Uganda Recap: Day One

At Raleigh-Durham International Airport

After almost 30 hours of traveling and three flights, we arrived in Entebbe, Uganda at 2:00 in the morning on July 18th. Due to a delay in Kenya, we were several hours behind and some members of our team lost their luggage as a result of the planes being switched at the last minute. Once we arrived at the Entebbe airport, we collected all bags that made the trip and applied for our visas, only to wait around for almost two hours while lost bags were filed for. Finally, around 4:00 in the morning, we piled on to the Arise Africa bus with our luggage piled on to a separate truck to make the three hour trek to the guest house in Jinja, Uganda. Right away, we noticed the roads were very bumpy and it took a little getting used to the cars driving on the opposite side of the road. For the middle of the night, there were more people out than I would have thought. Although I was exhausted, I fought sleep, partly because of the excitement of being in a different country and partly because I didn't know if I completely trusted the driving. Even in the dark, I could still see just enough to keep me watching out the window in anticipation of the sun rising. I wondered what it would be like. Would it be brilliant like it is at the beach? Would I be able to get a good glimpse of it in the direction that we are traveling? Will we make it to the guest house before the sun comes up? As we drove along, I could already see the culture around me. Instead of using steal beams and scaffolding like we use in America, the Ugandans use small tree limbs. There was trash everywhere. There were people sweeping up the streets with their handmade brooms. Others were setting up shop and carrying goods on their heads.

At some point on our ride, we got pulled over by the local police. Perhaps they might have been suspicious of the truck filled with luggage. At that point, it had started to rain so there was a tarp covering the back if the truck. I guess that paired with a bus full of "mzungus" (white people) traveling through town in the middle of the night was enough reason to be pulled over.

As suspected, the sun did rise before we arrived at the guest house. (And no, I didn't get a spectacular view.) We pulled into the driveway around 7:00 in the morning, wondering what our schedule would look like. Would they ask us to stay up? Would we be able to get some rest or at least a shower? Breakfast was available for those who were awake enough to eat something. Matt and I headed straight for our room where I took a refreshing, hot shower and promptly crashed in bed for the next four hours. I woke up at noon only to wonder what was going on schedule wise. The staff at the guest house were serving us lunch and then we would head out to a village nearby for a half day of ministry. At the time, I was not too excited to be going out, but in hindsight, it was perfect planning. Once we got to the village and started playing with the children, all desire of sleep faded away.

Arise Africa International Guest House

Front Yard

Back Yard

More Guest Rooms in Back Yard

We were told that these people had been talking about our arrival for weeks and that when the bus pulled up, we would feel like rock stars. I wondered how that would feel, and as we pulled up to the village church, the kids came rushing towards with bus with waves and screeches of delight. We were surrounded by children of all ages, every one wanting to touch us and shake our hands. As we asked each child, "How are you?" the always faithful reply was "I am fine." I had to wonder, though, are they really fine? Or are they "programmed" to answer that way since it's an easy english phrase that both sides could understand? Would I be saying that I am fine if I lived in the same conditions as these children? Hardly so. Immediately I noticed the large number of children covered in dirt, many with no shoes, some without pants or shirts and babies without diapers. The young children care for the youngest in the crowd. Can you imagine being seven or eight years old and it's your job to carry your baby brother or sister around on your back?

We split up into three teams - women's teaching, men's teaching and children's teaching. I was very excited to play with the kids since we received such a warm welcome when we arrived. We told the story of Moses, sang songs, danced, held hands, smiled, laughed and ran around. We played Duck, Duck, Goose, Red Light Green Light and kicked a soccer ball around. We even did the Hokey Pokey. Towards the end of the afternoon we were blessed to be able to just hang out with the kids and take pictures. There is no problem getting photos of these kids! They are all very eager to be in front of the camera and when you show them their picture, they squeal with laughter.

I made a special friend on this first day of ministry. When we got off the bus, it seemed as though the kids just picked a "mzungu" and became attached from that point on. When I got off the bus, an older girl came to me and grabbed my hand. Later, I would learn that her name is Patience. She has such a sweet spirit. Her eyes were filled with hope. She stayed close by my side all afternoon. The pastor of the village approached Matt and me while we were hanging out with Patience and told us that we needed to pray for this little nine year old. Her father had just passed away from AIDS and her mother just left the village because she has AIDS. The pastor decided to keep Patience and her brother in the village to raise. Right there, we prayed over Patience with the pastor of the village, our hearts broken for this little girl. We could not even pretend to imagine what it must be like for her.

Patience (right) and Me

At the end of the day, we hopped back on the bus, but not before saying goodbye to Patience and telling her that I would be returning the next day. I immediately began to realize how hard ministry might be day after day, especially if I made a special friend at each village we traveled to. Saying goodbye was not going to be easy. My mind wondered how many other children had the same story as Patience. What are these kids going through? What other children might be orphaned here? At that moment, in the middle of pure exhaustion, I was reminded that I can find comfort in the truth that God knows each child by name and He knows their situation. I am so grateful for God's heart. He knows every single child, every single adult and all of their circumstances. He loves them and has not forgotten them.

That evening, we ate dinner (which was pretty good) and had our first team meeting. We learned that two people had accepted Christ during hut-to-hut evangelism and one Muslim woman, although she didn't accept Christ that day, thanked the team for sharing the good news with her. Others shared about the hearts of the children and all the fun we had with them. By far, the highlight of my day was meeting Patience. I was certainly looking forward to seeing her again the next day.

Some of the odd/interesting/fun things from the day:

Women breastfeed in public without coverings, no matter where they are or who might be around.

Some of the young girls fall to their knees when they shake hands with a mzungo. This is showing honor to us as they feel they are not worthy of us. One little girl did that to me today (and it would continue in each village throughout the trip.)

Ugandan wildlife that I've seen (so far) has consisted of a monkey that hangs out around the guest house, "trash" birds that look like they are prehistoric (hang out in piles of trash), cows, goats and chickens.

White people are called "mzungus" and yes, Matt was called a mzungo a few times. The children love to touch our skin, pull on our fingers, inspect our freckles and rub our hands to their faces.

The people of Uganda are gracious and hospitable. They are thankful just because we showed up.