The Final Hurrah!

Let me just tell you that I have no idea if you will be able to read this post because I don’t know if I’ll have internet connection ever again in Uganda. The internet has been hardly working since our return from rural home stay.
Well this past weekend our little IMME group took its last trip. We will be leaving Uganda one month from today, which is hard to believe. This weekend, we went to Luweero which is about as far North as we are allowed to go in Uganda and is specifically an area with a large HIV/AIDS rate. Before I get into the details about the weekend I must start the weekend from Thursday.
On Thursday (as many of you know this is lunch with Stella day) my African Traditional Religions class went on a last minute field trip to the Uganda Martyrs Shrine. This was the place that one of the Kabakas decided to burn alive about 35 Christians sparking a region wide killing of the Christians. We didn’t spend very much time there but it was interesting I suppose. As soon as we got home Kiersten and I headed out for lunch. This week we brought with us Justin Lane. I told him that I knew Faith would be terrified. It was a great lunch as I was right Faith screamed whenever she was in the same room as Justin. She was his friend for about fifteen seconds when he broke out some chocolate, but as soon as that was gone she started to cry.
On Friday the ATR class went on another field trip to a Muslim mosque where we talked to some people about Islam and it was really interesting. I learned a lot. Here is where I will enter my toilet trauma stories for the weekend. Upon exciting the toilet at this Muslim mosque one of my biggest fears came true. My skirt was tucked into the back of my underwear. No worries not like I was in a conservative environment or anything. Luckily I don’t believe anyone saw as I caught it pretty early. Later that day I was coming out of the toilet at UCU and a girl started yelling to Kiersten. She looked behind me and died laughing as again I was walking around with my skirt tucked into my underwear. My whole right back side was exposed as I walked by classrooms. I was laughing too hard to be embarrassed. As soon as we got back IMME left for our trip. It was only a three hour drive. I decided that when I finally get home I’m going to be a master at sitting in the car! No problem there! It seems the average driving time here is 6 hours (we have gone for as many as 18) but the roads are always incredibly bumpy. When we got to Luweero we met with an Anglican Bishop who runs the Luweero diocese as well as a couple in the United States, in California and Arizona. He was interesting and served us popcorn and juice and hot chocolate and fried cassava.
On Saturday the USE group came and met us at a house that supplies families with AIDS. We met about four or five families they work with. One was headed by the oldest girl. She was 17 and the family had seven members, all of which had AIDS except for the head. Another family was a young girl who had no shoulder blades and whose grandmother would place on the side of the road each morning in hopes she would get run over by a boda. Luckily the older sister (maybe about 7 or 8 at the time) would go and grab her and drag her to a safe place. The day was really fun. We lead tons of songs and played tons of games. I started holding this little boy (of course only half clothed as most of the children here are) and he fell asleep in my arms. It was so perfect. The house looks forward to our coming each semester as we offer a glimpse of joy into lives that would otherwise not look so joyful. I was wishing my mom were there to teach us some fun games with the parachute as that was a favorite toy of the children!
Later that night a Catholic priest came and met with us and told us of the work his parish is doing in the community. I really appreciated his because he spoke to us from his heart in a real and meaningful way. He was asked the question of how does he fight getting burned out and quite honestly he answered, “I don’t know.” He wasn’t afraid to ask the question of why isn’t God fair or to admit that there are pains in life. For a country so often full of a prosperity gospel this Father was very refreshing. On Sunday morning we went to his church. It was huge and beautiful as Catholic churches so often are, and the choir sang like angels. Of course I didn’t understand anything going on as it wasn’t in my language, but I felt a certain assimilation with the early church goers who had to listen to mass in Latin. Thank you Martin Luther.
As for the rest of my time here my “to do” list is as follows:
- Finish a paper integrating African Traditional Religions, Islam, and Christianity
- Continue to beat Justin Lane in any game possible
- Give an hour presentation on Christianity in Uganda, specifically the East African Revival and write a paper on that… (don’t worry it is a group project)
- Bother Stella as much as possible
- Write a reflective paper on the role of women in missions specifically relating to my life
- Convince Stella to name her first born daughter Kjersten
- Do a project connecting the use of the New Testament in Africa to teenage girls at Fair Haven Camps
- Conquer rafting the Nile River at the height of the rainy season
- Learn how to cook chapatti
- Write a 6 page history research paper on a topic the professor has yet to assign
- Convince Shannon to name her first born daughter Kjersten
- Write a capstone paper summing up my entire experience in Uganda. With academic sources.
- Eat as much pineapple as possible
- Write two missions journals
- Live the moments
- Register for classes and find a place to live next year (pretty easy considering we have no internet connection)
- Make a multimedia presentation
- Continue being victorious in Rook against Justin Struik and Justin Lane
- Be able to walk up the big hill without breathing hard.
That’s all I have! I have a final prayer request… USP is leading worship next Monday and doing the lifehouse skit that I took part in at camp. It is a powerful skit that I’m excited about sharing, but the spiritual warfare is intense! So I would love your prayers for strength and that the Holy Spirit would be moving in powerful ways. Much love and I’ll be home for Christmas…

The Home Stretch

Women don’t have hot flashes. They have power surges.

That quote is dedicated to all the middle age women reading my blog right now. I saw it on the refrigerator at my missionary dinner and thought immediately, “WOW! I can’t wait to put that in my blog.” There I go thinking in terms of blogging. That is when you know you have problems. When you start thinking in terms of blogging. Or when you start thinking in terms of writing to middle age women. ☺ I’m just kidding; I love you all and am so grateful for your prayers.
Let me tell you about the missionary dinner we went on. It was on Friday and the group was Kiersten, Justin Struik, and I. We went and met with Allen and Heather Hall. After a two hour drive to go about 10 kilometers (traffic here is out of control) we came to their apartment. I almost cried as we were served a tossed salad, spaghetti, jello with peaches, and espresso (real coffee not instant!). It seems that whenever I come to a point where I am struggling with my experience here God always comforts me with my favorite food. That is the second time this semester that spaghetti has pulled through. It was great to talk with some people who are putting into practice what we talk about in class every day. Allen and Heather were probably about 60 years old and had been in Uganda for three years. They were completely self supporting and started the mission called Pearl of Africa. We had a great time as our hosts were not shy and felt free to laugh with us and share of their missions work. *Heather laughed at some of my toilet trauma stories and told me that they are so much funnier when telling them to someone who understands what it is really like. They shared a couple with us that left me rubbing tears of laughter from my eyes. At the end of our time Allen anointed us with oil from the Holy Land and blessed our work in the future. I felt so rejuvenated after meeting these people. On the way home our driver played an old country music CD much to the delight of Justin. There were such classics as ‘The Gambler’ and many other old time hits. It made me think of dad.
These weeks after rural home stays have been hard to regain focus and drive for school work. Ick. I have a funny side note for anyone reading this from Minnesota: When we were driving to the top of Sipi Falls and got stuck in the mud my natural response was, “UFF DAH.” To this comment a girl from Oklahoma looked at me and said, “What does that even mean? Did you make it up? Kiersten and you say it all the time.” I laughed hysterically and explained that it is a very common phrase from good old Minnesota. As grandma says, “Uff dah is when you drop your gum in the chicken yard. Ish dah is when you pick it back up.” For the rest of the ride Uff dah was the exclamation of choice. I know that doesn’t really relate to anything except that is my point. I am having a hard time focusing. ☺ I titled this blog “The Home Stretch” for a variety of reasons.
It all started walking home the other day. I was walking with Shannon and we were going up the big hill. Between breathes (as I don’t think we will ever make it up that stupid hill without breathing hard) she said, “Oh what is that thing we say when we are almost done…” I replied promptly, “The home stretch!” In my head thinking about all the pain that little phrase held for me when I would run track in high school. It seems that my time here right would be perfectly illustrated by the use of an analogy. So for those of you who liked my nightgown analogy here you go…
I remember a time when I was running at the sub section meet in seventh grade. I was running the two mile. Gross I know. I was in seventh place with two laps to go. For those of you not familiar with track you have to place in the top six to get a Minnesota State High School League medal. The top four girls advance to the section meet. Since I wasn’t too keen on the idea of having to run the race again a week later at sections, and since I wasn’t a good enough runner to be a place to contend for such an honor, my one goal was to place in the top six and stand on the medal podium. In light of that knowledge, seventh place is not a good spot to be in. My sister was standing at the two hundred meter line. She was always my biggest fan. In this particular instance I saw her out of the corner of my eyes wearing her red clown pants and she yelled, “RUN FASTER KURTY. You didn’t run all this way to place seventh.” I very coolly replied between strides, “Shut up.” I know not very Christian of me. Coming around for the final lap, still in seventh, Kara this time only cheered very loudly with positive comments. I remember starting my kick with about 250 meters left, my eyes on the feet of the girl in front of me. Battling her around the corner (something my coach always says is bad) I beat her to the finish line for that maroon ribbon. Of course I felt completely sick and my legs were wobbling but I did it. Task accomplished.
For me whenever I step up to the starting line of a race there are butterflies going completely wild in my stomach. I remember feeling the same way as I was packing my suitcase and getting the immunizations for this trip. All my thoughts were taken up with ideas about what my family would be like, what would the other students be like, what about the food, and so much more. Then the race begins and as soon as you sprint past the little cones and cut in is when you realize what you got yourself into. Eight long laps of running in circles. Or in this case three and half months away from friends and family, comfort foods and legitimate toilets. At that point it is easy to go into panic mode and to feel every last ache or pain in the body; it is easy to tell yourself things such as, “You aren’t going to make it out of this alive!” But alas as many of you know as soon as you get to about lap three you are in the groove and running isn’t so incredibly painful, for me this came when I found joy in returning home to my family. I started to get into the groove with school work and classmates. Then comes the halfway point. When you run by the little man with his fingers telling you how many laps to go and he says four you do a quick mental calculation and discover… “Hmmm... four laps that means half way... WHAT I’M ONLY HALF WAY!?! I’m way too tired to be only half way…” As anyone who was following my blog may have read the half way point was when I really was struggling with the weight of the world’s problems on top of missing my home. This is the time in the race where you fall on the encouragement of the few teammates who are always faithful. There are always one or two who are sitting in the same spot and never fail to yell, “Go Kurty!” as you run by their zone. It is during this time that you realize who it is that really has an interest in how you are doing. I begin to look forward to those brief moments of connection. So I thank all you at home who in some minor way have been taking the time to run me through the entire race. It means a lot. This is also the time of the race where you put your mind on your placement. The focus turns to capitalizing on every stretch and running in such a way as to get you in a good position at the end. For me that meant living each and every moment from my time here in Uganda. Alright and now finally it sneaks up on you. Before you know it the final lap is here. Everyone picks up the pace. Any thoughts you have had up until this point become vague memories as you fix your eye on the goal. I’m not yet at the sprint leg of the race, but I will predict the ending for you. I see the final 200 meters. My friends are telling me I’m almost done as I reply, “SHUT UP. I’m ceasing the moment and running the race here!” It is that time when the pain in your body becomes overwhelming. As you pump your legs it doesn’t feel like there will be enough to get you through. Then that numb feeling takes over. You no longer have control over moving as you body moves into autopilot and all you are doing is fighting to breath. The pain such as leaving my family here, being responsible with what I have learned, re-entering my old home, being a changed person, finals, and cultural frustrations all fight to take over my body. That is where I stand currently. I have my eyes on the goal, about to round the corner into the numbness. I know how it will feel as soon as I cross that line. For a couple minutes it will feel great. Then the fatigue sets in and I’m sick for twenty minutes. I come across the finish line and fall into one of my supporters arms and stay there. I then lay on the grass and wait for my body to recover. It always does although the effects of the race do not wear off for a long time. On top of that the memories never die. It is then that you think back and say to yourself… TASK ACCOMPLISHED. So there you go. I’m entering the home stretch.

A Week in the Country

It has taken me all day to get up the drive to write this blog. I don’t even think I’ll be able to finish it in one sitting! That how life goes when there is so much to relate! The motivation level for school work has dropped to about nothing among the IMME students after a week off. You know how it goes when the end is near. Who wants to do homework in a little building with only one window and 14 people that we have been hanging around with all semester?!? Let me give you an answer, no one. But in the words of my father, “This too shall pass.” I will now try to tell you about all the excitement that the past week held.
We were brought to our host families on Friday night. The IMME group was in a region called Kapchorwa which is on the slopes of Mt. Elgon near the border of Kenya. It was gorgeous and full of green vegetation and hillsides alive with waterfalls. On arriving I was dropped off on the road with my mom, Miriam, and sister, Lillian. We walked down through a banana tree plantation on a little path that I had to duck to get through and emerged at the place I would call home for the next five days. Talk about a view! The house was on the edge of a cliff. I had two waterfalls in my backyard. Our pastures went all the way to the edge of the cliff and on looking down I could see miles of green farmland and banana plantations. There were monkeys that lived in the trees surrounding us. As far as the compound, it was large, about the size of my front yard at home, on the North side of the driveway. There were two houses, one more permanent and the other only finished with mud and plastered with cow dung. The one served as the kitchen and had a room for the herd man and one for the girls. The other house had Miriam’s room, a sitting room, and my room. That is right I had my own room. It was nice and dark so I slept like a baby!
My family consisted of Miriam who was the main English speaker, Lillian (24) who spoke only very minimal English, Juliet (12) the house help who spoke no English, and Michael (18) who looked after the cows and also spoke no English. I received the name Cheritech which means ‘born when the cows were coming home’ since I was born in the afternoon. My father lived and worked in Kampala while my other 5 siblings were at boarding school in Kampala. I was so impressed with Miriam and her ability to do everything and run the whole farm. She was, in my mind, the Connie Pearson of Africa. She was a hard working individual who always finds the joy in life. I was really bored for the first couple of days because when Miriam would go to town I had no one to talk to! I read two and a half books as well as sat in for hours on conversations I understood nothing from! Oh well, all part of the experience I guess. When we went for walks village people would come up to me and wonder what the heck a mzungu was doing in their village! I even got offers for marriage despite my apparent inability to dig or cook. People would ask my mom what types of food I ate, if I could carry a hoe, or do any work. Seriously they think we have machines for everything. One lady asked a girl in our group about a machine we have for washing ourselves. She said, “I hear you just stand there and a machine cleans you!” The girl replied, “No. We still scrub ourselves.” The African replied, “Oh good. I was wondering how it got all the cracks.”
My days went a little like this… I would wake up around 7:30 and read until tea at 9. For this morning tea I was crammed full of milk tea, bread, jam, and biscuits. Two mornings I helped milk the cow which attracted the attention of all the college boys who lived on the compound adjacent to us. I smiled and waved at the many whistles, all the while thinking in my head, “Seriously. I’m just milking a cow. Keep watching I might do a trick!” After tea I would bathe in the interesting bathroom, which I will tell you about later. Since it is really cold in Kapchorwa they always heated the bath water which was nice. After bathing I would usually read for a couple more hours until lunch. After lunch the afternoons were full of hikes or visiting friends. The gardens were a good mile away and so we visited them. I got to make coffee one morning. Let me tell you it does not smell good for 5/6 of the process and is a ton of work to harvest! She wanted to send some home with me but it didn’t dry in time. It would get dark at about 7 and we would move into the kitchen and hang out until an 8:30 or 9:00 supper. Then I would go to bed. It was nice going to bed so early!
On Monday my sister Winnie (18) came home from school and it was such a blessing because she spoke English very well. She had never spoken to a white person before and I found myself answering some of the funniest questions. We have a bad rep in the world! Among the questions were: Are there black people in America? Did you bring that jerry can of water from America? Does it have special medicine in it? Are there poor people in America? Are there farmers in America? Have you ever seen a chicken? I thought all white people were like the ones I see in soap operas. Are the teenage kids like they are in the movies? Are you going to get a new boyfriend here? Why not? Don’t you like black people? Who cares you’re in Africa! Oh and so many more…
One of my favorite moments was one night waiting for supper and watching the conversations going on. There were four different languages flying around with Miriam the only one able to understand it all. The local language is called Kupsabine and that is what Lillian and Juliet spoke. Winnie grew up in Kenya and speaks Swahili. Michael only spoke Lagisu. I only spoke English. The only one who spoke them all was Miriam. It was fascinating.
All in all my experience was ok. I had many offers to bring my family back and to live in the mountains… So if anyone is interested I know how to get you some land!
On Wednesday morning I packed my things and waited for my fellow Americans to come pick me up. I heard Justin Struik coming running down the path and was so happy to see friendly faces! He ran and gave me a hug and I couldn’t help but think how comforting it is to receive a hug from a friend after a long and lonely week! I can’t imagine what hugging you all will be like when I first see you!
We loaded up in the van and went to lunch at a local place and there I saw Kiersten for the first time and we literally talked twenty miles a minute as everyone was telling the stories of their experiences. We had many people from our group had trouble with medical issues while away and I was thankful that all you people back home have been praying so hard for me! After lunch we went to Siroti where the USE students in our program had their stays. The night was filled with debriefing and storytelling. I couldn’t help but smile as all the people from the city related their experiences about their eyes being opened to the fact that people actually have to work for their food and there is so much that goes into it before it reaches the grocery store. I guess this is where I insert the song “Thank God I’m a country girl!”
We spent the next couple days in Siroti which was hot and so I didn’t really enjoy my time there very much although it was covered with many games of Rook. Justin Lane tried out a couple new partners in a quest to try to find victory. I must admit that he has found some success with Justin Struik. Don’t worry Kiersten and I talk strategy many times a day and therefore the wins are hopefully going to stop for the Justin’s. During our two nights there God put on an amazing lightning show for us. It was beautiful and the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed. We sang a couple hymns and filmed it so make sure to ask to see it when I come home.
On Friday morning we headed back to Kapchorwa as an entire group to stay at Sipi Falls which is a great waterfall in Eastern Uganda. The rooms were a little less than glamorous, but hey what can you do! On Saturday some of us went for an all day hike from the top of the set of three waterfalls down to the bottom. It was beautiful and really muddy. People were slipping and falling and sinking in mud. I enjoyed it and took many pictures. At one point the trip was so steep we had to go down a ladder. It was also an extremely muddy point in the trail. There were many little African children who followed us and tried to help the girls down and make sure we weren’t slipping. Personally they were driving me crazy. Not like I’m independent or anything. They kept stepping on my shoes or hovering and squeezing my hand. Sigh. I just feigned the language barrier thing and pretended I didn’t understand the constant statement of, “give me your hand.” Add that to the vocab list for young children. “What is your name? How are you? Fine. Give me your hand. Give me money.” The phrases I hear the most here. I really did enjoy the hike and it felt good to sweat again and feel the muscles burn in my legs. Ha someone remind me of that in a couple months during my training for basketball.
I feel like now would be a good time for the toilet trauma section although it may have to be modified to bathroom trauma as that is what a bathhouse is called here!
- Day one at rural home stay: I was lead to a bathroom that had no door and cracks in the walls. I hung my towel over the doorway which was great until I realized I had to dry off. Let’s just say my clothes were pretty soggy as I just put them on.
- Day two: I brought my work skirt and used it as a towel because it was Sunday and I didn’t need to wear it that day.
- Day three: I literally rubbed my body against the towel while it was still hanging up. It wasn’t the most effective, but did help a little.
- Day four: I did the rub technique on the top and then just wrapped the towel really quickly around my waist.
- Day five: Almost decided to “throw in the towel” on my efforts toward privacy and rip it off from the door. Instead I did the waist wrap again and when I stepped out saw Michael working in the garden right outside. Thank you Jesus I didn’t go through with my irrational thoughts.
- Random Toilet Trauma: I had to pee in a shack that didn’t have a hole again! I’m getting used to that though and I learned that it is totally normal to double a bathroom and a toilet for ‘short call!’
As for other updates on the world of Uganda most news revolves around the election. For all of you who were wondering who would win the presidential election I want to let you know I have known along with Africa for the past four weeks. Newspapers here are a little biased and I cannot wait until I no longer have to hear about misinformed political insights. Oh and Kenya is having a national holiday tomorrow because an African is now the president of the United States. I wonder if Obama has ever been to Kenya. Also we were eating today in the canteen (Justin Struik took Kiersten and me out for her birthday and Justin Lane came along) and Justin S didn’t eat his greens. Here anything green is called greens with no specific names. These particular greens were very bitter. The waiter asked in amazement, “WHAT you didn’t eat your greens? These are greens from Kenya the greens of Barak Obama!” Justin replied coolly, “I don’t like them.” Seriously.
Ok well that is about all that has been going on in my life. Except that Judith and Rachel my sisters both have malaria. It is pretty serious with Judith and I keep hoping that she will get better soon. The people in my family don’t really sleep because they are all taking care of her and coming into my room all night long. A little fun fact about culture here is that no one cares if you are sleeping and will turn the light on and leave your door open all night long. I got out of bed yesterday at 1:30am to shut the light off. I want to tell my family the healing power in letting the girl sleep!
Well that is about all I have to say besides sorry for the delay in posting this! We have had about an hour of internet connection a day for the week. Frustrating, but such is life here I guess. I miss you all and send you some love and heat from Africa.

Fun little update :)

I know you guys are all super pumped because I’m posting two blogs on the same day. I figure that I’ll have a lot of talk about after rural home stay so I better update on the workings of everyday life before I head out. On Friday I will be leaving for 10 days and be out of contact. I’m excited for the experience.

Lately I have been volunteering at a school called Bishop Tucker Central. This is a primary school (similar to our elementary school) that has 700 students. Its sister school with is right next door also has 700 students. I know that you teachers who are following my blog are going to faint at this next one. Many classes only have one stream, while some are lucky to have two. That means that as a teacher you may have up to 100 students in one classroom. You are in charge of imparting your vast knowledge on all those students. I was wondering what my dad would do with 70 trouble-makers in his classroom. One big headache, if you ask me. My heart hurt for the children who do not get to interact at all with their learning, but rather are forced to listen to lectures they do not understand. Although I would way rather play games with the kids during recess, sometimes I am called upon to teach a class. If any of you teachers have some good ideas as to what I can do, I would totally appreciate some tips!

As for workings within the family… I learned that I have another brother. I didn’t even include him in the first list because I thought he was just a family friend. His name is Brian and is a biological child of mama and papa. He only comes on the weekends, and I didn’t talk to him much until after I learned this little detail. He totally opened up to hanging out with me and was actually quite funny. He loves Hillsong and sings in the choir at his church in Kampala. Rachel is really starting to open up as well. She cracks jokes and busts out random dance moves. Michael recently told Shannon that he cannot understand anything I say because I talk too fast. Usually he just nods his head and laughs. When I learned this we joked about him pretending and now I make a point to talk really slow. It has really sped up our friendship. Amazing what happens when someone understands what you are saying. Joan is an 11 year old who comes with when Faith comes. She is pretty shy but loves when I goof off around her. She loves to laugh and I enjoy having her here. Faith likes me some days and other days won’t let me close to her. Today she wouldn’t greet me or give me a high five, but when Stella told her I loved her, she snuggled on my arm and almost fell asleep. I do not get to see Judith much these days because she stays at school until 10:30 at night preparing for her exams in November. With her stays Julius. Stella is as fabulous as ever. Since Kiersten and I have made Thursdays lunch with Stella day, she gets really excited for them to come. Last week I asked if I could go buy a pineapple for lunch and she told me no because they would rip me off but she couldn’t leave because of Faith. Today when I came home Stella was in town buying a pineapple because tomorrow is Thursday and she knew we were coming home for lunch. She is so great. Oh I forgot to mention Peter who is a cousin (I think) who is also living with us right now. He doesn’t talk much but is usually smiling. Last night he was holding Curly and petting her. I thought that was cute.

As for me I am doing well. I have been very tired lately with the amount of school work this week as it is midterms. I cannot believe how fast it is going and am not looking forward to how fast the rest will fly by. Sometimes I find myself saying, “I cannot believe I am in Africa. I cannot believe I am a part of a new family.” I got a Halloween package from my mom and am having a hard time remembering what the season of fall feels like. Here the season of rain is going strong!

I cannot fail to mention that last weekend I went to a circumcision ceremony which was one of the most unique experiences I have ever gone through. I won’t blog about it to save you from the details. If you want to know more remember to ask me about it when I get home!
Speaking of getting home… I was thinking about how great it would be to see you all. I would love to fellowship with you over a cup of tea and if you know how to make anything fun I would love to learn how to bake or cook a couple more meals (hint hint..) ☺ haha I’m just kidding. I hope you all are doing well. Enjoy Minnesota!

p.s. I tried to fall asleep the other night wearing shorts and a tank top. It didn’t work. I missed my nightgown.

Drinking Apple Cider

Here I am sitting in Africa, missing my home and struggling to understand and comprehend all of the different things that I have been learning. It seems as though my heart is being pulled in more directions than I am able to handle. Judith told me that the half way point seems to be the hardest moment for us, and as that point is today I understand what she meant! As I walked into my room I found the package my mom sent me a couple weeks back and looked inside to pull out the apple cider that I had been saving for a special moment. That moment is now. For those of you who don’t know let me tell you what drinking apple cider means to me… It is one of those drinks that transport you to a different time and place. I remember my mom buying a box and dad and I drinking it within the week. I used to take packets and hide them in my room to ensure I would get some before dad drank them all. For awhile mom tried buying sugar-free for my dad to keep him around longer, but of course he didn’t like those as well! We used to sit together and figure out the crossword puzzle in the morning or after a long day of school and practice. During this time of year I often found myself watching some football, learning about blocking the A and C gaps or taking tackle points. Late at night when dad had gone to bed I would come into the living room to a roaring fire and mom reading on the couch. I remember the moments of stopping my Aerostar van on the way to school to sprint out to the orchard in the dew covered grass to grab some apples to get me through the day. Amazing what a drink of cider will make you think of.

One of the things I am learning here is that you can never fully shake your past. It creates the lens through which you view the world. I have been conditioned into a system of beliefs and practices that are as natural to me as breathing. I am so thankful that I grew up the way I did. I have a perspective on the world that gives me hope instead of disparity, and a view that I am coming to see may be held by a smaller population than I like. It is through this view that I want you to see some of the struggles I am facing here as well as a lot of what I am learning.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations… Matthew 28:19

A starting point for my learning here is the meaning of missions. The students in the IMME program are all taking this class as part of our course requirements. We have spent so much time on talking about what the great commission really means. What is the meaning of a missionary? Can someone be a missionary in their own town or community? We have spent hours discussing the evils of colonization and the failures of our previous Western missionaries to the point of me questioning the point of missions. We have examined the effect of missions on African culture and read accounts after accounts of imposing missionaries. These discussions have left me discouraged and wary of the word mission. A huge question that keeps coming to my mind is wondering if it is more important to reach the world or to improve life around me in my community back home. I see so much potential for healing and love at home that I have a hard time justifying coming half way across the world.

Directly connected with the realm of missions comes the reality of hurting. We discussed AIDS in my missions class one day and my instructed told us of a drawing in South Africa. In that drawing Jesus is on the cross and he has the red AIDS ribbon. It is supposed to mean that we as a body of Christ have AIDS. I have AIDS and you have AIDS. What can we be doing? I was hit by the hurt of disease that is so rampant throughout the world. We were discussing what practical things we can do when it comes to such a huge need. People discussed speaking to church leadership and pushing our pastors to be aware of the problem. People brought up their disappointment over never hearing a sermon on AIDS in America. It convicted me to be aware of what organizations such as ‘Acting on AIDS’ is doing in my school. At the same time I wondered what pain and hurt are present within my own community. What is my church doing to reach the people scorned by society? I want to talk with them. Again, how important is to change my direct world? I felt a despair over not being able to reach all the corners of the earth. I cannot be everywhere!

Following closely to AIDS is the reality of poverty. My heart hurts for mothers that are not able to feed their children or provide a warm shelter. We discuss in class the necessity of living simply and capitalizing on our own resources. College life is the perfect example of living in community with one another, sharing material possessions and relying on one another for support. I once again felt the weight of the world on my shoulders in a need to solve world poverty. One of my friends asked about partaking in a fast to which I replied I could not be able to fast if I want to effectively have a difference on my basketball team. Sometimes we are not comfortable with the idea that we are still being good Christians even if we are not selling all we have to live on the streets of Atwater.

Don’t worry, God has pulled through and continued to be faithful to me. One of the most important convictions that I have always held is the importance of working within an organization to make it a better place. One of my classmates was talking about how he attends many different churches because he hasn’t been able to find one that he believes is embodied the body of Christ. What I wanted to say was, “Well duh. Nothing is perfect. Stick with a church and fix the problems.” I believe there is power in a light shining through pushing for improvement. Besides, I and Don Miller agree that if you do something passionately people will follow you. I am beginning to see this rubbing off on my classmates here. One of my good friends here who grew up in rural Iowa and goes to Dordt looked at me the other day and stated, “Kurty, you have inspired me to be passionate about rural poverty.” I did a fist pump and smiled. Great I told him. GO CHANGE YOUR WORLD. (Don’t worry I am doing my best to represent rural living in the midst of city dwellers who do not understand what it would be like to live without make-up for a week or cannot understand when I look at them and say, “Excuse me, but I cannot bike to the grocery store to save on money. It is twenty miles away and I would freeze to death.” This was her trying to tell me how to simplify life. Ha.)

In the light of missions I know that God has called us into the world under his protection. What can be more right than following that call? I will end this blog with one of my favorite quotes that I found while researching the history of women in missions. This was said by a women by the name of Mary Slessor. She was urging women from home to come to the field.
“Don't grow up a nervous old maid! Gird yourself for the battle outside somewhere, and keep your heart young. Give up your whole being to create music everywhere, in the light places and in the dark places, and your life will make Melody. I'm a witness to the perfect joy and satisfaction of a single life -- with a tail of human tag-rag hanging on. It is rare! It is as exhilarating as an airplane or a dirigible or whatever they are that are always trying to get up and are always coming down! . . . Mine has been such a joyous service, God has been good to me, letting me serve Him in this humble way. I cannot thank Him enough for the honor He conferred upon me when He sent me to the Dark Continent."

While I cannot say exactly how I’ve been changing during my time here I know I am. The change is so deep and significant it goes to the very core of who I am. While I miss my family and friends and sometimes shed a tear over the memory of changing leaves, Friday night football, and home-cooked meals, I know that I’m exactly where God wants me. I am drinking apple cider in Africa.

Under the African Sky

There was a moment this weekend when I stopped and thought, “Oh my goodness. There is nothing I would rather be doing right now.” Kiersten, Justin Lane, John Riley, and I were sitting beneath the African stars on a blanket on the edge of Queen Elizabeth National Park. Our campsite was surrounded by hippos and we could hear the sound of wild animals (at one point I am pretty sure we heard a lion kill an elephant). The best part is we were playing Rook and we were winning. It was a great moment in history. Justin paused and said with a smile, “Guys can we just remember what we are doing right now?” Let me tell you he wasn’t so happy four games later when Kiersten and I were still undefeated.
I know that many of you are wondering how my weekend went parading around on the Savanna of Africa. Let me fill you in. It was fabulous. It all started Thursday night. Thursday was Independence Day and therefore the Ugandan students had no class. Unfortunately for us, our USP classes decided to run anyways. Thankfully they gave us Friday off because a safari takes an entire three day weekend. So Kiersten decided to spend the night at my house as my family is much more exciting and inviting than hers. Shannon (my host sister) also had one of the USP students come over as they were planning on hanging out during the weekend.
Kiersten and I were walking home at about 5:00 on Thursday. For anybody that knows me let me tell you I have found a path through the country side that not only cuts off 5-10 minutes of my walk, but also is beautiful and has way less people than the main road. There are parts where I pretend that I’m home in the country, not surrounded by thousands. So Kiersten and I were walking this path and about ten minutes from home we started hearing this loud music. I jokingly said, “Man someone in the neighborhood is having a dance party and I wasn’t invited!!” As we continued towards the house the music got louder and louder. As we came out of the path and I could see my house I noticed that there were about 30 little neighborhood children all standing in front of Shannon and Kaitlin. The music was coming from a HUGE speaker on my front lawn. There was a huge canopy covering tons of chairs. My family had told me they were having the Rotary club over for tea. Ha, little did I know that it was going to be such a big deal.
We headed to the back of the house after saying goodbye to the curious children and found my whole family frantically cooking tons of food! (I guess this explains why we had not been eating much variety at night for supper…) I asked Stella if there was any way we could help and got assigned to the cutting of the pineapple. We cut three huge pineapples and a watermelon while Kaitlin made two salads. It was really fun. Mama asked us if we wanted to serve the food when the time came and we very excitedly agreed.
One thing I want to remind you about Africa is the tendency to not do things promptly. So at about 8:30, I was starving because I didn’t take tea. We waited and waited to serve, but kept hearing, “It is not time.” All of a sudden the family was called out and whisked away. Julius was introducing them to the entire group. As Shannon and I were peering at them through the window he called us out after and specially introduced us to the entire group. So with a huge spotlight in my face (it was dark by now) I smiled and waved. Julius then looked at me, said something in Luganda, and handed me the microphone. It was as if he forgot I didn’t speak Luganda. Laughing I pulled one of the meager few phrases I knew and greeted everyone and handed the mike to Shannon who used the other phrase we know ;). It was great and everyone laughed. The night went on with us serving the food and dancing the night away with the people of the Rotary club. The night was honoring Julius who was handing the presidency of the club over to a new guy for the upcoming year.
The next morning we walked to school at the crack of dawn and loaded into two vans for the eight hour drive to Lake Victoria National Park. On arriving to the park, we saw our first wildlife, the elegant warthog. Naturally we all shouted out, “PUMBA!” Let me tell you Disney did some good working in making Pumba a cute little fella because the real thing leaves much to be desired. I guess it is one of the examples that God does indeed have a sense of humor. When we got to our campsite the task of setting up the tents was first on the list. A couple girls starting making the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while the boys ran off (as they tend to do when work comes around). One boy tried to say that they should set up the girls tent. I said, “HA! Give me the tent poles.” A couple of us girls and Phil set up our tent and I had a moment of sadness for all the girls in the group who just stood there not knowing what to do. Sigh. Kiersten stood on the roof of the van taking pictures and who-knows-what, probably laughing at me taking an active part in this process. She did come down however when one warthog tried to run away with a backpack. I looked over to see Kiersten guarding with a large stick.
We then took part in our supper. I was smiling as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich had never tasted so good. Amidst the grumblings of the inadequate food supply many whined and said they were going to go hungry all week. I just smiled and looked and Kiersten and said, “A good independent girl never goes far without packing extra food!” (This has been a common theme in my life). Unfortunately our jelly we had brought erupted in the car, but don’t worry- we managed to save about ¼ of the can!
Before heading to bed a hippo wandered into the camp. That was very exciting and set up the stage for our late-night Rook game. We got up at 6 in the morning as our game run was from 6:30-9:30. An hour into the ride we had seen no animals and my face was literally black from all the dirt. I was sitting in the second car and the dust from the first was coming in my window and getting me dirty. Gross. Don’t worry we did end up seeing tons of wildlife from lions to waterbuck to water buffalo to antelope.
As soon as I got back I headed right to the shower. Of course I hadn’t brought a towel and in true camping fashion used a t-shirt. When I got out Kiersten had to rewash my face and neck with wetones because it was still so dirty! We then headed to an extravagant lodge to research for a 7-page history paper that I hadn’t started and was due on Monday! (There comes the cross-culture procrastination problem.) We had a cold pop and I loved every second of it. Oh how I miss ice! Kiersten and I then watched Remember the Titans on her laptop while drinking coffee. I literally cried about five times during the movie. It always reminds me of my dad and good times. I miss football… Two boys came in and laughed. They said, “Kurty, we were talking about you the other day and decided you reminded us of that daughter in Remember the Titans and here you are watching the movie!” I smiled and replied, “I am that girl, and my dad is amazing.” Next up was our second game run.
This was a great run. We got to be in the leading van which had a pop up top so I got to sit on the roof! Kiersten, Megan, and I all had three cups of coffee running through us and were having a fabulous time! At one point about half-way through we moved to the front of the van and sat on the cab part. We were cruising along and all of a sudden there were elephants blocking the road! I wanted to scream, but they say if you scare them they will charge you. When we came to a stop there were literally 35-40 elephants surrounding us on the sides of the road. AMAZING!

All-in-all the trip was really fun.. a little camping.. a little Rook victory.. a little fellowship.. a little football.. and some wild animals. Pretty special.

I’m sorry I don’t have any great toilet stories for you this post.

I little update.. Kiersten and I played John and Justin again this morning in two games of Rook. Now the record ups to 6-0. Our total record for Africa is 9-0 :).

Pictures!!!!!

       Lion!
    Me and Kiersten
      Kaitlyn, Kiersten and Me
Shannon, cousin Stella and Me
     Faith
      Erwin
Papa Julius
    Me and and my sister Judith
   Michael

Bwindi

Well here it is, Thursday morning and I am finally posting about my weekend. I guess time flys when you are in Africa! This past weekend was probably one of my favorite times in Africa. Let me tell you about it!

We went to Bwindi, which is in the way south west corner of Uganda. It was a twelve hour drive to the land of the gorillas. We arrived late at night to a rest camp. This is where the rich tourists come to stay and track gorillas. It was a nice place powered by the sun. The best thing was by far the food!! It was so good, the first night we had spaghetti and I almost started crying. Yum!

The next day we went to a hospital that was started by an American man. Upon starting the hospital he noticed that there was so many more needs in the community besides just medical needs. Specifically relating to the pygmies of the area! The pygmies have recently been pushed out of their homes in the hills, where they lived under rocks. This was to protect the gorilla population. While we were meeting with some leaders, I saw my second monkey! There were two and they were so cute! I got to feed one with a banana and he took it from my hand. They are amazing animals. We loaded into the van and began driving to a path to take us up a mountain. Naturally our van got a flat tire. We walked to our path. The path literally took us up a steep mountain. We hiked for 45 minutes to an hour. It was completely beautiful, although we were all sweating! A women from the pygmy tribe was leading us. She was walking barefoot up the rocks, carrying a baby on her back, and took our jerrycan of water and carried it on her head. I was super impressed. She was only 18. We finally reached a little gathering of pygmy huts where all the neighboors had gathered. When we got there our task was to assist in building a mud house! I have never had so much fun! We worked beside the pygmy people learning to tie bamboo with reeds to but up walls. I worked next to old Bernard, a man who smoked and made fire with sticks! We even got to mud a couple of the walls. The mud comes out of a big pit that has been dug, men stomp on it to mix it all up and then pick up clumps and thrown them along a line of people who put it on the house. I was part of the catching and throwing of the mud clumps. It was great. I turned the color of tan/red/brown. Before we left the pygmies did a dance for us. They have lost their original culture, and instead have adapted the culture of the area, and therefore taught us that dance.
When we were walking down, we stopped at a settlement where the people who don't live in the new village are staying. Many people there are still living in mud huts. We saw one banana leaf house that was lived in by five people, it was smaller that a tent made for four people. Our leaders said that one of the major struggles is convincing the people that development will better their standard of living. They have two members of the tribe about to head to college. How is someone from that background to fit in at UCU? How is that person supposed to relate their experiences to people back in their tribe?
If anyone is interested in looking more into what we did you can visit pygmies.org and donate money to build a house or just learn more about the people and projects concerning them.

The next day (Sunday) We went to chuch. It was a forty minute drive and when we got out of the van we were told that we were going to be walking up another mountain. So we hiked again for an hour. One of the girls almost had an asthma attack. In one of the villages we stopped and sang river of life, and peace like a river to the little kids. It was only Kiersten, two other girls, and I that participated and danced with the kids. By the time we got to the church we were already 15 minutes late for service, but the pastor served us tea. Such is Africa. When we started heading to the church, the drums began to pound and the congregation appeared. We had lunch with the pastor, and then hiked all the way back down. Or I should say slid all the way back down. It had been raining for quite some time, so naturally I got super muddy.

The next day we left at 7am and didn't get home until 1 am. This was because we got a flat tire (In the rain of course) and stopped at our drivers home where lunch was late in coming.

TOILET TRAUMA
If I didn't relate some of my bathroom experiences over the trip I would be leaving out a huge part of the experience. On the way out at the restaraunt we ate at, the bathroom was co-ed. To get to the womens toilet you had to walk past the mens urinals. Awkward...

The toilet in the pygmy village didn't have walls...

The toilet on the way up to church had no hole just rocks and dirt... I went outside.

On the way home from church I had to pee so bad, I had to use a random families toilet in the middle of banana tree forest. They were the celebrities of the village after that..

The toilet at the church had a slit for the hole.. leaves to wipe with.. and a squatty with no walls..

On the way home, we made the bus stop at a random house because the coffee had run through us all

We then stopped at a gas station that had a urinal for females. That means that it is a concrete slab with a drainage pipe. Consequently we all peed on our feet..

Finally on our return journey three people had the runs.. we had to stop my a forest.

There you have it!! Hope you are all loving and living life! I'm going on a safari this weekend so watch the lion king and think of me.

Good to the last drop!

Let me tell you about my exciting adventures this weekend!

I know that many of you are excited to hear about the time I spent in Kampala at the national dance competition. It was sweet. We didn't get to see the whole program, but we did see a variety of different schools perform different catagories of selections. My favorite was the traditional dance. Let me tell you those girls can shake their hips!! A little funny part about my weekend was that it started early on Friday. Kiersten came home with me at about three to hang out with my family as they love her. She stayed to night and we did many fun things like clean our shoes, iron clothes, make juice, and cut pineapple. All the time cracking jokes with Stella. We are really getting close and she is already talking about how she is running away in December so as not to have to deal with me leaving! Shannon came home at about 10 with some girls from a missionary dinner. All five of us slept in the three beds in our room. It was fun.
Here is where the Ugandan view of time sets in. In the morning, we were to meet at eight to go the competition. I had talked Judith into coming. So at 7:45 when we to leave she still wasn't ready. I told the girls to go ahead, and Kiersten and I waited for Judith. We didn't end up leaving until about 9:00. Judith, Stella, and mama kept telling us that we were very patient girls and they really admired that. So once getting to Kampala, we had to catch a couple different taxi vans which required a little walking to the park. At one point we had about 15 little street children surrounding us asking for money until some very large kind man yelled something mean and they all ran away. (After hearing this story Papa Julius taught me Nvaka. It means go away and leave me alone.) When we entered taxi park I was overwhelmed. It is larger than a football field with taxi vans parked every two inches. What you do is wander around with people shouting at you trying to sell things until you find a van going to where you want to be going. When you do, you get on and wait for it to fill up. Interesting experience. Upon entering the park Judith told us to hold tight to our purses in front of our bodies. She is a very street smart sister!

Here comes the most exciting part of the weekend. We were walking from the dance competition to eat some supper. The road was a normal paved two lane road and was sloped downward. We were walking on the left side, as in Uganda you always walk with traffic. We were separated from the road by a curb-like thing. All of a sudden Judith jumped backward and Kiersten forward. I turned around and saw a boda-boda coming toward me at a rapid pace and the guy had lost control. I took one quick step forward and then was hit by the boda man as he fell off his bike and into me. To my left was a five foot wide and four foot deep ditch lined with cement. I flew towards the ditch and managed to catch myself on the other side, with my hands. My toes remanded on the near side. Kiersten rushed over to me and helped me out of the ditch while Judith started asking over and over if I was ok. As soon as I stood up the boda man rushed onto his bike and Judith rushed us across the street. I didn't really know what was going on. I had a hole in my capris and my knee was bleeding. My leg was all scratched up and my hip hurt pretty bad. Judith kept asking if I was ok and saying that if anything happened they were answerable to the US embassy. I assured her the government would not be knocking on her door. It was pretty scary. Worse for Kiersten because she saw it all happen and saw how serious it really was. I was more concerned about my pop.
That is where the title of my blog comes from. I was carrying my very favorite pop with me a the time. It is called fruity mirinda and it is fabulous. When the man knocked me over I was very intentional about holding up my pop as to not spill it and it was a success!! I only got a couple drops on my arms and face. The rest sure tasted good :). Kiersten jokes with me because the first thing I said when she asked if I was ok was that I said, 'OH MAN. I ripped my pants." I insisted that we didn't call Papa Julius because I knew he would immediatly drive to Kampala to pick us up. When I got home he kept shaking his head and saying, my poor daughter.
Today I had all my questions answered as to why the boda man rushed off and also why Judith made us hurry away from the scene. Here in Uganda the bigger man is always responsible. If you have the bigger vehicle it is your fault. Therefore the boda man knew he would have to compensate me. Not only that but if any people came they would beat him sometimes to the point of serious injury. And if you stick around such rukus you may become guilty or involved in the fight. Since I was a mzungu, there would be no mercy on the man and a very good possibility of us girls getting robbed or hurt in a fight. Thanks Judith for the save! Everyone be assured that I am totally ok, and was very thankful not to have been wearing a skirt because I would have lost all the skin on my leg!!
Well I have to walk home now, but hopefully I'll post again soon. Love you and miss you all.

Jinja

Hello all!
I know it has been quite the time since I have caught you up on all the workings of Africa! So I will do my best to give you a run down of events.

Last weekend we had the opportunity to go to Jinja, the source of the Nile river. We met with two different missions organizations that are in place there. It was really fun to be able to listen to them talk. A guy named Spencer from the Church of Christ took us on a devotional tour of the town of Jinja which was really powerful. We started at the source of the river and tried to imagine how many people had been getting their life support from that river for thousands of miles and many years. We moved to a street that had once been called the Beverly Hills of Africa. Unfortunately it was inhabited by many Indians that were running the economy through business. During the reign of Idi Amin he made all Asians leave the country, not able to take anything with them. The houses were left and ransacked. The street is run down with ruins of beautiful architecture. Uganda’s economy has still not returned to what it once was. We also went to a hospital. It was hard to see the condition of health care. People sometimes must wait for months to even be seen by a doctor. It was hard to chew on and I felt very uncomfortable in the setting. As a group we were able to eat US food again at a restaurant and I loved every bite of it. We stayed at a beautiful resort right on Lake Victoria and I took a really long nap at Saturday afternoon, which felt glorious. On Sunday we went to a little Baptist church and this is where I got my blog title. The children sang three songs for us while dancing and one of them stated, “God’s love is like a mango, sweet and sweet.” I laughed because I know if such a song was sang in the American church or in one of my classes people would be too busy analyzing what theological meaning those words have and all enjoyment would be lost. Ok maybe I’m a little bitter! Just try having class with 20 college age students from all over the country and all from Bible schools. We spend the majority of our classes discussing questions like what is a missionary? What is missions? Goodness. It is enough to make a girl want to cry.

As far as how my family is doing, I’m trying to take pictures of them to add on to my blog, but that is tough going as they will never pose for me! We have a couple new additions to the family. Sometimes my 20 month old niece will live with us. Her name is faith and she is scared of me. She screams when I enter the room. A funny thing about child raising here is that children scream and get what they want. Faith has sugar in her milk every night. Along with Faith came Joann. She helps with all the housework and isn’t connected to my family directly, but I think she is about 11.

Lastly… I must tell you that it rains all the time here. One day last week I needed to use my umbrella to block to sun during chapel because it was so hot. Of course I forgot to bring it. About an hour later Kiersten and I had run to the bathroom and while we were inside it started DOWNPOURING. We tried to wait it out but had class in 15 minutes and by the time we made it class I could ring out my skirt. Of course I didn’t have my umbrella.

For anybody interested in my waterbottle situation… Kiersten had bought be a plastic disposable bottle from the store. I came home one day to find my host sister drinking from it. She decided she needed it because she was thirsty. There goes that one. The next day (Friday leaving for Jinja) I had another plastic waterbottle and had set it right next to my bag before going to tea. When I came back to board the bus our room was locked and my stuff was outside. No water bottle. Oh the life.

The Family Mukwanya

~I write this to you as Nakiganda Kjersten Joy Karlsgodt Mukwanya~

Last night Shannon and I asked Julius to give us Uganda names as most of the people in our group have been named by their families. So there it is! Here in Uganda one can have up to 12 names. Julius laughed as he told us that your parents give you a name and then your grandpa may or you chose one when you get older or anyone in the family may decide to tack another name on the list! So I became Nakiganda. It comes from the totem of the Mukwanya family... They have a few names to select from. There totem is that of the cheetah. It means someone who treasures and wishes to preserve culture, a nice person to meet, and an exciting person to live with! My sister Judith named me it because I keep asking her to teach me Luganda and take interest in how they live their lives! Mukwanya is the family surname which means organizer, which is good because my papa is a headmaster! I have now become part of a whole new family!
The great thing about Uganda is they consider anyone in their clan to be family. Let me tell you about the people that live in my home. First, when our coordinator dropped us off at my home she said, "Oh man you guys got the crazy family!" To which I did a fist pump and exclaimed YES! The family consists of Papa Julius, Mama Edith, Jiajia, Stella, Difas, Mark, Judith, Simeon, Michael, and Rachel. Oh and Curly, Larry, Moe, and Erwin.

PAPA JULIUS- Wow this man makes me laugh. He is loud and jolly. Papa speaks very good english and has traveled in Europe and so often asks to compare Europe to America. He loves talking about my garden at home. One of the first things he said to us when we came is that God had given their family the opportunity to have two more children and they were excited to be able to have us in the family. Julius is always joking. Two of my favorite quotes from him are, "I could never be a Muslim. They have to fast during Ramadan. I would eat." and also, "If you don't eat the food in front of you when there are starving people in the world, Jesus will punch you in the face." This was after our discussion about how people in the world are anorexic. I was worried about meal times because they say in Uganda the males don't talk during meals. Julius chats the whole time!

MAMA EDITH- Mama is a nurse at Julius' school. The greatest thing about her is her laugh. She is always laughing. Especially when Julius tells a story. She totally surprised me one day by coming in and joining us during a spontanious dance party. She speaks english pretty well, although isn't very good at forming sentences. When I ask a question she doesn't understand she will scream, "JUDITH COME HERE! I don't understand this girl!" It makes me laugh. She is always making us eat, which is great. She says that women need to give birth to children and can't expect to do that if they are so skinny!

JAIJIA- My grandma. She doesn't speak english and sits on a mat and watches us. I love her. As soon as we met I felt a little connection. I learned how to say good night and hello so I can talk with her. She sometimes will surprise me with one or two english words. One day she was taking tea with us and poured her tea into a saucer to sip out of instead of the mug. I looked at her and started laughing. She looked back at me and laughed so hard she wasn't able to drink. I made her a bracelet and now she wears it. She also surprised me by taking place in a random dance party. She could shake her hips!! I great her everyday when I get home from school and try out my new Luganda words. It makes me miss my grandma!

MARK- the oldest biological son, he is Judith's twin and left for boarding school last week. He spoke great english and is 19 years old. He was very fun to be around as he takes after his father. Most nights him and the boys would watch a movie, or he would be out with friends as Judith says, "boys can never sit still for very long." I miss him at home and am waiting to go visit him at school!

JUDITH- my muganda wange. That means sister. Judith is the member of the family that we have the most contact with, at least that was before school started. She is Mark's twin so also 19. Right now she goes to school from 7-10 or so but will be done in October. We share a room and she taught us how to do everything. She is SO funny. One of my favorite things to do is tease her and she is constantly whining about me 'disturbing her' in a fun way. Her favorite thing to exclaim is, "You're serious??!!??" I save all my culture questions for Judith.

SIMEON- the last of the biological children. He is 13 and very quiet. I would ask him many questions to which I would usually get about one word answers. He was just starting to warm up to us when he also went to boarding school. Sad. His smile is to die for!

STELLA- a 23 year old cousin who I call my sister. Since Judith went to school I spend all my time with Stella. She is great. Sometimes she doesn't understand what we are saying but mostly understands. She loves to tease us. Stella does all the work during the day and will sometimes steal my shoes or shirts to clean them or iron them when I'm not looking. Yesterday she taught me to cut pineapple and couldn't get over how quick I learned. As if I've never used a knife. She is impressed by how much I can eat! :) Next year she is going away to be a teacher.

RACHEL- another cousin who was orphaned about six years ago. She is 14. Super quiet!! She doesn't usually eat with us and is not one to step forward. Sometimes she will bust a dance move. I will have to work on empowering her. First step is getting her to take tea with us. She also does all the work in the house.

MICHAEL and DIFAS- The boys who are still in the house. These two don't say much and aren't around often, but are both nice and don't speak a ton of english.

SHANNON- Shannon is my host sister from Delaware. We were both placed in the family. Lets just say we are very different and are learning as much from each other as from our family! She was raised in the suburbs and is into literature. She had never seen a chicken and isn't very fond of such things as the squatty potty or eating Ugandan food. But she is funny and we are able to have a lot of fun together!

LARRY, CURLY, MOE- our little kittens who just this day killed their first mouse. The family rejoiced while Shannon and I ran away. We named them as the family doesn't do such things.

ERWIN- the gecko that hangs out on the wall during tea. When we told Stella the name she thought it was hilarious!

There you go the Mukwanya household!!

Snapshots of Africa!!

I know some of you have wanted to see pictures, but this is the first time the internet has let me upload any! So I hope you enjoy a few of my favorites showing some of the event's I've talked about in my blog. I'll do my best to add pictures as we go along!

Trying on my hair.. They love people with curly hair! This is at the school for orphans in Rwanda.These are the kids chasing our bus after we left... They were running!
Having fun at Lake Bunyoni after an intense week in Rwanda!





The Equator!!



Church where the genocide happened

A day in the life...

It occurred to me that some of you may be wondering what a normal day looks like in my life here in Uganda... So let me tell you!
First we wake up at about 6:45 or 7:00 to get ready for the day. Which means getting dressed and taking tea. (Of course going to the toilet after I change out of my nightgown) In Uganda they do not believe you can take tea without any food with it. So we make tea and I have bread and butter. The butter here is unbelievable! I love my tea time in the morning. Usually we look through the newspaper and find the biased articles about Obama and how the republican party is ruining the entire nation of the United States and how Obama is the new come savior. Of course we wait for papa Julius to bring us to school which is usually ten minutes after he told us to be ready. :) Then we drive to school.
Once at school I go to a variety of classes.. We have two sessions of each class a week. One is an hour and the other two. I struggle through the two hours classes. God didn't exactly give me a spirit that enjoys sitting still! I also have a very hard time during any class from 10:30-2:00 because it is so hot. The perks of my day are at 10:30 is campus-wide tea which is a fabulous idea! When I'm not in class I hang out in the IMME quarters (a small building for the people who live off campus). Lunch is at 1:00 and never fills me up. It seems that I'm always hungry here, but I eat so much food.
At 6:30 I have to be heading home. On the walk home there are many little children that run and wave as well as boda bodas that don't think they have to move if a person is walking. I have had to jump into the ditch numerous times. This always makes the locals laugh :) Once I get home we take tea again. Usually with some nuts or something. Then I sit around either doing homework, try to help with chores (which they never let me do until I ask about 20 times), watch TV (Ugandans LOVE tv), or have spontaneous dance parties. My jajia has even busted some moves!! I try picturing grammy Lorraine dancing and it makes me laugh every time! I have taught my family how to make friendship bracelets and they all love it! I'm hoping my mom will send some more thread as we are running out of colors :) (hint hint)
Supper is at about 10:00 and then we head to bed. There you have it! My life in Uganda. Each day is filled with much learning and laughter. Some comparisons to home:
-I'm SO thankful for where I was brought up. I feel like I had to do more work growing up than here which isn't the norm among my group. Julius tells me how many of his students have never seen a live chicken or gravel roads. Atwater is a lot like Africa! (So Connie you were right about the toilet conditions :)
- Just like home my dad is always the last to leave every function. You should have seen him try to leave church. Everywhere we go he knows people and strikes up conversations!
-I'm cursed in the water bottle area of life. I lost my nalgiene on the airplane, and have lost about three plastic bottles. Usually someone comes and throws it away. I bought a new one on Saturday in Kampala.. that is the only place I could find one. Then I dropped it and broke it as soon as I got home. :P It was full and I spilled my water. Gr.
Stay tuned for a description of my host family, weekend experiences, and church times :)
p.s. who is loveur2mom?

The Nightgown :s

Hello from the land of extreme heat and perpetual sweat.

Here is a post that I'm excited to write as I am sure many of you are wondering the different things that I have encountered in the culture department on my trip in Africa. You may be wondering why the title of the nightgown, and I think it is the perfect place to start in describing my preparation for the trip. We were told as a group to bring to Africa a conservative nightgown that covers your knees and shoulders, as we had no way of knowing what type of family we would be put in. So if you have any experience shopping for a thing like a nightgown you understand that they are impossible to come across in the US. So after much struggle I finally found a hideous nightgown made of blue silk and hideous lace. (it reminds me of something my mom would wear to bed:) Anyway, on my arrive to Uganda my host sister went to bed in shorts and a tank top. As I looked down at my nightgown I understood that I really wasn't prepared for this trip!! The other thing is it was too embarrassing to go outside to the sqautty potty in so I have to change before I leave the room!

To relate this to my trip:
THE LACE: There are many things that I am working on adjusting to culturally. I ended up cutting the lace off my nightgown. Also, people here drive on the left side of road. I forgot this fact until I was walking to the dining center and almost ran head into a woman walking to other way. I kept trying to step to the right only to realize she was stepping the same way. I'm getting better.
One thing I had no problem getting used to is tea time. We have tea and bread for breakfast, campus has a tea break at 10:30 am, and I get tea as soon as I get home from school with g-nuts. It is a fabulous time of the day, and is helping me adjust to the meal times (lunch at 1:00 and supper at 10:00-11:00 or whenever it is ready) I always feel hungry although the food portions are HUGE and full of carbs.
That leads me into food. I'm doing my best to enjoy the diet. I'm finding great ways to make the food good. Living with a family is great because we have a lot of variety and the cooking is good. We eat matoke every day which is a banana mash and the staple of Ugandan food. We also usually have rice. There is always a type of soup/broth stuff that when drenched all over the food makes everything pretty good. Also we have a lot of cabbage mixed with other things like greens (greens are anything that is green.. they have over 12 varieties but they aren't named) And the greatest thing every is the juice. Yum.

UNPREPARED: Just as I didn't have the right kind of nightgown there are somethings here that I just wasn't quite ready for. The first are the squatty potties. The first time I asked for the bathroom I was lead to the showers. You must ask for toilets. The most annoying thing is the lack of toilet paper. My worst squatty potty experience happened in Rwanda. We got lost and had been driving in the countryside for about six hours with a couple more to go. We stopped in random town at a church to see if we could use their toilet. I don't think the people in the town had every seen a white person. No joke the church was on a hill and we could see children running from miles away towards our bus. When I went into the bathroom it was a tiny hole with a chunk of grass and a nasty stench. There was poop on the ground and no wood steps to stand on. My favorite part was the lack of door. So the entire country side is running up to see us and I'm squatting with no door. Fabulous. The first time I saw a cockroach crawl out of the toilet I screamed. Luckily at my house they are quite clean, although I walked in on grandma once.

DEALING WITH IT: So my nightgown. I wear it every night and am beginning to embrace life with my nightgown. I even went the bathroom in it (I did wear a big sweater, my sister assures me soon I'll be running around in my underwear) There are some things here that I am learning to adjust to because that is the way it is. One of those is lines. Here there is no concept of a line. You will wait for 20 minutes and someone will come and cut in front of you without batting an eye. So after waiting at the water during lunch I started getting aggressive. Another is the concept of respect. If a Ugandan phone rings during anything, the person will answer it. Our pastor was even texting during his service! They leave speakers and class. They also will be really loud when you are sleeping with no concept of it disturbing you. Finally, they are never on time. Ever.
Lastly I'm learning to live with peoples reactions to me. Little kids come screaming and running when they see me shouting MZUNGO MZUNGO (which means white person) I have been asked for money countless times. Men here are really touchy and will hold your hand while talking. One guy today in the dining center talked with Kiersten and I for 15 minutes and had his arms around us the whole time and kissed us when he left. Guys also tend to shout things like, 'white women' or whistle or wink. Jeepers.

Well I'm running out of time. I could go on for hours. I'm heading to my first basketball practice today! Yay!

Aslan, your bigger.

"Welcome child," he said.

"Aslan," said Lucy, "you're bigger."

"That's because you are older, little one," answered he.

"Not because you are?"

"I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger."

Hello all. I know that I have been out of touch with the world for two weeks now. Sorry about that. During that time I have done, seen, and experienced many new things. I think I will probably post a couple separate posts just to keep things under control.
This post will be focused on the Rwanda trip and what I learned and saw. The quote I started with is a theme that I felt during my time there. Everything I saw and heard pointed me toward a big God. I was amazed at his power. So give a run down on what we did... We packed into a van and drove for 13 hours or so to Rwanda. On the way we stopped at the Equator and in a couple towns to eat. Let me tell you, I don't like cities anymore in Africa than I do in the United States. The roads in Uganda are horrible and very dirty. On the other hand, in Rwanda they are nicer than in the US and they don't allow plastic or anything. We stayed on the hill where the East African Revival started and listened to a couple speakers on what that meant and how the church is responding to the genocide restoration.
We then went to a church in groups of five and had a member of our group preach and give a testimony and sing a song. The service was really long and contained a lot of dancing and singing. The people were so excited to have us there, but the little children were scared to come touch us. Unfortunately I didn't understand most of the service because it wasn't in my language. The thing that blew me away about meeting with the people talking about the church is that we are struggling with the same things in church in America and in Rwanda. I expected to come in seeing the way that we should be doing church, what I saw is that it is completely not perfect here. People still go to church as a cultural tradition, there are still rifts between the old and young generations over style of music and such. It was encouraging for me to see and made me excited to go home and worship at hope.
One of our big focuses while we were in Rwanda was the genocide. This is where God really came alive to me. We went to the Kigali national genocide museum. It is set up in such a way as to go through the entire genocide story, along with the role of the west in the whole thing. Then I went through all the genocides of the world followed by a room dedicated to children killed in the genocide. It was really hard and I totally wanted to cry. As I walked out there were memorial gardens around mass graves. They were so beautiful and a song by Kathryn Scott came through my head over and over. It is

"At the foot of the cross where grace and suffering meet,
you have shown me your love by the judgement you received.
And you've won my heart, yes you've won my heart.
Now I can trade these ashes in for beauty and wear forgiveness like a crown.
Coming to kiss the feet of mercy, I lay every burden down at the foot of the cross."

I couldn't get over how God could create such beauty and forgiveness in the hearts of the people after so much pain and suffering. We got to listen to a Tootsie woman sit next to the man who killed her entire family and speak about true forgiveness only coming from the power of God. I was amazed. My God grew before my eyes.
Along with that we went to a couple memorials that had the bones and clothes of 10,000 people killed. It was very powerful.
On the ways of restoration, we visited businesses that are employing orphans or children heads of families or women sold into the sex trade. I strongly urge people to look into kingdom businesses and support such things. For example Cards for Rwanda.
On the last day we stayed at an amazing resort and reunited with the entire USP group to debrief and such. It was beautiful and fun. Ok I think that is about it for the Rwanda trip. Feel free to ask questions. I'll do my best to answer. Stay tuned for a post about my family as well as some cultural differences that stick out to me! Much love from Africa.