We love you Dizzypants!Love Zeebs and Vivi
ps. please note the African statue hugging itself.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Merry Christmas Dizzy!!!
We love you Dizzypants!Love Zeebs and Vivi
ps. please note the African statue hugging itself.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
1/2 Way Reflections
So I tend to not blog as much as I would like...I think because I only tend to write about things that seem important to me. But really the big picture is awesome but it's good to look at the small things sometimes...the activities that occur everyday and sometimes go unnoticed...so let me tell you about my Thursday, December 10, 2009.
Today I woke up oh like around 9ish. I made some delicious french press coffee and then took my journal and the book I'm reading called "A Long Way Home" outside to the porch. This morning was really cool. Like an Alaskan morning at camp when there is mist on the lake or a crisp Coloradan fall day...it was amazing. It was definitely the coldest it's been since being here in Uganda. Rachel went to Kampala today to pick up our newest staff member/housemate Marayah. woo hoo! So the boys were sleeping or at EPOH and Becca, Emily and I had roomate bonding time on the porch. It was great!
Becca and Alex went to the village around 10:30 as it's their 2nd to last day here and Emily and I went into town to run some errands (we almost fell off our boda on the way...he did a wheelie somehow) But our trip ended up being fruitless because we didn't find a package at the post office and the photo place had no power so we couldn't get our pics printed. Oh well. After we got to home we ate some lunch and went to Babu (a village near Walukuba) with Becca. So Babu. It's quite an interesting village. It's small and the 9 Suubi women who live there who love to gossip so they all knew we were coming! haha. Oh Uganda...
First we went to visit Agnes. Agnes is a big woman who doesn't speak much English but loves having visitors. She laughs and smiles all the time. I don't know if she ever stops! I think the most common phrase you hear with Agnes is "Sank (thank) you for visiting me!" So we chatted and laughed and then Agnes (who was very punctual today) took us to Gettu's house which is near hers.
Gettu wasn't home but her 19 year old daughter Jennifer was. Jennifer is in Suubi as well. Some more chatting and trying explaining that it's hard for 1 person to visit 91 women in 3 months and we were sorry we hadn't visited until now. She got over it pretty fast. Next we all "footed" over to Bosco's house.
Bosco is probably the smallest woman you will ever meet and you would never imagine her being able to birth a child...but she has 4. Her youngest, Kenneth, is only a few weeks old and he is absolutely adorable! We rolled beads for awhile and talked about the baby and why Becca was going back to America. Then Agnes, sticking to schedule, moved us onto Grace's house. (whirlwind visiting today!!!)
Grace also known as Mama Susan loves the rumors...so time at her house is always interesting. There wasn't too many today...just her trying to decieve us into believing that Agnes is pregnant. These Babu women sure can joke... We looked at "Good luck on your exam" cards given to her daughter...they were ridiculous. You know how when things are translated to English from like Japanese they kinda sound ridiculous...well that's how these cards were. One sang to us and talked about their 1 heart, 2 eyes, 5 litres of blood, 206 bones were all wishing her luck on her exams. haha. It was starting to getting later in the afternoon so we let Grace and Agnes know we had schedule to keep and that we really were excited to meet out new housemate and that Rachel should be home with her soon...so we went. We stopped by Edith's on the way out of Babu and just greeted her and continued on.
We tooks bodas home and ate yummy beans and rice and matoke that Betty made for us. We hung out waiting to meet Marayah while listening to Jason Mraz and looking at Alex's Sipi Falls pictures. And then Marayah came! Super great to finally meet her!
Now I'm in town at "Tin-ternet" with Becca. We all came to town and split up to do all our seperate things. And yeah! ...so that was my day...not too eventful or crazy or exciting but today it was the small things that mattered. The sitting on the porch with Emily and Becca. The joking with Babu ladies about marrying Agnes 8 year-old son Steven. The anticipation of meeting Marayah. And the knowledge that I am where God wants me right now. And instead of living in yesterday and looking for tomorrow I am here in my today....content. :)
Today I woke up oh like around 9ish. I made some delicious french press coffee and then took my journal and the book I'm reading called "A Long Way Home" outside to the porch. This morning was really cool. Like an Alaskan morning at camp when there is mist on the lake or a crisp Coloradan fall day...it was amazing. It was definitely the coldest it's been since being here in Uganda. Rachel went to Kampala today to pick up our newest staff member/housemate Marayah. woo hoo! So the boys were sleeping or at EPOH and Becca, Emily and I had roomate bonding time on the porch. It was great!
Becca and Alex went to the village around 10:30 as it's their 2nd to last day here and Emily and I went into town to run some errands (we almost fell off our boda on the way...he did a wheelie somehow) But our trip ended up being fruitless because we didn't find a package at the post office and the photo place had no power so we couldn't get our pics printed. Oh well. After we got to home we ate some lunch and went to Babu (a village near Walukuba) with Becca. So Babu. It's quite an interesting village. It's small and the 9 Suubi women who live there who love to gossip so they all knew we were coming! haha. Oh Uganda...
First we went to visit Agnes. Agnes is a big woman who doesn't speak much English but loves having visitors. She laughs and smiles all the time. I don't know if she ever stops! I think the most common phrase you hear with Agnes is "Sank (thank) you for visiting me!" So we chatted and laughed and then Agnes (who was very punctual today) took us to Gettu's house which is near hers.
Gettu wasn't home but her 19 year old daughter Jennifer was. Jennifer is in Suubi as well. Some more chatting and trying explaining that it's hard for 1 person to visit 91 women in 3 months and we were sorry we hadn't visited until now. She got over it pretty fast. Next we all "footed" over to Bosco's house.
Bosco is probably the smallest woman you will ever meet and you would never imagine her being able to birth a child...but she has 4. Her youngest, Kenneth, is only a few weeks old and he is absolutely adorable! We rolled beads for awhile and talked about the baby and why Becca was going back to America. Then Agnes, sticking to schedule, moved us onto Grace's house. (whirlwind visiting today!!!)
Grace also known as Mama Susan loves the rumors...so time at her house is always interesting. There wasn't too many today...just her trying to decieve us into believing that Agnes is pregnant. These Babu women sure can joke... We looked at "Good luck on your exam" cards given to her daughter...they were ridiculous. You know how when things are translated to English from like Japanese they kinda sound ridiculous...well that's how these cards were. One sang to us and talked about their 1 heart, 2 eyes, 5 litres of blood, 206 bones were all wishing her luck on her exams. haha. It was starting to getting later in the afternoon so we let Grace and Agnes know we had schedule to keep and that we really were excited to meet out new housemate and that Rachel should be home with her soon...so we went. We stopped by Edith's on the way out of Babu and just greeted her and continued on.
We tooks bodas home and ate yummy beans and rice and matoke that Betty made for us. We hung out waiting to meet Marayah while listening to Jason Mraz and looking at Alex's Sipi Falls pictures. And then Marayah came! Super great to finally meet her!
Now I'm in town at "Tin-ternet" with Becca. We all came to town and split up to do all our seperate things. And yeah! ...so that was my day...not too eventful or crazy or exciting but today it was the small things that mattered. The sitting on the porch with Emily and Becca. The joking with Babu ladies about marrying Agnes 8 year-old son Steven. The anticipation of meeting Marayah. And the knowledge that I am where God wants me right now. And instead of living in yesterday and looking for tomorrow I am here in my today....content. :)
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Monday's Story
So I've talked a little about a girl named Monday and I think it's about time for everyone to know her whole story.
Ayoo, Sandra was born in Northern Uganda on a Monday hence everyone has always called her Monday. She has lived there all of her 15 years up until a few months ago. She lived with her father, her mother, her siblings and her father's second wife and children. Yea...polygamy is still very alive in Uganda. So Monday was growing up a pretty normal life for a village kid. Everyone is poor, there isn't much food, her father's wives argue all the time, and her dad is an alcoholic.
Then one day her father's sister, who moved to a village called Walukuba outside Jinja in Southern Uganda, decides she needs more help around the house because she is expecting her first child. So Monday is sent 100's of miles south to live with an Aunt and Uncle she barely knows. Her Aunt Betty has already taken in one of Monday's half sisters, Linda. Linda is 12 and is attending primary school, so isn't around the house much to help. Patrick, her uncle, works in Kampala 2 hours west so most of the time he isn't around.
Very quickly Betty noticed that Monday struggled to learn new chores and her mental capacity seemed less of that then most people. She couldn't seem to remember what she was told. She wasn't able to bathe the new baby, Emmanuel, because it was too hard for her. All she could do was wash clothes. From early on, Betty noticed that Monday had a large growth inside her right nostril that caused problems with Monday's breathing. Betty and Patrick decided that maybe this was affecting Monday's brain somehow and was causing her to not "function at full capacity".
They took her to Jinja Main Hospital, which let me make clear is very unlike hospitals in the States. The doctors there examined Monday thoroughly, took x-rays, and came to the conclusion that the growth was a tumor. A tumor growing from behind Monday's forehead and down into her nose. This tumor was pressing on her brain and causing brain damage. They perscribed expensive medications and told Betty and Patrick that they could remove the tumor for 300,000 shillings. (In Uganda some people don't even make that in 1 year!) That price didn't include anything except the surgery itself. And even though Betty and Patrick are better off than most people living in the villages (meaning they have electricity, running water and a few chickens) they couldn't afford the surgery.
They had 2 options. The first was to keep Monday with them and hope that she would get better or that somehow they would be able to get the money for the surgery. The second was to just send Monday back to her parents in the North because she wasn't much help to Betty (almost more of a hinderence). They chose the second option.
This was around the time when I first met Betty and Monday in October. I wrote a blog about Monday and then someone decided to bless Monday by paying for the surgery!!! I was lucky enough to tell Betty that a friend wanted to take care of the surgery and to not send Monday back home to the village. I researched hospitals some, and a friend told me about one in Entebbe (about 3 hours away) that did free surgerys for children and specialized in tumors. The name of the hospital is CoRSU. We figured out details to have a consultation last week and Rachel, Randy and I picked up Monday to go to the hospital!
Patrick met us at the hospital. So we signed in with reception and waited about a half an hour until we were called. The nurse asked what the condition was and we told her. She took Monday's weight and then had us sit again until the doctor could see us. So we sat...for another hour. When we finally got to see the doctors (who both happened to be white) they sat her down in a chair, asked a few questions and took a look at her nose. Almost immediately they concluded that what Monday was suffering from was not a tumor but nasal polyps. Basically nasal polyps are non-cancerous, benine growths in the nose that sometimes occur because of "chronically inflammed nasal passages and sinuses".
My first reaction was frustration that Betty and Patrick spent so much money at Jinja Main to have a wrong and very expensive diagnosis. My second emotion was relief because instead of a life-threatening tumor like we had thought, Monday only needed a simple procedure to remove them. Unfortunately CoRSU doesn't remove nasal polyps because they aren't the most qualified to do so. The doctor gave us a recommendation letter to an Ears, Nose and Throat Specialist at a hospital in Kampala called Mulago.
The doctors also told us that the polyps wouldn't be affecting Monday's brain. Betty mentioned to me later that day that Monday recently told her that a few years ago while Monday was stoking a fire for dinner, her mother came up behind her and stabbed her in the skull with a knife. And somehow Monday didn't die...but I'm pretty sure that's where her brain damage came from.
Our current plan is to travel to Mulago next Tuesday (the 24th) for a consultation with the doctors there. Our prayer is that they will agree to treat Monday's condition and that the polyps won't return! So right now we are just waiting and praying. I hope you will pray with us! I'll update you soon!
Ayoo, Sandra was born in Northern Uganda on a Monday hence everyone has always called her Monday. She has lived there all of her 15 years up until a few months ago. She lived with her father, her mother, her siblings and her father's second wife and children. Yea...polygamy is still very alive in Uganda. So Monday was growing up a pretty normal life for a village kid. Everyone is poor, there isn't much food, her father's wives argue all the time, and her dad is an alcoholic.
Then one day her father's sister, who moved to a village called Walukuba outside Jinja in Southern Uganda, decides she needs more help around the house because she is expecting her first child. So Monday is sent 100's of miles south to live with an Aunt and Uncle she barely knows. Her Aunt Betty has already taken in one of Monday's half sisters, Linda. Linda is 12 and is attending primary school, so isn't around the house much to help. Patrick, her uncle, works in Kampala 2 hours west so most of the time he isn't around.
Very quickly Betty noticed that Monday struggled to learn new chores and her mental capacity seemed less of that then most people. She couldn't seem to remember what she was told. She wasn't able to bathe the new baby, Emmanuel, because it was too hard for her. All she could do was wash clothes. From early on, Betty noticed that Monday had a large growth inside her right nostril that caused problems with Monday's breathing. Betty and Patrick decided that maybe this was affecting Monday's brain somehow and was causing her to not "function at full capacity".
They took her to Jinja Main Hospital, which let me make clear is very unlike hospitals in the States. The doctors there examined Monday thoroughly, took x-rays, and came to the conclusion that the growth was a tumor. A tumor growing from behind Monday's forehead and down into her nose. This tumor was pressing on her brain and causing brain damage. They perscribed expensive medications and told Betty and Patrick that they could remove the tumor for 300,000 shillings. (In Uganda some people don't even make that in 1 year!) That price didn't include anything except the surgery itself. And even though Betty and Patrick are better off than most people living in the villages (meaning they have electricity, running water and a few chickens) they couldn't afford the surgery.
They had 2 options. The first was to keep Monday with them and hope that she would get better or that somehow they would be able to get the money for the surgery. The second was to just send Monday back to her parents in the North because she wasn't much help to Betty (almost more of a hinderence). They chose the second option.
This was around the time when I first met Betty and Monday in October. I wrote a blog about Monday and then someone decided to bless Monday by paying for the surgery!!! I was lucky enough to tell Betty that a friend wanted to take care of the surgery and to not send Monday back home to the village. I researched hospitals some, and a friend told me about one in Entebbe (about 3 hours away) that did free surgerys for children and specialized in tumors. The name of the hospital is CoRSU. We figured out details to have a consultation last week and Rachel, Randy and I picked up Monday to go to the hospital!
Patrick met us at the hospital. So we signed in with reception and waited about a half an hour until we were called. The nurse asked what the condition was and we told her. She took Monday's weight and then had us sit again until the doctor could see us. So we sat...for another hour. When we finally got to see the doctors (who both happened to be white) they sat her down in a chair, asked a few questions and took a look at her nose. Almost immediately they concluded that what Monday was suffering from was not a tumor but nasal polyps. Basically nasal polyps are non-cancerous, benine growths in the nose that sometimes occur because of "chronically inflammed nasal passages and sinuses".
My first reaction was frustration that Betty and Patrick spent so much money at Jinja Main to have a wrong and very expensive diagnosis. My second emotion was relief because instead of a life-threatening tumor like we had thought, Monday only needed a simple procedure to remove them. Unfortunately CoRSU doesn't remove nasal polyps because they aren't the most qualified to do so. The doctor gave us a recommendation letter to an Ears, Nose and Throat Specialist at a hospital in Kampala called Mulago.
The doctors also told us that the polyps wouldn't be affecting Monday's brain. Betty mentioned to me later that day that Monday recently told her that a few years ago while Monday was stoking a fire for dinner, her mother came up behind her and stabbed her in the skull with a knife. And somehow Monday didn't die...but I'm pretty sure that's where her brain damage came from.
Our current plan is to travel to Mulago next Tuesday (the 24th) for a consultation with the doctors there. Our prayer is that they will agree to treat Monday's condition and that the polyps won't return! So right now we are just waiting and praying. I hope you will pray with us! I'll update you soon!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Quick Thoughts
Hey...so I thought I would just let everyone who checks my blog that I haven't forgotten about it...I'm just so bad at sitting down and writing! So a few quick notes...
1. Today is Saturday so we have a Suubi meeting. This is when we buy necklaces from the women.
2. If you read my last post I mentioned a girl named Monday who needed surgery but Betty her caretaker couldn't afford it....well someone read my blog and wants to pay for the surgery. Praise God! Hopefully plans will start coming together for that. I'll keep you updated.
3. If you are in a praying mood (which I hope you all are) keep all of us volunteers in your prayers...we are battling lots of sickness right now.
4. I had lots more to say but I'll try to post something longer than this soon.
:) love you all!
1. Today is Saturday so we have a Suubi meeting. This is when we buy necklaces from the women.
2. If you read my last post I mentioned a girl named Monday who needed surgery but Betty her caretaker couldn't afford it....well someone read my blog and wants to pay for the surgery. Praise God! Hopefully plans will start coming together for that. I'll keep you updated.
3. If you are in a praying mood (which I hope you all are) keep all of us volunteers in your prayers...we are battling lots of sickness right now.
4. I had lots more to say but I'll try to post something longer than this soon.
:) love you all!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Change Your Perspective
So I don't have much time to post...the coffee shop I like writing at is closed on Mondays. As I was reading my first blog I feel like I idolized Africa....probably because I was still in awe of the fact I was here.
Africa is hot. Sometimes I just want to sit in a cold shower all day. Sometimes drinking something cold doesn't help because it just makes you realize how hot you actually are. I feel sorry for those babies wrapped in blankets and long sleeves and winter beanies...
Today I visited a lady named Betty. Betty's husband works in Kampala only to come home every few weekends. Betty has a son named Emmanuel (she calls him Emma). He's 3 months old. She calls him her miracle baby because she thought she couldn't get pregnant. She says in her culture if a women has not conceived a year after being married it is shameful. She has been married 6 years. But Betty got pregnant last year. 3 months into her pregnancy she almost miscarried. She was on bedrest after that. When she went into labor something was blocking the birth canal and so the doctors did an emergency c-section. Betty called it "a ceaser." She has a long vertical incision down her belly that is still healing 3 months after the surgery. She has trouble moving and bending over because of it.
Betty takes care of 2 girls who aren't hers: Linda and Monday. Linda is a bright, energetic young girl who is missing her childhood because she helps Betty with cooking, cleaning, taking care of Emma and making Suubi necklaces. Monday has some type of tumor or disease growing inside her nose. She needs surgery her parents can't afford. Actually her parents can't even afford to feed her hence she lives with Betty. The tumor is growing. You can see it inside one of her nostrils. Its painful and is starting to give her brain damage. And you want to know how much this surgery is? This life saving surgery? 300,000 shilling. About 150 dollars. That's all. Sometimes the poverty...the needs Africa has make me cry...make my stomach ache.
But even though on days like today when all I can see is the negitive, God changes my perspective. Betty considers herself blessed because God gave her a baby. Because she is able to take care of Linda and Monday better than their parents can. She has 3 chickens. Well only 2 now because we ate one today. She's thankful for the tree in her yard that gives her shade and the fact that she has a good solid front door. God's teaching me to be thankful for the small things. I am thankful that I have enough clothes to wear something clean everyday. I'm thankful that the house I live in has running water and electricity. I'm thankful that even thought the boda drivers rip me off I can afford to pay them. I'm thankful.
...And I think I'm only starting to scratch the surface at what I'm going to learn in the next 2 months.
Africa is hot. Sometimes I just want to sit in a cold shower all day. Sometimes drinking something cold doesn't help because it just makes you realize how hot you actually are. I feel sorry for those babies wrapped in blankets and long sleeves and winter beanies...
Today I visited a lady named Betty. Betty's husband works in Kampala only to come home every few weekends. Betty has a son named Emmanuel (she calls him Emma). He's 3 months old. She calls him her miracle baby because she thought she couldn't get pregnant. She says in her culture if a women has not conceived a year after being married it is shameful. She has been married 6 years. But Betty got pregnant last year. 3 months into her pregnancy she almost miscarried. She was on bedrest after that. When she went into labor something was blocking the birth canal and so the doctors did an emergency c-section. Betty called it "a ceaser." She has a long vertical incision down her belly that is still healing 3 months after the surgery. She has trouble moving and bending over because of it.
Betty takes care of 2 girls who aren't hers: Linda and Monday. Linda is a bright, energetic young girl who is missing her childhood because she helps Betty with cooking, cleaning, taking care of Emma and making Suubi necklaces. Monday has some type of tumor or disease growing inside her nose. She needs surgery her parents can't afford. Actually her parents can't even afford to feed her hence she lives with Betty. The tumor is growing. You can see it inside one of her nostrils. Its painful and is starting to give her brain damage. And you want to know how much this surgery is? This life saving surgery? 300,000 shilling. About 150 dollars. That's all. Sometimes the poverty...the needs Africa has make me cry...make my stomach ache.
But even though on days like today when all I can see is the negitive, God changes my perspective. Betty considers herself blessed because God gave her a baby. Because she is able to take care of Linda and Monday better than their parents can. She has 3 chickens. Well only 2 now because we ate one today. She's thankful for the tree in her yard that gives her shade and the fact that she has a good solid front door. God's teaching me to be thankful for the small things. I am thankful that I have enough clothes to wear something clean everyday. I'm thankful that the house I live in has running water and electricity. I'm thankful that even thought the boda drivers rip me off I can afford to pay them. I'm thankful.
...And I think I'm only starting to scratch the surface at what I'm going to learn in the next 2 months.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
First Impressions
So if you were to look at a picture of me right now it might looks pretty normal. Me, sitting on the porch listening to my Ipod, reading my Bible and journaling while drinking my french press coffee. But as I look up from my journal, I feel the humidity on my skin and see the red dirt on my sandals. Toto…I don't think we’re in Colorado anymore. I am here…in Jinja, Uganda. It has been a long wait and now I am here. I see cranes fly over my head and look across the yard at this crazy-cool bright purple and green aloe vera looking plant with Betty's chickens pecking at the ground beneth and I am content. I hear the students across the street at Magwa Primary School playing in schoolyard. I see my clothes drying on the bushes and watch Betty carry her naked 2-year-old Kymbi on her back. In the early morning I hear the Muslims praying. At night I feel the African rain on my skin...lots of African rain. I'm here...finally. In Jinja...in Uganda...in Africa. It feels normal but strange. Comfortable but also incredibly scary. Here I am called “muzungu lady.” I am “white lady”. Here I might be charged double for my vegetables because I am muzungu. But I can also make a child's day by asking "How are you?" (Which the response always is "I am fine. How are you?") On Saturday at the market I bought 5 passion fruit for 500 shillings. 25 cents. A nickel per fruit. My whole bag of veggies was 2500 shillings. $1.25....and that was way over priced. Then I rode on a piki or boda (a motorcycle) in the dark of a city I don't know and for some reason riding behind a stranger on a small-fragile looking motorcycle was less scary than going around the block with my Daddy on his motorcycle. Sorry Dad...no offense. I live with 7 amazing people...whose blogs you should go read by the way and we work with 91 women who make paper bead necklaces for a living. Their stories are incredible...their lives miracles. I have only been here 6 days but I already know I am falling in love with Uganda. Falling in love with the Suubi women. I love seeing the smiles on their faces even though their lives are far from easy. Monday, I learned to roll beads with Agnes. I held baby Adam-Christopher at Christine and Jennifer's house as I learned about their lives. Yesterday, JaJa Margret gave me a necklace just because I was there and Florence fed the 5 of us that visited her. Today I watched as Adam and Alex played futbol with the village kids and the Suubi women sat and learned English. These women already amaze me. I know the next three months are going to be challanging but life-changing.
Today Adam and I decided people are always viewing life as some far off distant event but the truth is today is your life. Life is happening right now. And right now I am here. Here in Jinja working with Suubi and I am ready.
Today Adam and I decided people are always viewing life as some far off distant event but the truth is today is your life. Life is happening right now. And right now I am here. Here in Jinja working with Suubi and I am ready.
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