Change of scenery..

This past week I went up to Gulu (northern part of Uganda) to visit the Acheru outpatient center. A lot of the patients that we have here come from around the Gulu area. Before they come to us here in Mukono they go to this Gulu center for treatment. If their case is severe enough where they need to come to Kampala for surgery they will come to us for preparation and then back to us for care and rehabilitation after their surgery. 

It was interesting for me to drive through where so many of these kids come from. It's hard not to notice a complete change in scenery when driving from Central Uganda to Northern Uganda. If you know anything about Uganda's history, you have probably heard of Idi Amin or Joseph Kony. Both of these men terrorized Uganda, especially Northern Uganda.  Driving from the luscious land of Central Uganda, where there is vegetation everywhere, people out and about, town centers lined with buildings and homes, life happening….to driving to Northern Uganda where there is a clear lack of vegetation, people are sparse, and mud huts are found lining the streets. Although, Gulu is an established town with many people around the land surrounding Gulu is a much different story. It reminded me a lot of Mukono, but the stretch I had no idea how poor some of these patients are or what it was like in their home town. It never ceases to amaze me how much joy they have in life. From my american mind-set we think we need things..we need this and that to have joy, but in reality we need nothing apart from Christ. I'm taught over and over again how much joy one can have in life even when you may have just 1 pair of clothes to your name. 

Some of the things we did when in Northern Uganda:

1. Distributed two wheelchairs to an older women and a teenage boy. The teenage boy, Dennis, was 16 and had to drop out of school when he was in P6 (Sixth grade) because he could no longer get to school. Dennis had his legs amputated when he was 4 years old due to being severely burned. Now with his chair Dennis is hoping to finish P7 and then go into vocational training. 

2. We dropped by a school and passed out re-usable pads to the girls. It was such an experience for me to watch training on how to take care of these pads. To us it seemed something so small and silly, but for these girls it meant the ability to go to school during this time. It meant not having to feel embarrassed about wrapping up in towels or old clothes.  Again, something so simple that we take for granted in America...disposable pads/tampons. 

I am now back at Acheru and my class size has grown! I now have around 8 students in my class. I had to divide it up into two smaller groups due to the different levels that the kids were at. I now have my kindergarten class and my first grade class. It leads to very hectic days as I'm constantly hearing "teacher! Teacher! Teacher!". In the states I could easily tell them to hold on one second, but here where I have only learned to say wait in one language (Len-da-co Na-Way) it makes it hard to express that to those who don't speak Luganda. 

Prayer Points:

1. Continual patience within the classroom. As much as I enjoy being in the classroom it is still very different and difficult for me somedays.

2. Our team here at the guest house is growing. We just got a new physical therapist who will be here for 8 months. That we will continue to have good communication and unity.

3. For the children here. Many will be going home soon and this is sometimes a joyous time for them and other times they don't want to go. 

This was the first wheelchair we dropped off. 

Dennis and his new chair!

This is what the road was like getting to Dennis's house.

The baboon that stole our bread straight from our car!

Kids at the school.

I SAW A GIRAFFE!!!!

Aren't they lovely?

Murchison Falls. We climbed up to the top of that.