recapping..reflecting...concluding

So...I'm sitting here...procrastinating...I should be packing my bags and getting ready to go...because (break out in song....clear throat..aahhum...do re me...) I'M LEAVING...ON A JET PLANE, don't know when I'll be back again!

Africa has been (a)...

Thunderstorm

Challenge

Dream

Sunrise

Beauty

Wonder

Delight

Heartache

Smile

Hymn of praise


Brokenness

Plate of matooke


Mirror


It's been the best of times and the worst of times


Dance

New birth

Questions


Bare toes in the red mud

New Rhythm


A cow chase


Gift

Personal Conflict


Forced Academia


Pineapple on a hot day


Good conversation over milk tea

Window


Surprise


Green house


Goat wheelie


Desert


Spring


A colorful woven mat upon which a daughter kneels

I came to Africa wanting Uganda to somehow “permeate my soul,” without really knowing what that would mean or look like in my life. And now I prophesy that my time here will never escape me. In one form or another I will carry this semester, and these experiences with me in all that I do for the rest of my life. Though that sounds rather grandiose, this semester has shaped my heart and shifted my global perspective, so that I will never again the Erin that came off the plane one dark and humid Ugandan night in January. Rewind...I have great ambitions of being this new changed somebody who experienced a piece or two of Africa..and though I hope to live in greater gratitude, to practice deeper hospitality, to implement simplicity everyday, to be intentional about interceding for the world (and to be better informed), to dance more, to make relationships amongst life's most brilliant priorities, et cetera, I am much still me and life is still life. People are still people and we are all caught in this cosmic realm of humanity, pain, suffering, atrocity, redemption, beauty and wonder.This time has been incredible...it has been a rush and a fun ride (boda boda style)...thank you my dears ones for riding with me. As I go now to pack my bags...as I think of actually leaving, really leaving those I said good-bye to today...I want to curl up in a ball and as I have wanted to do much of this semester....I want to cry into the earth as I dig my hands into the earth. I haven't actually done this..but oh how I want to weep and literally pour my heart into this land. Pray for me as I go, as I leave a piece of my heart here (okay...I know it is cliche, but anyway). Oh my Uganda, oh my heart.

*Flying for a little entourage in Europe for a few weeks and then I'll be home (May 26th) and I'm eager to catch up with you all and hear your stories of these past few months! I love you and miss you...and as hard as it is to comprehend leaving...I am excited to see your beautiful, shining faces! Weraba!

good byes suck

and that's all i have to say about that. i mean really.

school is finished

wow. classes are already over...okay all except one, which will continue through out our time Rwanda. We are headed across the border on Saturday...leaving here at a blissful five am. Short semester really. I can't believe it is coming to an end. Will say good-bye to my family on friday morning. Big farewell party on thursday night. Will try and post after rwanda (but I'll be out of contact for our time there) with hopes of debriefing some of my time here with you! And the tears fall.....

BWINDI

drove twelve hours on friday to the border of uganda and the congo to a place called bwindi. this place is so beautiful it looks fake: like cheesy forest wallpaper....only they were real trees...one of those misty jungle wonder scenes! i had missed the informative meeting and had no idea what we were doing there, except that we were probably going to meet with some missionaries. as we bumped along the road I asked about our schedule for the weekend: we are going to meet with a doctor they told me....jeepers! from this bit of info, the weekend unfolded into a beautiful blessing! Dr. Scott works with the Batwa pygmy people who were displaced as the government designated the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for the silver back gorillas. They are among the most underprivileged people in the world...out in the middle of "no-where," often struck by malaria and malnutrition, many times young girls having babies too big for their small frames, with a life span of only about 30, with a HIV prevalence rate possibly as high as 14%. Dr. Scott is living out the dream my friends...he and his wife started this health center where they have a newly opened children's ward, a waiting mothers' ward, and surgery (for emergency cesarean sections)..they are doing HIV/AIDS education, have started a school, are exporting baskets that the women are weaving, they are involved in the construction of homes out in the village...health care meets development in intertwined beauty. We helped with these houses on Saturday: we threw mud at the wall....it is by far my favorite construction technique.... therapeutic too. They make a frame out of reeds and build the walls out of mud that they have mashed up with their feet...before we started building/mudding we hit the drum and danced...these people can dance!!!!! On Sunday we visited a small church on a bluff just over the hill from the Congo: it was rather distracting to look out the window and see glorious countryside speckled with banana trees! There were probably two hundred people there, half of which were probably children....we were seated in the front as special guests....we sang...we danced...we rejoiced with our black brethren! Reverend Eric danced like Moses' father-in-law Jethro from the Prince of Egypt! A couple of girls in bright pink and blue gowns danced with bells on their ankles like gypsies. The offering was taken...in the form of money and goods....some people giving beans and avocados, matoke, tomatoes....these were auctioned off in exchange for a monetary offering :D It was a long service: we arrived at about 10 and were there until about 4...the day had been set apart, a day of worship. Rev. Eric gave us a chicken too. We danced our way back to our vehicles after sharing lunch with the Rev and his family: I danced barefoot with the young "gypsy" girls--we kicked up so much dust we couldn't see each other anymore.
we drove 12 hours yesterday...oh butt cramps....yet beautiful...last night the moon was out and their was a bit of a cloudy patch that was occasionally lit by lightening...fun times in the IMME van!

Story from this morning: I went to the health center to visit a few patients...and I truly was asked to marry the brother of a few women. How to explain that I'm not interested in an arranged marriage.... and I was asked to name their baby. I suggested Joshua as a good name...I think they are going to keep it. What an honor to name a child. Wow.

get your he-goat on...shake that booty.

You know you have spent quality time in Africa when:
*You understand the importance of sweeping the dirt
*(You always know about three people who have malaria at any given time
*You answer yes by raising your eyebrows, or you resort to "eh" (when before it was only a mockery of the Canadian accent)
*You are somehow embarrassed when visiting speaker Rick Warren mentions some cheesy analogy about using a knife and a fork...for you realize that such is completely cultural...most people here use their hands
*Your skin matches that of a wee little African newborn

Okay....cutting to the chance...I figure this is the easiest way to announce it to the general public. Two days ago I was proposed to. Offered twelve cows, and TWENTY GOATS!!! And get this, I accepted. Amina!!! Oh this lad's name is Gilbert (always wanted my Gilbert Blithe)...a handsome one....I'm staying here!!!!!!! I'm going to be a muganda girl for real! Wicked sweet.

On Monday I danced the traditional Kiganda dance for our community our fellowship (all the USP students led the service)...it was smashing...we wore goat hides on our rears and wiggled our hips to a song all about thanking yesu...the audience was in an uproar...one lady even came up on stage and put a coin in each of our hands...funny enough, the room with our clothes was locked when we finished...so we went to the dining hall all done up still (yes, the goats came with us)....we danced for the kitchen staff after they finished serving....dancing really warms people up, they appreciate it so very much! I was grateful to be able to show my love for Uganda (particularly the Baganda) by shaking my rump.

Spent yesterday with the UCU nursing students as they did clinical rounds...spent the day with three beautiful ladies who had had complications after birth...the day was so refreshing, nursing students are just lovely, and it was nice to be in and with the patients. I visited the health center in town the day before and found it difficult to really "be" with patients as I had imagined...it must be odd to be in the hospital and have a white stranger approach you. I was also able to go into the nursery where the premature babies are cared for...all bundled up in their incubators. One baby died while I was there, and God, the mother had just arrived. Pray for this woman...I know she is faceless to you...but pray for the nameless, faceless African woman who lost her small son. I am learning much about prayer. I visited the health center wanting to offer prayer as a ministry...but I realized that such a mission was somehow foolish...for to go and pray is good...but it shouldn't be contained to a set time and place...praying for those who are sick...inside and outside the walls of the clinic should be constant...and I don't know...I think it can be silent....but I think we should be in fervent practice of praying for those too weak to pray for themselves. I often fail and don't know how...may we be sincere in discipleship and learn to pray.

For those who have stuck with me through my ramblings so far....bless you....and for those who maybe believed that I was engaged...:D April fools! Happy April everyone! May the beauty of spring kiss you softly on the cheek this day!