”  Just in case I had forgotten.  And the truth is while I automatically know the answer is yes, I don’t always believe it in my heart.  I worry over all the details that have to come together before I go to Kenya.  I feel overwhelmed by another transition.  I miss my friends in Uganda.  Sometimes I feel like a real mess.  The truth is I am.  Yet, He comes to me, he invites me, to come and commune with him. To sit at his feet and feel the love coming from his eyes, to rest in his arms, to be satisfied by his provision and to get full on Him.  To eat and drink and to remember that Yes! He loves me!  This He proves over and over each time I remember what he did. And that is something to rejoice over!

Hanging out next door

As the end of my time in Bundibugyo is in sight I am trying to savor every moment.  The warmth of the sun... lately a little too warm.  Walking up the dusty road, kids calling my name and jumping excitedly at a white person sighting (you would think this would loose some of its thrill over time).  Dinner with my neighbor Naume was full of moments to savor.

Naume stirring the g-nut sauce

 I went a little early to help with the cooking.  We were having one of my favorites... ground nut sauce.  With heavy pestle in hand I set to pounding.  I still have not gotten the arm muscles to do this very effectively and Naume had to come to my aid a few time.  Kids from the neighborhood started to gather and kicked a beach ball around.  We sat in the shade of a jack fruit tree as the sun began to sink and the pot bubbled on the charcoal fire.

Chrissy and Richard under the jackfruit tree

I will say that the smell of a charcoal fire is not one that I savor.  Since that combine with the dust of dry season has a way of making my air way constrict.  But probably every time I smell charcoal in the future it will bring me back to nights like this one and meals shared with my Ugandan friends.

front door

always lots of kids around

always chickens around

Neighbor girls