We have been traveling steadily westward since last Saturday, from Siaya, Kenya, to our next ministry site in Rukungiri, Uganda. As any person who has traveled to Africa can attest, cross continent travel in Africa is bound to be the source of many memorable moments. This particular journey was definitely no exception.
In the brisk Kenyan morning, I looked with incredulity at the “bus” that was to take us from Siaya to Busia. From my vantage point on the dusty road, the metal skeleton before me that rested precariously on four wheels was already quite full. Not only was every seat packed with twice as many people and chickens as you might think possible, but the aisles were completely filled as well. Still, our Pastor seemed absolutely certain that the seven of us Mzungus had more than enough space to squeeze on board, along with our packs and guitars.
God must be in the business of making puzzles fit together, or else in the business of expanding space, because we somehow managed to smash ourselves into the bus, with literally no room to spare. For the next half hour, I hung precariously from two overhead bars with one foot barely touching the ground, as I tried really hard to brace myself against the jolts of the bumpy road and avoid sitting on the four women squished next to me. With each pothole in the road, I soared at least six inches off of the ground, thinking smugly, “Eat your heart out, Six Flag visitors. I’m getting ten times the ride at a fraction of the price! So HA!” Fortunately, handfuls of passengers made their way off, so that our last hour and a half on the bus was a bit more bearable, especially as seats became available.
In Busia, we reconnected with the other teams on our squad, sharing stories and hearing all about their adventures on the field. The next morning, we made our way across the border into Uganda, where we headed to Jinja for a day and a half of rest and relaxation along the Nile River. I ended up spending a day whitewater rafting with some of my squadmates (we called ourselves "Team Extreme"… which isn't too far from the truth, since we managed to get ourselves tossed and turned in eight different Class 4 and Class 5 rapids!). Please check out the video HERE.
From Jinja, Y-Squad was sent out to our various ministry locations. We spent about five hours in Kampala, waiting for our bus to load up with passengers before beginning our nearly eight hour journey to Rukungiri. An hour of that was sitting in a gas station about two blocks away from the bus depot, where we realized that the bus transmission was irreparable and that we would need to transfer to another bus. Oh, Africa.
We arrived in Rukungiri yesterday at 4am, after quite the interesting night. There was much to be thankful for, though. Our new ministry contact, Pastor Enoch, who is the Youth Ministry leader of the North Kigaze Anglican Diocese in Rukungiri, met us at the bus, and had dinner (if you can call it that at 4 in the morning) waiting for us when we arrived. The roads were actually quite smooth, so we were definitely grateful for that.
Rukungiri is beautiful…lush green hills covered with plaintain and papaya trees. The local town is pretty hilly as well, so I'm sure we'll be getting quite a bit of exercise over the next month. Our ministry here will be focused on children's evangelism, particularly doing door-to-door ministry with children who have lost their parents. I'm not exactly sure what to expect yet, but I'm sure there will be plenty of other stories to share soon!
