GULU.

Sorry it has been long since I have updated, however I have been in Gulu, Uganda for the past 5 days. If you do not know the conditions of this place, I would encourage you to research it in the news, but a brief explanation that will help you understand - no electricity, no running water.

So an update. Warning: this is probably going to be a long post because I am going to try to cover 5 days worth, and days here seem so long because they are filled with so many blessings. I also might forget things and add them in at places that don't seem to fit.

So, the drive to Gulu took 6 hours, but I stayed awake the entire time because the country is so beautiful. The red dirt roads were the most beautiful contrast with the tropical greens on flocking each side of the road. Each morning when I see the red dirt, I smile because this is one thing God showed me about Uganda that I always associate the country with. I have noticed that this dirt covers everything. I am sure this is symbolic in more ways than I can think now, but the way the Lord has explained this to me so far, is that it represents His love. His love is lavished on every living thing. Every blade of grass, every tree, and every child He has formed. Just like the red Ugandan soil. There are mountains in the distance, and crossing the Nile River with its white-water rapids was the most breathtaking scene. At one point on our drive, we slowed down because there were baboons and monkeys crossing the road and we weren't allowed to drive fast. We also stopped at a town along the way to buy lunch - chapatti and goat-on-a-stick. This is me being honest Emily: goat-on-a-stick is actually SO GOOD! Mixed with the chapatti (basically a wheat tortilla) it is just wonderful. Especially since all of the meals here are carbohydrates (rice & beans, matoke, and potatoes of any kind), having some meat was just delectable.

The time in Gulu was amazing. However, God really showed me why I did not end up staying there for two months - I definitely couldn't have handled it for that long. Oh, He is SO GOOD! And even if His plans seem like they aren't going the way you want them to, there is ALWAYS a reason.

The work we did in Gulu was so physically trying, but it was such a humbling blessing. The reason we were there was to build a house for a widow. Everyone here called her jaja, which means grandmother in Luganda (the main tribal language in Kampala). She had lost her husband and three children in the war, and had decided to take in 9 orphans as her own. So we came to build her a house that is big enough for them all. The work was so hard, and my arms and back are so sore still. We had to haul bricks from one village to the next about a mile away - 1,000 bricks. We mixed cement, and dug trenches. Oh my word, all of my clothes are stained with sweat and are dyed red, the color of the clay bricks. However, our team worked so well together. When one person was tired, they rested and someone else took over their position. My rests were my favorite part of this week because this was the time we would get to play with the children in the area.

Just to help you get a little picture of one of the cultural differences here, we mzungus (white people) attract a LOT of attention from everyone. We walk through the streets of Kampala and hear people whispering, (or speaking at a louder volume) in Luganda about us. When we were in Gulu, whenever we walked outside, kids would peek out of their huts and inch closer and closer to us until we were surrounded by tons of Ugandan children. When we walked through the village, it always turned into a parade of Ugandan children and mzungus. It was so cute though because you could just look to your right and see a little girl staring at you. You could reach your hand out and she would hold your hand the entire way to wherever you were going. It is these little acts of love that have made me fall in love with these children. The language barrier is frustrating though, especially for me because of the love for language God has given me, but in these little interactions, once again words fail. However, these language barriers may even have a reason too. My words can fail at any moment, but the love that Christ has put in my heart for these kids will never fade and will never be wrong.

Hmm, there are so many other things that are going on in my head, but I can’t sort them all now. One night we listened to a neighboring jaja tell stories under the African stars; that was a blessed night. Since we are right on the equator, we saw both northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere stars. We saw the big dipper, and the settler's cross on the same night. I don't think I can describe how wonderful this country is. I also just love listening to these people's stories, and their culture. It is all so interesting to me.

Okay, back to the events of Gulu. I will first say that it gets dark at 8:00 p.m. here and with one candle providing as a light source for 26 people, this is very difficult. Also, squatty-potties are my least favorite thing. They smell so bad, that I cannot go within three feet of one without plugging my nose or I begin dry heaving. Oh, I am so thankful for toilets here in Kampala. The first day in Gulu we spent all day building, it was so hard but the kids were precious. The second day we continued building in the morning, and then we visited the Invisible Children offices after lunch. It was so interesting to hear everything they are accomplishing here in Gulu with the funds they are raising in the U.S. The third day we continued to build, and a group of us decided to clean up their well. Now, when I say well, erase the picture that first comes to your mind. Their well is a stagnant stream FILLED with dirt. We had to "slash" grass with blunt tools, and hoe the dirt and plants out of the stream to allow for a slow trickle to begin flowing on about a 4-foot stretch of this stream. Not only this, but the women walk MILES just to get to this dirty stream. Then they fill their jerry cans with the dirty water, pick it up and carry it on their heads back uphill and miles back to their homes. I simply cannot imagine this sort of life. We also learned on this day, that these villages are in a lot of trouble because many of them are people who have been released from the IDP camps. These people have been doing nothing for 22 years of their lives. In the camps, they simply sat around everyday and waited for NGOs to provide them with their every need. So now, many do not want to pick up a life again where they are forced to farm their food in the immense heat, and walk miles to get their water. They want to wait for someone to give it to them, though there is no one. This is why many of the children watch us drink our water bottles, and beg us for the empty plastic, or even for a little sip. It is heartbreaking.

The fourth day we went to an orphanage in the morning, where we played soccer and volleyball with the kids, put on a skit and told a short message. Our time there was short, so I do not have much to say. After lunch, we visited a secondary school. The British colonized Uganda, so everything here follows the British model of life. Their outlets are the same as in England; under their African accents it is all British, and their schooling system is modeled off of the English. So when I say secondary school, this is the equivalent of high school. This day was so fun. We danced and sang worship songs with them and then one of the team members told another short message. I wish I had videotaped this experience because I am at a loss for words. Just the way Ugandans interact is so awesome to me. They are friendly from the first second they meet you, and are so loud and touchy! When I first learned that this culture is touchy, I had to laugh a little at His perfect planning because this is one of the love languages God has given me. He has made me love physical touch, and this is the way I like to give and receive love. In the culture here, if a friend of yours doesn't touch you at all in a day, (when I say touch I mean, lean on you, hug you, hold your hand, put their arm around you, etc.) you should ask them if they are mad at you. There are no physical boundaries, and it is just so great! After we did these things in the classroom, we played a little volleyball and I met a beautiful girl named Heaven who asked for my phone number. I am sad that I could not give it to her. The fifth day we went to Kampala Pentecostal Church in Gulu in the morning, and it was so fun. Oh, words cannot describe everything I am experiencing here. The ride back to Kampala was so crazy. Well, every car ride is crazy simply because of how many people we stuff into a 14-person van, and the bumpiness of the roads that cause us to bounce all over the place. But we once again stopped for some goat on the way home, and got harassed by some guys selling LIVE chickens. One of the Ugandans almost bought one, but we refused to ride in the car all that way with a live chicken. We also played truth or dare with the Ugandans, which was absolutely hilarious.

The team is also wonderful. I already feel at home with the Ugandans. I told them that I feel that I may be called to live and work here someday, and I have been told I already have a home to stay in when I do come back.

Okay, I know there is much I have left out, but I will end with my favorite moment of the week. The day I met Yella. It was the second day, and I was feeling a little queasy so I sat out of working on the house for a little bit. Of course, there were about 15 little children; a few with babies on their backs, watching us work. The initial response when I sat down was that I tickled their bellies. The laughter and amusement they get out of this simple gesture is so amazing. Then, she caught my eye. She had the most beautiful face, and all she wore was a plaid skirt. She looked at me, trying to decide if she wanted to come closer, and I was captivated. I reached over towards her and tickled her belly and she smiled so big and came running over to me and stood at my knees. I put my hands out for her to hold and she quickly placed her little hands in mine and proceeded to trace the lines on my palms. I smiled at her and she smiled shyly back. I took my hands away so I could open my arms to ask if I could hold her. She jumped into my lap. The other kids were getting a little jealous, so they began to tickle me. Each time I would turn my head away from Yella, she would fling her little arms around my neck, forcing me to hold her closer. I could have stared into her perfect face all day. I watched her and my heart slowly filled with love for her as she touched my foreign white skin, circled the moles and freckles on my arms, touched my hair, stroked my cheeks and lips, giggling when I kissed her finger as she placed it on my lips. When she was done investigating, she smiled at me, and when I returned the gesture she clung closer. She began to speak Acholi, her tribal language and the only language she knew. Oh, I'm not sure anyone will understand how my heart broke to not be able to understand the things she was saying. I began to pray that God would allow us to communicate effectively somehow. This was when she noticed my cross necklace. She picked it up and traced it with her fingers. She spoke some quiet Acholi, and I whispered a word I knew she would know. "Yesu Christo." Her smile was so bright when I said this, and she shook her head yes. She continued to analyze this cross for a while. Then she looked back up at me and took her little hand and made the sign of the cross on my body. My eyes filled with tears of joy at this answered prayer as I made the same gesture on her little body. Quite literally, she blessed me and I blessed her. At that moment, I knew that she is so close to Him. He is her best friend, provider, and Abba Father. She is so desperate for Him, and in that desperation, He has drawn close to her. This reminds me of the warped ways of this world. In His eyes, it is her who is rich and me who is poor. I did not see her the rest of the week until the last day. We had piled into the car, and I searched the sea of faces for the last time, hoping to see her. They were watching us all getting in the van preparing to leave when I recognized her eyes. I smiled at her and waved for her to come close. She ran to the side of the car and reached for my hand. We smiled at each other and held hands until the car was started. I pray I will be able to see her again and that I will recognize her. I am filled with sadness at the thought that I will never be able to see her, but at the same time that moment will be in my heart and mind forever as one of the most blessed times of my life.

That will be it for now. I know that I have left out much, and I am sorry to have done so, but as the Lord is teaching me, our human words are so small and inefficient in comparison to the way He has chosen to communicate with us, to our hearts. I pray that you are all blessed by these stories, and that you do not get sick of my rambling. Tomorrow I begin my first day doing work in the projects in Kampala, I want to ask you to pray for God to give me confidence in His Spirit as I am thrown into a new environment and situation and that He will continue to bless me. I know that I am so unworthy of His blessings, and that He has already given me enough to last me a lifetime, but I also know that our God is a God of excess. Everything He has created is absolutely lavished with His love and that He loves to bless us. So I will gladly and humbly take these blessings in His perfect timing. I love you all, and once again, I am sorry if these posts end up to be few and far-between, please be patient with me. The Internet is very slow here, and I am lucky if I can sign on.
In His Love,
Emily