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.