It’s been five years since I left on my World Race journey, and I have been back in the states for four. It’s been a busy few years. I entered the real world and started teaching at a school for kids with dyslexia with Edgewater, MD, and I have a cute little apartment in Annapolis. I love my job, the people I teach with, and my students. Other notable events in the past four years: I broke my arm, adopted a kitten, kissed some frogs, made some kidney stones, went back to Mozambique to start an orphanage, worked as a Ball Girl for the Orioles, jumped out of the plane, watched some of my best friends become wives and mothers, became an aunt to the cutest boy in the world, made some mistakes, ran my first marathon, and continued to love life.
I’m thankful. Incredibly thankful for the life I live. But, I couldn’t help but shake the feeling that something was missing. I missed the girl I was on The Race. The girl who rarely showered, was constantly covered in orphan’s snot, who lived in beautiful foreign lands with encouraging people, who laughed at language barriers, and went to bed exhausted and happy each evening under a mosquito net.
That girl is back.
Earlier this year I attended a leadership training in Gainesville, GA. After the training, an opportunity came up to lead a group of 16 high school girls on a month long mission’s trip to Uganda. My heart was happy and I immediately said yes.
We have been in Uganda, Africa for two weeks now. The land is as beautiful as the people. The group of girls we are leading could not be cooler: they are passionate, enthusiastic, hilarious, honest, and occasionally sassy. Alysa (my awesome co-leader) and I love them. There is never a dull moment. We have been busy; teaching math, playing with babies, helping with church services, etc. I’m so happy to be back.
In my eyes, the world is dominated by beauty, but disease, poverty, corrupt leaders, and sadness cannot be ignored. Just yesterday, I had a painful reminder of those realities.
In Uganda (as well as many other third world countries), hospitals look much different. They are overcrowded, and patient’s medical needs (when they can be afforded) are the only things to be provided. This means that patients are not fed, bathed, given clean linens, or talked to because of the high demands on the doctors. After spending the morning at an orphanage, we went to visit a hospital where volunteers are always needed and welcomed.
While walking through the children’s ward I could feel tears filling my eyes. Malnourishment, malaria, tumors. My eyes were stuck on a skinny boy on his bed in the fetal position with his mother sitting next to him. We talked to her for a while. I learned that back in December, the boy was admitted with malaria. Since then, the doctors have begun to fear that he has a brain tumor. He has become paralyzed in his legs, lost almost all of his sight, and has been in the hospital for months. This beautiful boy of only six. Through tears his mother said, “Please pray. He’s all I have. I lost my husband to AIDS, and my son is all I have.” I don’t care who you are, or what you believe. This moment was enough to break even the hardest of hearts. I don’t think I’ve ever prayed harder. My teammate, Kate, put her hand on him and he reached up and grabbed it, and with the other he squeezed my finger. Walking out of the hospital, I pulled down my sunglasses and cried. Hard.
I don’t think I will ever forget the sight of the boy, and though I won’t know how his story ends up, I won’t stop praying for him.
Even with the broken heart, I am happy to be here. I’m thankful for the incredible hospitality of this place, the friendliness of all the people here, the lush green mountains and comfortable temperatures, my encouraging team leader, and the 16 coolest high school girls from all over the country. I’m also thankful to see first-hand the problems in our world. And, mostly, I am honored to be able to help – even if it’s the smallest and most seemingly insignificant of tasks.
Please keep our team in your thoughts and prayers. We will be heading back to America at the end July. We love you, and we miss you!
