Love Hard

My last week was better than I could have ever planned. Cody and I visited Nurse Gladys's home town. We met her jaja (grandma), aunt, uncle, and cousins. It was cool seeing where she grew up and getting to know some of her family members. On Sunday, I went with my runner friend Joseph to visit his home village. I knew bits and pieces of his story but was able to hear the whole thing from his 111 year old jaja. She found him in 1994 when he was about 1 year, laying on the side of the road, next to his dead mother at the beginning of the Rwandan genocide. The rest of her family had already been killed - she took Joseph in and raised him as her own grandson. She snuck him out of Rwanda hidden in a wooden crate, where they settled into a village and have lived ever since. When Joseph turned 15, she made him leave their village, Butega, to move to Kampala, in hopes of getting a better education and maybe a chance to succeed in running. Getting to sit in her presence and see how much she loves him was absolutely incredible. A few people and I are trying to get him a Nike sponsorship to help him finish his schooling. He is truly talented and has an amazing story to tell.

On Monday, I spent the morning at the school and said goodbye to a few of the staff members. I spent the rest of the day at Aunt Sarah's with Henry and the kids. I am going to miss that family SO much.

Tuesday was a wonderful last day! Had an hour at the slumbase and then a delicious lunch with a few of my favorite people, then spent some time in Katanga slums, trying to find the kids from Aunt Linda's apartment. We couldn't find any of them, and just as we were about to leave, Damien and Paul walked by us. I'll never forget watching Paul walk past me - with that dang smile, of course - carrying a small tree with both of his hands. We followed them home and watched Paul carefully and proudly plant the tree right outside of their home.

I ended the day visiting my friend Martina, her sister and her neice and nephew. After my final dinner, I completed the evening watching the 4th Indiana Jones movie with the boys.

It's crazy - I'm leaving a place I've called home for almost half of a year. My world has been rocked spiritually and emotionally. There's no major physical changes besides my refusal to wear makeup and the small dreadlock that has formed in my hair. But I am leaving with a changed heart. All of my comforts have been challenged. I've been broken and hurt and then built back up. I've realized that I'm not in control, and that this universe is a lot more complex than I ever knew. I've used it before, but Come Let's Dance has a popular term they use: LOVE HARD. I have learned the true definition of what this means. Loving hard is loving the people that are hardest to love in the most uncomfortable situations. It means loving until it hurts, and then loving just a little bit more. It's loving 24 hours a day, when you're tired, when you're hurt, mad, and discouraged, and when all you want is to be alone.

The relationships I have here are ones I'll have forever. The Americans and Ugandans have all impacted me in different ways and I am forever grateful for that. I have learned so much from each individual and the amount of appreciation and love I felt in this last week was outrageous.

Morg and Cody: You guys rock, seriously. I am leaving Uganda, feeling more at peace than I've ever felt and with a calming sense of tranquility. I love you both!!

I am sad to leave, but words can't describe what I'm taking away from these 4 months. Another FINAL thank you to everyone in my life. Thanks to those who supported me throughout this summer, whether you were near or from a distance. Thanks to my family for reading my thoughts on here and being constant inspiration. And thanks to Felix, for being my other half, even from the other side of the world.

I love you all and can't wait to see many of you very soon!

For the last time [for awhile atleast], I'm sending LOVE from Uganda and hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

Slumbasing It

The last few weeks have been filled with lots of new work and celebration. We spent 4 days in Kaliro, our village project. It was, as always, a nice escape from the city. We played soccer, did some home visits, fetched a lot of water, went on walks, hung with the kiddos, and relaxed. It was so good seeing some of the kids again and seeing familiar faces on the walks. It's unbelievable how hospitable everyone is. We went hut to hut, introducing ourselves and getting to know some of our neighbors and people dropped everything they were doing to serve us tea and nuts and give us their time.

My friend Jerry and I left the village a day earlier than everyone else because we had made plans to go to his home church on Sunday. I got to meet some of his closest friends, people he's known since primary school. Afterwards, we had a nice lunch and went to his house. I got to see where he lives and meet his sister, cousins, and niece and nephew. It was such an honor that he wanted me to meet them. He is very close with his family and he was so proud to introduce them to me.

Monday was a BIG day. In the morning, we had the graduation party for the 8 ladies who graduated from Solomon's Thread of Life Program. A little background on the project: it's a women's empowerment program in it's 3rd successful year. The goal is to temporarily get the ladies out of the slums and into an environment where they feel safe and important. We provide them and their children with a balanced lunch and daycare. It's an 8 week course where they learn basic sewing skills (child's dress, purse, skirt) and bead-making. Most of the women Solomon recruits for the class come from prostitution, abuse, or drugs. Since CLD just bought the Slumbase property, this was their first year at this property. So now, the long-term goal is to create a "Community Center" with a medical clinic, computer training center, possibly temporary housing, and much more. I wish there was room on this blog to post before and after pictures because the transformation was INCREDIBLE! But you can imagine, it was a deserted property that hadn't been properly maintained in a long time.

When we drove into the compound, I'm not sure why but I was expecting the worst. Like since the week before when I was there, someone came in and ruined everything. But at that moment I got out of the car, I would have said it was one of the most beautiful places in all of Uganda. Solomon had music playing, all the women's kids were running around, the flowers and trees we planted looked like they'd grown in just days. It was amazing. We had a small ceremony, the ladies gave appreciation speeches and talked about their plans for the future. Most of them never thought they would get the chance to actually plan for their future. They were all so proud of their new skills. 3 of them will remain at T.O.L., making crafts for local and American markets. A few of them already found jobs at craft markets around the city, and Solomon is working with the rest to make sure they find work. The ladies made us a huge local lunch and everyone hung outside for the afternoon.

Cody and Morgan in the NEW Medical Clinic

Eddy, one of the graduate's boys

The graduating class with friends and family

Cutting the cake!

Me and Solomon

Craft room mural

Sewing room mural

After the T.O.L. celebration, we hurried home to prepare for the Staff Appreciation/End of Summer Party. We had about 40 people over for dinner and cake. It was a good time to see friends I've had since May as well as lots of new faces. By the end of the day, we were exhausted and ready for bed.

After a full day of celebration, appreciation, and love, our community was devastatingly reminded how precious life really is. Our local church took about 200 young teens on a retreat to Lake Victoria. 4 of the young kids drowned in the lake on the first afternoon. Words can't explain what a tragedy this is and WHY it happened. May prayers and thoughts please be with all the families and with the church in this difficult time.

Wednesday was the official last day of Term 2 at our school. Amidst the tragedy, we decided  continue the celebration of a successful term completion with a Parent's Day and more cake! The mom's of those 6 kids who I've fallen madly in love with (the ones from Aunt Linda's apartment) were all there to take them home to Katanga for the 3 week holiday before term 3 begins. Even Rose, (Paul and Damien's mom) although she was drunk, was there. On Monday, we're going to Katanga to check-up on all of them and see them in their homes.


I've surpassed the 1-week countdown for my date of departure. It's hard to think about leaving because I don't think it's possible to reach a point when I'll actually be ready to leave this place. But I am doing everything I can in these last days. I'm visiting 2 of my friend's villages this weekend and saying bye to everyone over the course of the next week.

I hope everyone is having a happy week!

A Little Slice of Nansana

So I realize these posts may be a bit out of order and I probably should have already given you a mini tour of where I'm living - but there were so many more important things to talk about in the beginning. So now, a small tour of the house, town, and some amazing people I spend a lot of my days with.


Our beautiful house



The common/family room



My bedroom - I was upgraded to this luxury room since the house is so empty now




Us with the wonderful staff and interns on a "girl's night"
Resty, Julie, Martina and Shalom, Me, Aunt Sarah, Alise, Doreen, Mercy, Harmony

These past few weeks have been great and of course, busy. I've occupied my time with: cooking traditional African food, a retreat to Jinja, playing Nurse Kaitlin some more, harvesting corn, playing soccer, visiting Makere University, babysitting, and starting to wrap up projects. Two more members of our leader team leave tomorrow morning. One by one, people are returning to their lives stateside. While my departure is only 2 weeks away, I can't even start to think about leaving this place. We'll have a relaxing Sunday tomorrow and then kick off another solid week. To be completely honest, my main goal in these last few weeks is to really not do anything productive at all. I want to spend time with friends and the kids I've grown to love and soak in every last bit of life here.

Have a beautiful Sunday everyone!

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie...

Happy Monday and first day of August!! I know I'm getting repetitive, but last week flew by - and I also can't believe it's almost fall. It was our last full week with the big team, so we took advantage of the extra hands and completed a full week of labor. We felt exhausted every day when we got home and we made some BIG checks on the priority lists. All of the landscaping is done at the slumbase (pictures coming soon!). The yard/exterior has finally taken shape and it looks incredible. A few of the girls from this group really owned this project. They took initiative with picking out trees and flowers and coordinating all the planting, which was incredible, because unfortunately I can't always be there. It was so refreshing to see someone else love and invest into the property as much as I have.

One thing that I've been reminded of this week is the unavoidable, obvious fact that I am white. Living here, I think I sometimes forget that detail and get lost in the relationships and work I'm doing. But it's true - I'm white - and to most Ugandans, that also means I have an unlimited supply of resources and money.

Aunt Sarah conveniently has various people at her house every Tuesday when we make the house call to care for Henry's leg. A few weeks ago was her neighbor's son, sick with malaria and unable to afford the medication. Last week was her Aunt, who has been suffering from back pain for years and needed pain medication. I have been running with a 16-year-old competitive runner named Joseph. Last week, we gave him an old pair of running shoes. His excitement and appreciation were indescribable. A few days ago, he starting explaining his struggles in paying school fees and registration for races. He is an amazing athlete and absolutely has the potential to succeed. He doesn't have much of a support system as he lost most of his family to the Rwandan genocide. It would be really easy for me to agree to sponsor and help him with whatever he needs, but that's exactly how most foreigners think, which feeds the vicious cycle of dependency we call foreign aid. I had to be very clear with him that I was not going to give him any money - that I want to be his friend, but he shouldn't expect anything else from me. It sucks but it's necessary to clarify this. Everyone is above and beyond grateful, but it all goes back to a childhood favorite - "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie..." - and well, you know the rest.

So bottom line is it's really hard to help people. Not just in Africa, but everywhere. Whether you're dealing with the homeless, the wealthy, or someone who's just struggling to feed their family, helping people opens up the door to help them some more, and that's difficult.

On Thursday, we got a call from Mildmay saying that Paul was being discharged. Morgan and I left the slumbase early to go get him. He had been at the clinic for a week and his mom, Rose, had been staying with him. It was probably the longest she had gone without drinking in a long time. Morgan took her back to Katanga and to meet with the local pastor in hopes of starting weekly counseling, and I took Paul back "home" to Aunt Linda and the other kids. He was so happy to see us, and even after a week of pneumonia, his smile wasn't tainted one bit. He rode on my lap for the 2 hours of traffic jams on the way back to the apartment. For the first time, I noticed how other people look at him. The bumps on his body seem normal to me; the reaction of other people on the taxi made it clear that they weren't. Each time someone looked at him with disgust or stared, I hugged him harder, kissed his back, or tickled him. He would look up at me with nothing but joy - in that moment, riding home with him, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

The kids were SO excited to see him! We came around the corner and his brother, Damien, came running, picked him up and spun him around. The younger ones bounced and chanted on the porch waiting their turn for a hug - "Kuli Kayo Paul!!" (Welcome home, Paul!) I played with them for a few minutes before I had to get home for dinner. I left feeling so content. Paul was home safe and healthy.

Saturday we spent all day at the farm. The new class of farming students started today and we were preparing their rooms and doing last minute work on the property. I spent 6 hours bent over "mowing the lawn" by hand using a slasher tool. Days like Saturday are the days I get home at the end of the day and just collapse.It's such a good feeling.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is Simon's (and mine) embassy appointment. After weeks of stress and anger and frustration and work, he will meet with the consular for one last attempt at getting to the U.S. We're both just ready for this process to be over, regardless of the outcome. But thoughts and/or prayers are greatly appreciated! This big group leaves on Wednesday and we'll get back to our normal routine and schedule. I'm thinking about everyone from home and sending positive thoughts to whatever this week may bring to you! Big hugs from UG!