Uganda: Day (I'm behind)

I just tied a knot over a hole in my mosquito net. I lost my ankles due to swollen feet. I sleep with a flashlight on. The only perfume smell I have is bug spray, it has a dual purpose. I have brushed my teeth using bottled water due to dirty sink water. My hair is messy, always and my face is oily constantly. I have red dirt caked on my skin, even after my shower- which are freezing. The festival down the street has been going on for 6 days now, non stop. The dogs bark in the middle of the night, I choose that over roosters in the morning. I have been shocked multiple times, twice by the shower and the other five while making toast this morning. I have a sleeping bag but it's too hot to get into. I wanted to sleep on the couch but that's not a real request in Uganda-- all thanks to bugs. I washed some of my clothes in the bathroom sink. The team has talked about how the colors of their boogers have changed because of the dirt outside and today we talked about boys, because we are a team of 11 girls and one guy. 

I started this blog in Jinja and now we are in Kampala. Our last couple of days in Jinja were a ton of "TIA" (this is Africa) moments-- the day we were scheduled to visit a baby cottage there was a mix up, only leaving me in a tiny panic. My Ugandan phone helped me get things sorted out and we headed back to the guest house for lunch. I cried in my room while the team warmed lunch. I cried because I just let down three young girls who were ready to love on babies, I let down a team that had three giant bags of donations ready to give away. I felt defeated and I finally let out more tears for my kids that I miss daily. When I tell you this team is a family, I mean that in every sense. They know how to apply grace to schedule mix ups and they know how to laugh when I want to cry. 

After lunch we headed back to the outreach house (not on the schedule)-- still feeling a little defeated I pushed through knowing that we were going there for a reason, whatever that looked like. The team pulled out the bubbles, the soccer balls and I played hide and seek with a little boy who looked to be about two. After catching him and having a tickle fight I sat under the tree and watched the soccer game-- I felt a little hand touch my shoulder then sit beside me, he sat beside me in silence for twenty minutes. He laid his head on my lap and looked up to giggle multiple times. I'd like to think that Jesus placed that boy in my life in that moment to show me that His love is bigger than anything I can comprehend. That even when I am defeated, He is still strong and still showing himself in everything- even a two year old that had on tattered clothes.

That afternoon we went shopping on Main Street, these girls know how to shop. I felt like a body guard for most of the time downtown. I watched them as they walked into shops empty handed and walked out with bags of things. As the girls shopped, I met people. I met a muzungu, who knew Mwangaza (choir) and knew a friends from South Carolina. That's when you realize how small the world really is, when you meet someone in Jinja who knows people you know.

Sunday was a very long day- we were able to go to the baby cottage after church, it was a western type service, but it was outside and it was in Uganda so those are good things, always. We arrived at the baby cottage and had to walk awhile down the street to get to the house. There were so many babies. They had a new baby named Autumn, who was just two weeks old, and then there were Oscar and Faith. These two stole pieces of my heart, through Oscars bright smile and Faiths giggle I knew we were there on the right day.  As we left my girls were upset, which is normal when you have to leave orphaned babies. Their hearts are giant and I am thankful for every tear they have let out and for every hard conversation I have been apart of. 

We left Jinja and headed to Kampala, which was a three hour drive and multiple 'jams' (traffic). We stopped at a gas station for a bathroom break and I bought mango suckers for the team. I was riding in a van with a team who was family, eating a mango sucker and looking at a country that I partially call home. Jinja was a great welcome to Uganda for the team. We have been in Kampala for two days now, tomorrow is our last day serving together as a team. 

I have to write about Kampala, but wifi goes out and the stories from here are hard. We are working with child prisons and breakdowns on the team happen more times than not. Each night we do debrief and tonight's wasn't easy. More stories coming tomorrow. I'm sorry for the break in blogs, I blame our wifi and partially my exhaustion.