7:10- I wake up in my top bunk, read my chapters for the day and journal. My preacher, Brother Kevin, recommended I read 6 chapters a day. Some days I do or I read more. Other days I make it through three. The end of exodus took me forever and the first nine chapters of Leviticus didn’t go by very fast either. My journals are about what I’ve been doing and feeling though they are a lot less emotional than I expected.. So far.
7:40- I have shower time, though this usually only occurs every other day. For the first two weeks we didn’t have running water so we took bucket showers. We are now (mostly) able to use the shower and while the water is cold, I’m thankful it’s not a large bowl of water. Though to be honest, even when we have to use the bucket and bowl, I am pretty thankful for that too anyway. I just have to master washing my hair in it. It usually looks far worse after than before.
8:15- we have breakfast. Rachel and Florence cook for us. We have boiled eggs, “chips” (aka French fries), or omelets, fresh fruit, spaghetti noodles, or toast. My favorite is to have a boiled egg and toast. I like when I can eat at the house because it’s clean and honestly I still struggling with eating in places that aren’t. Which is going to be the majority of the race. Restaurants in other countries have become a new fear of mine I didn’t know I had.
9 a.m- 10 a.m.- We head to ministry. Our host Patrick gets us a taxi van every morning and there are usually only 10 people in it (though once we had like 17 and it was really impressive). Driving is crazy here, Bota Bota’s weave in and out of traffic, people don’t adhere to lanes and people are beeping their horns constantly. I’m starting to get used to it. It’s best to just distract yourself and not watch the road.
10 a.m.- We arrive at ministry, Raising Up Hope, and are usually greeted by a gaggle of 4 and 5 year olds hugging and loving on us, welcoming us to our day. We then separate and head to our classes. My class is p3 which is similar to 3rd grade. The classes teacher allows me to teach the subjects, teach songs and play games with them. Just like with American Kids, sometimes you have to get firm with them. They have their class clowns, their fighters, their super motivated, their excelling students and their students who are struggling. If I am honest, their are about four of them that have completely won me over. They make classroom time so much better!
12:00-1:00 p.m.- We have devotional time. We have been reading a bible story to them and acting it out every day. It is fun and they seem to enjoy it. My personal favorite is a toss up between the parting of the red see and Gods deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt and the Good Samaritan. Both are fun stories to act out. We ask questions after the stories to see if the children understood.
1:00- 2:00 p.m.- We have lunch. Most days we go to a local restaurant.The girls on my team love it. I have a banana or two and call it a day! This is one of those places I struggle to eat at but I am so thankful for the banana’s! Which is funny because those at home who really know me, know I don’t eat fruit. Between the banana and pineapple I have been eating, I may be singing a different tune when I return to the states.
2:00-5:00 p.m.- depending on the day one of three things will happen. On Monday’s and Wednesday’s we go back into the classroom and teach. On Tuesday’s and Thursday’s we have slum ministry and on Friday we have home visits where we visit the children from the schools parents, check on them, ask for prayer requests and pray over them. Monday and Wednesday afternoons make me sleepy haha and Fridays are pretty good. Slum ministries are my favorite. We go into the Slums and just love on the teen boys there. Those in the slums are seen as untouchables. People ignore them or hit them. They are not wanted and not loved. No one is there to tell them that they matter. Sometimes we do medical ministries. All we have is anti itch cream, alcohol swabs, band aids and prayer. Other days we only feed them. I have made two friends in the slums. One of which (who’s name is Eric) our host Patrick had never met, so I introduced them and Patrick ended up inviting him to stay in the safe house. I was really excited about that.
6:00-7:00p.m.- We have arrived home and have our dinner. Rachel and Florence usually have it prepared by the time we get home. They really spoil us! We usually have rice, noodles, cabbage, a sauce, fruit and Irish potatoes. Talk about the carbs in Africa haha! I also add a snickers to that for dessert as often as possible! So my diet is pretty much just as bad as at home!
7-9:30 p.m- we have team time and talk time. We play games, or hang out, color, talk. We have team time every night and we are each in charge of our own night and what we do for it. My night is Thursday. Last Thursday I made a homemade game of “Things” which was pretty fun if I say so myself.
9:30-10:30- I get ready for bed and I read until I fall asleep.
And there you have it. My days in a nutshell. Sometimes it’s different. Patrick likes to keep us on our toes. But that is pretty much what it looks like. I’m leaving for Rwanda next week and it will look completely different. I’m going to miss Raising Up Hope (RUHU), the children, Patrick, Jackie, Rachel, And William. This first month couldn’t have been better. We were blessed with so much here. I can’t wait to see how God grows RUHU over the next few years.
Please continue to pray for my team, RUHU, the children in the slums and in the homes.
