From Tennessee to Uganda: Happenings in the Last Week

It’s hard to believe that we have only been here a week. It seems like we have settled and have been here a while. Coming apart from a team has been really good for us. It has given us an idea of how it would feel to live here for some time. I have loved that instead of feeling like a tourist, I feel as though I am wrapped up in the lives of those around me and entering their world. Everyday, we wake up at 8, and Betty makes us breakfast, we eat, we hop on our boda, drive through the village to Sangaalo, work with the babies until 6, come back to Canaan, go out into the village and be with the children, eat dinner, go to sleep, and then it all starts over. It has become a routine that I enjoy and am used to. Now, as we drive down the dirt road to Sangaalo, the kids are becoming familiar with us. We are no longer stranger muzungus but friends who wave to them everyday. It is so fun to wave to all the kids and see them get really excited.

Some of the babies at Sangaalo.

The longer we have been here, the more that the people we work with have become family. Papa Isaac and Mama Rebekah have taken us in and treated us as their very own. Every night, papa comes to say hi to us at dinner, and we end up talking to him for some time. He is such a sweet man, and he makes me feel at home. I ran into him as I was walking through Canaan last night and had the pleasure to talk to him one on one. He knows that I am in nursing school, and he tells me that after I graduate, Canaan is always open to me, and that he would love for me to come work in the clinic. That was exciting to hear. When I look back on the last two years, so much has happened. Two years ago, I had no idea that I would be going to Uganda in the summer of 2012. And, now I am here with Lauren forming relationships that I would have never thought possible. It’s really neat to see all that God has done in my life. It makes me really excited about my future. I love that God gives me visions for where I see myself going in life, and then he makes them possible. Papa also told me that he is praying I find a husband that loves God, loves Africa, and is very handsome. I laughed and said that would be nice. He told me the importance of marrying a man that my ministry does not have to stop, but that it is a beautiful thing when a man and woman do ministry together. I love that he cares enough about me to take time to talk to me and tell me these things. He has become like a grandfather and a great friend. Tonight, at dinner he told us more about his testimony. In the 70s, when Uganda had a Muslim ruler, Pastor Isaac was a Christian pastor, and he was taken captive and taken from his home. He was taken to a camp with other pastors and was tortured and starved. After some time of this, they were all blindfolded and brought out in a line. They were shot one by one. Papa was on the end and said he was so weak that he was falling over when they shot him. Instead of hitting his heart, it hit his arm. He lay there for days thinking he was about to die because of all the pain and blood he had lost. Thinking they were all dead, the soldiers loaded them all up in a truck, took them out and dumped them in a ditch. While he was waiting to die, he heard a voice say, “Isaac, I am saving your life, so that you may save the lives of my fatherless children.” And, now he runs Canaan Children’s home that is home to 120 orphaned and abandoned children.

Damalie has also become like family. Her heart for sick and abandoned babies is such a delight to witness. She treats us with such kindness and is one of the sweetest women I have ever met. She works us hard everyday and is not afraid to ask us to do things. I like this, because she treats us like one of her staff. We have gotten used to the babies and gotten the routine down. We have our ones that cling to us more than others, and it is so sweet now that when we walk in the door, they come crawling to us and want us to hold them. I catch myself daydreaming sometimes thinking….in just a couple more years, I could adopt one of them. One of the babies that I have gotten close to is named Faith. She has begun to talk a lot, and she keeps calling me mama. Oh, how this is hard on my heart. (Although, she calls all the other workers mama, I like to think that I am special, for she runs to me often and puts her arms around me). It is hard to get attached to an orphan and then have to leave them when all you want is to give them love. I am dreading the day we leave, for I know there will be lots of tears and hard times, but I had faith last time that I would return, and I have learned never to underestimate God (or at least I know this, but way too often, fail to live my life by it). He has given me a heart for these children, and I know it doesn’t end here. Damalie and her husband David are such an incredible couple. They shared their story with me the other day, and it was another one of countless stories of faithfulness. Damalie has known her whole life that she would one day care for babies who are abandoned. When she was on her own, at a young age, she adopted two little girls. When she was working for another baby home, David was working for another ministry who would help the baby home and bring them supplies. With a smile on his face, he said he knew he liked her when he first met her, so he would always volunteer to take the stuff. Damalie said she was hard on him and made him wait three years before she agreed to marry him. She knew she wanted to have a home full of orphaned babies and already had two of her own and thought that he would never want that. But, he was persistent. He says he knew she said she wanted babies to stay with them, but we laughed and said he got more than he bargained for. They live in a home with 5 children of their own including the two girls Damalie adopted and 16 other babies. It is so cool seeing that he loved her so much that her dreams became his and watching them both care for the babies is so sweet. He has a big heart for youth, so during the day, he goes out to do ministry with them. They are very welcoming to us and keep telling me that I have to come back.

This is Faith standing up to give a hug.

Yesterday, Damalie took us shopping with her to the market. That was an experience, let me tell you. It was crazy. But, once again, I loved feeling like I was in the middle of their culture. We helped her carry all the veggies and fruits and other stuff for a couple of hours, and I told her I had no idea how she would have done this alone. She laughed and said in Africa, they are used to carrying a lot (Something I am still getting used to). When we returned to Sangaalo, Lauren and I had put together little gifts for Damalie’s staff…just some basic stuff for their families like clothes, toothbrushes and toothpaste, toys, soap, and a bible for each of the workers. As we handed them out, some of them were so excited that I almost started crying. Something so little to us means the world to them. It makes you really think how much we take for granted what we have that even the small things to us are so big to them. I am thankful God used us to bless them. Also, thanks to Mrs. Keltner’s class at SBEC and Mrs. Sid, we were able to bring them a whole suitcase of needs. Damalie was overjoyed at all the stuff and was very grateful.

Damalie and her girls with their gifts.

The doctor came to check the babies a couple of days ago. Damalie asked me to help her with holding them while he checked them. I loved this, because I told him I wanted to a pediatric nurse, and everything he did, he showed me why he was doing it and how to do it. This was so neat and makes me more excited about it. One little baby that I have become attached to is named Noah. He is the second oldest there, but is so little that it is hard to tell that. He is almost two and can barely move on his own. He is HIV+ and has TB. He has little tiny legs that are very disproportional to his body. He has the same expression all the time, but today, I finally got him to laugh, which was adorable I might add. I have been helping him roll over and stand some. I am going to try to work with him everyday, so that he can gain some strength. He never cries unless one of the other babies rolls on him and he is so so so so sweet. My other two are Sara and Semilie. They are twins and are absolutely precious. Semilie is the serious one and Sara never stops smiling, but they both crawl to me anytime I sit down, and today they did not want me to put them in their cribs for nap. Semilie cried and cried until finally I just had to walk away. They both are precious and have stolen my heart.

This is little Noah.

These are the twins, Sara and Semilie.

On Sunday, we were going to go to church with Damalie, but because of it raining, our boda was delayed. As we were waiting in our room, I looked out the window and saw some of the village kids who had come into Canaan for children’s church. I went out there and joined their circle of singing. A man who works for Canaan was leading them and after they were finished, he looked at me and said, “You are most welcome. You give word to us.” In other words, you preach to us. So, there on the spot, I had to give a message. It was all kids, so that was easy. It’s funny now to look back and think about it though. After I talked, Lauren did too. We laugh about it now and say we have preached. We taught them duck duck goose after, which they all loved, and one little girl said, “duck, duck, duck, juice!!!”

I am learning new things everyday here. Slowly, I am trying to catch on to some of the Lugandan language. I want to study it when I go home to see if I can improve. We know a few basic words, but we want to learn it a lot better. Most people know the basics of English, which is nice. All the children call me Auntie Carol with their cute little accents, although they laugh at my southern one when I say, “Hiiii (drawn out) yallll). They think it is hilarious. All is well for us health wise which is an answer to prayer. It is awful to feel sick while in the country. We experiment with the food but make sure to be careful. We have found this café downtown that has food close to American food that is our run to place when we need a break. We are having issues with cockroaches in our bathroom, which we will continue to have to get used to. Lauren tonight said, “I just want to go home to use the toilet and then come back.” Speaking of toilets…last story I promise…when we were on our way to Jinja from Entebbe, our driver did not speak very good English. The drive is about three hours so at one point, we had to use the restroom. For ten minutes, we tried to explain to him that we had to go, but he just wasn’t getting it. Finally, Lauren said, “Toilet!! We need toilet!!” He finally understood, and it was hilarious.

Praising God for his presence with us at all times. We are continuing to remember that with Him, all things are possible. We are praying for miracles and excited to keep watching him surprise us. Every day is an adventure, but it only makes the journey more exciting, which we are never opposed to. Sorry this was a long one. I just found the strength and time to blog, so I had a lot to share. Love to you all!