It’s Friday night and it’s been a busy week. I’d love to share some thoughts but I can’t organize them into a cohesive post. So prepare yourself for my stream of consciousness post!
-Had two really great conversations with Ugandans here in Bundi this week. Both included thoughts about sustainability of projects, the move in our team focus from aid toward development, and honesty about struggles that being a “mzungu” brings and the struggles of our Ugandan brothers and sisters.
-A series of sad sights on Thursday: seeing a girl having a seizure on the side of the road and not being sure of how to help; knowing she likely doesn’t have access to the medicines that epileptic children could get in America. A severely malnourished boy at the health center; unsure of his age but probably around 10 years old--bald, lacking pigment, vacant and curled up, a living skeleton. The pediatric ward was overflowing with patients too—many on mattresses on the floor—due to a measles outbreak and it currently being the “hungry season” here.
-Stood in line at the ATM for 1.5 hours on Wednesday. I arrived and the machine was out of money. After it was loaded with money, the line in front of me quickly grew from 5 people to about 15, as people came out of no where to “resume” their places in line. Every person had their ATM card plus 5-10 of their friends, resulting in many transactions and very little movement in the line. I finally made it to the front and actually entered the little room with the ATM in it. 2 men plus the security guard joined me in the room (banking is rarely a private affair here). I managed to get some money out using my card but by the time I got my teammate’s card in the machine, it was out of money. Bummer. Oh how I miss drive thru ATMs.
-Other conveniences I miss include: a washer and dryer, highways, a dishwasher, take-out restaurants, and buying produce that doesn’t require haggling.
-I’m noticing more people saying “Amaaniye Lubwisi” (she knows Lubwisi) when I talk with them in the road. I rarely feel like I’m making any progress in language learning but I do catch more and more words and I can communicate some very basic ideas (even if they aren’t conjugated correctly).
-Having relationships with the caretakers of my referral patients is an unexpected blessing. I saw Silivano’s father in town and had a nice talk with him as we walked in the same direction for a bit. Also met a grandfather whose granddaughter was referred to another city for physical therapy after having bacterial meningitis and seizures. Found out he is a believer and regular attender at Mt. Zion church; a small town just keeps getting smaller!
-Went to the market on Thursday and tried to buy mangoes (so happy for mango season!). Realized after putting a bunch in my bag that I couldn’t pay for them. Not because I didn’t have money but because I only had a very large denomination bill (worth about $8) and the total for the mangoes came to 40 cents. Getting change is not easy here; 3rd world problems, as some might say.
-On Tuesday night, a friend working for Pamela notified us that we had a bit of a “red ant problem”. In fact, there were thousands of safari ants clustered on the rocks outside our kitchen door.We called Josh for help and since we were out of paraffin, he loaded pure gasoline in a spray bottle, lit a match, and burned the ants. It was quite therapeutic to spray the gas, watch the fire “poof!”, and know the biting ants were gone.
-After a long and busy week filled with meetings, many knocks at the door,and a myriad of difficult requests to consider, I’m looking forward to a 4 day homestay with my Ugandan mother, Joyce, starting tomorrow. She lives in the village where it is peaceful, quiet, and few people know me (yet). I’m excited to immerse myself in Ugandan life, hopefully learn some Lubwisi, and to have some quiet time praying with Mama Joyce.
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