Heading Home

Well, today is the day.
The last few days have been amazing, but tough. I do want to assure you of one thing though- remember when you were a kid and your parents told you that if you don't stop eating so much of whatever, you are going to turn into that food. Well, let me assure you, if Greg and I did not turn into pineapples and mangoes this week, it won't ever happen to anyone! We made sure that we got our fill and then some!
We are now out and have just enjoyed a nice meal, including samosas, and soon it will be time to leave this beautiful country.
Soon we will venture back to Watoto Central to meet our "Ugandan sons" who will escort us to the airport. This will be the hardest "see you later" of them all. These young men really have become family to us.
In just a few short hours, we will begin our journey from this

To this...

See You Soon!

Blessed beyond belief!

We continue to feel as though we are the very more blessed people on the planet.
When we were originally given this gift, my first thought was- "We don't have time." Wrong and very wrong. God will make the time!
We have been so very blessed to have this time to decompress and reflect. As we have sat on the shore of this incredible river, God has showed us that what He has taught us here is for us to take home and apply there. As we talked about it, we just saw more and more opportunities to connect our Canadian resources to our Ugandan family and ways that we can apply what we have learned here to our lives in Canada.
We are so very thankful- there are no words!

The view from our room

The Week Goes On

Another day and a lot more “see you laters”. Yesterday the nannies from the babies home had their Christmas party…on the beach at Entebbe! I still struggle with Christmas lights on palm trees and Christmas parties on the beach, but that is my issue! Back to the story- since the nannies were all going to the Christmas party, they all met at babies home to board the buses. That gave me an opportunity to hug each one and say “see you later”. What a blessing that they all could be there.
Then I could hang out with my “little man”- my 2 year old boyfriend. This is an extremely active child that “terrorizes” the babies’ home everyday, but as soon as he sees me, he comes running and we cuddle- sometimes for three hours without him moving. I kept joking that I was taking him home with me on Monday- one of the staff members actually thought that I had adopted him and was really taking him home with me- that is the bond that this child and I have. Needless to say, as I was driving away from babies home and he was standing on the steps crying/screaming at the top of his lungs, it was certainly not a “dry eye” moment!
After a stop at a few different grocery stores, I was off to the guesthouses to say my “see you laters” there. These young men and women have become like kids to me- I am either “Mommy” or “Auntie Lorenda” to almost all of them. They are wonderful people and I am so glad that God gave me the opportunity to get to know them better, but that makes leaving even harder.
After I got done these two visits, I texted Greg and told him that next time we come I am going to be mean to everyone so they will hate me then leaving won’t be such a heart wrenching experience. Of course I was kidding, I am so blessed to have every one of these relationships- feeling pain as I leave just means that these are valuable relationships and I thank God for every one of them.
At the end of the workday, we had the maintenance team Christmas party. The plan was to visit, watch a movie and eat the snacks I had gathered on my numerous grocery stops. There were some issues with the movies due to “bad” power (too high/too low- whatever!). Good thing the company was so good- that was the important thing.
This amazing group of young men has become our family here. Our children refer to them as their Ugandan brothers. Since our children were here, two women have also been added to the team- Amy is the administrator and Jackie is Greg’s replacement. We thank the Lord for Jackie- knowing that the team is in such capable hands makes it a little easier to leave.
Today we will be off to Jinja to enjoy our time at an amazing resort that is literally “in” the Nile- you have to take a boat to the island it is on. I got many things done yesterday and now know where all of our belongings will be going and how they will get there so my mind can relax and enjoy this beautiful “mini vacation”.
On Monday we will make our rounds around Central and then the entire maintenance team will accompany us to the airport. That will be our biggest and wettest “see you later” session, but we won’t think about that just yet. Instead we are going to enjoy the next day that we have in God’s amazing creation.

Our Week of "Lasts"

Yesterday began our week of “lasts”- the last time we will do certain things before we go home.
But before I tell you about the lasts, I have to tell you about my first! On Monday I got on a boda boda (motorcycle taxi) for my first time! It isn’t as daring as it sounds (at least to those of you who know Kampala traffic) because I was in Gulu. There are only 1 million people in Gulu so the traffic is light and everything moves pretty slowly- compared to Kampala, Gulu is sort of like Radiator Springs in the Disney movie Cars. It wasn’t that long of a ride and the good news is…I survived!
Now, back to our week of lasts. Yesterday was our last team devotions with our Watoto family. When I say devotions, that sounds like a small gathering- no, it is a gathering of around 300 Watoto staff. Of course, I was in Gulu still so I wasn’t there, but Greg was. During devotions, Jack (Greg’s boss) spoke about our ministry here and more specifically about Greg’s work with the maintenance team. He discussed how Greg has made changes that have changed the way the work is being done and has raised the standard for maintenance here. He was given a standing ovation- the pastors and district administrators are the ones that are most aware of the changes and are very appreciative for the work he has done.
I recently realized that you haven’t heard much about the work that Greg has been doing. There are two reasons for that:
1. I am the one that is writing the blog,
2. The things I have been doing are much more fun and makes for more interesting story.
Don’t get me wrong, the work Greg is doing is extremely important, but describing to you how he has repaired a toilet or taught the guys about generators, doesn’t make for real interesting reading!
Yesterday I said “see you later” to the guesthouse staff in Gulu. It was very hard and we were all fighting back tears. There will be many more of those sessions in the week to come.

We did do some amazing shopping on the way home from Gulu. I arrived back in Kampala with six pineapples, 11 large mangoes, 24 passion fruit, 1 bunch of bananas, 3 green peppers and 6 red onions- all at the cost of 20,000/= ($8 USD). We are going to spend this last week eating all the fresh fruit that we can!

World AIDS Day

Today is December 1- World AIDS Day
Living in North America, the view of HIV/AIDS is very different than it is in Sub-Saharan Africa.
I have been a nurse for more than 29 years and to the best of my knowledge, I have cared for only three people that were HIV positive. Since February this year, I am sure I encounter ten times that number of HIV positive people on a daily basis.
In North America many people will never actually know someone who is HIV positive. In Uganda, I have yet to meet a family that has not been affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Unfortunately, most of us in North America are also not very knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS and I can tell you, from a first hand perspective, that includes health care workers. Due to our own lack of knowledge and the fact that HIV is often transmitted through IV drug use in NA, we imagine HIV positive people to look and behave in a certain way. Many of us imagine HIV positive people as down and out drug addicted people who live on the street and work as prostitutes. As soon as we hear “HIV positive”, our antennae go up and we start to make all kinds of assessments and judgments.
I would like to tell you about the HIV positive people I have met and what they actually do look like. They are beautiful, happy babies who love to cuddle, giggle and play. They look like healthy, mischievous toddlers who run, climb and test the limits. They are children who sit in school all day, dreaming of being outside playing with their friends. They look like beautiful, kind, friendly women who sew, do bead work, cook, clean and raise their children.
Doesn’t it sound like I am describing “normal” babies, toddlers, children and women? That’s because I AM! These dear friends that I have described to you are regular people who have an illness that can fortunately be controlled with medication. I have had the privilege of cuddling, chasing, hugging, working alongside and crying with these people during our time here. I am so grateful that I have had this tremendous privilege. I have grown as a person and have had the opportunity to confront some of my own biases. I am so thankful for that.
I do want to clarify one thing- I have spoken about women and children that I have had the privilege of knowing during my time here. I don’t want anyone to think that there are no HIV positive men here. That is certainly not the case. I have been working with women and children during my time here so I know many of them very well. I know that I have encountered HIV positive males during my time here, but I have not gotten to know them well enough to discuss their HIV status with them. I just wanted to clarify so that no one made the assumption that there were no HIV positive males here.
If you sponsor a child in Sub-Saharan Africa, it is almost certain that the child’s life has been affected in some way by the HIV/AIDS crisis. On this World AIDS Day, please pray for the African continent and for HIV positive people around the world.