A lesson on being prepared

This past week I was taught a lesson on always being prepared.

For a class here I am given the opportunity to work with a local ministry to see how they do ministry in Uganda.

Off-Tu mission is the organization I chose to work with. The mission originates from Germany, but the people running the program are Ugandan.

Off-Tu does several different things here. Including a water treatment branch, outreach to street children, they also run a nursery and primary school and they have a home set up to house vulnerable street children.

Tuesday consisted of time in Kampala doing some ministry with children living in a slum. Being my first time there, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but some of the other interns who had been the week before gave me a general idea. One of the workers at Off-Tu would lead some songs and give the gospel message, and then we would head back to school. Simple enough, right? Upon our arrival everything seemed to be going exactly that way, until it got close to the end. The leader split up the children into two groups, almost as if we were going to play a game. After dividing up myself and the three other USP students between the two groups, we were informed that it was time for us to tell them a story. “A story?!?” We asked. “What story?”   “Any story” was the answer. A story? On the spot like that? We completely blanked. Being put on the spot like that while having 15-20 kids staring up at you expectantly is not an ideal situation to be in.

Myriah, a fellow USP (Uganda studies program) student suggested Rapunzel, but didn’t think she could remember the story well enough to tell, and once Rapunzel was suggested, I immediately thought of the Goldilocks and the three bears. Thus is how I ended up telling the story of the three bears, best I could remember, and with some minor tweaks to help out the interpreter, to a bunch of children who may not even have known what bears were.

Wednesday came, and having been put on the spot the day before, I should have come prepared with something, but apparently we hadn’t learned yet.

Upon our arrival to the school, Off-Tu academy, we were told we would be teaching computer class and part of Religious Education (RE) class.

The other two USP students immediately decided to teach computer class, which left me with RE class. This time having to come up with a Bible lesson interesting enough for a large class of Primary 4 students, and I didn’t have a Bible.

10 minutes later with a borrowed Bible, I was introduced to the class as Madame Jennifer, and left up front with a piece of chalk. Uh oh.

After a rousing story on Lazarus, I was expecting the teacher to take over for the rest of class. Apparently I was the only one that thought that, for when I finished, I was informed that the class went until 3:45, and it was only 3:00. After singing every single song I could think of, including some twice, learning a verse, and playing a game, I was finally relieved of my new teaching position. 

It was definitely an experience, and a lesson I won’t soon forget.

Always be prepared.

Maybe next time I can tell the story of the lost sheep………. =)

And THAT is why I am a Vegetarian...

Friday, September 7^th. A field trip for our Faith and Action class took us to a hotel that is part of a ministry called “Vision for Africa”. After some reflection on reading assignments for that week, lunch, some orientation on what the Uganda Studies Program is, and what the program is not, it was free time.

Free time that consisted of an absolutely amazing hour and a half swimming in a pool. I felt like I had died and gone to heaven.

While the pool wasn’t 5-star hotel worthy, it was a pool, and to me, it was a 5-star hotel pool.

It’s amazing how you start to appreciate the little things in life. Begin to take what you get and enjoy every bit of it.

We only got an hour and a half to lay out/swim, but it was a welcome break from trying to settle in to a new school, new family, new, well, everything.

While I am so excited to be here, it is also a bit overwhelming at times and taking a break like that is welcome and needed.

On returning home for the evening, my host brother informs me that we need to prepare dinner.

“Okay” I said….. Thinking “Matoke, rice, beans, cabbage….. etc.” Right?

Wrong.

Our “Dinner” that needed to be prepared was the rooster tied to the post by the house….

Umm.

I thought chickens came from the grocery store, packaged and ready to cook.

(Okay, no I didn’t really think that, but I haven’t ever killed my dinner before I ate it…)

Let’s just say it was an experience. Throughout the whole entire gruesome, disgusting process, lets just say I became a vegetarian, and my brother got quite the enjoyment out of it.

Dinner came and there was the chicken…. In the pot.

After seeing the chicken, killing the chicken, and now seeing it on the table? Wow.

Guess I really am in Africa!!!

But really. Hello vegetarianism… At least for a while.

Trying to settle in...

Hello from Uganda!!

Sorry I haven’t been updating like I should, it’s just been a little bit crazy here…

After traveling to Rwanda the 9^th of August, staying there till the 19^th and then heading to Uganda, meeting up with my group on Tuesday the 21^st, moving in with my host family that same day, going through orientation and trying to settle in quickly before heading out that Friday for a trip with the USP to Rwanda. Traveling (Literally) all over Rwanda in a short span of only 8 days and then debrief time at Bunyoni Island in Uganda, and back to Mukono late afternoon Sunday, and starting classes Monday the 4^th, It’s safe to say I was a bit exhausted and busy with all that traveling.

   With the start of classes brought a whole new element to our already crazy lives. On top of living in a completely new culture, we now have to juggle classes and homework.

            It’s good though. Classes weren’t as bad as I thought they might be, and there is plenty of time for relaxing with our host families….. Relaxing, and more relaxing actually.

       A big thing here is “Presence”. It’s being with someone else, whether you are interacting or not doesn’t make any difference.

     I’m having a hard time with that.

      I don’t exactly know how to “relax”. At home in the states, if I’m not working, I’m doing homework, if I’m not doing homework, I’m planning some project, trip or something, or I’m hanging out with friends. I have to be constantly doing something, constantly making good use of my time from the minute I wake up until I go to sleep.

      My host family here loves to sit and just “Be”. Reading the Ugandan newspaper, watching Ugandan news, (In Lugandan) and just sitting in the living room after a day of work. It’s different than the American’s mindset of constant entertainment, of constantly going and doing things.

      

     It’s an experience, that is for sure.

     

      An experience I am excited to be in. To learn from, and to grow in.

      I will try to be better about updating now that things are getting a little calmer...

      I pray each of you continue to walk with me on this journey half way across the world.

      Love from Uganda,

                                          Jenn

In Memory of the Children lost

Before you read this, I’d like to give you a warning. I’m not writing this to be graphic. I’m not exaggerating this or trying to add to the gore to make it more appealing. I’m sharing my heart and sharing the memory of the children lost. For parents who can’t. They deserve to be remembered, and their story needs to be told so what happened in Rwanda will never happen again.

Rwanda. A country of a thousand hills. Beautiful. Peaceful. Children play in the streets. Women call out to each other in greeting as they pass. Men gather and relax after work at the local store. In a communitarian society, everything is shared, everyone is family. They love their neighbors children almost as much as they love their own.

It hasn’t always been this way. In 1994, Genocide cast a shadow over Rwanda and in the course of almost 100 days, over a million people were brutally murdered.

It has been 18 years since the beginning of the Genocide, April 7^th, 1994. Let us never forget.

I would like to share with you a few their stories. In memory of them.

At the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center, there is a room dedicated to children. Their pictures hang on the wall, given by a family member or a friend, in memory of their lives, however long or short they might have been. They were infinitely loved and made in the image of God and they deserve to have their story told.

This room breaks my heart each and every time I visit it. It becomes so much more personal when you get to know them, even the basics like their favorite food, their best friend, and favorite sport.....

**taken from the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center, Kigali, Rwanda**

Francine was 12 years old.

Favorite sport: Swimming

Favorite Food: Eggs & Chips

Best friend: Her big sister Claudette

Cause of Death: Hacked to death by a Machette at Nyamata

Fabrice was 8 years old.

Favorite Sport: Swimming

Favorite food: Chocolate

Best Friend: His Mom

Cause of Death: Bludgeoned with a club

David was 10 years old

Favorite Sport: Football

Favorite thing to do: Make people laugh

Dream: Become a doctor

Last words: “UNAMIR will come for us”

Cause of Death: Tortured to death.

Ariane was 4 years old

Favorite food: Cake

Favorite thing to do: Dance and sing

She was described as a neat little girl

Cause of Death: Stabbed in the eyes and head.

Chanelle was 8 years old

Favorite sport: Jogging with her dad

Favorite food: Chocolate

Favorite song: “My native land which God chose for me”

Cause of Death: Hacked by Machette

Irene and Uwamwezi – Sisters

Favorite toy: a doll they shared

Favorite food: Fresh Fruit

They were daddy’s girls

Cause of Death: A grenade thrown in the shower

Fabrice was 15 months old

Favorite food: Rice with milk

Favorite animal: Cat

Favorite word: “Auntie”

Cause of death: Killed at Muhoro church

Fillette was 2 years old

Favorite toy: Doll

Favorite food: Rice and chips

Best friend: Her dad

She was described as a good girl

Cause of Death: Smashed against a wall

Thierry was 9 months old

He was killed in his mothers arms.

- While these are only a few of the thousands of children killed, they represent the lost and the ones that were never even found.

I wish you could meet the little ones I have come to know and love in the villages. I wish you could see the smiles on their faces. Hear their laughter. Listen to their cries when they fall and hold them when they need comforting.

Those children that were killed are just like the ones I got to know. They are just like the little ones in America. Created in the image of God.

So many times we read something sad, think about it for a minute, and move on. I pray you remember. Remember so this can never be repeated. 

Never Again.

"When they said 'Never Again' after the Holocaust, was it meant for some and not for others?"