Update from the Pearl of Africa

Here it is! My final shot to try and update the blog before heading out to the zone of no internet. I'm so thankful to be able to write to all of you who have been supporting this partnership from the beginning. I tell any group that I talk to that I am really representing dozens of people who wish to meet them and learn about their lives. The other day I was processing with an American Peace Corps friend about living in rural Uganda. We both dubbed it the Africa 'high' and 'low' that you can experience really within minutes of each other. There really doesn't seem to be any middle ground at times. I picked this first picture because it represents a high moment seeing one of the most beautiful areas near the mainland by the Nile. I hope that through this blog I can convey the highs and the lows to help you get a glimpse of life here!
Some of my closest comrades on the islands. From the left Annet (taught at the preschool with her), Titus (government official on the islands), Jennifer (friend who struggles with not being able to have children, something that is very difficult for a woman living there), little Scovia (one of my favorite past students), and Sarah Nanyondo (what they call my "age mate" when I lived on the islands...heading out to her home village today to finally meet her family. I have no idea what it will be like but I will show up sugar and millet flour as gifts in hand!). Titus and I have had some really amazing discussions about life on the islands. He is a very deep thinker and really desires to see change among his people. He was once married but was separated from his wife during one of the wars. She was pregnant at the time and he gave up hope of ever meeting her. After years apart, he finally found her with his son married to another man because she thought Titus was dead. To hear him tell the story is heartbreaking yet this man continues to desire to make the islands a better place to live. Random Titus fact: He is the only Ugandan I know that always has honey around. Every time I visit it is what he gives me to eat while we talk about life.
The original team! We started with four of us Americans (check out those unplanned matching outfits!) hanging out with Mary (seated below), the founder of the WAR (Women at Risk) program. Eunice is one of her employees and both were so eager to learn and share their lives with us. Mary's life story is also really incredible. On the verge of suicide after years of selling her body on the streets, she was met by a pastor and his wife in a bar on a rainy night. The couple was forced to go inside the bar because of the rain and they ended up buying her a drink. Mary is seriously one of the most talented, patient, and wise women I have ever met. I watched her so much throughout the week to see how to handle so many situations.
Mary translating for me as I taught the women about the amazing facts of their physical and spiritual bodies. The first day I went to the program I had no idea that there were two classes of women: those who were finishing up the year long mentoring classes and those who were just checking in to see if they were interested. I asked one of my Ugandan friends at one point: What is the deal with some of the women? It seems as if they are drunk and not interested in what we are saying. She explained to me that they were drunk :) and that these were to the women who had just been outreached to. I could not believe the transformation that happens in these women's lives over the year. The difference in maturity was marked.

My other teammates on this trip led the women in art therapy lessons. We had an art teacher/counseling student, social worker, and photographer on the trip with us. They walked the women through some really amazing art therapy lessons as they looked at the reality of who they are before God. We interviewed the women in their homes in the afternoons and I really look forward to sharing with you the video of their stories. At one point we asked to be let into one of the brothels with a camera and couldn't believe they let us in. It was during the day and I know I will never forget the sick feeling in my stomach even being in that place during the day. Mary is living in the community of Mbeeko by choice (a community known for prostitution and high crime) and she is truly making a difference by allowing God to use her.

Oh this is so hard for me to write! There is just too much to sift through to figure out what is most important to convey to you all. And brevity has never been a strength of mine! I'll end with a funny story. The other night I was cleaning up after dinner and there were some leftovers in the kitchen on the counter. I saw two hungry dogs sitting by the doors the entire time I was cleaning. I really wanted to go into the other room to wipe down the table but I feared the dogs would be able to reach the leftover food. I decided to risk it and went into the other room. In the middle of wiping down the table, I heard noise in the kitchen so I started running into the other room screaming "No no no!" while clapping my hands. I felt horrible as I turned the corner to find a scared Ugandan cowering on the floor as he was trying to get a plate out of the cupboard. Then the language barrier prevented me from fully explaining that yes, it really WAS ok for him to get his dinner and eat that night. We both eventually were laughing after I looked like a complete fool trying to act out what happened.

In all of this, I have found that chanting three tiny letters is so effective: T.I.A. This is Africa.