easter

You know you have spent good quality time in Africa when...
*you can't walk down the street without being overly conscious about the cleanliness of your shoes
*you think using a squatty potty is easier than a regular toilet
*when you actually crave rice and beans (or my especial favorite, the purple gnut sauce) for every meal...and are somewhat disappointed at the prospect of variety.

anyway...i wanted to tell you about easter....so

Visited the Luwero District for Good Friday and Saturday. Friday morning we met at the Catholic church with hundreds of others...and after a short mass and introduction to the stations of the cross we walked together--a conglomeration of Catholics, Evangelicals, Anglicans, Orthodox....even a few Finns and Germs--through the town, following Jesus. We tripped over each other as we dodged puddles from the night before. I walked hand in hand with Carol and another sweet child whose name was pronounced entirely too softly for my American ears to discern. Elderly folk made their way slowly. Mothers and sisters carried babes on their back. The black Jesus carried his cross. This was an incredible experience to say the least...imagining in a whole new way what it must have been like that day long ago in jerusalem (correct me if i'm wrong...but i think it was jerusalem)...when people followed in herds alongside the mysterious criminal who claimed to be a King. Most likely many could not see what was going on. Most likely people were somehow more concerned about keeping track of their children than on what the suffering of the Man God meant for them. Oh beautiful Jesus.

Spent Saturday at a home called Jesus Cares…a place where Uncle Sam and his family open their arms to families broken by HIV and AIDS. We played for hours…we sang…we fellowshipped for a brief moment in time. My new favorite game: you circle up and everyone chants “dance, baby dance” and then someone is chosen to bust a move :D Most of my time was spent with Nabanulaba and Christine. Christine was a little angel. She was “born without shoulder bones,” and so does everything with her feet…and yet she can embrace you--and I was graced by her embrace. Nabanulaba and I played soccer and smiled and laughed conversing in a love language that expressed itself outside of words….

In an attempt to be poetic (and to work on a response to our time at Jesus Cares) I sketched these words:

Children are children

You are Beautiful
A Child of Wonder
A wide, Bright Smile
A contagious giggle
We kick a ball between us: back and forth
Friendship, sister-ship is natural
We play, we draw, we mold matooke
We drink Fanta and dance to the joy between us
You make my heart light

A shadow hovers as I remember how it is that we are together in this time
I recall a small human invader
I picture the greedy Virus of last year’s textbook
Coursing through your small veins
I can visualize the slow death of the very cells
That should make you strong
That should serve to preserve your Smile
I ache as I conceive of this silent killer
Gripping, mercilessly your Precious life
Stealing your life’s defense
I want to hunch over, to cry out
As you plead, hand in hand, that I stay

Then I’m brought back to the moment of now
You are still you
A sweet, innocent Child
A “normal” child that yet thrives on fun
And sings in laughter
Oh Child of Wonder
You are Beautiful

i like africa

i like evening conversations with my mama. i am overjoyed when she overflows with joy. a few nights ago i asked her about her strong faith. after thinking on it some time she settled on an answer: she pulled out her Bible and her big owl spectacles and we read together pslams that reassure her of God's goodness and faithfulness: psalm 139 and 121. two of my most treasured passages of scripture!

i like it when the children say my name. i wish that my idealistic plan to share the noise makers i received from biola land with them would have been less chaotic...after much squawking, joy and anguish amongst the kiddies that came out of the woodwork like cockroaches...i had to take them away...and how i love them...and ache for them...wishing i could communicate...wishing that Christ may somehow be evident in this white package of me.

i like visiting organizations that are doing great things! I am encouraged by action. We visited the only HIV/AIDS specific hospital in all of africa. we visited the invisible children bracelet campaign. i was able to help with some low-key bandaging at CHERUB this morning (what joy it is to wear gloves...what heart wrenching sound when a child cries in pain).

i like beautiful friends. i enjoy big white smiles and soft chocolate-y eyes. i like shaking by booty kiganda style.

i like how cats are overrated...how if there is a mouse in the cupboard...one must simply spook it out and smack it down...poor mickey...what laughter resonated throughout the house!

i like unexpected answers to prayer....guess what...i'm going to be an RA upon venturing back to california (adventure #52458)...sweet!! Mukama Yebazibwe!

i like field trips...even if homework is deferred. headed to luwero this weekend...stay tuned....

wonders never cease.

After a rough week last week, somehow discombobulated and even wretchedly sick for a day (probably the chicken on a stick), I trek forward into this new week...one day at a time!

Headed out on a safari this weekend. Fun to drive through more of the country and to get another "snapshot of Africa."

On attempting to enter Queen Elizabeth National Park we ran into an elephant road block and had to back up and turn around on account of "if you mess with them when they have their young, they'll kill you all..." ha.. They are really magnificent (and somehow awkward) creatures! Rather sweet that we met them first, with a good dose of shrieking in delight, in the dark. We finally pulled into camp (after dodging a few hippos and waterbuck) after our seven hour ride mystically became eleven hours...hmm... While looking for a place to pitch our tents our driver pulled up by these huge UN tents, full of foreign men smoking cigarettes. Blood sugar low, behinds achy and daunted by these intimidating men, we persuaded our driver that we should relocate a bit. All finally worked out well...everything just takes a healthy dosage patience with the chaos. Soo...we headed out the next morning like the Wild Thornberries...mongeese scampering away as we left the gate...beautiful savanna with elephants, kob and water buffalo! We spent some time on the channel between Lake George and Lake Edward and saw a bounty of hippos...cute lil' critters :D We left early Palm Sunday for a second safari (since the first one got off to a late start)...picture this...remembering Christ's triumphal entry and trekking along the misty savanna while a huge red sun bursts gloriously from the clouds...oh beauty. Then...symbolically eh...bear with me...we SAW A LION! A wounded lion no less. Perfect to fit palm Sunday's celebration of a King (that would bear our wounds)...okay that was profound, I know. And we saw monkeys on top of these cactus trees...and adorable wart hogs (tie with hippos for the favorite)...a lil' crocodile...and even the mountains of Congo! And the best part of it all...I was able to use a friend's fancy camera and totally played the photographer...oh magnificence! Felt like I was out with National Geographic...kinda.

Let me tell a lil' story about some birdies...pretty lil' yellow ones.
The male birdie makes the nest...and then the female comes back to the tree to inspect his manner of construction...if he fails to measure up...oh no, she turns her lil' tail around and flies away in disdain. The male...distraught, has no choice but to try again. When he does well...she will accept and they do a happy lil' frolic dance. Oh the glory of the animal kingdom.

p.s. guess what...my purple braids are gone now and i'm a blondie again. and i lost like half my hair in the process. fun times.

p.p.s.s. i am celebrating my birthday again today!!!!! when i arrived at campus i had received a package from "those that doth love me"....THANK YOU SO MUCH FRIENDS! I can't stop smiling and am just exuding giddiness all over! And by the way...I had been dreaming of skittles yesterday...impeccable taste my dear ones. I am so incredible grateful for your kindness and wish I could tackle you all with a big hug!

A Midnight Miracle

Let me share with you an incredible account....

Last night while I was busy washing a few panties I received a phone call from the clinic of my host mother's friend that a woman was in labor and if I could come straight away...I'd be able to observe.....straight away I went, my lovely host sisters escorting me through the dark mukono town....my panties left forgotten and soaking...

I saw a baby be born!!!!!! INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!! To be a woman is a curse (as the mother in labor said this morning), but oh....such a blessing, to bring forth life from oneself....jeepers!

This clinic had minimal equipment, a unfortunate reality when upon delivery the baby was blue and lifeless....oh my fearful heart. With much prayer, many cries of "God help us" in between breaths of mouth to mouth resuscitation, a few shots, and much warming by the lantern, the blue babe began to gain color, his small heart began palpitating (oh to feel it!), and finally his small nostrils began to flare with glorious respiration. I was frightened as the mother looked into my eyes in a numb fatigue, asking me if the child was dead; all I could do was encourage her to keep praying! Oh and the Lord is so good. I asked Him..."Lord if you've given me even one miracle, may this small babe live and thrive for your glory!" As I walked home rejoicing last night, I was solemn to think of how easy it is to take each breath for granted. Each breath in itself is truly miraculous! To ponder that so many intricate things must go precisely right in order for a child to form, to come forth, and then to breathe! Life is so fragile, and truly a gift.

I visited the young mother and her wee son this morning. They were doing well...weary, but "somehow okay." The son whimpered, but oh what joy to see him breathing, eyes open, his itty bitty fingers wiggling and responsive to touch! Pray for Elizabeth and her yet unnamed boy...that they would grow stronger, recovery quickly, treasuring life and praising the One who brought them together!
May you thank the Lord for your life today, for the lives of your loved ones...dance before Him and sing with precious breathe!!

Chikaste Yesu! (Praise the Lord)

Chikaste koromiin (Praise Him greatly!)

I've just returned home to Mukono from Kapchoraw, one of Uganda's most beautiful districts. It borders Kenya and is home to the Sabine tribe, it is rather mountainous and wonderfully green even in its dry season. I spent the early part of this week with my host mom Dorothy chasing her cows through the harvested maize plots, watering her vegetable garden from the stream (using basins to splash water up on the shore...it was quite the spectacle!), milking cows (I almost had the hang of it by the third day), and drinking an abundance of milk tea (fresh from the cow)! The people in "those ends" were beyond hospitable in their sincere generosity and kindness. How I loved moving around and meeting the neighbors; the hills were home to many families but the community seemed as one. Snapshot: playing with my two sisters, Bonita ("beautiful" in Spanish--her mother did not know, for it was chosen as a Christian name!) and Angelina at night under a canopy of stars, chasing them around as they threw their glow-in-the-dark bracelets in the air!

We then journeyed to Seroti...down on the plains from Kapchoraw...we visited Teso, a broken part of the country that had been devastated by the LRA in 2003. Hundreds were killed at that time, people fled for their lives and children were abducted. These people are also victimized by the Karamojung warriors who use the weapons they obtained during the time of Amin to raid and steal the cattle of Teso. To further describe their plight, it was here that the flooding of last year fell (though now they await the end of a several month drought). We visited here with a group of Peace Promoters to discuss Conflict. I assumed we would debrief some of the quite tragic events with which these people have been afflicted...but through the sharing of dramas we focused our afternoon on the conflicts of everyday...on adultery, domestic violence and "bad relationships." Humanity remains consistent...sinful, and ever conflicted, starting with oneself and spreading throughout communities and nations. The afternoon raised questions and frustrations (including difficulty in translating). As our bus pulled away, it began to rain slightly, as Simon mentioned happily, the Peace Promoter I was honored to sit next to, such was surely God's good blessing on our time together. Pray diligently for peace. I pray that peace may start within you and that in somehow knowing the peace for which Christ paid, that we all would become active agents in promoting it throughout our worlds. Might forgiveness reign!

Spoiled to enjoy the Sipi waterfalls this weekend...and a night upon a mountain top under a brillant display of stars....

Long journey back..and March catches me off guard with lectures commencing once again in the morning time...jeepers

Oh, and wishing you all a happy mothers' day (from the Ugandan calendar)!!!

Thinking of you all and wondering how this new month finds you,
My love to you precious ones,