The Beauty of Kobwin, Part 3

I should have added to the end of my last post that the family parents of the first family group are going to be coming to Kasana (our main center, where I live) for the Institute of Childcare and Family from January to May of next year. We will be classmates since I am also taking the Institute during that time. Now that I know them a bit, I am eagerly looking forward to this upcoming opportunity to grow in relationship with them!!  :)

Monday morning marked the beginning of our last full day in Kobwin, at least for this trip. The manager had announced at church that the students needed to come to the school at 7:30 on Monday morning to do a project with me. Unfortunately, not all of the day students were at church….so we mostly just had the students who live on site.

But other than that it went pretty well. It took a lot longer than we were expecting (three hours), partly because the students were having so much fun coloring and drawing after they had done the writing bit! Also because students didn’t all come right at 7:30, they kind of trickled in over the first couple hours. Thankfully we had enough papers and colored pencils to keep everyone occupied!

I had simply written a couple basic examples. Other than telling the children to put their name, age, class, prayer requests, and signature, I really didn’t give much instruction. Later that week, as I read through the kids’ requests, I was mostly impressed. Sure, I chuckled at a couple (“I want to be the next Obama”), but there were also some that showed the students’ positive character (“Please pray that I would have a forgiving heart”). There were also some that included bits of Spanish, since we recently had our first ever team from Mexico and they spent most of their trip at Kobwin.

Once the last student had finished, Constance took me on a tour of the property there. She was taking some pictures of the community outside for comparison. It was interesting to see a few houses and learn a bit more about Ugandan culture in that area. For example, there are lots of large gray rocks in that area, and the people there use them to dry potatoes and things like that as a method of preserving food.

{Side note – since Kobwin is in a different part of the country, the people are mostly of a different tribe and thus speak a different language. I kept wanting to use my small bits of Luganda, and then remembering that the people there may not understand it because they speak Ateso instead (or sometimes also)!}

By then it was only 11 or so, but already so so hot that we gave up on our walk, even though we had only gone part of the way around the property. That was one of the unfortunate parts about Kobwin….it is much hotter there than at Kasana, so activity becomes much less enticing pretty early in the day.

{Kasana will be warmer these next couple months than it has been, though, because we’re now entering one of the dry seasons. I got back towards the beginning of the rainy season, and there have been a few times where it has felt down right cold here at Kasana! But really that means it was “only” 60 degrees or so…..}

Later that afternoon I went and did a quick email check for the first time in five days, then played a couple games with some of the kids. First we tried doing dominoes, but we only had a double sixes set and we had about eight players. So it didn’t work too well. Then we played cards for a while, until a football {soccer} game started and most of the students wanted to join that {when thinking about Kobwin, it doesn’t seem right to call them “kids” or “children,” because so many of them are in their late teens or early twenties! So I end up calling them “students” instead, even in non-school contexts.}

My three young friends from Friday then wanted to take me up on top of the rocks right behind Constance’s house. A couple of the youngest staff kids decided to tag along, and my guides didn’t want them to come, saying “they’re going to cry!” I had been up on the rocks just a bit on Saturday, and so knew to watch out for 1) thorns and 2) cow paddies. But I was looking forward to being led up to the top, since I had just kind of wandered around. I figured I could help the little ones if needed.

Well, the wind started picking up…..sure sign of a storm blowing in. We tried to go up the way the boys knew, but the two youngest ones were scared…it involved climbing up onto one rock and then immediately scooting through a narrow space from another rock on top in order to get higher. I couldn’t quite figure out how to get up the rock, even though I was definitely the tallest in the group. {Wearing a skirt and flip flops is a convenient excuse, right?} The little girl proceeded to cry a bit, so I called everybody back and helped the little ones down.

We tried going up another way, but it was too overgrown to really get onto the top. The littlest boy cried somewhere along there too, so the guide’s prediction proved correct! We had seen that the sky was getting dark, though, and when we started feeling a few raindrops I said that we had to get down before it poured on us. So down we went, none the worse for the little adventure.

The storm took longer to really come in than I thought it would, but my word, it really did POUR when it came! So the temperature was quite a bit cooler in the evening than it had been in the late morning. There were a couple girls in Constance’s house when I got back, so we shut the windows (to keep the rain coming in) and then used solar battery lanterns (because there’s no power there) to see enough to play cards (since we couldn’t hear one another talk because of the rain pounding on the roof!). It was a fun day :)

Then that evening, we three muzungus (Lugandan term for white foreigners) went to the second family group for devotions and dinner. And this family mother fed us a small feast! She makes me chuckle even as I think back about it – she is definitely the mothering type!! She kept urging us “You eat! Be free! Drink your tea!” And she insisted on sending me away with some homemade peanut butter, the best I’ve ever had!

Both of the sets of family parents were just so welcoming and so ready to open their homes, hearts, and families to include us. It was a special time getting to know some of the special members of our extended spiritual family!!! They accepted me and loved me and encouraged me, even in a short few days. I was definitely blessed, and I look forward to seeing them again whether here at Kasana or on future trips to Kobwin!

The next day we left Kobwin by 6 a.m., and in Kampala I bid farewell to Constance and the others and headed to the mall to print pictures, then on to public to go home on my own. It all worked out, thankfully, and I was back home to Kasana by about 7 that evening. {Constance needed to take a young boy to Entebbe--south of Kampala--for a surgery. Keep him in your prayers, please! He has now had a second surgery, and is in a cast for a while.}

The Beauty of Kobwin, Part 1

I just wanted to put fingers to keyboard tonight (this was written Wednesday) to get this written, even though I am tired….because I know these next few days are going to be hectic and I want to grab this chance while I have it.

As you probably know, a week ago I traveled from Kasana (New Hope’s first and main location in Uganda) to Kobwin, our other children’s center in the northeast of the country. When Kobwin first started in 2010, our main focus there was working with young men and women who had been kidnapped or otherwise affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels. Those kidnapped served as child soldiers and became known internationally as “Invisible Children.”

Now, four years later, we do still have some young people at Kobwin who are “returnees”—those who were abducted and then escaped or were released. Others grew up in IDP (internally displaced person) camps because their families were trying to avoid the atrocities of Kony and his rebels. All told, many of our students in Kobwin have come through even more intensely traumatic circumstances than our children here at Kasana.

At any rate – part of my job here in Uganda is updating supporters and prayer partners about the happenings at Kobwin, but until last week I hadn’t been there. Aunt Constance, our foreign staff member who has invested a lot of time and energy in Kobwin, invited me to go with her up to Kobwin for a wedding and the end of {school} year ceremony—and I jumped at the chance!

I was eager to see this location that I had heard so much about from interviewing three of the main guys in charge there. But I was also very excited to get to see two special people, their two sweet girls and their two adorable boys! :D So my expectations were high for the long weekend :)

The first day of travelling was kind of rough. But you can read more than enough about that in my previous post. The next day (Thanksgiving) was thankfully much less stressful. Watching a beautiful sunrise over Lake Victoria….seeing the Nile River (near its source) for the first time….enjoying a short passage through an actual forest! (I miss proper woods/forest while at Kasana)….observing Mount Elgin in the distance….just getting to witness more of this beautiful country that is my home for the next year. :) And that was all before we arrived at our destination!

When we got there, most of the students and some of the staff were just eating lunch. We joined them (for the typical posho and beans) after being greeted by a hug from each of the young people there. I think that’s one of the things that most stood out to me about Kobwin. It is quite a bit smaller than Kasana (less than one-fifth the size in student population, even less as far as staff), and thus has a much more intimate feel to it. The two family groups are very close to one another, but each is enclosed with a wall (originally to help the kids feel safer).

That afternoon, the students were practicing musical selections they had created and prepared for the end of year/wedding ceremony. The whole student/staff community (probably about 50 people) gathered to hear them and to offer advice. I just enjoyed experiencing a new style of instruments and singing! And I also finally spotted my friends’ two daughters. Their dad was also there, though I had been able to see him a couple weeks before at Kasana. I had told him I was coming to Kobwin, but told him not to tell his family so I could surprise them!

Well, since the daughters had seen me the dad and I decided I should go home with him to surprise the mom before the girls gave her the news. Their home is a short distance outside of the center because staff housing is really limited there. As we walked, he proudly showed me the small square of land where his family grows a bit of maize and papaya, collards and sweet potatoes.

As we neared the family’s house, the late afternoon sun was shining into my eyes. So I knew the mother would be able to see me before I could see her. Sure enough, I hadn’t spotted anyone I recognized before I saw a figure running towards me. It was my friend!! She grabbed me in a hug, ending in a tickle as I had forgotten was her habit towards me ;-) I met their neighbors (also Kobwin staff) and was invited in to my friends’ home for some tea. But not before my dear friends spent a couple minutes praying and thanking God for bringing me to their home and reuniting us!

Their two boys were hanging about. The older one (age 6) gave me a shy grin of remembrance, but the younger one (age 2)—my piggy back buddy—didn’t seem to know who I was. A bit later, though, he started to remember—and as I tickled him, I got to hear his adorable laugh again!! :D The time with them was far too short, but I had to get back to Kobwin for dinner with the manager and his wife. Uncle took me back on his bike – it was my first time to ride side saddle on the back rack of a bicycle, so I was glad someone I trusted was doing the pedaling!

That evening, Constance, Allison (a visitor from America who had spent a whole year working in Kobwin a couple years back) and I enjoyed a wonderful meal with the manager and his family. His wife and a couple young ladies prepared atapa (aka kilo, aka millet loaf. I’ll have to explain it some other time….), chapatis (they take a lot of work!), rice, and a yummy sauce with pork. It was all so delicious that I went on to P2 (aka, I took a second helping)!

Their two young boys nearly fell asleep while eating, and it was interesting to notice them being bathed in basins in the middle of the living room as we finished our dinner and conversation. Later, after we had gone back to Constance’s itinerant home where we stayed, I was able to call my family and talk to the three of them for a little while. Which was a blessing, because I had heard that cell signal up in Kobwin wasn’t much good.

So that was my Thanksgiving day…..I’ll have to write about the rest of the weekend later. It certainly wasn’t a typical American Thanksgiving……but it’s where God has me this year, and I am grateful for all of the opportunities He is giving me!!! Towards the end of the weekend, I couldn’t help but think that, while most Americans use Thanksgiving as a time to visit family, God used this Thanksgiving to grow my family….to introduce me to members of our spiritual family that I hadn’t had the opportunity to meet before. That’s what my next post will be more about! :)

Parents, New York, and the LAST Week

Hard to believe it’s been nearly a month since I last posted on here! Lots has happened J

The first weekend this month Dad and Mom came up to see me! They “kidnapped” me for the weekend, and we went camping outside of Asheville, NC. We did a lot of hiking that weekend, mostly to see waterfalls along the Blue Ridge Parkway. There are definitely some gorgeous ones!!!

It was really good to get to spend some time with my parents, and fun to get out and see some of the beauty of western North Carolina! On Friday before we headed out of Boone, I also got to introduce them to some of my co-workers and show them around the department a bit, so that was good too.

I’m not nearly doing that weekend justice….you can look at my Facebook photo album to see my pictures from it, and they have more description of what we did.

The next week (Aug. 5-10) was another adventure. The first two days I was at work, like normal. That Monday night the church small group that my hosts are part of went out together to do miniature golf. It was definitely the craziest putt putt course I’ve ever seen, up a steep hill! I somehow managed to win in our group of four.

On Wednesday, I headed out for my reporting trip to New York. Driving down to Charlotte I experienced thick fog for at least 30 minutes, which made for some tense driving. Then when I got to New York, I picked up my rental car and headed out to find my hotel. Which was also a driving adventure, because my directions were wrong, since the hotel was in an odd place. And it was NY driving, so that made it interesting in and of itself!

A few things I noticed: They evidently don’t believe in turn lanes or having an arrow in the light signal. People definitely use their horns a lot more. And there are just way too many people and cars. But I survived three days of driving there, so I consider that a success!

On Thursday morning I had breakfast with the SP staff and volunteers at their church headquarters. It was fun because the site managers were the same people who had been in Joplin, and the same videographer came out to cover the dedication.

I spent the day interviewing a few volunteers and watching them work on the two houses that were in process there. That evening, the owners of the house that would be dedicated the next day came to the church to be interviewed. It was really neat to get to hear their story, and so good to get to know them.

The next morning, they took the videographer and me out to show us around their little town. They had lots of stories to tell, since the house that Hurricane Sandy destroyed had been owned by their family all their lives.

That afternoon, around 100 people flooded their large yard to celebrate with them the dedication of the first house rebuilt by Samaritan’s Purse since the storm nine months ago. To read more about that, you can check out the article I wrote posted on the SP website!

As in Joplin, I was so blessed by everyone I interacted with. Since it is still early in the rebuild process in New York, I didn’t talk to as many homeowners. But the staff and volunteers again provided wonderful testimony to the work God is doing in and through them.

That Friday evening, after I had fellowshipped with the people at the church for a while, I went down to the beach to go wading in the ocean a bit. I had quite an adventure, as you can read in my previous blog post! God certainly provided J

The next day I guess I felt like I hadn’t had enough adventures, so I decided to drive up into Manhattan a bit to see more of NYC before I left, since I had been away from the main part of the city for most of my trip. Traffic was worse than I expected on a Saturday morning, and before long I was ready to leave the big city behind for a while. Barely made it to the airport in time, but again everything worked out.

Thankfully I had a day and a half to “recover” from my trip before heading back to work again. I was pretty apprehensive about how that Monday would go, because the Monday after my Joplin trip was tough and because the two days before my trip had been rough too. But on Sunday, God did some needed work on my heart, and He really turned my attitude around. You can read more about it on my spiritual blog, starting here.

So thanks to that, instead of being hard Monday was one of the best days. For the first time, I felt completely at peace with where I was. It was a huge blessing and an answer to many people’s prayers!

The next day came a conversation I had been expecting for a while. My supervisors informed me that they had an open position in the communications department, and asked if I would be interested in applying. Long story short, God continued working in my heart that week and the next to give me an increasing sense of peace with pursuing staying on at SP.

The job opening was posted on Friday, and I submitted my application on my last Monday. On my last day (Aug. 23), I had an “interview” with my supervisors. They let me know that they’ve got a couple other candidates they’re looking at, and I let them know that I would definitely love to join the team, if that’s what they think would be a good fit.

Since nothing was finalized yet, I said all my farewells and packed up all my stuff to fly back home the next day. And now I’m kind of just playing the waiting game….waiting to see whether God will open that door, or whether He has something else in store for me. While I’m not excited to just be waiting again, I’m glad to have some time at home. And I know God will continue faithfully leading J

(To read what I wrote for SP about the Joplin trip last month, check out the article here and my blog post for them here.)

Joplin Experience Plus

Wanted to get another update posted here! This one’s mostly about my trip to Joplin J

Orientation—the week that I posted my previous update—went fine. It was great to get a bird’s eye view of the whole SP operation, even though I already knew some of the information from reading most of the articles that have gone up on the website over the past couple of months. We got to hear more about some of the “background” things of SP, such as donor ministries, and we got to tour the campus which was fun.

Thursday the 18th I skipped out on the last few orientation sessions because I had to drive to the airport to head out to Joplin! Lots of firsts on the trip – first time to rent a car (ended up with three rentals by the end of the trip!), first time to drive a long distance by myself (total of nine hours in big chunks), first time to stay in a hotel by myself (which was fine).

Ahead of time I was pretty nervous about the trip, and especially about interviewing people I had never met before. But everything went beautifully and looking back it seems silly to have been so worried. So I grew in self-confidence a good bit from it. J I’m actually going on another similar trip next week, and I’m really not worried about it. Though this time it’s in New York…so hopefully the driving there isn’t too ridiculous…..

Anyway, Friday in Joplin turned out to be a long day for me. I went to the base church at 7:00 a.m. to meet the SP staff managing the project and to have breakfast with that last week’s crew of volunteers. Got oriented to things, then headed out to the home that they would be dedicating that afternoon to watch and interview the volunteers putting the finishing touches on it. Went to the homes of another lady and a family who had each received their houses this year to interview them, then back to the last house for the dedication ceremony.

It was pretty hot outside (almost my first taste of a “real” summer this year because of being in N.Ireland and Boone, both of which are much cooler than Dallas!!), so the 50+ people who turned out all crowded into the house. Which made it pretty hot in there too, but it was a miracle that the electricity was on at all, and everyone was excited to be there and to celebrate with the family. J It was like witnessing a family reunion – and most of these people weren’t related to one another by blood. But they obviously had a special community of relationships.

I ended up interviewing another homeowner there, plus the lady who received the last house. By then, it was time to go back to one of the houses I had visited earlier in the day for a farewell cookout that the family hosted in honor of the SP staff and volunteers. While there, I interviewed a fifth homeowner. I also got to continue witnessing the incredible love and care for one another that was so very evident among all of the people involved. There were a lot of tears too, as the Joplin homeowners bid farewell to the SP staff members who had been living and working there for months.

It was 8:00 p.m. by the time I got in my car and headed back to my hotel room. I felt so very blessed to have had the opportunity to kind of be a part of that weekend of celebration. It was a joy to hear and see what God had done in the lives of both the volunteers and the homeowners. And yet there was a heaviness there too—because all of the stories I heard involved so much loss, although every one of the people I talked to focused much more on being thankful for what God had brought out of the situation. But for me there was also a weight of responsibility. They had trusted me, a stranger, with their stories. And my job was to go back and write articles to share that with the supporters of SP. It was just a lot for one day…but in an amazing, good way.

The next day the Joplin staff had to pack up their office of two years and get everything loaded up and ready to move on to the next place. I helped out a bit, and enjoyed getting to learn more about the people behind the rebuild effort. That afternoon, I interviewed a final homeowner couple. In two days, I had completed 12 interviews, most of which were 45-60 minutes, and taken many many pages of notes (yes, I’m old fashioned that way…..).

Every one of the stories I had the honor of hearing that weekend was amazing and special in its own unique way. And in the days since then, I have had the privilege of attempting to retell those stories. So far, I’ve written five or six articles based on Joplin. None of them have been posted yet because of scheduling issues, but hopefully they will eventually be used somehow. One of those was a first-person blog post for the SP blog that goes more in-depth about what I learned from the people of Joplin…so once some of those stories get posted I will probably post links here.

I had a couple of adventures aside from the work aspects of the trip. One was locking my keys into my rental car. Yep, I managed to do that. Thankfully it was at the cookout and there were plenty of “Good Samaritans” there to help me! The hero ended up being the eight-year-old son of the homeowners. He had a metal bar that we were finally able to poke down through the window (which were thankfully cracked open!) to pry the door handle open.

The other was getting to spend Saturday evening with a couple friends from JBU! Joplin is close enough that one of the professors from our mission trip team was willing to come up to see me! We met up at a movie theater to watch Monsters University, and one of the other students who had also been on the trip showed up with her to surprise me. It was so very great to see them and to have a chance to wind down with them after the weekend. We enjoyed dinner together as well, and it was just a wonderful opportunity to catch up.

Sunday I retraced my steps from Thursday and ended up safely back in Boone! It was a really fantastic trip, even though it was a bit hard to come back and be “stuck” at my desk. In the week and a half since then, I’ve managed to keep busy at work…most of the time. I’ve worked on a few other things in addition to writing up the Joplin articles.

Then on the 26th, one of my best friends from college happened to be in the area on vacation with her family! So we got to spend the evening together, which was really special. I got to meet her dad and sister and see her mom, who I had met in May when I bid farewell to my friend. We had a great time catching up about our summers, and even though it was relatively short I was so thankful for the opportunity J

So yep, that’s pretty much been my life since my last post! Well, add in several trips hiking up the mountain I’m living on, which has been fantastic. :D I think I’ve been up there five or six different times, all to different little places, and all wonderful times to get away for some exploring and/or reflection. I’ve got some more adventures coming up! My parents are going to be here this weekend to see me, and then next week, as I said, I’ll be headed to New York! So I know these last 3.5 weeks of my internship will probably fly by pretty quick! And then? Who knows…. ;-)

Two Weeks in Boone

Well, the first two weeks and two days of my internship at Samaritan’s Purse (SP) have already passed. I am now more than a fourth done with the eight-week program, and I’m sure the rest will pass quickly as well! Just wanted to let any readers out there know how things have gone thus far.

I arrived in Boone, N.C. (the international headquarters of SP) on June 30, a scant five days after landing back in the States from a month in Ireland. To say it was somewhat of an abrupt transition would be stating it mildly. But thankfully I now feel a bit more settled and content J

The next day I showed up for my first day of work in the communications department of SP, as a writing/editing intern. The first week of work dragged a little, even though we had Thursday off for the Fourth of July. Lots of the other communications folks, including my supervisor, were out of town.

I received or found a few things I could work on, but most of the rest of that week I spent time reading articles previously posted on the website. Which was good, because it gave me a chance to become more familiar with the broad variety of work SP does around our country and the world. I did get to write a couple of articles that week, based on interviews one of the other employees had done in Colorado after the wildfire there. I also edited a couple of things for publication.

While I’m here in Boone, I am staying with a lady who works with Operation Christmas Child and her husband. It’s worked out great so far! Actually, they’ve been gone on vacation since last Wednesday, getting home tomorrow. So it will be nice to have them back. I’ve attended their church both Sundays, and I really appreciate the pastor there. I also went with them to their small group last Monday, which was nice to get to meet some people from the area.

On the Fourth of July, the three of us went downtown to watch the parade. But it was raining, as it has been a lot of the time I’ve been here—unusually wet summer for Boone this year! We only caught the tail end of it. Afterward they took me to the Mast General Store to look around. It’s an old-timey place, with big barrels of candy to be purchased by the pound, and a whole variety of neat things upstairs. That evening we ate hotdogs—inside, because it was raining again—and played games with a couple of their friends. We could hear a few fireworks, but didn’t try to go see any because of the rain. July 5^th the SP cafeteria had a pig pickin’, which is evidently a thing in this neck of the woods. They literally had two pigs laid out which they had roasted, and people could just take off the meat they wanted.

There are 10 other interns here this summer, though they all got here at the beginning of June. My first day of work they invited me to join them for a birthday party for one of the gals, so I got to meet most of them that way. Almost all of us took a trip down to Charlotte on the 9^th to tour the Billy Graham Library and the headquarters of the Billy Graham Evangelical Association. Last night, we also all had dinner at the Chief Operating Officer’s house, which was fun. While my host family has been gone, one of the other intern gals has been kind enough to give me a ride to work and such. So it’s been a nice group.

My second week on the job included a better work level. In fact, it was pretty much perfect! I nearly always had things to do, but never felt overwhelmed. So that was nice. I did a whole variety of things….edited various ads, wrote a couple more articles for the web, wrote some donor or volunteer thank you letters, etc. I have five or six various people asking me to do things, so it’s been great. Also got settled into my own corner of a cube! My cube mate is the media relations lady for SP, and she’s been super nice and helpful to me too.

On Saturday (July 13), one of the SP employees invited the interns and several other SP folks over for a hike up one of the many mountains around here and a dinner of “Boston Butt” (think pulled pork). We also had a campfire and made s’mores, thankfully before yet another rainstorm chased us back inside to play a couple rounds of Catch Phrase. It was great to get to know some of the 500 local SP employees in a smaller-group setting!

This week is not a typical one for me. Today and tomorrow I’m going through SP’s orientation sessions with about 30 other new employees, most of whom will soon be moving to one of the organization’s international field offices to work. Then on Thursday I get to go on a work trip! The communications team decided to send me to Joplin as the SP writer reporting on the last home dedication from the rebuild program there after the tornado of May 2011. So I’m excited to go out and see firsthand the results of SP’s work. It will be a grand adventure, I’m sure…including driving for more than an hour by myself for the first time {yikes!}. I’m flying from Charlotte to Kansas City, but there’s driving on both ends of that flight. So prayers for safety appreciated!