Happy New Years!

Hello everyone! My apologies on not updating this sooner. Last weekend 4 of our team members became ill with food poisoning so I spent Saturday through Monday helping to take care of them. The week was fun and full of children as we spent our days at Smile preparing for the New Year but now it seems I too have gotten some type of illness. I am feeling better today but for now Happy New Years to ALL and I will be back soon to give more updates.

Christmas Day!

I woke up with a call from my Mama today. I was so excited that she stayed up later to call me at 7:30am my time. She wished me a Merry Christmas and I told her we were getting ready to go to Smile and spend the day with the babies. It was a good way to start the day I loved it. I got a little homesick and so then I had Brian call me and my morning was complete and I was ready to start my day. We were in our living room trying to read the Christmas story but then we all wanted french toast so I went into the kitchen and started cooking and we realized we were already running late so, of course given that we are all girls, everyone ran to their rooms to get ready as I finished breakfast. We had Katangies made so we were decked out. We had our hair done, our makeup and we were ready. It was such a cloudy day and I think Stephanie and I jinxed our Christmas. The last week or so had been so hot so we said if only it would rain it would be so much cooler and we started singing “I’m dreaming of a wet Christmas……..” and then I added on “windshield wipers going to an fro….” It was hilarious but now it’s a damp and cloudy day…oooooops. It took a little while to get a boda because of it being a Holiday but we were successful and we all arrived. When we got there we greeted the McFaits (another missionary couple who were in charge for the day) and the children were all seated in the grass like quiet little angels. It felt like we weren’t at Smile for a second because those children are never quiet. They were eating posho and as soon as they were finished they were off and back to jumping all over us. It was back to the Smile I knew. It was a bit chaotic because people were still setting up but for the most part everything was ready. We had the pavilion for the kids to sit under, plus two tents full of chairs for the adults. There were hardly any parents there which made me sad but I was glad for the ones who had come. After some time passed and the decorations were hung we did our drama of the Christmas story. The kids were so cute in their outfits. Our barn was filled with an elephant, hippo, sheep and a lion…you know typical barn animals. ☺ After the skit was over we let the kids go play because there was a Preacher getting ready to give his sermon but it was too much for the kids to sit through all that so we let them roam. My baby Nyko was finally at Smile, I hadn’t seen her in a week so I was able to give her the skirt I made for her for Christmas and I held her while we listened to the message and she fell asleep in my arms. After the Preacher was finished there was some tribal Karamojong dancing so that was fun and we all got up to dance. I loved it. They are non stop dancers though, they know how to wear a girl out. They just keep on jumping so needless to say my legs are killing me today. It was finally time to serve the food and we got all the Children lined up in rows to feed them and of course the tent of adults was full now. They were ready for the food. That part broke my heart to know that they missed out on their child’s drama but it was ok because our team was there for them. It was quite the process to feed each person present because we had to made sure they didn’t sneak food into a bag and try to get more otherwise we would run out but overall we were successful and everyone got fed. We fed at least 800 people. It’s official that Stephanie and I jinxed our day because after we all ate the rains came and they POURED. It was the first time that I was actually cold in Africa. It was just a chilly afternoon but we found out late that day that it means Blessings if you get rain on Christmas. So it turns out that we had a blessed day. Christmas was amazing. I would not have wanted to have my Christmas any other way. I have not once thought about receiving a gift for Christmas, because around here that’s not what this holiday is about. They usually receive a new outfit and the man is to provide meat for his family because they usually don’t get meat during the year. That’s is, meat and possibly a new outfit. At home we go broke trying to buy everything for everyone. Its madness when you think about it. I made a gift for Slivia and we gave her was a frame made out of pop-sickle sticks with a Polaroid photo in it. She loved it! It wasn’t a million dollar gift but it made her day. We also got a gift for the woman at Smile. We bought 5 woman a bottle of nail polish each and we called them into a room to give it to them and you’d a thought they won a car they were jumping for joy, over nailpolish. Who jumps for joy over nail polish? I loved every minute of it. This season of giving was great for me because we gave from the heart and our gifts were unexpected and greatly appreciated. The irony of it all is that my mom snuck a Christmas gift in my suitcase before I left and when I opened them after Smile I got a bottle of nail polish and a frame with Brian and I……coincident? I think not. I love it and I was so excited for my gifts too so it was the perfect holiday for me. I know I missed my family but I know I’m here for a reason and I enjoyed every minute of my day. After Smile we all got together with all the missionaries from Tororo and we got to eat a nice American meal. It was perfect my stomach was satisfied, I talked to my family and life was good. My dream would be for everyone to experience a Christmas like the one we had. It was stress free and that was the best feeling ever. Merry Christmas to all I love you!

Livin Large

Food in Uganda is so affordable! We went to lunch the other day and I ordered a meal for 4,000 shillings which consisted of chicken, rice, matoke, and a sweet potato. It was enough to feed at least 2 people and the crazy part is…4,000 shillings is only $2! There is no way you could ever get a meal of this size in America for $2. For the amount of food on my plate it could have easily cost $15 in the states….crazy. I feel like I’m living large.

Fruit fruit we all scream for fruit!

Every day at Smile we feed the children posho, and for lunch they eat rice but on this particular day they were getting a treat. We were in the office eating lunch and all of a sudden we heard the children screaming and shouting for joy, we looked out the door and saw Pastor Ruth’s car. She had come to visit and she brought a special gift for the children. She opened her trunk and it was filled with bananas. They were so excited they couldn’t contain themselves. We got all the children lined up in rows while seated so that Pastor Ruth could take a photo to send to the ones who had donated the bananas to her. They were so excited to receive a banana. What child in the states jumps up and down for a banana? None that I know of. It was such a humbling experience and it makes me never want to take such a thing as a banana for granted again. I was so happy for the children, their joy extended onto me and we had a great time. It took them no time to eat the bananas but they enjoyed every minute of it. As the kids finished eating they were tossing their peels up to the tray in the front and here was little Marook still standing with a banana in her hand while she helped her baby sister Lamore eat her banana. After Lamore finished Marook gave her the other banana as well. Lamore needs the nourishment but for this young girl to be the care giver of her sister and give up of her own treat for her baby sister was the best moment of my day. I keep trying to figure out how I am helping here because every day I am helped. Something as simple as Marook giving up her banana shows how selfless she can be. That also ties into the sermon of today in church about giving God our first fruits. I have been reminded to keep a heart like Marook and give selflessly just as Pastor Ruth and her donors gave of their fruit selflessly. God is good.

Milky Water

Water…….oh beautiful clear water. Every day we have to boil our water to make sure that all the bacteria is killed and from there we pour it into our water bottles because they have a filter in it that protects us from getting any diseases. In America I took for granted water. I knew in my mind…”Oh Courtney conserve the water, people in Africa have to work hard to get it” but now being here it takes on a whole new meaning. I still live in a house here in Tororo, where I can go to the sink and get water. I’m blessed. The children here wake up anywhere between 5 and 6 am to go to the nearest burr hole so that they can pump water into jugs for their families. They put way more work into it than our 5 minute boil on the stove. I’m sitting here trying to find more to write but I’m speechless. There is nothing I can say right now that even compares to the work that these children do. They amaze me more and more every day.

Where to begin

Where to begin…. It was definitely an adventure adjusting to this culture for the first week or so but we are all coming around to the ways of Tororo. There are so many languages in this town so that is still our biggest challenge, but we are learning little by little. Its pretty exciting to see how open the people are to us, and everywhere we go we meet more people so we are becoming known in our little town. The only people who aren’t the greatest are some of the boda boda drivers. They try to overcharge us all the time and they don’t realize that we are smarter than they think so we never back down on the price. At one point I had to pull out some of my attitude and I got off the boda and said “fine you want to over charge…go ahead NO money for you, we will walk” and I think they got the memo that I meant business, and we walked until we found a decent driver who was willing to give us the correct price.

There are some funny differences in the people around here, if you ask them a question and they raise their eyebrows at you, that means yes. If they say a noise similar to “eahhh” that means “oh wow” I could go on forever but its hard to type noises but they are so funny because they have a noise for everything and now the team has started picking up on some of the noises so we find ourselves laughing when we realized we sound like them. But the best thing they say ALL the time is (during a normal conversation) “and so I went to the market and I did what…….? I bought fruit, and after I went to the market I went to town and I had to stop at the store to get what……….? Fabric…..” They tell their sentences with questions all the time. I love listening to them talk I am always entertained.

I have set up a schedule where Frances and I attend the Woman’s Smile Center every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The woman’s center is a place where young girls come that Pastor Ruth has asked to come and they learn trades such as sewing, bead making, knitting, basket weaving and a few other trades. It’s a great place for them to be and once the girls complete the program they are set to open their own business, or they can help teach until they get enough money to open their own shop. Most of them have come because they had been abused, involved in prostitution or things like that so this is a turning point for them. It is always a great place for them because they are instructed on how to save money because most African’s “live for today” they don’t understand the concept of setting some money or food aside for tomorrow. I love going there to work because anything I make, they can sell, and will in return help their business flourish. My teammates and I are their biggest clients right now because we got tailor made skirts for Christmas and we buy their necklaces because they are absolutely amazing. Its kind of crazy because when I was a young girl my grandma taught me how to make these beads, and here I am today watching these woman make a living off of them. If I could I would buy all the beads because I am in love with jewelry but I won’t be greedy ☺

As for my babies at Smile Orphanage…they are beautiful. At times it can be overwhelming because it seems as though there is no order and kids are just running around everywhere but then I have to stop and remind myself that them being at the orphanage is a lot better than them running around the streets eating rotten foods. They don’t sleep at the orphanage, it is only a day program, but it is every day 365 days of the year. We get there at 9:00am and the children are just arriving, and at 10:00 we serve posho which is like a hot porridge. Its good to fill their stomachs, but for the small babies it is too much for their stomachs so most of the babies have big bellies because it is hard to digest. At 11:00 we begin to bathe the children, they all undress so that the teachers can wash their clothing and the “older” children who are around age 6 or 7 wash all the younger children. It’s crazy to see these babies being mothers to their younger siblings. After they wash, most of the children walk around naked or in under clothes while their clothing are getting washed and at first it was crazy to think they walk around naked but then I had to realize that it’s a blessing we are able to wash their clothing. The outfit they come in is all they have, so for them to walk around in underclothes for a few hours is better than walking around in dirty clothing. After the bathing is finished we play and at 1:00 we serve the children rice for lunch. When they have finished eating they take their plates off to the side and one or two of us will go over and help the teenaged girls wash the dishes in a bucket/basin of water and then they get put on a rack to dry. Once lunch is finished we all continue to play and we have begun teaching them the Christmas story. Ashley (on our team) is quite the artist and she has drawn out all the characters for us to use as examples when we teach. Once the day hits 3:30 all the kids clear off the pavilion and 3 children get the brooms and they pour water on the cement and use the brooms to sweep it clean and by the time this process is finished it is 4:00 and it is time for the children to go home. I wish I could say confidently that they do go home, but I don’t actually know. Some of them stay with relatives but I know that some of them are truly homeless and it breaks my heart to know that. Smile is in the process of building to accommodate some of the cooks, and the homeless children will get to stay with them but for the time being they sleep where they can.

I am sitting here writing about everything that goes on at Smile and it seems normal because I see it every day but then I sit back and realize that these things would never happen in America. It seems like they need so much but the truth is the children are happy and they don’t know any different. The biggest way we can help is showing them love and I am so glad that our team was selected to be here because we just love loving on the children. One girl has touched my heart, Kasifa. She asked if she could be my friend and of course I said yes and she wrote me a letter she was so happy. It was sad for me because she told me that both her parents have passed away, but I wrote back saying that I will always be her friend and she has a Father in Jesus. I’m glad that she and I have bonded and I’m excited to grow closer to her and find out more about her life story. All I know as of right now is that she is 13 and lives with her grandparents but I want to learn more about her. At times I say to myself I can just give them some money and they will be better off, or I can just go buy them more clothing but that solves nothing. Their care-taker would most likely sell the clothing for money. The best thing we can do is train the children love and train the adults the meaning of finances along with love. We need to teach them how to care for themselves so that they rely on no one for food or financial stability. I want them to have a pride for their accomplishments and that is my prayer for Tororo.

The past few days has been exciting because I got the chance to follow the AIM missionary Evelyn around taking photos of her. She asked if I could join her classes because when she goes home to America she never has any photos to show what she is doing over here so it was fun for me to be out doing what I love to do best. The first village I went to with her was in Busia which is right on the border of Kenya so I got to see Kenya but I wasn’t able to go there because I don’t have a Kenyan visa, and then today I traveled to the village of Pajwenda and watcher her teach adults how to teach children Sunday school. I loved seeing their enthusiasm to learn and it’s amazing to know that I am half way around the world and we are serving the same God. It’s a good feeling. A last thought for the day is Psalm 89: 4 Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. I like this verse because I may not be accomplishing a great deal of things at the moment, other than showing the children love, but I know that God is planting seeds by us being here. Thank you for reading my blog and I will be back soon!

Live from Tororo

Hello Everyone! Sorry for my delays in updates. We encountered problems with the internet cafe and we had to purchase our own internet. Now I will be able to keep you more updated. My time here in Uganda has been very interesting. I work at Smile Orphanage every Tuesday and Thursday and I work at the Smile Womans Center on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Its a good balance for me to break things up. At the Orphanage we stay VERY busy. There are children running around at all times and our biggest challenge is learning the language. There are 5 languages spoken in Tororo so it's very hard knowing what to speak to who and when, but I am learning. :) I love spending my days at the Woman's center because it is a place for woman to learn trades so that they can create a business some day. They teach sewing, bead making, bag making, weaving of palm and banana leaves and so on. So far I have learned everything they do except for basket making.....hopefully that will come next week. The elder woman come on Monday and Friday afternoons and they are the ones that teach of the weaving, and the bowls. Today was very productive because I saw Claire (my teacher) make a skirt that was fitted just for me, and from there I was able to make a skirt for a child, then I went on to begin making hand bags. For those of you who know me, you know I LOVE using my hands so this is a great experience for me. I will be bringing many trades back with me. Mama Anna is the one teaching me the weaving and she was shocked to hear that PA does not have banana leaves and palm tree leaves....she said "but how will you get these to make your own" and I told her I wouldn't be able to, so she said she would gather leaves for me because she wants me to continue my craft at home. She is so sweet and I have also been given an African name and the Jap language. My name is Achen and it means Sunshine. :) Very fitting if I do say so myself. Ok well I am off to dinner Rice and Beans again...woo hoo! I will be back soon to update you on the children, but please do keep them in your prayers because all the kids are getting sick and passing it around so we need to get them them feeling better but its hard without the proper nutrition but I know that with prayer God will heal them. Have a wonderful evening and I will be back soon!