I learned something while I was in Africa. Well, I learned a lot, but this is something I want to share before I actually start telling you about my experience that is important to know. I learned that no matter how much you read about Africa, watch on TV and movies about Africa, hear about from people who have been there, look at pictures from, etc…etc…, you can never fully understand unless you have been there. I know that in everything I write and share, you will not understand it the same way that I experienced it, but I still look forward to sharing it with you.
This is going to be long. Really long. And I probably won’t even tell everything. But I hope you still read it all eventually and leave me comments.
I went on the trip with five other female students (Jessica Berryhill aka Yac, Tabby Lang, Ashley Allen, Ashley Madriz & Kelley Mitchell), one male student (Scott Schomburg who we named SAS b/c those are his initials & he drinks tea like a girlJ), and 3 older men (Dr. Shively, Bob his brother, and Bernie) who we called the Three Wise Men.Tuesday, May 9, 2006
I am flying over Africa right now. All I see is lots of desert and lots of clouds, but it is amazing. Just knowing Africa is below me makes the fact that I still have a few hours left on my second 8 hour flight just fine. Beside me is a man from Uganda with his almost 2 year old son. He now lives in England and is taking his son home for the first time to visit. The son is adorable of course and we have been playing back and forth this whole flight. There is a woman on this flight who 20 years ago started an orphanage in Uganda with her husband. Another woman on the flight is a professor at Wheaton. Airports/airplanes are great for people watching. They make me want to know everyone’s story. Where is everyone from? Where are they going? Why are they going? Where have they been?
We flew over the Alps today too which was beautiful! I took a pic out the window. I hope it turns out. Plane pictures can be cool if they work.Later the same day
And I’m in Africa! As soon as our plane touched down in Entebbe, Uganda I whipped out my journal and crossed off the very first thing on my list of things to do before I die (go to Africa). I stepped of the last step from the plane onto the ground Africa and did a little happy jig. When we got out of the airport and where putting our luggage on the little bus that would take us to the Stevenson’s house in Kampala, I looked up into the beautiful African night sky and the first thing I saw was the big dipper. The same group of stars I can see every night from my backyard back in South Whitley, Indiana. It’s like it said “You’re home.”
It took about an hour to get to the Stevenson’s house and the ride was crazy. The guy drove so fast, got up on the bumpers of other cars, and passed every car possible, plus this was all happening on a completely different side of the road than I’m used to and tons of people were walking & riding their bikes right there. We passed so many stores & tons of people. Loud music was coming from various pubs and the smell varied from the latrines at camp, to wood smoke, to I don’t know what, but it’s one of those smells that if I ever get the hint of it anywhere else I will immediately think “Africa” and memories will flood back. We got safely to the Stevenson’s house & were greeted by them, unloaded our stuff, moved into our rooms, had a snack & went to bed.
The Stevenson’s are Tim & Colleen & are the missionaries we stayed with. When I think of missionaries I kind of get the image of self-righteous people who shove Jesus down people’s throats and are very strict about only “God stuff”. I know that’s not an accurate description of most missionaries, but that is the first thing that comes to mind. Sorry. The Stevenson’s are AMAZING people though and that description doesn’t fit them at all of course. Tim reminds me of Dave Socha so if any of you know him, you know what that means. He’s always joking & you can never really take him seriously. It’s great. But of course if I really had a question, I always made sure I asked Colleen so I knew I’d get an honest answerJ. These people are from Canada
(Eh?) and both of their parents were missionaries too so they really grew up in Africa. Colleen went to school at Anderson University too. They have started 500 some churches, 120 schools, and many many programs including TAP which is an AIDs program, women’s programs, a program that builds wells, they do the sponsorship program Children of Promise & Colleen is also on the board for Compassion International & so so so much more. I don’t know how they keep it all straight. They have a great staff too including Moses, Eric, Philip, Godfrey, Apaphia, Olivia, & others. And they have good taste in music.Their house is really nice & pretty big, which it has to be because of all the people they always have coming & staying with them for trips like this. Part of the time we are here there will also be 2 other groups here at the same time. There are little Geckos that run around on the walls.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Today we just kind of relaxed for the first half of the day to get over jetlag & whatever. I woke up around 6:00 because of loud birds. I was too excited about the fact that I was in Africa to fall back to sleep so I got out of bed about 6:15. Colleen opened up the back doors to the yard so I could go back there. It’s beautiful! There are awesome trees & flowers & a fountain, etc. You can see part of Lake Victoria. On their back porch there are HUGE snails, little tree frogs, and geckos. I touched a baby gecko tonight that their 11 year old son Logan caught & thought he’d freak me out by. I also ate a fried grasshopper. It didn’t taste too bad, but the fact that I could see its eyes when I put it in my mouth & stuff made me limit myself to only one.
Before lunch we had orientation just telling us what we’d be doing, things to expect, culture differences, rules, etc. After lunch we went across the street to work. They had recently purchased this compound & had build little guest rooms, a bathroom, and showers over there
because they need more room for big groups. Yac (Jess Berryhill) and I planted some flowers & then she, Scott, Tabby, Dr. Shively, and I planted grass. This is not just putting seed out like in the U.S. No, this stuff was grown already with roots and had to be separated, then holes had to be hoed, and then each thing of grass had to be planted in the ground. We called where we were planting the Ant Hotel and changed the words of Hotel California around to fit. An African man named Eric who is also the night guard taught us how to do all this & helped. I’m so happy it was an African person telling us what to do and that we were working with rather than a bunch of white Americans doing something our way & expecting it to benefit them greatly.Other people were painting the guest rooms. Each room had a theme including colonial, Masai, and Zebra. The Zebra room didn’t get done so Yac, Tabby, Dr. Shively, Bernie & I stayed longer to get it done. I’m scared of heights. The reason I have never had stitches, sprains, or breaks is because I’m a pansy & don’t do things that could get me those things. Well, I climbed to the top of a rickety old ladder & painted. Yay for me.
We came back & showered & had dinner. The power went out (normal occurance) while I was showering so my hair got washed in the dark. After dinner we got into groups and planned what to do with the different ages we’d be working with in the village later this week.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Today I really really felt like I was in Africa. We went to a school in town called Murchison Bay. Driving through the town we saw tons of people, cows, goats, chickens, etc. It was a holiday today so school was not in session (although one class was going on while we were there). The pregnant headmaster showed us around and then we painted the whole day. We took a break for lunch and while we were waiting for it to be ready I got out some bubbles I brought along and walked over to where some kids were playing cards. A really little girl saw us and starting crying and ran to her mom and wouldn’t look at us. It was sad, but funny. The mom and the boys liked the bubbles and we left them with them and then went and ate our lunch of rice, potatoes, beans, chipattis, fruit and coke. It was really good.At the end of the day when we were done painting, we were cleaning up all our paint stuff and a group of boys & 2 little girls were playing nearby. We smiled and said hi a lot and then when we were done cleaning up we talked to them a little and took pictures. Most everyone (except me) have digital cameras so we got to show them the pictures after we took them & they really liked that & laughed a lot. I got teary eyed a bit of course which I knew would happen tons on this trip because back home just thinking about going on this trip got me teary eyed. This must be what heaven is like. Beautiful children with smiles and laughter, beautiful trees & birds & Lake Victoria in the background. One of the two little girls especially kept watching me & we smiled at each other a lot & talked a little.
On the way back to the Stevenson’s we rode in the back of the truck and saw so many beautiful kids & people in general with smiles and waves as we passed. We stopped to get gas and got told by a guy with a gun not to take pictures. The radio was on & the news was talking about 20 people getting gunned down so we listened to him. After we got gas the truck smelled like gas & the part we were sitting in sparked a few times so that was a little scary.
We stopped at a market to buy wrap skirts b/c we have to wear skirts in the village. It was a little overwhelming with all the people & just knowing how much we stuck out. It was still neat though & I saw a few Masai people! I learned about them in my Intercultural Communication class & we watched videos about them so I recognized them right away by their clothes. I just think it’s really cool.
When we got back, we showered our incredibly dirty selves and ate a dinner of lasagna, garlic bread, pumpkin baked in banana leaves, avocado, cucumber & apple salad, and then baked bananas & ice cream for dessert. Tomorrow we are going to the village so we planned some things for that. On the way we will go to Jinja which is where the little girl I sponsor through Compassions’s project is. I’ll be SO close & not be able to see her. I want to do an internship here sometime though so maybe someday.
Friday, May 12, 2006
It’s been a steady rain since about 6:00 this morning and it is now 9:18. We leave for the village soon. Normally it only rains for a little bit here, but today we are going to the Nile & the village so of course it’s been raining for over 3 hours & shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. I pray it stops before we leave, or at least before we reach Jinja.
Later
The rain stopped. On the way to Boliso II, the village we stayed in, we stopped in Jinja at the source of the Nile. We took a boat ride. The boat and life jackets definitely wouldn’t meet ACA (American Camping Association-I’m a camp counselor) standards! But we lived and it was fun. Someone had to use a bucket to throw out the water that was leaking into the boat as we went along though. We saw about five Nile lizards called Monitors.They were about 4 ft. long. We also saw tons of birds including the African fish eagle which is like a bald eagle which has been my favorite animal since I was a little girl. I’ve never seen a bald eagle so it was cool to see this which is so similar.
Then we had a picnic and went on our way again.
We got to the village called Boliso II in Pallisa district with Iteso people and tons of them were there to meet us. One woman came running up to the car making this yelling noise & waving her arms. I don’t know how to write it or make it, but it’s a yell of joy. The people greeted us and ushered us into the church/school/community building where there were seats in the very front on the ‘stage’ facing everyone else. Everyone came in and then they sang a song for us. I looked out at all the beautiful people & tears filled my eyes, but I couldn’t hold them in this time. The tears streamed down my face & this time I wasn’t trying to hold back my tears, I was trying to hold back sobs. My dream has come true.
After the song & some introductory remarks & stuff we all introduced ourselves. I told them my church at home sends them greetings and they went crazy clapping & cheering. We then set up our tents. Everyone just stood and watched us. We were always on display with our every move being watched by hundreds of eyes.
After we set up our tents Yac got out a Frisbee and we started playing with the kids and taking pictures. The kids would like mob us for pictures. I was standing there with lots of kids around me, especially this one little girl who stood really close. She got brave and would touch me & then hide behind her friend. She didn’t even care about the picture being taken, she just wouldn’t leave my side. She didn’t speak English though, only Ateso.Some people started playing music so a lot of people went over to join and dance so I played Frisbee with some girls and then a few boys and adults joined us too. It was me on one side & all of them on the other and I’d throw to them & they’d throw it back to me, but the one little girl kept standing by me. If the Frisbee went far from me she would get it & bring it back to me but I got her to throw it a few times. Then she starting picking up sticks & piling them on their head (b/c that’s how people carried everything) & then I turned around a little bit later & she was gone. I guess she had to go home and I don’t think I saw her againL.
After that we went inside for dinner. Beef, chicken, rice & potatoes. Same we had for every meal. The beef was too tough to chew though. I tried so hard though b/c I know these people were giving us their best.
After dinner they sang a couple songs & had a choir competition. I said that this trip would tell me if Africa is truly to be in my future and while I was listening to these people sing to me & looking at all these faces that were so honored to have us as visitors, I knew that the answer is yes.After the choir competition we went out to get ready for bed, but the people stayed and were playing music & singing until early into the morning. A few kids were dancing on a big rock so a few of us joined them, but then tons of people came out and watched us so we stopped dancing & started teaching the kids how to give five, thumb wrestle, and other hand games. I made friends with a little girl that night. I don’t know her name because I couldn’t understand it, but she sat by me and we asked each other’s names and we played the games together.
We all took our “baths” that night which was hot and cold water in small tubs. So it was just washing off with soap and a washcloth in a brick building w/a few holes and a huge open window. They gave us water for these baths every morning and night which is such a sacrifice for them. The village used to have a well, but it wasn’t dug deep enough so is now empty so they have to travel pretty far to get water. We got nothing but the best from these people who have almost nothing.
When we all got in our tent to go to bed for the night I started to feel sick. Around 1:00am, a little after I fell asleep, I woke up & threw up. That continued about every 20 minutes all night long.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Still throwing up in the morning. After breakfast (I couldn’t eat), Colleen prayed for me. In the first half of the day we broke up into groups- kids, youth, women, & men. Tabby, Kelley, & I did things w/the kids, Yac & Ashley M. did things with the youth, Colleen did stuff with the women, and Dr. Shively did stuff with the men. Scott. Bernie, and Ashley A. helped lay bricks for the new school they were building. Amazingly I did not throw up the whole time we were doing
things with the kids and had enough strength to do all the stuff we did with them which included jump rope, bubbles, games like Duck Duck Goose, Ring Around the Rosie, and Red Light Green, songs like Father Abraham, The B-I-B-L-E, This Little Light of Mine, If You’re Happy & You Know It, etc. We were running out of ideas & the translator told us it was almost time for lunch so we should just take a break. That’s when I started to feel sick again so it was good to be able to sit down. I’m so glad I was given enough strength for that time though.While I was sitting down I played with bubbles
with some of the kids & youth. A young boy (probably about 10?) was sitting across from me w/an even younger boy (probably not quite 2) with a ratty old t-shirt & no pants. He was so cute and kept smiling and the young boy tried to get him to come to me. He would come part way & then run back to the other boy & laugh. He eventually got brave enough & came all the way to me. The people in the village spoke Ateso and sometimes language was a challenge, but you don’t need to communicate with words to make a connection with people, especially kids. While I was sitting there a woman brought up her 
beautiful baby girl and put her in my arms. It was precious.We had lunch, but I couldn’t keep it down and started to get sick again and feeling bad again so even though it killed me to do it, I took a nap since I hadn’t slept the night before because puking the whole night & because I felt too light headed to stand up. I woke up & puked right after they passed out candy and I’m happy I missed that because I guess it was basically a mob scene. Don’t know if I could have handled that. Well, I could have, but it would have stressed me out.
Then two men named Edrin & David came. David is in charge of the AIDS program TAPP and Edrin is in charge of the sponsorship program Children of Promise and was a sponsored child himself. They taught the kids about AIDS and also taught them & us a new Jesus Loves Me. “Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me. Halleluiah, oh, oh, oh, Jesus loves me. Halleluiah, oh, oh, oh, Jesus loves me.” It figures their Jesus Loves Me song is upbeat & danceable while ours is slow & not.
They showed the Jesus movie to the village that night. They got me sprite & bread to eat since they all knew I was sick. Which means someone probably had to walk or bike into town to get it for me. But that’s how giving these people were. I thought I was going on this trip to serve but I am positive Africa touched me more than I touched it. I ate my bread & drank my sprite out on the big rock during the movie. After awhile the little girl I made friends with yesterday and some other girls and a few young boys came over and sat w/me. A few of the young boys would get brave & touch me & then hide behind a friend. I went to like tickle one boy who did it & scared him & he fell backwards off the rock (not a high rock, don’t worry) and everyone giggled. The girl from the day before talked to me a bit. “Madam, what is your name?” “Madam, where are you from?” “Madam, I would like to be friends with you.”
Sunday, May 14, 2006
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
I didn’t throw up again, slept through the whole night, and feel fine today. Despite being sick, the time in the village was one of the (if not THE) best experiences of my life. Other people in my group were saying that out of everyone, why did it have to be me that got sick when this trip meant so much to me. Scott told me that he thought I handled it really well and I’m glad he told me that because I felt bad taking a nap & sitting down sometimes.
Today we had breakfast, church & lunch in the village. The church service was full of music including a couple songs by us and a beautiful solo by Ashley A. Dr. Shively preached. These people have so much enthusiasm for God. A person will yell Praise the Lord & they echo with a loud Amen! If music starts, they immediately start clapping & dancing. They will cheer so much for things that are said that they like. You see little kids with bony arms & legs, but big tummies. Not from obesity like in the U.S., but from not enough food, yet they gave us so much. They have more problems than we will ever be able to understand here in the U.S. yet the joy they have in the Lord is so much more enthusiastic. It’s all so overwhelming.
After the service a girl came up to me. I think she was in the group that sat out on the rock with me the night before. She kneeled and shook my hand (a lot of children and women did that when they greeted us) and while she did she handed me a piece of paper that had a note from her (Esther) and an address to write her. She started the letter “To my best friend”.
We then had lunch and said our goodbyes. We had to strap a live chicken to the top of the car to take home because Scott got close to a 25 year old teacher named Vincent and Vincent gave him the chicken as a gift which is an honor of course. In Africa it’s normal for men who are friends to hold hands so Vincent held hands with Scott over the weekend. It was actually really neat, but it was fun to make fun of Scott for it.
Leaving was so sad and of course the tears came to my eyes again as we drove away, especially when Esther ran after our car waving goodbye.
When we got home from the village we all took showers and put on kind of nice clothes & maybe a little makeup and went out to eat at a nice restaurant. We kind of felt guilty about it after having been in the village, but all enjoyed having something other than beef, chicken, rice, & potatoes.
We also found out that while we were gone to the village they found a green mamba (mambas are the most dangerous snakes in the world) on their property, and a 10 foot crocodile in the channel by their house… too bad we missed that…
Monday, May 15, 2006
Monday was a work day. Did some painting on the guest houses and had to clean out this crate of Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes from Samaritan’s Purse. There was a hole in the crate so water had gotten in and ruined some of the boxes so we had to separate the good ones from the nasty molded ones. Then we moved into the guest houses because that night a group of Canadians came with Colleen’s parents (the started of the Church of God in Uganda) and Cassie Trentaz (who came to Uganda for the first time her sophomore year at AU too with Tri-S) was bringing a group of 2 AU students & another girl the next day. When the Canadian group got there we just all met and socialized and had dinner. Then we came to the guest houses & planned what to do for the youth convention tomorrow.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
We went to a youth convention in Kasubi this morning. We were in charge of 1 hour of it on living a life of integrity. There were 600 youth (about 12-35 years old) there so we were pretty nervous about it, especially when we said the word integrity and the translator, Hanson, didn’t know it. We were thinking “great, they ask us to speak about something they don’t know,” but we got it worked out. I’m not really sure how it went, but I think it was okay.
Throughout the convention that day our group went in small groups to make home visits to people with AIDS. For a lot of us this was one of the events with the most impact on us. I went in the 1st group. It was me, Yac, Ashley M., and Bernie. Colleen, David (the Tapp guy, and a social worker (woot woot) for TAPP came too. We 1st went to the TAPP building and David told us all about the program. TAPP stands for Tumaini AIDS Provention Program. Tumaini is the Swahili word for hope. The program does things like counseling, advising where to go for testing and treatment, programs for kids with parents who have AIDS, training others to care for people with AIDS, educating people, small projects for women with AIDS such as sewing and making necklaces, home visits, etc. David remembered that I had said I was studying social work when I introduced myself at the village and he had wanted to talk to me and said they could use me someday. I told him that this is what I wanted to do so maybe a practicum or internship here someday really could happen. We then toured the small facility and went on two home visits.
We then visited a woman with AIDS. I call her a woman because she is a widow dying of AIDS with a three year old son and a 6 month old daughter, but really she is only 20 years old. I am 20 years old and still call myself a girl. Her son’s name was Fred and her daughter was Flo and she had beautiful big brown eyes. Praise God because Fred has been tested for AIDS and is okay, but pray because Flo has not yet been tested and will not be until she is at least 1 year old. Why am I living in a big house in America and getting a great education at 20 years old while this person is dying from AIDS as a widowed mother of 2 babies at 20?
The second visit we went on was a woman who is not sure of her age but thinks it is close to 25. She has a 10 year old son, an 8 year old son, and a 4 year old adorable daughter. Her brother just died so his child will soon be living with them also. Her husband left her and now has a new wife, but wants to come back to her. This woman and her children live in a tiny home that costs 7 dollars a month. The landlord has raised it to about 10 dollars a month though and she can’t afford that so she is looking for a new place to live. She can’t pay rent and feed her family. She can’t pay for school fees for her kids. She goes door to door offering to was clothes for pay, but people don’t do the wash that often even if they are willing to pay someone else to do it so she never has a steady income. The little 4 year old girl sang a song for us & then I prayed for them. I’m not a big fan of praying out loud in front of people anyway & it’s even harder when you are trying not to really take in all you are hearing so that you don’t bowl for these people. The woman was so grateful for our visit and we got pictures with both the families. As far as I’m ware of, this was my 1st time meeting someone w/AIDS. You hear about AIDS a lot, but it doesn’t become real to you until you are listening to someone who has it tell their story while you’re holding their child who it may have been spread to. Everyone else in the groups were touched just as deeply by their visits as me & the other people who went on the same visits as me.
When we weren’t at our TAPP visits we stayed at the youth convention and listened to the speakers and music. They sang a few songs like “Lord I Lift Your Name on High” which was really neat b/c we could all sing together. People from Uganda, America, and Canada. People who speak English, Ateso, Swahili, and Luganda all worshipping God together with the same song. Sitting diagonally across from me was a little girl who looked really familiar & we kept making eye contact & smiling and waved a couple times. I didn’t specifically remember her from the village, but I figured that must be how we knew each other. After the conference she came up to me & asked me for my address. Tabby thought she looked familiar too, but when we asked where she was from she said Kampala and then she told us we were at her school. She was the
little girl from Murchison Bay where we painted!!!! Her name was Irene & we talked and I got a pic with her & gave her my address. I asked for hers but she didn’t have one. I thought about her so much after that. I was planning on sending Colleen the pics I have of her to give the headmaster at the school to give to Irene since she didn’t have an address.Whenever we went anywhere in Kasubi the little kids would yell “mzungu!” (which means white person) & wave & wave & wave. It was awesome. As we left the youth convention some kids said “Mzungu, give me five!” so I put my hand out the window & gave them five. Also when we were stopped at a corner to turn a man asked us if we had husbands. We just laughed but Moses told us we should have said “yeah, Jesus.” But we decided that if we ever got asked again we would all just point to Scott.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006 (my half-birthday!)
We left for the game park at 6:30 this morning. We kind of didn’t want to go though. We wanted to work more and be with the people more, especially since Colleen wasn’t able to go with us. It took about 4 hours to get here. I refuse to sleep when driving in Africa because I LOVE looking out the window and waving to the kids and other people. I never want to miss anything. The ride here gave me a lot of time to think. I thought about the people I met with AIDS, I thought about Irene a lot, I thought about how incredibly amazing the Stevensons are, I thought about the fact that I’m leaving in a few days, I thought about the fact that I HAVE to come back. That this is where I’m meant to be. I thought about if I’m really capable of it. And I thought about the fact that I’m not capable of it at all. Not alone, but that God will provide me with the skills and strengths needed. On the way I also saw 2 monkeys and when we got into the park we saw baboons, birds, warthogs, and different types of antelope. We stopped at the top of the falls and
then went to our camp sites. We had these little building with a bedroom and a bathroom. 2 of us were in each one. They were scary. Nasty bugs, centipedes (but they were so big we called them billionipedes) in the shower, kind of dirty. Warthogs were walking around. Plus the fact that we were in northern Uganda & the LRA has attacked around there before. Of course they had also attacked Boliso once also, but that was a really long time ago.When we got to our camp & in our rooms we walked down to the Nile & looked around. We came back & ate dinner & then took showers. Yac & I made Scott get the billionipede out first though. While Yac was showering Ashley A. & Tabby were yelling so I went over and found Ashley in a towel b/c I lizard had crawled out of the drain while she was showering. Poor Scott. Being the only boy on the trip, he has to be the brave one. Tabby & I went over to get him. It was dark by this time so we held hands. There are these big ants that have wings & then loose them in the morning. The guys’ porch ligh was on & all these ants were flying around the door so we refused to walk up & knock so we just yelled for Scott to help. Shively told us to just shoo it out, but luckily Scott was more sympathetic and came to the rescue. But as we got back to Tabby & Ashley’s room, Ashley comes running out b/c now this big animal/bug with pinchy things ran into their room. Scott took a deep break, said “I can do this” & went in & saved the day. By this time Yac was out of the shower & killing the flying ants that had found their way into our room. I helped her kill them it then it was time for my shower but another billionipede had found it’s way into the shower. We got it out & I took a quick shower & we all decided we are NOT showering tomorrow. We kept saying “I wish momma Colleen was here” or “I want to go home.” Meaning the Stevensons, not Indiana. We went to bed quickly under our mosquito nets before anything else scary could happen, but 1st Yac & I shoved towels under the crack at the bottom of the door & the bathroom door. Sometime in the night or early morning I woke up in the pitch black from a bad dream and wasn’t sure where I was. Home? No. Stevensons? No. Then I remembered. “Ah, go back to sleep, go back to sleep.” That’s what entered my mind along w/thoughts of the LRA and the fact that if some kind of bug was crawling toward my face at that moment I’d have no idea b/c I could not see ANYTHING.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
When I woke up to my alarm this morning it was still dark out & the power turns off from midnight to 8:30 so we got ready by flashlight. When we moved the towels from under the bathroom door a scorpion crawled out. Yac was brave & killed it in the light of the flashlight. We then ate breakfast & watched the sunrise. It was really cool to see a full sunrise in Africa. We then rode down to the Nile to cross & start our safari. We saw some hippos as we crossed the river & on the other side were a bunch of baboons, including a baby being carried on it mom. It was scary being so close to them though & not being 
in a vehicle. We got back on our little bus & started on our safari. Before we got too far though our bus got stuck in the mud. This all happened after Sara our guide w/an A K 47 told us that she has the gun b/c sometimes elephants charge & she has to scare them away & that we don’t get out of the vehicle. Well, when our bus got stuck we had to get out or it would have tipped. This all happened on a main road so a truck w/a bunch of men in it stopped to help. One guy wouldn’t help though since we were white. Probably the first time I’ve experienced racism towards me which is a good thing to 
experience actually, considering many people experience it everyday & in my 20 years this is the first time I can think of that I have experienced it toward me. The men couldn’t get the bus out so our guides, along w/the gun, left us to go get someone to pull it out. Here we were on the side of the Nile they tell people not to go b/c of the LRA, on a main road w/people passing by including at least one who doesn’t like white people, right by piles of elephant poop. Yeah, the elephants that sometimes charge. After our guides found someone to pull us out, Sara came back right away to wait with us b/c she was afraid of elephants coming. After waiting 2 hours the tractor came & pulled us out & we went on our safari and it was great.
We saw elephant, antelope, other antelope-like animals (can’t remember all the names), monkeys, baboons, giraffes, waterbuffalo, a jackal, birds, and a momma lion! I REALLY wanted to see a lion. That was the coolest part. We then ate at a nice hotel and then went on a boat ride down the Nile to the falls. My camera broke right before we reached the falls thoughL. We saw crocodiles, hippos, birds, elephants, & waterbuffalo & the falls were beautiful. After the boat ride we all just wanted to go “home,” but we’re going on a chimp walk tomorrow. We’ve heard it’s like 2hrs long, we miss Colleen, we 
don’t want to sleep w/scary things again, and we are sad that we have to leave for home soon. We all sucked it up though and had some great bonding time tonight before & after dinner. We talked until about 11:00pm about relationships, love, God, people, Africa, religion, Heaven, and how amazing we all think the Stevensons are.We then went to bed, but Yac & I found one of those pinchy animal/bug things, but again she was brave & killed it while I stood on a chair. Then we saw a big lizard crawl by the window in our room. Ashley A., Tabby, Yac & I almost all slept spooning together in 2 beds pushed together, but we decided to suck it up & sleep w/the lizard.
Friday, May 19, 2006
We got up early enough for the sunrise again. Yeah, it was cool the first time, but I’m not really a morning person so once was plenty for me, but we had to be up that early for the chimp walk. The walk that was 3 & a half hours in the jungle in sandals & we didn’t see any chimps. Just a few scary baboons that barked at us, another kind of monkey high up in a tree, and ants that bit our feet. At first the trees and stuff were really cool, but after walking around in the jungle crossing log bridges with a guy with a machete for 3 and a ½ hours it got old, especially when we all just wanted to be “home” anyway. One time our guide took his machete and left us alone while he went off the path to look for chimps. We made a “last entry” in the video camera incase we died, but he came back before we got eaten by anything. He was unsuccessful on finding the chimps though.
We made the 4 hr bumpy drive home and stopped to shop for a bit. We were SO disappointed when we got home b/c everyone was gone to a cookout. As soon as they got back we ran out to Momma ColleenJ and hugged her and told her all about our crazy adventures & how much we missed her. Then we watched the Lion King! When we were on the safari we kept singing the songs & quoting it and had a huge desire to watch it.
Seeing the animals was really cool, but I would have rather been with the people. That’s what I love about Africa. Maybe if Colleen had gone w/us it would have been better b/c we wouldn’t have taken a bus so we probably wouldn’t have gotten stuck, we would have felt safer, and we would have gone out again in the evening to look for animals.
The ride home made me really sad too b/c I though even more about the whole trip and the fact that I have to leave in a couple days.
This whole trip has confirmed my love for Africa. I was in love with it before I ever came & now that I’ve been here I can’t even express it. This trip has let me know for certain that Africa is not just my plan, but God’s plan for me.
Saturday, May 20, 200
Today we went shopping in the morning and then to see Heritage, the international school they started. After that was a surprise celebration for Colleen’s parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. It was really neat b/c they did it like a real wedding. Traditional dress and entrance and music. We ate and then went into the church & different people spoke, choirs sang, people danced, & women put on a skit. One choir was little kids with one really little girl, probably five or six at the most, was the lead singer. They were so good & so cute & Irene was in it! I was so happy to see her again but I was afraid she’d leave before it was over.At the end of the celebration (it was now dark out) there was a lot of singing. The last song we knew so we got to sing along. It was great & I was so sad this was the last time I’d be hearing African music, worshipping with African people, & luckily the power went out (like I said, normal occurance) just as my tears started to fall. We kept singing in the dark. When it was over & we started to leave, Irene found me. She told me she was worried I had already left & I told her I was worried she had already left. She had gotten an address of a relative that I could write her at. Now I can send her the pictures & write to her! I hugged her goodbye and started really crying as I got on the taxi van & waved goodbye to her out the back window. I cried on & off all a few times all night.
God provided so much for this trip. I wrote letters and talked to my church & raised over what the trip actually cost so I was able to give Colleen about $450.. She asked what I specifically wanted it to go towards & I told her just wherever it was needed the most. She asked me if she could use it for the TAPP training that is happening next week. I told her of course & she got teary eyed & told me that this was a miracle, an answered prayer. She said that David had asked her if they could do this training & she had told him yes even though they didn’t have the money for it. They had no idea where the money would come from so they just started praying. They had come up with the money for a lot of the stuff needed for it, but still needed money for food & some other things. She had just talked to David this weekend & told him she had no idea what they were going to do about it so they were just praying really hard that some how it would come before next week & she held up the money I gave her & said “here it is.” Then she thanked & hugged me. I cannot wait to share w/the people who gave me money that they were part of a miracle.
I talked to Colleen about maybe doing a summer internship in 2007 and she said it’d be possible. But then Cassie saw me almost cry when someone said something about us leaving tomorrow & told me to come back. I told her that I wanted to & that I had talked to Colleen about it. I told her that I was a social work major & stuff & she asked my name & said she’d heard about me when I told her. She said that she is leading an invitation only group here in January & they are inviting 2 student leaders, 2 ed. Majors, & 2 social work majors & told me to plan for January & then I could plan another time to come for even longer. I’m not sure if that means I’m definitely going to be invited, or if it just means they’ll consider inviting me. I REALLY REALLY hope I get invited. That’s less than 8 months away!!!!!
Sunday, May 21, 2006
We got up & ate breakfast this morning & then said goodbye to all the Canadians and Cassie’s group. We then packed up the bus & said goodbye to Tim & Colleen. It was so sad & most of us cried. I cried driving to the airport some too as I watched and waved out the window. At the airport we had some trouble b/c we had e-tickets & I don’t think they really knew how to work them, but we got it worked out. Tim & Colleen’s daughter was on the same flight as us so we got to wave to them again before we left. It’s so hard leaving, but I know I will be back. Hopefully in January, but if not I will find some way to get back there. I have no question about that in my mind now. Next Sunday I am giving the “sermon” in church. Really it’s just me telling & showing pics of my trip. So if you live nearby, come see me.
No comments:
Post a Comment