Last Wednesday....

Just a couple little snippets for your enjoyment tonight J

A few days ago, I had a couple interesting/funny things happen.

First, I was preparing some food for a young adults’ class potluck. I’m still having Uganda withdrawal, so I decided to make one of the dishes we had there often: avocado salad. At least that’s what I call it.

It’s pretty simple – you can make it too! Just cut up a few avocados, add a tomato and some red onion, and maybe a few spices (I forgot to put spices in mine…sorry folks!).

Our wonderful cooks there were always making it for a crowd, so I had to remind myself not to use as many avocados as they normally did…but then again the size of these green fruits (or vegetables) is twice as big in the Pearl of Africa as it is here. I guess that one guy was telling me the truth when he joked about how Uganda keeps all the best avocados and only exports the little ones ;-)

So there I was, cutting up the salad ingredients, thinking about how much I missed Betty and Harriet and hanging out with or helping them in the kitchen. I was listening to the radio, and you’ll never guess what song came on:

Just their favorite song! I don’t know how many times it was playing as they made dinner. I felt like I was right back in Uganda….but still missing these wonderful ladies. Soon—I’ll be back soon!

So that was happening #1. #2 occurred when I went over to my church to babysit during a class/Bible study. I had four kids: Two brothers, just turned 7 and 5; and a sister and brother, 7 ½ and almost six.

I was having fun watch them do the whole kid thing, playing ninjas and princesses and capturing and rescuing and wrestling a little. Anyway, we decided to play sharks and minnows. Somehow I got picked to be the shark.

I don’t remember how the subject of age came up…..but it did! They asked mine, and I told them to guess. Actually, I think I just told them that I’m 23.

Well, the oldest boy didn’t believe me. He was like “no way, you look like you’re 13!” To which his younger brother responded “no she doesn’t!” The other boy was like “no, she looks like an old woman!” And the young lady of the group won when she told me “no, you just look like a grown up woman.”

Or at least that’s how I remember it now. Hope you got a chuckle out of it J

And don’t give me the “you’ll be glad you look so young someday!” line. Because I’m not there yet. We went to an event for military academy students and graduates. Folks knew Nathan was either in the Academy or just graduated….but they didn’t know about me.

“So where do you go to school?” one important person asked me. “Oh, I graduated from college a year ago…..” Yep, I got there before Nathan did!

But another gal took the cake. She just graduated from high school and received an appointment to USAFA, I think by now she’s there undergoing BCT! Best wishes to her! At any rate, her comment after me mentioning that my brother had graduated was “are you applying to the academies, or are you going to let him be the only one?” In other words, she assumed I had just finished my sophomore or junior year in college! {sigh…….}

At least Nathan was very nice and considerate when we were in Colorado last month. He was kind enough to make a point of introducing me to his friends as his older sister! Thanks didi, I definitely appreciated that J

The Food of Uganda!

Guess what? I’ve been meaning to do this post for a while but have been putting it off…now that I’m fixing to leave in just a few days, I reckon I better get it written….or it may never happen!

So here goes: a post about the typical Ugandan food I have experienced.

The Institute kitchen staff has done a marvelous job of feeding us, especially considering that they’re trying to provide for people from at least two primary cultures…and actually even more than that because of the several cultures represented within Uganda!

Breakfast

Some things that would be typical in America too – oatmeal, bread/toast (the latter when the power’s on!), scrambled or hard-boiled eggs, bananas (see below). Occasional treats are “baked oatmeal” (more like an oatmeal bread) and banana bread.

We also sometimes have sausages (that don’t taste like American sausages) or fried salami. But there are also a couple things that are not American: rice porridge and (a couple times) millet porridge, and a high importance of having tea made from hot milk. The kids who live here eat maize porridge for breakfast, and it’s just made of the same type of cornmeal that is used in posho (see below).

Lunch

Our meals—especially lunches—have followed a pretty regular menu, so that’s the easiest way for me to think of everything I’ve had. Every lunch/dinner also includes some sort of vegetable (usually cooked or raw cabbage, avocados/guacamole, or sometimes eggplant) and a fruit (pineapple, mango, papaya, watermelon, or some combination of the above. Passion fruit once or twice, I think).

The soup/sauce is always served over the carbohydrate. And all the food is hot, which combined with the warm temperatures can sometimes make simply eating a meal cause one to sweat!

Monday lunch: Steamed rice, posho, beans.

Tuesday lunch: Sweet potatoes/yams and lentil soup. (Second favorite J)

Wednesday lunch: Steamed rice, matoke, g-nut sauce, vegetable soup with beef.

Thursday lunch: Chapatis, rice/boiled Irish, beans. (Personal favorite!)

Friday lunch: Steamed rice/posho/spaghetti (two of the three), lentil soup.

So…a lot of those are probably new foods that you’re scratching your head at…….here’s my attempt at an explanation of each J

Posho is a staple here (the kids who live at Kasana eat posho and beans at both lunch and dinner every day). It is made from ground maize (like cornmeal—but white instead of yellow like sweet corn), mixed with water, and cooked so that it’s a very stiff—well, I was going to say mush…but the consistency is not anything like mush. There’s not really anything good to compare it to….  {A month later and I finally figured it out: the closest thing here to posho is really thick grits.}

The sweet potatoes and yams here are not much like American sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes here are white, though the shape is longer and skinnier rather than round. I enjoy the taste and texture of those ones. The yams (if I have this right) are white with purple streaks. They are a much starchier texture and don’t have a whole lot of taste. I don’t prefer those ones…

All of the soups listed above (minus the g-nut one) include carrots/bell papers/onion and sometimes tomatoes, zucchini or eggplant.

Matooke is a special kind of bananas (most like plantains) boiled in a very particular way, then mashed, I assume…because it kind of has the consistency of mashed potatoes—though more sticky.

Here’s a good place to briefly mention the types of bananas here. They have at least four types, possibly more! And I don’t remember all the local names for them, so I apologize. My favorite are the small sweet bananas that we usually have at breakfast (maybe called finger bananas or something like that in the States?). Then there are what I consider “regular bananas” – but I’ve been told they’re still different than typical American bananas. Matooke bananas are the third. The fourth type is a pink-ish banana that they’ve served us a couple times at lunch. Steamed in the peel, they are sweet & pretty yummy in small quantities!

G-nut sauce is kind of made from peanut butter (peanuts here are referred to as g-nuts). But it’s somehow watered down so that it’s a runny, protein-packed sauce. Served over the matooke, but it’s good over rice too.

Early on they also served us yummy pumpkin squash as one of the staples on a weekly basis. I really liked it….but evidently others didn’t like it enough because they quit serving it L

Chapatis are basically a really super thick flour tortilla, including shredded carrot and onion mixed in the dough. More like a half-way point between tortillas and flatbread, if that makes sense. So whenever we have them it’s almost like a Mexican meal!

Boiled Irish is simply boiled potatoes. But what are considered “regular” potatoes in America are called Irish here!

The lentil soup is yummy. It reminds me of my mom’s split pea soup, except for it’s made with orange lentils rather than green and is less runny.

Dinner

The evening/weekend meals can sometimes tend to be a bit more Western. We still nearly always have a carb and some sort of sauce to go over it, as well as the vegetables/fruits listed above. Some of the regulars are spaghetti and ground beef/tomato sauce, rice and chicken soup (big pieces of boiled chicken + veggies & broth), fried rice (with lots of yummy veggies and chicken or scrambled eggs), and a repeat of the Thursday lunch (YAY!).

We’ve also had things like pasta salad, and a couple of times have been treated to an {iceberg} lettuce side salad! I’m always pretty excited about the latter – I’ve really missed a good robust green salad here. It’s going to be my first meal when I get back to the States…that and ice cream! ;)

Miscellaneous

The sweet things are pretty much restricted to breakfast (we go through a jar of Nutella in a day or maybe two, and people add sugar to both porridge and tea!), fruit, and birthday cakes….so no regular dessert here! Thus I have gotten into the habit of maintaining a chocolate stash to occasionally satisfy my sweet tooth. Oh, and the ice cream here tends to be more like either frozen cool whip (fake dairy) or slushy/snow cone-ish (more like sherbet rather than being creamy).

Thankfully they have soda (soft drinks) here. The first week I was really craving one, even though I’m not a habitual drinker of them back home. I think that was probably my sweet tooth talking, and my desire to have something cold in the heat! So yeah – Coke, Pepsi, Mt. Dew, and Fanta are all available here. A unique one is “Krest” that is basically a fizzy lemonade that’s bitter instead of sweet. They also have this amazing one called “Stoney” (think a really strong ginger ale). Hmm…I’ll have to try to smuggle one or two home so my family can taste it!

I haven’t had traditional snacks here as much….but I do know a few. Mendazis (no idea if I spelled that right…) are a little bit like donuts—more dense but just as fried and unhealthy! The taste reminds me of funnel cake. They also have things like popcorn (which I haven’t gotten to enjoy nearly as often as I wish!) and they eat g-nuts plain too. Since the British are the ones who colonized here, “biscuits” (think a type of crispy cookie that are only lightly sweetened) are widely available. They also eat sim sim (sesame seeds) by themselves and a snack that looks like (but doesn’t taste like) sesame sticks. Jackfruit and mangoes are also common snacks in the family groups. Jackfruit...I don't know what to compare it to. The taste reminds me of dried bananas. I need to take a picture of it.....

Street food is the Ugandan version of fast food (I don’t think McDonalds has reached here yet…..). Chapatis are common street food, as are mendazis (I think) and an empanada-type food filled with chick peas. Chips (steak-cut French fries for you Americans), fried eggs, rotisserie chicken with cooked cabbage, roasted maize, and pineapple by the fourth and with the stem still on are also available. There are also “Rolexes” – chapatis with a fried egg and sliced tomato rolled up inside!

So yeah….I think that about covers it! Hope you enjoyed this “tour”/cultural lesson J

The Institute Kids

Four months ago, I arrived here at Kasana….and shortly thereafter the other people who would be going through the Institute began to arrive as well. They live in what I affectionately call the “Institute village,” and we share all of our meals together. There are others who have already been on staff here at Kasana and who live in other areas of the compound…sadly I haven’t gotten to know them as well.

Our Institute village consists of five bandas (round huts) and a duplex down the hill, plus a kitchen and the dining hall/classroom. The residents are as follows: three single guys, one single gal (my roomie!), one young married couple, a couple and their daughter from Liberia, two Ugandan couples with children, and a new missionary family. There’s also a gentleman who has a family back in Kampala…he lives in one of the family groups but comes to eat meals with us.

I’ve been writing the rest of this post in my head for a while, and am finally sitting down to actually do it. I wanted to talk about the five African kids who have stolen their way into my heart these past weeks. When I leave, I’m going to miss everyone I’ve met here a lot….but especially these kids. {Here at Kasana, “Auntie” is used as a prefix before women’s names as a sign of respect}

Those first few weeks the kids were understandably shy. But now, looking back…it makes me chuckle inside. Because now they are anything but shy!!! Going to school here where English is the common language has helped that too—now they are actually confident enough to speak in whole sentences. J So I dedicate this post to these kids….and I pray God’s blessing on their life journeys.

There is the set of three siblings (a girl and two boys) who came with their parents from NHU’s other location. They have an older sister, but she stayed home for the sake of schooling. The daughter who is here helps a lot to take care of the littlest fella, and she still tends to be reserved. But there have been several times recently when I’ve seen her beautiful face light up with joy and excitement, and just last night she was teaching me how to say “moon” and “stars” in her mother language J

When I got back from the Institute break of four days, she and a classmate were just getting back from a day at school. She ran up to give me a big hug and the traditional Ugandan greeting to one who returns from a journey: “Auntie!! Welcome back!” Adding on, “this is my friend who is in my class!” I think that might have been the first time I heard her speak two whole sentences in English…

The older of the two boys was missing his two front teeth when I first met him. Now they are mostly grown in. The whole time, he’s had the most adorable grin. A few weeks back I taught several of the kids how to play “Go Fish,” and now this fella’s favorite question is “Auntie, we play the cards??” After I started working in the afternoons, my roommate told me he kept coming to our hut asking to play cards with me when I was gone.

He’s also our most frequent meal bell ringer. And he can play the djembe drum with better rhythm than I can! I tell you what, these kids just have rhythm in their blood! I love how concentrated he is when he does it, his mouth partly agape…his head usually tilted to one side J

Their little brother has me wound around his little finger. Man, those first couple weeks he was so whiny and so withdrawn….but now! Well, now he’s like the baby of a great big family J And I think I’m probably his favorite auntie… :D I don’t even remember how it started…but he taught me how to give a piggy back ride African style. The little kids here know how to hang on tight! After our meals, he almost always runs up behind me and grabs onto my skirt and we go through a whole routine of piggy back riding traditions that have developed over the past weeks. And even though he’s not far out of the toddler stage, he is perfectly capable of feeding himself (though it does make something of a mess) and washing his hands regularly (though he does need lifting to be able to reach the sink!). His name is perfect for him, because his laugh is probably the cutest I have ever heard.

He’s also started talking while here, kind of all of a sudden one week in the past month and a half or so. And now he talks up a STORM! On mornings when he’s in a good mood (about 50/50), I can tell it’s breakfast time when I hear his adorable little voice singing “happy birthday to yoooou, happy birthday to yooooou.” When we pray, his “AMEN!” is usually the loudest (and occasionally a wee bit premature…). “How are yooou? I’m FINE!” is another favorite, especially at breakfast. And when I have him on my back and go sit down in one of the cushioned chairs (to signal that I’m worn out for the day), he says (with the biggest grin on his face) what he’s evidently heard me say a few times: “I am tIReddd.” He’s also taught me some of his language! Akipi is water, Iya is again, and Inya is there (the last two I had to have his mother explain to me because he kept saying them during our piggy back riding times!)

Two other girls round out the little group. Both are between the ages of the two boys in the three-some

The older one is something else. She’s probably the most spunky, out-going little kid I have ever seen! She’s just a firecracker, always on the go, always in motion…sometimes to the point of minor calamities (I have no idea how many cups she’s spilled or pieces of silverware she’s dropped here…. ;-). My first clear memory of her is the day the first week when I was the blind man in Blind Man’s Bluff and she opened the closed door and ran into a stranger’s house, grabbed my hand, and tried to lead me to the kids I was trying to tag. That’s just how this little gal operates.

She definitely acts like she’s a little princess and certainly isn’t afraid to make her wants and desires known…and expects them to be met! And her high energy level can be hard to keep up with sometimes. But she is also definitely a blessing, with her joyfulness and her vivacity. The only times I’ve seen her close to “calm” is when she’s just gotten up from a nap. That’s the one occasion when she’s sporting a gloomy face and not running around laughing and chattering away. I love her facial expressions too…I can definitely see her dad in her face and in her voice J

The other little girl was the second most reserved of the group. I met her right after she and her parents got here, and she was hiding behind the door. I watched her interact with the friends from home who had brought her family down, and I knew it would take some time before I was able to interact with her that way. Sometime in the first couple weeks I went over and sat talking to her parents for a little while…and that was the first time I heard her speak a whole sentence…but in her native tongue. But just like all the others, she has since blossomed into quite the cheerful little lark. Quite often, she’ll be singing at the top of her voice rather early in the morning (good thing I’m an early riser!).

She and her parents are my closest neighbors, and I love all the little exchanges we have. Like her brushing her teeth outside and showing me how she can make the water squirt out of her mouth. Like her announcing to me “I am washing!” in her sweet little accent when she is doing her laundry (by hand, of course). Like just today her hollering from outside of my hut: “Auntie Esther!” “yes?” “Hi!” But boy, this little lady has some shrill vocal cords! If you tickle her or startle her (both of which happen to most of these five kids on a pretty regular basis…), you better be prepared to have a loud scream split your ears! In the past couple weeks she’s really attached to me, running up whenever she sees me and practically jumping into my arms. The funniest thing to me is how on nights like last night, when the temperature is maybe 60 degrees, she walks around wearing a coat/jacket lined with cozy warm fluff. Weather is certainly relative!

So yep, that’s the description of my five little “nieces and nephews” here. I’m so thankful that they have good families and parents who love them and care about them (including coming to the Institute partly to learn about parenting their kids)! It’s a good thing they do….because if they didn’t…….well, it would be a lot harder to leave them behind. It will be sad anyway, but I’m thankful to know I leave them in the most able hands of God and the good hands of their parents.

What a Lovely Easter :)

Here in Uganda, Easter weekend is a big deal. And I don’t think it’s just because I’m in a Christian organization/community – I’m pretty sure I heard people talking about how there are many people who travel on this weekend.

Both the Institute class and the NHU admin office had Friday and today off. Last time we had a four-day weekend, I was blessed with the opportunity to go out to an island on Lake Victoria for a little vacation. Last month as I thought about the Easter break, I knew there were a couple other places I’d like to go visit…….but at the same time I just felt like I wanted to celebrate Easter here at Kasana, in the place that has become a new home and with the people who have taken me in as part of their family.

And boy am I glad I decided to stay – because this weekend (especially yesterday) has been such an amazing blessing.

Friday morning I did laundry and spent some time continuing the Bible study/reading I’ve been working my way through (fairly slowly, I must admit…) this year. I think I may have also spent some time reading either a devotional by C.S. Lewis or one by Anne Graham Lotz.

Mid-afternoon I headed over to the church for the Good Friday service there. Uncle Jonnes talked for a while about Jesus’ humility at not answering His accusers, and about how we should do likewise rather than allowing ourselves to be imprisoned by anger and bitterness. Then we watched the last 30 minutes or so of the Jesus Film, from Jesus’ time in Jericho (healing the blind man and discipling Zacchaeus) through His ascension.

I’ve watched the Jesus Film before….but not like this. Because there are many in the congregation who come from the surrounding area and may or may not speak English very well, we watched the Jesus Film in Lugandan. (For the same reason, Uncle Jonnes’ teaching and each week’s church service are translated into Lugandan by an interpreter. So there’s kind of two speakers every week J) Having seen the movie before, and being pretty familiar with the story, I was able to follow what was being said for the most part. But I certainly noticed things I might not have noticed otherwise (I might write more about those another time).

I also enjoyed hearing the people in the church with me interacting with the movie as we watched it. The laughter when Jesus bested the religious leaders trying to trap Him. The applause when Jesus reappeared alive. The murmurs of many repeating the prayer at the end. And then during dinner, the conversation with one of the couples about how all representations of Jesus look the same—how do we know what He looked like?

Saturday I must admit I didn’t spend my time as productively. I took advantage of a “second Saturday” by doing what I wanted to do – reading about cute animal stories and just amusing myself (choosing not to think, if you look at the etymology of “amusement”). I also enjoyed the fan thanks to the power being on most of the day!

After a trip to the market and some dinner, I heated water for a “shower,” thanks to power still being on! But then it went off, so I showered by star-light and lantern-light. My roomie had turned our banda into a nail salon again, with four ladies painting nails by candlelight. Before I joined in, I couldn’t help but go out and stare at the stars. That’s the best part about the power going out at night. The stars are so amazingly beautiful here, but when power is on it’s still harder to see them. So I had to take advantage of the darker sky thanks to moonless-ness and powerless-ness.

After we had finished decorating fingers and toes for Easter, we just chatted and/or sang worship songs (and danced to them some J). Of course then power came back on ;-)  Called my parents for a while and had a good chat, then fell asleep before 11.

Sunday morning the roomie was making pancakes for our Institute village breakfast, so I pitched in. They were so yummy. J Then she handed out some gifts to the families we live near, thanks to her church back home and her friend who came to visit. Seeing the joy of the children and the parents at receiving even “simple” gifts such as Bibles and dresses made my heart so happy. J

When we walked the short distance to the church at 10, I was surprised by how many people were already there! Usually the 10:00 start time finds the church only half full, and it slowly fills up. But for Easter, there were many more people there on time! And what a morning it was J I’ve never been to a more joyful Easter morning service.

Ugandans usually worship with more vocal/physical exuberance than my home church, and yesterday they were even more excited and celebrating even more loudly than normal. It was so fun to watch and to take part in. Uncle Jonnes was the preacher for the morning, and his message focused on the fact that Christ’s death has freed us from our bondage to sin! Always such a good reminder!

After a delicious Liberian lunch (preparation led by a Liberian here to go through the Institute) and some dinner prep work, I blogged for a while and enjoyed listening to the afternoon’s rain shower. Later in the evening I went over to my family group for dinner.

While we were waiting for it to be finished cooking, two of the Worcester sons and daughters taught me to play “Ludo” (I think?). It’s very similar to Sorry, but with a couple different rules. It was so fun laughing with them.

The daughter taking her turn to cook did an amazing job! The beef and rice tasted so great. J And even though it was a simple meal by most standards, it was special compared to their normal daily menu of posho and beans (I need to do a food post sometime….).

I am so thankful for my Worcester family – I felt so blessed to be included in their evening. The four girls and the parents have been so sweet and welcoming toward me whenever I have gone to visit. And the six young boys are fun to watch as they run around and play together.

Today they did not have school either – so I went over on the bright and early side to help them work in the garden. We spent a couple hours planting white sweet potato clippings in the furrowed mounds of dirt. My first row took me more than an hour, but the second row took less than an hour. I came back dirty and tired, but again blessed and thankful to have a family here who takes joy in having me involved even in simple daily things.

And that’s the story of my weekend and why I’m so glad I stayed here at “home” rather than travelling to some other place. I am so very blessed J

Thanking God.....

.....for sleeplessness since 2 a.m.? (it's 5:30 in the morning here as I write this) Yes, I actually am!

Why in the world??? It's simple: Although this is the third or fourth time I've faced a similarly sleepless night here, this time was different. {My ongoing digestive issues here are partly to blame for the sleeplessness...as is ongoing stress/uncertainty...and all of the above are, I think, magnified at least some by the medicine I've been taking for malaria prevention.....}

This time, I didn't spend the time (trying to go back to sleep) on worrying and fretting about my problems, and then tacking on a little begging prayer for God to make things go my way. That's pretty much what I've done before, and it hasn't solved anything. While I know God cares about what I'm going through, and He certainly tells us to come to Him with our requests, I can now recognize that my heart and attitude have been very selfish and ego-centric the past weeks and months. Even when I came here wanting to help others and serve God...

And He's been convicting me and calling me out on some things this past week. And yes, I'm facing uncertainty yet again....but maybe I'm finally learning to take more baby steps towards deeper faith. Thanks be to God, my response this time has been better than it often has in the past--and I've taken the confusion to God more quickly.

Because of His continued work in my heart (which I am so incredibly thankful for), this morning--when I woke up at 2 and had to scurry right over to the pit latrine a couple yards from my hut--I didn't put on a pity party like I did the other night this happened. Instead I thanked God for His goodness and asked Him to be glorified, even in this--even when it's not fun or easy. And I don't share this because I'm some great person to have done this. No, that was all God and not very much of me.

And as I lay tossing in bed the next two hours, failing to fall back asleep, I invested that time. I invested it in prayer. First in worshiping God and reorienting myself to find satisfaction in Him alone; and then in praying for the people in my "Institute family" (there's 20+ people going through the Institute here at New Hope right now), other people/situations here at Kasana, and my friends/family all around the world.

It was a sweet, sweet time. Yes, sleep would have been nice.... (I may still go try to catch a nap before breakfast...) But I was able to put into practice what God's been teaching & calling me to. And I'm thankful that He led me heart to Him during that time.

A Boy and His Music

Recently, I witnessed a moment in a story which has burned itself into my memory.

If I had gotten a picture of it, I would print it and hang it on my wall, and it would certainly be worth a thousand words.

If I were an artist and could draw or paint with any level of accuracy, I would spend hours perfecting the capture of that moment.

But I neither have a photograph of it nor the visual artistic skills to reproduce it. So instead I turn to the medium where I think I have slightly more talent: writing and words.

Picture this:

It’s a Sunday morning at Kasana Community Church, which means the simple wooden benches are full of people, arranged in rows throughout the open-air structure (a concrete slab with telephone pole-like pillars and a sheet metal roof).

The congregation is in the midst of the praise and worship part of the meeting, which typically lasts 30-45 minutes. The songs are sung in a mixture of Lugandan and English, since there are both non-native missionaries and non-English speaking members in the congregation. The “praise” songs are almost always accompanied by loud clapping, with occasional punctuations from an African-style “ayiyiyiyiyi!” or lyrically-appropriate motions such as spinning around or running in place. The “worship” songs are usually more low-key and reflective, as some people take their seats.

{That’s all just setting the scene J}

I was walking from the front of the church to my seat when I saw the image which burned into my brain. I don’t remember what song we were singing at that moment….it doesn’t make much of a difference though.

Sitting on the outside edge of the very front row was a little boy, probably about six years old. His dark face beamed as he joined in the praise music. He held a small guitar/ukulele, on which he strummed away. Clearly his whole heart and soul were pouring into participating fully in that moment.

It may be that he would have caught my attention if that were the only thing special about him. But it wasn’t. This little boy was sitting when the vast majority of the congregation was standing, because he was in a wheelchair. He is one of the children who is part of the special needs program provided by New Hope Uganda.

Behind the little boy’s wheelchair stood one of the gentlemen who helps care for these kids. He leaned on a crutch, his constant companion even when pushing one of the children in their chairs, because of what appears to be a shorter leg and turned-out foot on one side.

The young one’s entire countenance showed the joy of his heart. He could have been moping because he was stuck in a wheelchair, unable to walk or run as other children his age. I’m sure there are plenty of other reasons, even in his short life, which would excuse a good dose of self-pity. But that’s not where his focus was. His focus was—consciously or unconsciously—on worshipping God. I don’t know what that little boy’s story is, physically or spiritually. But I do know that he brought a smile to my face, praise to my mind, and conviction to my heart.

And that image has stayed with me in the days since. One afternoon since then, I was sitting “watching” members of the New Hope family playing football (soccer for you Americans) and making small talk introductions with the man sitting on the ground in front of me. One of my neighbor girls sat in my lap. Then beside me appeared the same little boy, angling himself into position and locking his chair’s wheel.

He greeted the little girl, because they are in the same class when he joins the kids at the on-site primary (elementary) school one day per week. He still had a grin on his face, not that much different than when I had seen him strumming his heart out in church.

Almost hidden behind the wheel of was a sticker, indicating that he had received his chair from Joni Eareckson Tada’s international ministry. On his feet were red felt slippers, decorated with whiskers. Those were cats, he told me. We talked for a little bit, and I learned his name. After a few moments, someone came and wheeled him away.

I think it was then I saw the crutch lying beside the man in front of me. As I had been talking to him, I had noticed nothing different or unusual. But as with the little boy, this gentleman faces daily challenges that are different than what I have to deal with. But I guess it’s a reminder of the fact that each and every one of us has parts of our lives which are hurt or not fully functional. Some of us can just hide it better than others.

But when we hide it, are we really doing anyone a service? When I try to act like there’s nothing wrong with me, that I have everything together, aren’t I really doing one of the silliest things possible? These two members of the Kasana community seem to have learned something far better than I have. They both deal with what the world calls “disabilities.” But, by what I have witnessed, I think it is safe to say that they have made the decision not to be bound by that.

My brief interactions with them make them heroes of the everyday variety, in my mind’s perception. They do not allow themselves to wallow in self-pity or to be held captive by their situations. They do not seem to see themselves as victims. Instead, they seek out the positives. They bring joy. And I pray God’s blessing on them for that.

{Last night I saw the little boy again. This time, he sat beside one of the caregivers on a bench, leaning against her for support, his wheelchair out of sight for the time being. The event was a concert by two of Kasana’s sons in the local town nearby. Again, my little friend demonstrated his love for music. His guitar remained at home – but that didn’t keep him from dancing with his upper body, his face again radiating joy. And so, I send this post out for him. Never let the music die out of your heart, little buddy. God is with you.}

a "Crazy" Fun Afternoon

After lunch I was tired from a busy morning of organizing/sorting paperwork in the admin office. I was sitting on the couch reading when the thunder started and I guess the clouds must have rolled in, because it started getting darker. I flipped the curtains of the three living room windows up over the strings that they hang from.

I was hungry, so I ate a couple little sweet bananas. It was starting to rain a little, but I walked the 10ish yards to go wash my hands at the sink in the dining room. A couple kids were in there, and as I was coming out they followed me, dancing around in a funny way. I knew what they wanted: several weeks ago when it first rained and I was here I couldn’t help but sing in the rain. The kids expected a repeat performance.

So we all got a little wet as we (mostly I) belted out the lines to “Singing in the Rain,” thanks to Andrea’s teaching at Kids’ Club in Northern Ireland this summer. Complete with hand motions and tongues out at the end, of course. A couple new girls came along and stared at me like I was crazy. Well, I was crazy….so they had reason to do so I guess ;) After we had sung through the song once, I retreated to my banda.

The rain was coming down a bit harder now, and so the rain was coming in through our screen-only windows. I pulled the curtains back down, but the wind was blowing hard and the rain seemed to be coming in sideways. So I braved the rain (intensified because I had to go right in the places where the runoff comes down the slanted roof) to go around and close the outside shutters.

I got back inside and was about to get warm and dry, then realized there was one more thing I needed to do first. So I quickly walked the 10 or so yards in the opposite direction (through the pouring harder rain) to the pit latrine. While I was in there, it almost sounded like hail on the metal roof!!! When I got back, I seriously wished I had put my towel by the door. I literally had water dripping off my hair, glasses, clothes, etc.

To top it off, power was out. With the shutters closed, the banda was pretty dark. Thankfully my 12-LED lantern was within pretty easy finding distance on the table. So I grabbed my towel and dried off, then got into nice cozy dry clothes (sweatpants & a hoodie!). Wrung out the clothes I had been wearing, then flopped onto my bed and read by lantern-light for a while. The rain poured hard, and eventually let up. The birds started singing again!

So I decided to open up the shutters to get some light into the otherwise quite dark room. While I was outside, the kids came out of taking shelter wherever they could find it. They ran over, excited to see me and wanting to play. Three of the younger Institute kids begged to be held, and again we sang the song (even though now it wasn’t raining). They also discovered that my hoodie made a fun "toy," and soon I found they thought that having my face entirely covered with only a small hole for my mouth made a great game!

Then they asked to play “Go Fish,” so I told them to wait while I cleaned off my couch, etc. Which they did wait very patiently, I was so proud of them! :D So we had me and four Ugandan kids ages 10-4 (well, one is Liberian) playing “Go Fish.” We’ve played it a few times before, so they’ve mostly gotten the hang of it. They do still often think that a 6 should be able to be paired with a 9 though, and sometimes they ask for a card that has already been played on the table. But we make it work :)

We played several games, giving each of the kids a turn to “share” as one girl says (she means deal). A couple times this same gal, who is pretty high-octane, was literally bouncing up and down on our couch. I could hear it creaking….I’ve kind of been wondering if it might be on the way to breaking….so I asked her not to bounce on it. {I was also starting to get overwhelmed by trying to keep game play orderly and didn’t need that distraction…….} So I said I must need to tell her to go run around the hut a few times while I shuffled the cards. Which she and the other kids proceeded to do, lol ;) We had to repeat the process a little later.

I could feel exhaustion setting in, so announced that we would do one last game. The kids were very good sports about going outside to play something else after that game. I sank back down onto the couch and sat there for a moment, feeling so so tired. Keeping four kids entertained for an hour…especially while trying to maintain the rules of a card game!...can be pretty tiring. But so much fun, and so very worth it :)

They are dear, sweet kids…even when I do have to fight against my perfectionistic nature to keep it from making me too annoyed with them when they don’t quite do things the “right” way and I’m tempted to lose my patience…….  But their love and friendliness and joy and laughter make it all so so so worth it :D