Last Man Standing

This past tuesday evening I took a bittersweet 3 hour matatu (public taxi) ride to Kampala. It was bitter because I knew I only had about 24 more hours to spend with my dear friend Amber, and it was sweet because we had one night to eat good food and relax away from the every day life in Jinja. Wednesday evening Amber left Uganda to head back to the states. For those of you who don't know, Amber was my roommate for the past 3 1/2 months. She came to Uganda in September and after her 3 months were up, she decided to extend her stay for another 3 months. The Lord put us together for a reason. Right when I thought I was going to be living all alone for my last 6 months here, I went to coffee with Amber. We sat and we talked about life in Uganda. It was clear we both had a heart for this place, and that the Lord had called us here for a reason. We were both stuck. Not sure what He really wanted us to do. Since I was done teaching for the Fisher's I had the option to go back to Michigan, but I felt I had to stay. Amber was done volunteering for her 3 months and she had a return ticked for the beginning of December, but she felt she was supposed to stay longer too. We talked about what it would look like for her to stay longer. It wasn't what she expected financially since none of us really have paying jobs while we're here, but the Lord works in beautiful ways. He provided. We found a wonderful 2 bedroom home for the 2 of us, and we began searching for where the Lord wanted us.

Amber and I playing 'Red Light, Green Light' with the children in Tororo

I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to serve along side of Amber during these past couple of months. As I continued my teaching in Naigobya with Every Child Ministries' Afayo Team, I still had time to serve with Amber in various places. Some of our favorite places to serve were at Sole Hope, The Street Child Project, and Arise Talents Uganda.

Every Thursday we would usually make our way over to the Sole Hope Outreach house. This compound is located just right down the road from our house. Thursdays are the days that Sole Hope does an outreach jigger clinic. I don't want to go into much detail about jiggers since I've blogged about them before, but a jigger is a type of flea. It burrows under the skin and lays eggs. It is important for people to learn how to take care and protect themselves of jiggers. We usually drive out to a neighboring school and set up each station. There are many jobs during a clinic. They need people to wash feet, hand out sweeties & stickers, remove jiggers, taking footnotes, carry people from place to place, handing out shoes, and education. Amber and I loved going on Jigger clinics. The sole hope crew has become some of our closest friends. When you get a group of people together, serving the Lord and helping others, it creates a special bond. 

Amber carrying a child from station to station, at a jigger clinic

Consoling this cutie while he has jigger removed. (Photo Credit: Jordan Kelly)

Another place that Amber and I liked to serve at is The Street Child Project. It's located right across the street from Sole Hope Outreach house. This project has a special place in my heart. On this compound live 16 gentlemen and 2 uncles. Uncle Fred and Uncle Eric are the 2 men that make this project happen. They love these boys and it's very apparent. All of the boys that live in this house used to live on the streets at one point in their lives, some longer than others. This house serves as a place for these boys to become accustomed to living in a home again. When you live on the streets, you get a freedom that does not making living under an authority figure easy. On the streets you get to do whatever you want, eat whatever you can get your hands on, and hang with whoever comes along. Living on the streets is not easy for anyone. Along with the freedom comes a sense of fight over flight response. You have to be on your toes at all times. There seems to be a hierarchy on the streets, so you never want to be on the bottom. If you blink your eyes for a minute, something could make you loose your spot in the hierarchy. 

The boys who live at this house have lived that life, but are now learning how to take the things they learned on the streets and use it in a more positive and productive way. They all attend schools nearby, and on holidays they get to spend time with their families. The boys range from ages of 5 to 17. You can imagine how loud a house of 16 boys can get. Some may find it hard to handle, but Uncle Fred and Uncle Eric have it down. I love walking past the compound and hearing the boys playing in the yard. When we go and visit the house you most likely will see a little rough housing, sporadic dancing, some football in the yard, and cards being played, but what you are guaranteed to see is joy. The joy on these boys' face will light up a room. If we had any free time, Amber and I would walk over to the street child project and just take in their joy. Some of my favorite memories with Amber and the boys are our infamous dance parties. I would bring over my computer and speakers, set up a playlist, and there would be lots and lots of dancing. One thing we did before Amber left was enjoy a bonfire. It was a bonfire the African way. We got 5 kilograms of meat and chicken and roasted it on sticks. Added some salt, and the meat was ready for eating. Get 16 middle school boys around a bonfire and you would expect no good, but we enjoyed a night of fellowship. Two of the boys led us in some worship, and then we followed it by a question time. We discussed different questions they had about the bible, we prayed and enjoyed some laughs. A memory I will never forget. 

During our night of fellowship. Notice the meat roasting on sticks :)

Last but not least, is Arise Talents Uganda. This is where Amber spent most of her time. I would tag along with her if I had the opportunity. These children are amazing. They are the most kind, loving, selfless, and most God fearing children I know. Our friend Dickson started this organization on his own. Now at the age of 24, he helps 25 children, and houses a few of them. He helps all these children get into school, and with the help of a couple special people, they teach the children art, dancing, music, and bible. By teaching these children alternative talents, it gives them an opportunity to succeed past their schooling. These kids are talented. Amber and I had the opportunity to help them create and film a music video for their already recorded song.

Tell me these kids don't have talent, I mean wow! After watching the finalized video Amber and I both teared up and said we felt like proud moms. The kids did great! The smiles that are shown in this video are on their faces 100% of the time. You walk into the compound and there is pure joy from wall to wall. You are always greeted with a, "You are most welcome Auntie!" followed by a hug (or 2) from each child. It's amazing what a hug and smile can do to your day. There were countless times Amber and I were exhausted, but we still made the 10 minute boda ride out to Mufubria to see these kids. And each of those exhausted days, we would walk out of the compound and say, "I'm so glad we came today, these kids have a way of making everything so much better."

Aunt Amber and some of the Arise Talents girls

The Arise Talents kids and I 

I am so thankful for all of these times I got to serve along side of Amber during her extended stay here. I'm not sure I would have made it out to all of these places without her. Now that she is back in Washington, it's going to feel strange going to these places alone, but the memories will always be cherished. Watching her say her goodbyes was hard, and I know I have to do the same soon. Now as I sit in the house alone, I can only sense that the Lord is creating silence for a reason. It is helping me have the opportunity to reflect and pray as I end my time here in Uganda.
My time is dwindling in this place. Some days I feel like I just arrived, and others I feel like I've been here forever. This transition is not going to be easy. Trying to put my all in to serving and also trying to figure out what the Lord has planned for me next can be stressful sometimes. I know the Lord has a plan, but I ask you all to pray for me and also Amber during this time. She is back home, but adjusting back to the American culture, missing all of our new friends/family, and also getting back on our feet is going to be a challenge. Pray that I can remain stress free about ending my time here, and finish serving His people as He wants me to.

Grace & Peace

Love,
Kendall

***If you want to look at any of the organizations in greater detail please visit their websites or look them up on facebook.

Sole Hope:
Website
Facebook

Street Child Project:
Website
Facebook

Arise Talents Uganda:
Website
Facebook

"Naigobya, the land I call my home"

'Oh Uganda, how I love you.' 'Oh Uganda, why do you do this to me?!' These two phrases are often found in my daily vocabulary. Nothing goes the way as planned here in Uganda. The Lord has really tested my patience, in ways I never thought would be. This last month has been trying - but in a good way, if that even makes sense. The people of Naigobya have my heart. The children of St. Paul's primary and the neighboring village have brought such a love to my eyes that I haven't seen before. Every time I set foot in Naigobya I hear little voices calling my name. As I search for the face to the voice I often see those smiling faces through the fields, within classrooms, behind buildings, or even at the highest point of a mango tree. There is something about the way they say my name, never is it pronounced Kendall. It always comes out sounding like, “Kendo!” And I love it. Besides basic greetings it is hard for me to communicate with the children, but one language we have in common is laughter. Laughing is a language with no boundaries. Through their actions I learn so much from these children each and every day I spend with them. They teach me how to work hard and how to willingly do something you really don't want to do. The children here are put to work so much earlier than children in America. They even seem to skip the crawling stage and head right to the walking. It's truly amazing! The greatest thing they have taught me is love. It may sound cliche, but it's true. These children barely know me, they definitely don't understand me, and yet they don't seem to care. Even when I dance like a fool they still love me. It's things like this that remind me of how often the Lord speaks about becoming reborn in Christ - becoming a child of God. Children are more loving than any other creature on earth. They haven't been calloused to the world around them. This is why we need to remind ourselves to live like these children. They are my role models. They've definitely got it goin on! 

Some of the Top Nursery kids playing

Some of the cutie pie Baby Nursery kids playing

Ruth, some of the village kids, and I

My boys enjoying porridge during break

The lovely and crazy P3 class 

Adrian & Baby Mark

My little buddy, Gerald :) 

I have had a couple opportunities to teach some of these children in the classroom. Their bright smiles and big eyes just stare at me, waiting for me to say something funny. They laugh and laugh, but I'm pretty sure it's just because I sound different than them. It's exciting to play on the playground with the children, but it's even more exciting to see them in a classroom setting. After all, the classroom is where the magic happens! Watching a child learn is exhilarating. As a teacher,  when you see the light bulb turn on, it makes all the repeating and redirecting worth it. Although I don't get to spend too much time teaching the children, I am excited to try and help make these light-bulb-moments happen for the teachers of St. Paul's Primary. Children have so much potential, after all they are the future of country. Going to a village school does not always promise you the best education. St. Paul’s Primary is a young school, and they are in the process of being something great. If you give the children a chance, they can really pursue. In order to make it out of the village, into a greater city, they need to know English. Of course, everyone still uses his or her native language even in the city, but most work requires knowing how to read and write English. For the past couple of weeks I have been working with the teachers, teaching them English. I have also been sitting in their classrooms co-teaching and helping come up with new creative ways to teach the somewhat *coughs* boring *coughs* country based curriculum. It's a work in progress. The hardest part for me has been a lack of materials. As most of you know, I didn't come to Uganda to teach teachers. This has been a little bit of a road block because there is a huge lack of materials - no books, internet is slow, and printing is expensive. Not to mention, the children have to write everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, for themselves. In America we have it made because on a break we can go make copies of worksheets for every one of our students. Here, the children literally write out their own worksheets, leave blanks, and then have to go in a fill in the empty spaces. They write all day long - can you say hand cramp? This has made it tricky for me to be creative. Everything I try seems to lead me to a road block. Slowly, but surely I'm finding the means. It has definitely made me appreciate the resources we have in the states. 
Naigobya is a place I could call my home. I feel comfortable there, the people have become like family, and it has a quaint beauty. I am so grateful for the opportunities that have arose for me there. They have tested me and stretched me more than I thought possible, but it's all making me into a stronger person. I'm so thankful for the kind and loving people there. I am also thankful for St. Paul's Primary school. 

My favorite sign at St. Paul's Primary Learning Center. Love God.