This is Africa

I had a crazy day today.  So crazy that I wanted to write about it before I forgot all the details.  First it started off with trying to get 5 cakes out to the orphanage with driving for 45 minutes on African roads without them hitting the roof or a similar disaster.  We were travelling with the Macris family who was in another vehicle.  They got a flat tire before they made it out of town so stopped to get that fixed. We went ahead and our car broke down about 10 minutes out of town.  We broke down in the middle of a construction zone too.  It couldn't have been a worse place.  They caught up and Rachael and I went ahead with them while the rest of the crew stayed with the broke down vehicle.

After church, I had lunch with family 3, which was wonderful.  I got to spend a lot of time with those kids last year so it was great to see them all again. Then we had the birthday celebrations with the cakes that we had so carefully brought out there.  It was so great to see the kids get so excited about celebrating their birthdays.  We celebrated birthdays for the kids who were born in December, January and February.  They usually only do one month at a time, but since there was Christmas and then their school holiday in January, they needed to do 3 months at once.  Which also meant singing Happy Birthday 21 times in a row.  A first for me, but it was so fun! 

On the way back, Rachael and I took local transport since we didn't have a car to get back with.  We hopped in a taxi, and guess what.  That one broke down too!  How is it possible to have 3 car disasters in one day?  I'm not sure.  So we had to wait on the side of the road for quite some time until a bus came along.  After finally making it back to Masaka, the guys of the house butchered the turkey, and then we played some wild rounds of dutch blitz.  All in all, it was a really great day.

 Trying to figure out what to do with the dead car.

 Bushira who I sponsor shows her Canadian pride.  I love this girl.  She is much less shy around me on this, my third visit here.

 Boys will be boys, who don't want their picture taken.  My parents sponsor Joseph, second from left in the picture.

 Little Trust loves her cake!

Triumph loves cake too!  Fred is so compassionate to help her have some.

More of this wonderful

Hello again from Uganda.  More wonderful times here.  Yesterday we went into town in the morning to pick up some supplies.  It was fun.  Jovan went to negotiate on some pots for us at the market.  When he had agreed on a price, he needed to come back and get that amount of money, but walked right past us like he didn't know us, because if the store keeper saw him with 3 mzungu's (white people) the price would be more.  So we walked farther down and gave him the money.  When he went back, the shopkeeper had put up the price because she had followed him and saw him with us!  He was not so happy about that, so we went to a different shop to buy them.

Today we went out to the property and the highlight of my day was walking up to the school to see Wasswa, the littlest boy that I sponsor, come flying out of his classroom to see me and give me a hug.  It was so wonderful!  I love these people so much.  I simply just love being around them, the kids and the staff of Eagles Wings.

I have been so much enjoying staying with Joan.  Just being with her and lounging around the house in my pj's until noon.  Playing dutch blitz in the evening and laughing at silly things.

That's all for now,

Jaimee

 Elisha's all ready to go for school.  I was so half asleep when I took this photo I didn't even realize he had milk all over his face.

Me & Wasswa, my little sweetie:)

What a day.

Well I have to say that I am in a much better place than I was last time I wrote. Having a full nights sleep helped a lot I think.  So, yesterday was a pretty great day.  After getting Elisha off to school in the morning, we drove out to Kako to visit 3 Jjaja's (Grandma's) that are part of the Eagles Wings Extension Program. 

Let me tell you, despite being in their 90's, these women have some serious spunk!  We walked a ways downhill to visit the first Jjaja, and after talking with her for a bit, she decided she was going to walk us all the way back up the hill and she wouldn't take no for an answer!  So we slowly made our way back up there with her in the front.

Then we got to the second Jjaja's house.  This woman has more energy than people I know half her age.  She came and greeted us all and made us dance while she made sounds.  Then she decided it was time to start matchmaking and asked me if another one of the guys and I would please get married and have a child.  I think I was a pretty deep shade of red by that point!  I'm sure my Mother would have been thrilled to join forces with this woman. One of the things I love about cross cultural travel is experiences like this.  How something that would be so taboo at home, is not so here.

We got to the third Jjaja's house, who also happened to be Jovan's grandmother.  Jovan stays with us here at the house and I really enjoy his sense of humour.  The funniest part of this visit when she looked around the room and asked us if any of us had the ability to breastfeed. Another embarrassing moment for me.

Time is flying by already and I know that I'm not going to have enough time to do everything I want to, but I am savouring every precious moment I do have.  Or maybe I just won't come home at the end. . . I have really noticed this time, how this place no longer seems foreign or strange to me.  It all just seems like a second home.  I absolutely love this place.

 Me & Jjaja Namuule

 The second Jjaja made me shake my hips for her!  Definitely not something I would do in public back home!

 The first Jaja insisted on walking us back up the hill.

 Jovan dances with the Jjaja.  He's so good.

Joan, Jovan's Jjaja, Me & Rachael.  Love these people.

I love you Uganda

Well, I safely arrived in Uganda.  I was fortunate to stay with Jeff Austin from eMi and his lovely family for the night in Kampala before departing for Masaka the next morning.  It was so wonderful to arrive and be greeted by people I have missed so very much the past year.

Even though I was super tired due to jet lag, I stayed up until bedtime and taught my friends how to play dutch blitz.  It was so much fun, and so great to see them get just as wound up as I do playing that game.

Shortly after I went to bed, the lady I'm staying with phone rang. And the outcome of that phone call resulted in most of us in this house only getting a few hours sleep last night.  So I'm tired again today. No need, to worry because no one was hurt, however, I can't really say any more than that. However, I was not expecting to be so quickly thrown into such a difficult situation and to feel so helpless to do anything about it. You know how some people just seem to be born with wisdom beyond their years, I was wishing I was one of those this morning.  Elisha, the little boy that I love, is staying with us here for the next few days.  After a long night with little sleep, it was so special to have him sneak into my bed this morning to cuddle and hear him say "Jaimee, I love you."

So that's really all I have to tell you for now. I'm really not too sure what the next week is going to look like, but I'll try and update if I can.

Me & The Austin Family.

Reminders of Joy

Right now there is more luggage than free space on the floors in my bedroom.  I'm leaving for Uganda one week tomorrow, and yet I feel like I'm in a very different place than I was last year before I left.

While I'm excited and full of anticipation, I also feel the heavy weight of these things I carry.  Part of me won't allow myself to believe this trip is actually going to happen until I set my feet on those red dirt roads. God seems to be reminding me daily that this trip is His to give or to take away. Reminding me to hold it with an open hand, to lay down my expectations, and to be willing to let Him use me in ways I don't expect.

Life has been racing forward at warp speed for the past few weeks.  My job has had me in every corner of this province from the farthest North, and to the farthest South, East and West.  And in a matter of less than a week I'll be going from the Rocky Mountains to the African Sahara.  From -47 C wind chills last week to the sometimes oppressive heat of the equator. And as I run, race through each day it seems I carry the worry that somehow this whole thing is just going to slip right through my fingers.

Somehow there are people who just know. They know that words are my love language. And somehow they just know what to say when it needs to be said.  A friend that I treasure tells me to lay all that I carry, all these expectations, all these things I still need to do, to just lay them down at the foot of the cross. A co-worker who reminds me that I'm so much more than I let myself believe. A card from a friend that flows with words of encouragement and hope. This is why I speak this  language the best. Because I know that these, these words that were spoken or written, they cost something. And because of that, they are words I won't forget.

I was wondering if it is really possible to radiate joy in a way that other people can't miss, despite wading through the mire of this human condition we all battle against. To be real in a way that says, here I am, all of me. To be real in a way that allows you to look someone in the eye and communicate to them just how important they are.  And just today, I got a letter in the mail from Esther, my Compassion Child in Uganda.  She writes in her careful printing "Jaimee, I want you to know that the joy of the Lord is your strength." After 12 years of letter writing and finally meeting face to face two years ago, somehow even she just knows what I need to be reminded of.

And so I hope that I'll be updating you from the field soon. I'll be in Uganda for a total of 3 weeks, mostly at Eagles Wings Children's Village with a week of eMi in the middle.

    These kids right here are what motivate me to fight for wild and crazy joy.