I spent CHRISTmas down in Africa!

I don't have any deep insight or something really spiritual I want to process, but I wanted to share with you my African CHRISTmas experience!

The housemates and I (we are now only 3-our dear friend Kaylee left several days ago...) had a little sleepover in our living room and watched about 2 minutes of the movie CHRISTmas Story before we all fell asleep. It was actually chilly last night, a brisk 60 degrees ;) Woke early as we still had nursing rounds to do. After work and playing with the kids who were of course psyched about CHRISTmas (that is an international response, I think), headed to a missionary family's house for breakfast and some gifts. All the missionaries went in together for our gifts and bought us each manicures and pedicures. I've never been so excited for the prospect of clean feet.

Then off to church where we sang traditional American CHRISTmas carols, but also got to dance to African-style! I want to try to bring some of that into my Baptist church at home ;) It rained the whole time! Everyone was dressed up in their CHRISTmas best (although for some, like me, my best meant not already dirty), and everyone also got full of mud! After church, had delicious meal of roast beef (which we all watched get slaughtered 3 days prior), rice, matoke (steamed bananas) and "happy birthday Jesus" cake. The past several weeks we've all pitched in to create CHRISTmas bags for each of the kids with gifts just for them, and we got to hand them out. That was my favorite part of the day! My teammates and I each were surprised with a small gift bag too! I got a hat which is way too cool for me, a stuffed dog (more my pace), body wash (needed that!), lotion, and a piece of candy. Fun to watch the kids open their bags and play with the gifts we choose for them :)

Got to have some housemate-time and open gifts from one another. I got an African style dress made for me, along with jewelry! They are all beautiful and I cannot wait to try them out tomorrow at church! Also got lots of dark chocolate, which promptly went to the freezer for later use.

Finished the night up with a Cranium match between all the missionary families, which we just barely lost. Bummer. The Single-Ladies-Family just needs some more practice, then we'll be unstoppable! Now we're all on computers trying to get in touch with the outside world, listening to CHRISTmas music, just trying to make it last a little longer :)

It doesn't feel like CHRISTmas really, so although I miss my family, it feels like we're just faking CHRISTmas here. I think if there was just a little snow, I'd be homesick like crazy!

BLESSINGS to you as we celebrate the huge gift and sacrifice that Jesus made for all of us :) Love and very warm thoughts to you from Uganda :)

Processing the Tragedy

Over the past 5 days we've had difficulty with our internet connections, and I have not been able to process some pretty heavy things which have been happening here. I've been begging computers from my housemates so I could process a little bit via blog. So welcome to my mental madness :)

4 days ago I was caring for a routine injury in the clinic when I received word that a kid was at the gate with injuries, "bleeding everywhere." So, nurse I am, I got all excited to see something different! I accompanied a few other missionaries to the gate where we found a 10 year old boy from the village who was bleeding and crying, obviously very upset. My "excitement" for the event quickly died out. A beaten kid was not my idea of a thrilling, new experience.

This is the story as I was told by the young boy. His mother lives in Kampala. She came that day on a motorcycle, arrived at the home (the boy lives with his grandmother), grabbed a big stick and without a word, started beating this boy. He goes to school at GSF, and when his mother grabbed a panga (a machete), he ran to us. Our guard at the gate was the first to see him, and he told me later that he had blood dripping from his nose and mouth and was sobbing. His mom beat him and threatened him with a huge knife. His MOM.

I started with his head which was bleeding and moved down to make sure there was no injury to his spine. As I moved my hand down his back he cried out in pain. When I lifted his shirt to see his back, I found 8-EIGHT-beat marks all over his back. So, I had to assess the rest of his injuries. He had large marks from the beating with the stick on his head, across his left eye, on his right calf, both upper arms, left forearm, plus the 8 marks on his back.

He is the first kid I've cried over.

My housemate Kaylee and I walked him to the clinic to give him care. As we walked, we said to him "you are safe here." And he said back to us, "I know you will take care of me."

Following we had a long investigation-police report, warrant for the mother's arrest (who had already escaped and gone back to Kampala) and physical check up from a government doctor. A long process, filled with complications. The boy is still staying with his grandmother, and is improving with each day. Yesterday he came to my house just to say hi and the favorite, play games on my phone. I didn't know it the first day I met him, but he has a BEAUTIFUL smile :)

As if that isn't enough to process, yesterday we had another crisis. In the afternoon I heard a commotion outside our house. When I went out to investigate, a grown man was restraining one of the kids from GSF who is known as a trouble maker. The kid was screaming and thrashing around. Two other men came to restrain him because he was biting and kicking everyone within reach. Three grown, strong men had to hold this kid to keep him from hurting someone. We all watched this unfold for 15 minutes or so, standing by to assist as they needed it. Finally, they asked for a sedative. So Mere and I got an intra-muscular injection ready and I gave it to this kid. This hurting, 10 year old. He screamed and struggled for a while longer, and finally settled in 2 minutes.

There have been things that I've done in my very short medical career that I have not liked, but this was terrible. To hear this kid who I've grown to love, I've played soccer with, laughed and cared for-to hear him scream and writhe. It was terrible. I got my job done, but it shook me. I had to go for a run afterwards, just to release.

Things never slow down here! Even now I've got three girls around me-one asking for meds, another for a bandage, and another just wanting to chat. I've been trying to write this blog all day! So I better go-things are never go to slow down ;)

the best things in life are free

I am constantly reminded of what a difference the little things can make here. Of course we see daily the impact of a hug, spending a little time with a kid, using a word instead of hitting, explaining something to a child... All these things change the view of the world for one person. But since I'm here for medical stuff, I figure it makes sense to tell you some of those things :)

Burns. 2 weeks ago, we had two separate burns on the school kids who come in from the villages. One little girl was badly burned on her shoulder and arm from boiling water, and a little boy was burned on his forearm from a flat iron. Little thing #1: We cleaned the wounds. Nothing fancy. Cleaned with normal saline (basically salt water), applied simple burn cream you could find at any Wal-Greens and covered with a clean dressing. And now they are both healed. Amazing!

Infections. Yesterday another little boy from the village came to the clinic with his sister who goes to school at GSF. This little guy was so quiet and it took quite a bit of coaxing to get him to tell us what was bothering him-a small wound (looks like Staff infection, but who really knows) that had grass seeds in it and was obviously infected. Simple thing #2: we took the seeds out and wrapped the leg. Easy. Just some pliers and that good old normal saline again and we've got a clean wound! He came back today and the swelling in the leg is greatly decreased and the wound is opening, releasing all this pent up pus. Smelled terrible, but now his leg has a chance to heal!

Knowledge. Today my partner and I conducted a women's health class for the teenagers here. We went through all the traditional embarrassing stuff, made the girls all giggle. Simple thing #3: we took questions. The girls asked about getting pregnant, hygiene during their periods, abortion... Hopefully we are building bridges making ourselves more available to the teens. Maybe today there was a pregnancy prevented, an abortion averted, or an urinary tract infection avoided.

Play. Both yesterday and today were the first times I've had to really play with the kids. I broke out the frisbee only to discover they are good! Simple thing #4: we had fun. I hope this time invested leads to deeper relationships beyond the games.

Although I am TIRED, God has been GOOD TO ME. I cannot deny it-believe me, I have tried! I have worked so hard to make this on my own. But this place is too tiring. I just can't pour energy into it all the time without Jesus working through me. It is too exhausting! So onward we go, going to bed late, waking up early. And realizing that often the best things in life are free.

Lord of the Flies

If there were a book that represents the social structure here in the orphanage-it would be Lord of the Flies.

The layout of the homes is (what I think) an excellent outline: there is an Ugandan House Mom for each home (there are 5 children's homes) who lives with the kids all the time except for her 5 days of leave every month. There is also an Ugandan Auntie who assists the House Mom. Each house has 2 rooms for children-about 4-8 to a room. Usually the big kids are in one room, and the small kids in the other. The houses are divided by gender, except the toddler and baby house which is mixed.

This structure works well-some of the time. A few of the House Moms' run their houses so well-truly like a little family. But some of them... Not so much. As I've mentioned previously, some of the older kids will beat the younger to get them to do what they want. Thus far, that is something I have seen with the girls, not so much the boys.

One morning while on our morning rounds, we heard some screaming coming from one of the houses. My teammate Meredith went to investigate and found one of the younger (about 10 years old) girls crying. The others in the house told Mere that the girl had refused to do her chores. Seems simple enough-a little girl cries because she doesn't want to do her chores. OK-so we finished our rounds. Later that day, we found out that one of the older girls had taken the one who refused to do her chores into a room and had beaten her with a stick. Yup-Lord of the Flies.

The kids have their own social structure-the older ones have authority over the younger. Depending on the house, the older ones exert authority using respect, and others use force. Most of the houses reflect the attitude of the authority-either the house feels tense or the house feels secure and safe. Very interesting.

It is hard to be here and stay an observer. Most of the time I just want to jump up and shout "this is wrong!" But what will that accomplish besides alienating myself and putting on this fake facade of superiority? I think Jesus knew the people well before he said-"wrong!" to them. Obviously: He is God (so that makes the whole knowing thing easier) but He spent 30 years of His life just living beside the people before He jumped into ministry. I need to remember this is for the long haul-and not just the 9 months, but for eternity. Am I expressing the love of Jesus to people as I interact? As I teach? As I learn?

Pray that I know when to stand up and say "wrong!" And when to watch and learn. Jesus was a Master at both, so I want to follow His lead

There is not enough room at our Inn

Greetings to you!

By the way, the church here on our campus of GSF sends their greetings to you :)

In my adventures thus far, I have not allowed myself to engage in the tragedy of the lives of the children here. But today a chink in my armor was found.

Late last week there was a call to our social worker about a baby who was at a nearby hospital called Bwikwe who needed a home. Today we needed to bring a baby to the hospital to be admitted for a small surgical procedure in the morning, so we also went to investigate (not all babies who are brought as orphans are true orphans so we have to check every single child's story). As I have seen in the past, the hospital was overcrowded with approx 15 children in a room that is the same size as an American hospital single room. The children need a parent or guardian to stay with. The adult is responsible for bedside care and giving oral medications. The adult sleeps with the child in their hospital bed-a single sized bed.

The baby who we were "investigating" was so cute! He cooed and babbled and laughed at everyone! One of the most easy-going babies I have ever met. A Czech doctor was there saying "if you want to bad enough, you could take him." But the thing was-we couldn't! There is seriously not a single bed left in our orphanage. Every room, every bed, every staff member is filled to capacity. As we left the hospital, our social worker turned to me and said, "I hate saying no, it is terrible."

We took the baby to child welfare along with the member from the village who brought him malnourished, with malaria and anemic to the hospital, and made a plan. We are still hoping to be able to take him if a bed opens, but we are actually above capacity at the moment.

I know it is clique, but what would Jesus had done. Really-what on earth would Jesus have done??? On one hand-a child needs a home. On the other-we will NOT be able to provide care to the kids we have if we take in more than we have resources for. What to do? What to do? I hate turning away a sweet child named Jared.

Those of you who told me I may bring a baby home-it would be Jared ;)

Prayer requests:
1. that I find time to spend with Jesus! I have been so busy since coming here, I feel like I have no time to spend with Him.
2. pray for a child I am coming to love who is HIV positive and is in some of the final stages of AIDS. Pray for him by name. His name is Phillip.

Someone wise said prayer is not a part of the work-prayer IS the work. Love to you from Uganda :)

Just a few things which are Ugandan :)

I thought I would just review a few daily Ugandan things for you :)

1. The adults here are all referred to as "Uncle" or "Auntie" as a sign of respect. So my name is now "Auntie Sarah." It is delightful :)

2. Every Ugandan child I've met thus far is totally confident in front of a crowd, but the moment I talk to them one on one, it is all mumbling and looking at the floor. Makes it hard to understand what on earth they are meaning!

3. I can talk to anyone here in English, so it has been a challenge to learn any Lugandan. The people are willing to teach, but I have so many opportunities to cop out!

4. When you want someone to move over for you on a bench, you say "extend."

5. To raise the eye brows means "yes," so when I ask the kids a question, most of the time they only raise their eyebrows, so I'm sitting there waiting for them to answer, and they sit there I'm sure wondering "why is this lady still staring at me? I answered her already!"

6. The little kids shout "the visitors!" and come running when they spot one of the missionaries. Love it :)

Those are a few of the things I have discovered thus far in Uganda :) Even more to come, I'm sure!

PS the photo is from our first Ugandan "home," the Matoke Inn guest house outside Kampala. Matoke means "banana"

"God of this *orphanage*"

"You're the God of this city,
You're the King of these people,
You're the Lord of this nation,
You are.

You're the Light in this darkness,
You're the hope to the hopeless,
You're the Peace to the restless,
You are.

There is no one like our God.
There is no one like you God.

For greater things have yet to come
greater things are still to be done in this City.
Greater things have yet to come,
greater things are still to be done here."

We arrived at Jinja on Tuesday to dancing children and drums! It was beautiful, and sometime, when we welcome another visitor, I will have to take pictures. It was the most incredible welcome I've ever experienced!

Since arriving we have:
* learned some of our responsibilities at the orphanage-lots more work there!
* are on our way to meeting over 90 kids! And learning names-augh!
* remembering why I am here: loving the kids for Jesus.
* today we began our nursing responsibilities. We were worried about not having enough work to do-and now I realize that was silly ;)

It is hard to be here. The kid's stories are so intense. It is not fair their little lives have experienced so much already, at age 16 years, 5 years, 5 months...

More to come, but 6:30am rounds are coming quickly!