My Christmas in Uganda

Merry Christmas from Uganda!

Yesterday, on Christmas Eve, I found myself in a bizarre place. I was walking to the Christmas Eve service in the chapel on campus... it was a beautiful and warm evening, I was wearing a dress and sandals, and then I passed 3 monkeys playing in a yard! Then I went into the chapel and sat down and realized I was sitting beside a grasshopper, at which point I was bit by a mosquito.... So, I spent my Christmas Eve with monkeys, grasshoppers and mosquitoes! First time for everything, right? I was thinking of how it would be different to be at a Christmas Eve service in America... I would have been wearing a dress, close-toed shoes, a huge jacket and a scarf and hat because it would have been a COLD and beautiful evening... I probably wouldn't have seen many creatures on the way, definitely not monkeys, and I would not have sat with grasshoppers or been bit by mosquitoes in December in Virginia.... It's been one of those weird times in my life where I realize that if someone had told me, even last Christmas, that this was where I'd be for Christmas 2012, I would have laughed. Sure, my life was full of unknowns at that point, but Uganda for Christmas? Who knew!? I wouldn't trade this Christmas for anything though, I am so beyond blessed to be able to be in this beautiful country during this lovely holiday season.

So, I've been trying to tap into some of the Christmas spirit and 'comforts' this week, so I attempted to make my own eggnog yesterday; it's not quite as thick as the store bought stuff and it's a little too sweet, but it tastes pretty good in my coffee this morning nonetheless! I also received some christmas chocolate in the mail the other day so that has been a lovely taste of home as well! But today I am blessed to be visiting a friend in the area where I'll get a Ugandan family Christmas, I'm so excited! As I've been preparing for the holiday season, I spent some time reading through the accounts of Jesus' birth in the Bible. I love the mystery of it! Each account is different (and some gospels just skip it!), and it makes me appreciate story telling and mystery and the fact that God is in control even when we don't have all the details. Even without knowing if the angel appeared to Mary (as in Luke) or Joseph (as in Matthew) or both, we are still able to appreciate the beauty of the birth of our Savior. The birth of Christ, no matter the details, proved God's sovereignty as it fulfilled centuries of prophecy about the Messiah. That's the God I serve and the Jesus I celebrate!

I pray your Christmastimes are blessed and fruitful; that you are testifying to God and his sovereignty as you celebrate the birth of Jesus. I am so thankful for where God has placed me and so thankful for the people in my life. Treasure your families and treasure the time you are spending with those you love, be blessed this season!

Much love and Merry Christmas,

Ruth

water

Well friends, it’s been a while… and I’m not going to go through a play-by-play of what’s happened the last 3 or so months since I’ve blogged, but suffice it to say that it has been a good semester. I’ve done a lot, seen a lot, experienced a lot and probably grown a lot more than I can yet realize… I’ve learned a lot about myself and about ‘having a real job’… as it’s the first time in my life I’ve not been a student since I was about 3 years old! Unfortunately, the semester only has about 3.5 weeks left, then a 3-week Christmas break before new students arrive in January.

Being in Uganda this time around has been eye-opening as I’ve been able to learn a lot more about the culture and deepen friendships with people that I had just started to know when I left last time. I’m so blessed for the opportunity to be here now and I’m already not looking forward to it ending!

So, I recently watched a documentary with some friends entitled Rivers and Tides, about a landscape sculptor. The work he does with nature is spectacular and breathtaking, and really just cool … anyway, he does temporary pieces and then part of the art is seeing the work he’s done be overcome and even destroyed by nature… seeing the way tides caused some of his pieces to be completely covered in water reminded me of a poem I had read last semester. The poem was written by an American missionary in Chile named Carol Bialock and quoted in Sharing the Darkness by Sheila Cassidy. It doesn’t have a title but here’s Carol’s poem followed by Sheila’s commentary:

I built my house by the sea.
Not on the sands, mind you,
not on the shifting sand.
And I built it of rock.
A strong house
by a strong sea.
And we got well acquainted, the sea and I.
Good neighbors.
Not that we spoke much.
We met in silences,
respectful, keeping our distance
but looking our thoughts across the fence of sand.
Always the fence of sand our barrier,
always the sand between.
And then one day
(and I still don’t know how it happened)
The sea came.
Without warning.
Without welcome even.
Not sudden and swift, but a shifting across the sand like wine.
Less like the flow of water than the flow of blood.
Slow, but flowing like an open wound.
And I thought of flight, and I thought of drowning, and I thought of death.
But while I thought the sea crept higher till it reached my door.
And I knew that there was neither flight nor death nor drowning.
That when the sea comes calling you stop being good neighbors,
well acquainted, friendly from a distance neighbors.
And you give your house for a coral castle
and you learn to breathe under water.

“Now the curious thing is that all the time I was in Chile I understood the sea in this poem as an image of the presence of God—the way he takes over our lives. When I showed it to a monk friend, however, he saw the slow advance of the sea as the gradual encroachment of the agony of the world upon one’s consciousness. It is only now, ten years on, that I begin to understand what he meant when he said that the great mystery is that the two are really the same.”

Well, that concludes my most recent thoughts on life, I’ll let you take from it what you may…

Until next time, be blessed!!

Ruth

Back to life

Well folks,

It’s time for me to blog again…

I am back in Uganda!! So, while I was still here last, I took a position with the Uganda Studies Program, the program I was a student with… so I am interning here for a year (2 academic semesters). I arrived on August 1^st, and students just arrived a few days ago on the 21^st… due to the scheduling of the fall semester, the Rwanda trip happens at the beginning of the semester, which means we leave TOMORROW!! I know that seems a bit strange to my blog followers as my last post was about Rwanda, but don’t be deceived, a lot has happened since I was in Rwanda!

Where to begin…

I graduated from college in May, babysat the most adorable little 4 yo girl in June, and hung out with family (and my adorable puppy) and said my goodbyes in July! Here’s a few pics:

Laur-Laur and I with our fancy new diploma (covers)!

 

Shama =) Such a smiler

Bandit and his fave toy =)

Sunset in VA <3

 

My Uganda boys!!

Happy 4th of July!

 

Since I’ve been back in Uganda, I’ve been a little bored and a little busy. Before students arrived, we were preparing for them… and including some fun weekend adventures in between! One day we went to Ssebiwza Falls (I’m almost positive I spelled that wrong) and another we spent at Hairy Lemon Island (and, no, I didn’t misspell that one!). Here’s some pics of being back in Uganda with wonderful people:


Staff day at Kingfisher's!



At the waterfall



Happy little yellow birds at Hairy Lemon!

Shoreline at the island

SunRISE at the island!

 

More to come about life and lessons in the future… we’re off to Rwanda bright and early tomorrow! Prayers for journey mercies appreciated

Be blessed!

Ruth

Update on Rwanda, Debrief, and HOME.

I am posting this from AMERICA!!
But, here’s what I typed in Entebbe:

Well folks, I just got back from Rwanda a few days ago.  Here, I’ll tell you about what we did and include some history and explanation about the unique history as well as hopeful future of this tiny, BEAUTIFUL East African county.

The land of 1,000 hills

So, we left UCU on the 19^th, stayed in Kabale, Uganda for the night after 8ish hours in a bus together, left on the 20^th to cross the border (got a new stamp in my passport!).  After reaching Kigali and eating lunch, we went to the Nyamata Memorial. This was a church site where about 12,000 people were killed during the Rwandan Genocide in 1994. The best word I can use to describe the site was holy… I honestly felt like I was in a place as described in the bible where I should take my shoes off due to the sacredness of the ground.  It is phenomenal that Rwandans are able and willing to memorialize the event and share it with outsiders, as there are many lessons to be learned.  Inside the church, they had laid out the clothes of all of the victims from the site, and there was a mass grave behind the church where approximately 45,000 people were buried.  An important point to be made about the genocide in general was that it was not due to ethnic tensions, as all Rwandans are of the same tribe. Instead, there was a natural social system wherein people were separated and categorized based on social class, similar to the Indian caste system.  When the Belgians colonized the small nation of Rwanda (about the size of Maryland), they monopolized this system and created tensions between the castes, which were the Hutu and Tutsi.  As tensions rose, people fled and eventually rebel groups began to form to overthrow government… violence ensued, and the history of that violence is complex, but it culminated in the 1994 genocide.  The genocide lasted for about 100 days, beginning in April, during holy week, and ending in July.

In front of the Nyamata Memorial

That night we spent the night in Kigali and on Saturday we went to the Kigali Memorial. This was a formalized memorial that was very informational and included 3 exhibits. The first and largest one told the history of the Rwandan genocide and included pictures and artifacts donated by families of victims.  The next one was a general genocide exhibit that included information about other genocides that have happened in world history.  The final exhibit, likely the most difficult was the children’s exhibit where pictures of children were posted along with their ages and general facts about them during their lives, like their favorite foods, best subjects in school, favorite sports, best friends, etc.  The hardest ones to read were the youngest children. Outside, there were memorial gardens, 14 mass graves, and a wall of names that was only about 20% full as many families were killed all together and it’s difficult to know the names of all the victims. The garden was very peaceful and beautiful. There was also a large group of Rwandans there to bury some more victims that had been found in the graves. Perpetrators are still coming forward and being tried in local courts and therefore are revealing where they buried some of their victims. As they are found, they are then buried, which is why some are still being buried 18 years later. 

Wall of names

Memorial Garden

Viewing over one of the mass graves

After that memorial, we travelled to Kibungo, about 2.5 hours, in the southeast of the country.  Saturday night we fellowshipped and on Sunday we were split into groups and visited 4 different churches.  the church we went was about another hour and a half from where we were staying, and we could see Tanzania from the church my group visited (I didn't have my camera with me though, oops!)!! The church was so welcoming and we began by having tea at the pastor’s house followed by the service where we shared few songs and prayers and a testimony, and the church shared many, many songs and prayers!! After church we had lunch with the pastor’s family at his home again, and they were so hospitable and kind, they were even shoving bananas in my purse as we walked out!! That afternoon, we met with the bishop who gave us a few kind and encouraging words during tea time.  We stayed in the same place again that night and then travelled back to Kigali on Monday. We then visited the Belgian soldier memorial where 9 soldiers were killed at the start of the genocide this was a strategic move as it discouraged foreigners such as the UN and the US military from sending troops or other assistance to stop or somehow impede the genocide. After this short visit, we had some free time in the city for lunch, coffee, a little internet café-ing, and just chilling before heading to the shop of a community of local women who make and sell beautiful bags and other textile crafts such as aprons, pot holders, etc… almost the African Vera Bradley! That was all for Monday... 

...on Tuesday we travelled about an hour to Azizi Life, an organization sponsored by Food for the Hungry that provides a market for other Rwandan crafts such as weaving, some wood work and some other fabric creations.  While we were there, we learned to weave!! It was difficult to do well but a lot of fun. The material is a natural fiber from a plan that is dried and dyed naturally before use.  It was a really fun day and we were able to make some purchases after our time with the weavers. The organization’s purpose is to provide a market, and you guessed it, that market is the U.S.!! Check out their website: www.azizilife.com.  That afternoon we met a businessman at a coffee shop who works with two other Christian businessmen to consult with Rwandan businesses who need assistance in improving.  They have been working here for about 3 years, and no longer work as missionaries needing support, for their business is self-sustaining. It is more empowering for the businesses they consult with that they can pay for the service, and overall this was an encouraging visit because it showed ways that westerners are making a positive impact on Rwanda rather than helping in ways that are more harmful.

Learning to weave!

Wednesday, our last full day in Rwanda was spent with CARSA. This organization works, started and operated by Rwandans, works to reconcile perpetrators and victims. They do so through meetings with mediators as well as through community improvement projects together. We were able to assist in this part as we were split into groups. My group helped a perpetrator-victim pair to construct a garden for their community. I cannot put into words what it felt like to work alongside a woman who had been physically injured by and lost most of her family members to the hands of the man we were also working alongside. Reconciliation is a beautiful gift from God and we have a lot to learn from this example of love. The two Rwandans we were with also share the responsibilities of caring for a cow and once that cow reproduces, they each have their own cow. So, not only does this help their relationship in that they have to have team work, but it also allows them to improve their communities through the income generation created by having cows. 

After this experience, we stayed one more night in Kigali before heading back over the border to Kabale, Uganda where we had lunch at a restaurant on Lake Bunyoni before heading to Bushara Island where we spent two nights.  On the island, we had our Rwanda de-brief where we were able to relax and spend time swimming in the lake and enjoying each others’ company while processing our time in Rwanda.

On our way to the island!

Rope swing into Lake Bunyoni!

Beautiful...

After those two nights we travelled 8 hours on Saturday to Entebbe, our last destination before home, sweet, home. We stayed in a convent in Entebbe where we did our final semester debrief. This was a lot of time of looking back at our experience, pinpointing the lessons God has shown us and the memories that are most special from our time.  One day, we spent 7 hours in fasting and solitude and were able to really look back on the semester and seek God about what we’ve learned and write ourselves a letter about whatever we were dealing with that they will mail to us in September to remind us of themes of the semester and help us with accountability regarding changes we desired in ourselves. Debrief was a ton of fun as we enjoyed each others’ company for 4 more days before departing…. We even went to the wildlife center in Entebbe the day we were leaving since we had a late night flight.

CAMEL.

African Gray Parrot

My namesake....

Really strange, cartoon-like stork creature

Thirsty monkey!

Anyway, now I'm back in the US of A! Things are good, I gave my senior social work presentation yesterday at Messiah and I'm here for the week to enjoy the company of those I've missed!! Thank you for all of your support thus far! Graduation is on Saturday!! More posts to come, because as the title of my blog implies, I'm not staying put for too long, back to Uganda in August (details to come, no worries)!

Be blessed,

Ruth

Life in limbo

Well folks, most of THIS chapter of my life in Uganda is through (don’t worry, I’ll be back)….. heading to Rwanda tomorrow for about 10 days, then a few days back in Uganda to de-brief on 4 months (is that even possible?) and then home, sweet, home by May 3^rd. (then there’s graduation, and summer, and the rest of my life, but we’ll get to that later!)

I don’t think it’s possible for me to sum up the past 3.5 months in one blog post or even start to express the emotions I’ve gone through, the things I’ve see, the adventures I’ve gone on, or what things will be like when I get home. The past few weeks have been full of endings, some temporary and some permanent, and I’m really just at a loss for expressing to you how crazy it is to feel like so much is finishing in my life while so much is also beginning. I know some or all of you can relate to these feelings of endings and beginnings, those times where our lives feel like they’re in limbo. I am super excited about going to Rwanda and spending these last two weeks with some close and awesome friends AND about going home to catch up with my family, my roommates and bffs at Messiah and STOKED to GRADUATE from COLLEGE… but I’m sad about the endings in all of these same areas… with my friends here, with friends and faculty at Messiah…. So, I pray that you join me in cherishing the moments and living them out to their fullest.

Here’s a little prayer, because I’m not sure how else to express myself just now:

Dear Jesus, I lift my hands and eyes to you, in awe of what you’ve brought me through.  How can I express to you the joy I have regarding how faithful you have been to me throughout my life? I have learned to trust in your unfailing love, and to love you and your creation in the moment. I pray that lesson stays with me, reminding me of what you’ve brought me through and how I’ve seen your power in my life. Thank you for showing me my weaknesses, and for reminding me of your strength which overcomes and redeems them.  Thank you for showing me the hard things, for pushing me to my limits, for surrounding me with your love as manifested through people who love me and shine your light.  I thank you for those who have supported me directly and indirectly through their words, thought s and prayers, and I pray that you continually reveal yourself to me and teach me your power.

Thank you for all you are, Father, AMEN


… on that note, I’ll end with a few theme verses from the semester:

Romans 5:3-5 (NRSV)

“And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

II Corinthians 12:9-10 (NRSV)

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.  Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.”

Psalm 13 (NIV)

“How long, O Lord?  Will you forget me forever?  How long will you hide your face from me?  How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and everyday have sorrow in my heart?  How long will my enemy triumph over me?  Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.   Give light to my eyes or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, ‘I have overcome her,’ and my foes will rejoice when I fall.  But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.  I will sing to the Lord for he has been good to me.”

I hope this post finds you well, finds you cherishing your moments, cherishing those around you and trusting in God’s unfailing love. That’s all for now, I’ll be out of internet communication until May 3^rd!!

O, and I can't leave you without a pic.... it's officially rainy season!

Be blessed,

Ruth

BANANGE!

Banange is an exclamation of surprise, similar to our use of “Oh my goodness!” or “Really?!” in Luganda.   So… Really? I haven’t blogged since when?! BANANGE!!

Well, I hope this post finds you well.  Since I’ve last chatted, I’ve been up to a lot here in sunny Uganda, including visiting quite a few NGOs (non-governmental organizations), such as: Noah’s Ark—an orphanage, Invisible Children (yes, the famous/ infamous creators of the Kony 2012 videos for those of you who are facebook savvy), and Amaziman Ministries (founded by the author of the book, Kisses from Katie).

Here’s a little run-down of my impressions/ experiences at these places.  I visited Noah’s Ark on International Women’s Day (March 8^th) because as a national holiday, hospice was running on ‘on-call’ capacity and only the most critical patients were seen so I wasn’t needed.  So, I went with some other students to Noah’s Ark since orphanages run full-time regardless of holidays!  It was so much fun for me because I spent most of my time there with the infants, and if you know me well, you know I’m a sucker for babies!  Seriously, I think my dream job would be holding and caring for babies!  So, I had a blessed and refreshing time there with some gorgeous and loving babies.

Later on, about a week later, I visited Invisible Children with some fellow social work majors.  We were able to speak with one of the mentors as well as a staff member from the finance office. At the office in Kampala where we were, they deal with coordination and logistics for the other sites in Uganda as well as overseeing the mentorship of the 255 university students sponsored by the organization. Those students are mostly from the north (areas most affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army-LRA) who had been living with financial difficulties and would be unable to afford tuition for university. We asked Robert, the mentor we were speaking with, about his interaction with the new Kony video that has had a lot of recent media attention. He gave his personal opinion, mostly, emphasizing that it is important to remember that Kony is still terrorizing places in Africa even though he has left Uganda and it is important to be reminded of this. There had been some controversy throughout the country here because the film traumatized people in the northern parts of Uganda. He agreed that it may have that affect but it is still important for those people to be able to talk about the trauma they experienced to initiate and improve healing. Furthermore, we talked about advocacy in Uganda and how we, as American college students, know more about the organization than most college students in Uganda. He agreed with that and said more could be done to advocate in Uganda but that there were more barriers to advocacy, especially technology. It was really helpful to talk to him to be able to process the complexity of the issue that had been so prevalent in the media around that time. For the sake of controversy, even though all the fuss has mostly died down by now, I’m not going to express any opinions about the video or this agency specifically. If you are interested in either supporting the organization and their work, I only ask that you ensure you are informed about the situation. Healing is still needed in Uganda for the terror enacted by the LRA.

The other NGO we visited was Amaziman Ministries, a ministry in near Jinja, about an hour away from us in Mukono. At the Saturday outreach that we visited, we interacted with a lot of the children who are sponsored by the ministry. They come for a worship service, lunch and fellowship with each other and the staff. The team of staff also visits schools and works to provide lunches and sponsorship for the children. I am always encouraged by the NGOs wherein most of the staff is Ugandan even when the founder/ director is not. In the case of this ministry, the community is obviously healthier and more productive than it had been before the ministry started, and the children were very lively and loving! Here are a few pics of their bright, shining faces =)

Other than visiting NGOs, we’ve been up to other fun things, too, such as seeing an Ndere Troupe Dance.  This is also kind of an NGO because it’s a group that works to preserve the arts of Uganda by training young people in traditional dance and then performing a few nights a week.  The fees they charge for the shows go to support lots of kiddos and pay their school fees. Below are a few pics! It was a fun night and a good bonding time for those of us that went =)

Another fun weekend was spent at Sesee Island!  About 10 of us left campus midmorning on a Friday night and travelled to Entebbe where we caught the once daily ferry to the island (about a 3 hour ferry trip!). We stayed at a rustic little camp run by a German couple and their great dane.  The island was beautiful and it was a very relaxing weekend (despite the not-so-restful 2 nights of ‘sleep’ in our little ‘dorm’ due to a few critters!).  The island was beautiful though and it was nice to get away from typical quiet weekends on campus.

I hope all is well, and I will be posting again soon as I search for ways to procrastinate on my end of semester assignments (senioritis is at its best right now!).

Be blessed,

Ruth

A beautiful family in a beautiful place

Hello family, friends and followers!

It’s been a while and I’m so thankful for your continued support. I pray this post finds you well and continually seeking God in your life. Please, please, please let me know how things are for you! I’m beginning to feel so disconnected from everyone back home… what’s been going on?!

Well, I figured you were all anxious for a post about my time in beautiful Kapchorwa where I spent ten days from February 17^th-26^th. I will start this by saying that I love mountains even more than I did before and I didn’t even think that was possible! The mountains here in Uganda are beautiful and the weather in the part of the country we were in (to the east, near Kenya) was gorgeous. A few nights I fell asleep to the sound of rain falling on our tin roof, and it was so peaceful!

My family was such a blessing. They are quite revolutionary for typical villagers as my host mom is a politician representing her district and serving the community with special attention to women’s issues. Even before she was elected she worked to empower women to be able to make a living to support themselves independently from their husbands so that if they were widowed, which is likely, they would be able to survive. In addition to being a supportive husband, my host dad is a farmer, which is quite typical in the village. He grows coffee, onions, and matooke and they raise chickens and cows as well. They are also very active in their church and are very involved in the community. They have 7 children, 1 in university, 2 who are away at boarding school, 3 little girls who live at home and go to primary school close by and an 8-month old son! They are quite the bustling family and we lived in very close proximity to most of both parents’ siblings.

Momma and baby Levi on our way to the waterfall!

So, I learned a lot from being in Kapchorwa for the week: how to carry water in a big, yellow jug on my head, how to peel matooke, how to sweep a dirt yard (no, this isn’t a joke), that when someone visits and you slaughter a chicken for them they must eat the chicken’s stomach (I learned that one by experience, and no, MY stomach did not agree!), that making plans in Kapchorwa is silly and meetings never start ‘on time’, how to drink lots of tea and soda, how to entertain baby Levi (with my camera, usually) and how to be a child again, because my family was very protective of me!!  It’s a good lesson to learn, though, and it’s such a blessing to let people love on and take care of you =)

Matooke peeling station

Runaway hen and chicks!

Fanta, the universal way to be hospitable =)

After we were picked up on Friday, the 24^th, we were reunited with the rest of the group and we had a debrief session that evening, went on a hike to see the waterfalls on Saturday (I saw 2 out of 3 of them, they were beautiful), and on Sunday we had a worship service together before heading back to Mukono.

Reunited with beautiful friends in a beautiful place!

Waterfall beauty

In other news, it finally rained here in Mukono while we were gone and it has been TONS cooler ever since and it rains every few days which keeps it a lot cooler. There’s lots of other news to share including the fact that the internet has been very unstable for a few weeks and I have been very busy! I’ll post again soon with more about the past few weeks and the next five weeks here at UCU (time is flying by!)!

Be blessed,

Ruth