Month 9: Team Rise Up & Soar
Location: Masaka, Uganda: March 5-April 1
Language: Luganda
Money: 1USD=2600 Ugandan Shillings
Hosts: Pastor John and Grace
Ministry Specifics: This month was the busiest schedule I have had on the race up to this point. Our main ministry was working at Liberty Preparatory School. I was assigned to work in the P 3 class (primary 3) and I taught English and Math. We started our day around 8 am and would get home between 5:30-6:30 depending on the day. We also did some evangelism in the community.
What did I eat: I feel like I was very mislead by the blogs I had read about African food. I ate so good this month. We really did eat a lot of carbs though. Breakfast would be bread and tea, sometimes eggs. We ate lunch at the school, which was posho (cornmeal “firm porridge” type dish) and beans. For dinner we ate a lot of beef, matoki (bananas that are mashed up like potatoes), mashed potatoes, guacamole, rice, and beans. Also our favorite treat is chapatti (flat bread).
Where did I sleep: The five of us girls on my team slept in a small room on beds; we were very cozy this month.
Highs- Uganda is absolutely a beautiful country, the children at Liberty, and our hosts, holding the sweetest baby, the singing and dancing, seeing two of my teammates sponsor children.
Lows- cultural differences were hard to adjust to, finding bugs (not lice) in my hair, getting peed on by a baby, our bathroom break on our bus ride is the side of the road.
Firsts- consistently using a squatty potty or latrine (hole in the ground) as my bathroom, riding on a moto-bike with an African man.
What did the Lord teach me: It’s ok that I don’t love Africa. That frustrations will come, but to not sit in them. I also learned that I have a hard time investing fully during our month durations on the race. I would much rather invest in long term relationships (my team and squad), then in short term ones, (our contacts and people we meet each month on the race) but I can’t let that stop me from pouring out everything I have each month.
What will I remember the most: Our hosts and their 3 daughters, the joy and desperation of the people of Africa, the beauty of the country, the school and the way the children welcomed us with singing dancing and said good-bye to us with singing and dancing, the kids in my classroom, going to a village and getting our van stuck in the mud and having to push it out, then finding out the people had been waiting for us for 3 hours, chapatti and glass bottled coke, the sound of the rain on the tin roof at night, the dirt roads and how rough they were to drive on, 20 kids accepting Jesus in their lives.
