I thought I knew what it was like…. maybe that I didn’t fully understand, but that I sort of grasped it. I have seen so many pictures, commercials, and blogs. I thought when I saw it, it would look like what I thought in my mind. When this whole time my eyes have been shut so tight…
But how could I know? How could I know what this looks like? I was coddled as an American, getting everything I wanted and needed. I say that loosely (knowing in my head I wanted much more than I needed).
I have heard numerous stories of the horrific things that happen in this world. I have seen the sad pictures of starving children. I have heard about the wars and the destruction they have done. I have heard about the poverty that exists. However, now that I have seen it (I mean really seen it with my naked eyes) I am beginning to wonder if I ever believed the world could be this heart breaking.
Just from being in Uganda my eyes have been opened to what most of the world really lives like. In three short weeks I have seen incredible saddness and heard unthinkable tragedy. I have met children younger than 10 who make bricks to provide for their families. I have seen families survive on less than 50 cents a week. I have met survivors of war. I have met a woman who has devoted her retired life to caring for woman and children of war. I have met a crippled woman, who was raped nightly by Ugandan soldiers in the war camps and eventually impregnated, smile at her beautiful daughter with complete joy. I have listened to a mother who is dying of AIDS talk about her plan for a better future for those with HIV/AIDS. I have watched a boy cry talking about his mother who purposely injected him with AIDS so that he wouldn’t have a better life than her. I have been begged for money for a child to continue her schooling for one more year. I have seen children who have nothing sing at the top of their lungs for a Jesus they believe in with all their heart.
The people here are broken. They were left in shambles after their homes were raided and destroyed. Most of them have no hope for the future. They have never seen what a healthy relationship or family looks like. Their parents are either fighting to survive, struggling with alcoholism, have abandoned them, have been infected by HIV/AIDS, have been raped by soldiers during the war or have lost all hope for the future.
Why did it take me so long to believe? So easily we ignore what is going on so close to us or easier yet, so far away from us. But I suppose if we close our eyes real tight and pretend… the starving will stop, the pain will go away, and the problems will be solved.
Most days I am terrified, angry, and annoyed. I am angry that I can’t ignore the things I have seen. I am annoyed that I can’t do anything about it immediately. I am terrified that I will not be able to forget.
After talking with our contact we have been able to see that this is obviously not a short-term problem to fix. The way we our American brains work are to come in “fix the problem,” by giving things and then leave again. That, however, is not the way. After talking with some of the locals and a woman who has been volunteering here for 8 years, the answer seems much simpler than I would have guessed. They all said,
“It starts with one.” It starts with loving one child. It starts with sponsoring one child. However, contrary to what you might think the person you have to love doesn’t have to live across the world. It could be the person sitting right next to you or the homeless person you passed on your way home from work.
Here this whole time, I have been completely perplexed…working on my master plan to change the entire world when my eyes have been shut to what is going on right in front of me. As an American, I sit and think daily how can I change all of this! When it doesn’t need to be changed. They are not looking for change; they are looking for someone to listen, someone to love them, someone to support them. Most days when we walk down the road, the children are yelling and grabbing our hands for our attention. They don’t have parents at home to love them. I can do that! I know how to love, I have written several blogs on it in fact! If that is all I am asked to do is to love better….then I can do that. Anyone can…they just have to open their eyes.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”
-Mark 12:30-32
*We worked with Uganda Child Care Foundation with Pastor Matthew this month. Here is the current website (http://ugandaccf.org/), however it is under construction. Soon you will be able to sponsor the children we worked with in Rackoko. More info to come!*
