Life in the Mountains

It's Friday October 16th, 2015. All of the USP students and staff pile into vans to begin our 6 hour journey to Kapchorwa. We've left our watches behind and we are prepared for a time free and technology free week! We stop for one last bathroom break before we will be dropped off at our homes. I'm informed that I’ll be the first to be dropped. Somewhat nervous, somewhat excited I watch out the window as we near my home. The mountains are beautiful! We stop on a dirt road next to a small path that leads up the hill. My mom comes down the path to greet me and to help me with my bags. I wave goodbye to my fellow classmates and begin the walk up the path with my mom. It was muddy and slippery, or so I thought. I would soon learn that this is an easy path, hiking up a mountain in the rain is much more difficult. I'm mostly excited about my week ahead. I can't wait to make this beautiful place my home.

Home Sweet Home!

We arrive at the house! It's a beautiful home! Not what I was expecting for rural Uganda. Electricity, tile floor, the kitchen was even inside! This is not a typical home in this area. Several of my friend lived in mud houses. Mom begins to give me a tour of the house. I learn that she has 3 biological children, and she cares for 4 orphans. All of them are currently in boarding school and my dad works in Kampala, so he isn't home either. My mom is a midwife and is currently a student as well. It's just mom, my cousin Ritah (who was basically my little sister), and me! This is going to be fun! 

My room had a twin bed (where I slept) as well as a triple bunk bed, a large chair, and a small table. It was cozy! Our bathroom (shower) was a small, tile covered room with a small hole in the corner to drain the water. Showers were taken with buckets (bucket baths). We also had a sitting room, dinning room, and kitchen. Mom did all the cooking inside using charcoal stoves and a hot coil. There was another bathroom and 2 pit latrines (toilets) outside. After our house tour, mom took me on a garden tour. She has a huge garden in the backyard with coffee, passion fruits, pumpkins, bananas, beans, maize, egg plant, and I'm sure there is something I'm forgetting. It was amazing! 

The Coffee!!!

I was mostly intrigued by the coffee. It was like meeting a long lost friend! You know when you have a good friend, but you don't know anything about their family or where they come from? Then you go home with them for a weekend and meet their family and see where they live? It's like you have a better understanding of who they are and where they've been. That's what happened with me and coffee. I had no idea what a coffee plant even looked like, yet coffee has been a good friend of mine for several years now. I also learned the entire process of making coffee, but at the end of the week. We will come back to this wonderful topic of the coffee bean.

I was planning to sleep in on Saturday, but I had to get up to use the toilet. I thought sure it was around 6 or 6:30 so I went back into my room and did some devotions. Later in the day I asked my mom what time it was when I went outside to the latrine. She informed me that it was 8:30. This no watch thing was harder than expected! Later that day I also took a "short" nap while my mom showered... I woke up 2 hours later. We basically stayed home all day Saturday and just relaxed. I helped with dishes and made passion fruit juice, but other than that I read and just relaxed.

On Sunday we walked down the mountain to church. It was a long walk, but at least it was downhill and on a paved road. And the view was so beautiful!!! So many mountains. We walked for a long time until an elder from the church picked us up and drove us the rest of the way. The church was a very small, simple building. Everyone sat on benches. There were basically no decorations. I was the only white person in the church. There was always a curious child peeking at me. I was asked to introduce myself so mom and I both went up front. I greeted the congregation in Kupsabiny, the local language (thanks to my mom's short lesson before we went up). I just said who I am, where I'm from, and what I'm doing in Uganda. After church I sat and ate a snack that mom packed for me. As I sat and watched people leave I realized why the church had so few decorations. They had to take everything out of the church, even the clock of the wall! I think this is because there was really no way to securely lock up the church.

After church we began our way home with several stops on the way. We stopped to greet her friends and hear the local news and gossip at the police station. Then we stopped at another friends’ house where we were invited to stay for lunch. There was a reunion going on for all the women of the family. So we joined in and got to know this wonderful group of relatives. Turns out, Jessica is a common name throughout the family. So I fit right in! Some of them wanted to introduce me to some of the single men in the family because apparently some of the women have married white men, but there are no white women in the family. Also I already had the proper name. No worries though, I declined their offer.

After our lunch, we finished our walk up the mountain and arrived home around 6. The power went out after we had our tea so we ate supper in the kitchen with a lantern. We had liver for dinner!

Monday was cold and rainy. The power went out in the afternoon and stayed out until around midday on Tuesday. I made passion fruit juice in the morning and then spent the cold day reading, sleeping, and thinking.

Bless the rains down in Africa

Tuesday we went up to see mom’s coffee plantation!!! I was surrounded by so much coffee!! It was a pretty big, muddy hike to get there, but worth it! When we got back home I learned how to make passion fruit juice without electric. (I usually use a blender). It wasn’t too hard. Tuesday afternoon was one of my favorite days. We went to what my mom called the center so she could get her hair unplaited. We sat outside the small shops while a couple of the women helped her with her hair. That’s when it started to downpour! It was fun to watch people run for shelter and life stop because of the rain. Several children joined me on the bench I was sitting on under a small awning.

They looked at me and giggled. Then I noticed that they were trying to play with my hair. I let it down and little hands began to run through it. My mom translated for me what one of the little girls was saying. “I used to fear whites, but now I am sitting next to one and playing with her hair”. Doesn’t that just melt your heart?! But wait! The scene gets more interesting! This is when the drunk guy enters the picture. Of course he’s drawn to me because I’m the only white person in sight. He comes and greets me and thanks me for visiting. He sat next to me for a little but eventually someone made him leave. Later he came back and greeted me again. This happened several times so my mom asked him how many times he needed to greet me. Apparently he told my mom that I am his mother and that’s why he keeps coming back to me. I know! News to me too! It was hilarious and everyone around got a good laugh. When we went back home mom taught me how to make chapatti!!

Chapatti!

Wednesday we stayed home all day again.

Actually I got to meet my little brother, Morah! He had come home from boarding school because he had malaria. His cousin also came to assist him and just hang out with him. They literally just sat in the sitting room all day and stared at the TV. I was impressed with the cousin’s patience and willingness to suffer with. It was a true example of compassion. Morah was really sick on Wednesday, but by the time I left on Friday he was doing much better. I’m so glad I got to meet him and hang out with him.

Thursday morning mom, the cousin who’s name I fail to remember (sorry), and I went to one of the Sipi Falls!!! 

It was sooo beautiful. You know those parks for kids where everything is huge and it make the kid feel like an ant? That’s how I felt. It was so high and huge and magnificent!

Tea time with my little brother!

In the afternoon I hung out with Morah. We talked about the US and Uganda. We had tea together and watched Fast and Furious 7. I loved talking to him and getting to know him! Also he loved taking pictures!

Friday morning mom, Ritah, and I made a quick trip up to her cabbage farm. Two men from the village joined us along the way. The walk was very difficult. The paths were muddy from all the rain. I ended up doing more sliding than walking probably. I was thankful that one of the guys offered to help me! I would have fallen so much without him!

When we got back home I took a shower and then had to say goodbye to my family. The goodbyes were hard and I wasn’t ready to leave, but the time had come. Saying goodbye to Morah was probably the hardest because I felt like I was just getting to know him.

Then begins debrief! We were reunited with all of the USP staff and students at a little lodging area called the Crow’s Nest. We spent the weekend there and enjoyed a fantastic view of the falls. We shared our experiences with one another and, in my opinion, came together as a family more than we ever had before. On Saturday we hiked and we hiked and we hiked! Remember how I said the falls made me feel small because it was so tall? Well we went to the top!

And then of course we hiked back down the mountain and went to the bottom of the falls as well. When I went with my mom I noticed a tree at the top of the mountain that I loved! On Saturday when we were hiking we passed that tree!

See that tree all by itself? That's the one!

That’s when I realized that I was looking at the top of the same waterfall I had seen a couple days before. We also went behind another waterfall. The hike was beautiful, but very challenging. It was so muddy and it even rained for a while during our adventure. I didn’t die though! And the views made the pain very much worth it!

After around 5 hours of hiking I showered, changed clothes, and left again for a coffee tour! We went to a coffee plantation where we learned about the coffee itself. We learned about peeling it, drying it, pounding it, blowing the internal shell off, roasting it, and pounding some more. All without electricity! Then I had the freshest cup of coffee a girl could ever desire! It was so thick and rich. It was actually almost too much, but it was so good!

On Sunday we said farewell to Kapchorwa and had a safe journey back to Mukono!

I loved being a big sister!

Becoming an African Woman

Momma and Dad

I had the wonderful opportunity to live with an amazing family here in Mukono from September 12th-25th. Just so we are all on the same page before I start this blog, when I mention momma, dad, brother, sister, etc. in this post, I am referring to my host family.

My dad is a reverend. He actually did some of his schooling in Michigan so we frequently talked about the US. His favorite restaurant was McDonald's and his favorite American food was the hamburger.

My momma is actually a student here at UCU just like me! We frequently walked to school together. She is working towards her nursing degree. Currently she works as a night nurse on the weekends. So she goes to class all day Friday, comes home, eats dinner and leaves for work. Then she gets home around 7am on Saturday and goes to classes all day Saturday again (yes UCU students have Saturday classes, I'm grateful that USP doesn't). She comes home for dinner and leaves for work again. On Sunday she gets home from work and goes to church with us!!! When I asked her how she does it she said "God's grace". She is probably the most positive, joyful, hard working woman I have ever met.

I have a big sister who is 22. She is actually the niece of my momma and dad, but lives with them and is considered a daughter, as am I. I was so thankful to have her around! She laughed at me a lot when I made mistakes, but she helped me learn so much! We learned that the main thing I can do when helping prepare food is cut tomatoes. So I cut a lot of tomatoes and it was wonderful.

My little brother, Eleazar, is 4 and I love him so much! He is such a joy to have around. Also, he received an Operation Christmas Child box while I was there. It was so fun to witness one being open and seeing him love the things inside.

Eleazar!!

My first day there, Saturday, I kept asking if there was anything I could help with. My momma told me after tea the work would begin. So I waited while the tea was prepared and then we took tea as a family. I soon learned that I was living in a church compound. The same compound that the Bishop lives in, in fact! So the house I was living in was a house provided by the church for the Reverend and his family to live in. It’s very nice! I was spoiled with electricity, plumbing, and even an indoor toilet!

My sister teaching me how to cut matooke

After tea we first picked rice. This means we poured rice on trays and picked out the small stones and sticks. After that we swept and mopped. Then I tried to help cook dinner. I learned how to peel matooke, which is… I don’t know how describe it..it looks like a really green banana but it is cooked into a mashed potato like substance. That makes it sound really disgusting, but it’s not! Anyways, I do not have whatever it is that makes someone good at peeling matooke. Good news though! All my fingers are still on my hands! By the end of the day my Momma told me I was becoming an African women!

On Sunday I wore my colorful maxi dress to church and she told me I looked like an African women! This is such a huge compliment! At church my sister and I sat on the very front pew. Remember, my dad is a reverend, so basically I became a preacher’s kid. Of course he was the one that asked all first time visitors to stand that day.

Throughout my two weeks I commuted on foot to school. Out of all the USP students my house was the closest. I only had about a 10 minute walk and it was such a beautiful walk! One morning I saw around 15 monkeys on my way to school! In the evenings I gained the responsibility of preparing afternoon tea. I also helped with the dishes, serving the food, and sometimes preparing food. I mainly talked to my sister while she prepared the food and if there was tomatoes to cut I cut them. I also learned how to make fresh juice and helped with that.

It was so nice to go home after school to a loving family and a home cooked meal. It was also nice to be living with my family during these weeks because that was when I was stating my internship at Chain Foundation and they know what Chain is. So I would come home and they would be able to ask genuine questions about how my day was and they could understand to an extent.

Thursday the 17^th was a national holiday so I didn’t have classes and my sister didn’t have to work! We spent the afternoon together and went to visit some of her friends from church. It was so nice to get to know others around the community outside of UCU. Now when I go to their church I know some people and it’s so nice.

In conclusion, I really love my family and I’m so blessed by them. I plan to visit them more throughout the semester. Also, when I first told my momma I have a boyfriend she asked if she could come to my wedding. Yes, she asked this before knowing anything about our relationship because here in Uganda if you admit you are dating someone then basically you’re planning to marry that person. So yes, I’ve invited my Ugandan family, as well as my sister’s friends, to my wedding whenever it may be. Hope that’s ok!

Rwandan Adventures

After a 12 hour coaster (bus) ride, we arrived in Rwanda on Friday, August 28th. Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to be a celebrity? I feel like I have more of an idea now. People would be casually walking and going about their day, but when they looked up and saw white people in our bus they waved and yelled "mzungu!" (foreigner/white person). Kids were always the most excited. One little boy was waving at our bus, but when he saw white people his mouth literally dropped open and he started dancing and waving. I wonder if it was his first time seeing a white person. It was priceless! I do have to admit though, hearing people yell "mzungu" all the time did get kind of old.
We spent our first two nights at a church compound in Kibungo. There was one room full of beds where all of us girls stayed. We had 14 USP students and 10 UCU students. There were 14 girls in this one room. It was like a giant sleep over! On Saturday we participated in a community work day. It happens the last Saturday of every month. It's a beautiful thing where everyone in the community comes together to work on a project. This is a requirement by the government so of course there are pros and cons that go with it. However, I believe it enables citizens to get work done for themselves rather than relying on the government. It also builds community. We helped dig a trench that will be used to bury a pipe for water, providing water to more homes.
A crazy God thing happened Saturday night! We were making church plans for Sunday. Everyone was divided into 3 different groups. Each group was to go to a different church to lead the service. Our first African church service was to be lead by us! We were to have 3 songs, 1 preacher, and 2ish testimonies. My heart pounded a bit when testimonies was mentioned, but I tried to ignore it (like usual). When Reverend Emmanuel (our group leader) asked about people giving testimonies no one spoke up. He said that if no one wanted to share that was fine. So I was off the hook, right?! That's when Laura spoke up and she thought maybe she was supposed to share but she needed time to think and pray about it. I took her to the side and explained how I was feeling too. We talked about it, prayed about it, and talked some more. I then felt confident that I was supposed to share my testimony at church the next the day.
So guess what I did on Sunday?! I shared my testimony at my first ever African church service. Reverend Raymond (try saying that 10x) translated for me. The church building was basically a brick barn, still under construction. The church service was lively and fun! Full of dancing and singing praising Jesus. All in all, I shared and I hope others were blessed and encouraged. God is good!
Sunday afternoon we traveled to Kigali, Rwanda's capital. We stayed there for four nights. We slept in rooms with four people. My room was so fun! We had two USP students and two UCU students. We are all introverts so it was fun to have a calm, chill room. We had good conversations too!
Monday morning we went to a museum about the Rwandan Genocide. It walked through Rwanda before, during, and after the genocide. I don't think I've actually ever read that much in a museum before! It was very interesting and well organized. It was a bit challenging though because English was the third language for every caption. Of course that meant that the text was smaller and sometimes all the way at the floor, but we managed and it was still a great experience. That afternoon we went to the Nyamata Memorial which I discussed in my previous post.
Tuesday morning we went to a craft store called Amahoro. It is run by low-income women who need a way to support their families. They sold to most beautiful things! I bought a tie-dye Africa wall hanging. In the afternoon we learned about Hope International and met with some representatives. We went out into a rural part of Rwanda to sit in on a group meeting. It was held in a small community church building. I'm honestly still a bit confused about Hope and how the groups work. I couldn't hear the translator very well and I was also distracted by babies.... sorry.
Wednesday! That was a cool day! We visited and organization called CARSA (Christian Action for Reconciliation and Social Assistance). Their main mission is reconciliation and forgiveness post-genocide. We watched a video CARSA made about the lives of a few individuals post-genocide. Some were able to forgive and become friends with those that killed their families. Others, forgiveness is a longer journey that they are still working on. I didn't realize at the time, but most of the people in the movie were sitting in the same room with us. This made the movie so much more real. I saw the scars a machete had left on one man's face. I also saw the man who caused these scars and killed this man's family. They are now friends and can sit and have lunch together. There was also a woman there whose families had been killed. She said forgiveness is a journey that she is still walking. I hope I can find the video that explains it all. It was so well done.
That afternoon we went to an art gallery called Inema. It is run by brothers who use there talents to create artwork that is sold and used to benefit the community.
We ended our trip with debrief back in southern Uganda. We spent a day on an island and it was fantastic! It rained a lot of the time we were there, but it was so beautiful! I spent the night in the cutest little tree house. It had three beds, a small table, chairs and a table on the porch, and the toilet and shower was basically outside! It was so fun! I sat on our porch, enjoyed the view of the lake, listened to the rain, journaled, and enjoyed introvert time! I also got to swim and swing on a rope swing. It was a great ending to a wonderful trip!

Nyamata Memorial

The smell was musty. The steps were steep. Darkness surrounded me. I was entering a mass grave. The bones were stacked on shelves. Skulls occupied the top shelf. They told the stories of their cause of death. Some had been shoot, hit, and smashed. Some had holes. Others were missing the back half. Some were left without a face. Arm and leg bones found their residence on the next two shelves. These are real people. People who sought shelter within a church. 
The church roof was full of bullet holes. A grenade hade destroyed half of the metal door. Windows were broken, holes in walls, and blood stains splattered all around. The alter had its' original tablecloth, stained with blood. The back wall was stained with the blood of innocent children whose heads had been smashed against it. Blood stained clothing of victims covered the benches. 
I stood in a church where 10,000 people were brutally murdered. The church was thought to be a safe place. Who would kill inside God's house? Genocide knows no bounds.
History and evil have never become so real to me.

** these are my real reflections, observations, and emotions after visiting the Nyamata Memorial. To learn more about my trip to Rwanda please read my next post "Rwandan Adventures".

My First Week at UCU

Sorry it has taken so long for me to update this! Life has been busy and wifi has been scarce! I arrived at Uganda Christian University (UCU) on Saturday August 22nd. Lisa and Courtney (Uganda Studies  Program staff) picked Molly and I up from the hostel that morning. Then we went back to the airport to pick up another Uganda Studies Program (USP) student. On our way to UCU we stopped for lunch at a restaurant that was right on the beach of Lake Victoria. It was so pretty! We had pizza and at that point in time we didn't realize how much of a treat that was. Now we know.
My first temporary roommate here at UCU was Kat, another USP student. The UCU students were not on campus yet so us USP students enjoyed getting to know one another as well as the campus. On Sunday (23rd) we hiked up Monkey Hill. It was beautiful at the top! It was a wonderful view of Mukono. Wow! I just got super distracted while writing this because there was a monkey on my window! That's so cool! Back to the story though... The hike was good time for conversation and getting to know each other better. Our feet were so dirty when we were done though. It looked like we all got awful spray tans!
Our first week was basically all orientation. From getting to know campus to safety and health tips to follow while being in Uganda. Later in the week we began orientation for Rwanda. We learned a brief history about the genocide as well as a rough overview of what we would be doing there.
As a part of our UCU orientation we did a Mukono scavenger hunt and we didn't even get lost! After that a group of us went to the Tuesday Market. It is a second-hand market that happens every other Tuesday. It was crazy and packed full of people. I wasn't a huge fan, however, I did get a nice shirt for around 80 cents. I also moved dorm rooms again that first week. Some of the Ugandan students had come because they were going to Rwanda with us. I moved in with Eva, a Ugandan student. She is a senior nursing student. She was very sweet and very creative with how to hang my mosquito net.
On Thursday (27th) we had our first social work meeting. I found out that I will be working with Chains Foundation! That's the organization that I believe I discribed in my first post. It is a school/orphanage that works with both sighted and visually impaired children! I'm not sure what exactly I will be doing there but I will keep you informed! I'm so excited though! This is the reason I came to Africa!
Friday (28th) we left for Rwanda at 5am! It was a beautiful place and the trip was filled with a variety of emotions. I hope to post a couple blogs about my time in Rwanda. Some of it may feel a bit dark and depressing, but it's real. Learning about a genocide isn't exactly the most joyous occasion.
I hope to post again soon!
Much love,
Jessica

Our First Moments

You know your first moments in Africa have been memorable when you're only in the country for an hour and you're already thinking "this is going to make a good blog post!". However, let me first explain where I am and why I am here.
I am in Uganda! I will be here until mid December. I am doing a study abroad program with a social work emphasis. While I am here I will be living at and attending Uganda Christian University. I will be taking an African Literature class as well as a class called Faith in Action. I will also be experiencing my first social work internship. I'm still not sure where I will be placed for my internship, however I requested an orphanage/school that works with both visual and visually impaired children. During my stay here I will also experience a two week home stay in the village where the university is and a one week rural home stay. There are 15 American students this semester and 3 of us are here for the social work emphasis. We will all take a one week trip to Rwanda.
All of the flights here went very smooth. I'm so thankful I was able to travel with my friend Molly, another Cedarville student who is also here for social work. We were able to change our seats for every flight and sit next to each other. We were on one plane for so long that when we left it felt like we had gotten to know half the crew.
Molly and I arrived a day earlier than required because the flights were cheaper. So upon our arrival in Uganda we were picked up and taken to a Backpackers Hostel where we had reserved a room to stay the night. Our night was... memorable! Our room was very simple. We had 2 beds, both with mosquito nets, a small bathroom, and a shower (with no shower curtain). We were working on getting ready for bed last night when Molly noticed a giant bug on the floor! Molly threw our trashcan lid over the bug and, as far as I know, that is where the bug remains. I was a little worried that the lid was going to rise up and start walking in the night, but it didn't. That bug was really big! We are now sitting in the lobby of the hostel waiting to be picked up and taken to the University!
This is Molly and I's first time experiencing jet lag. So far, so good. The worst part is my stomach learning new meal times. When we first got on the plane we ate supper at about 9pm. Then breakfast was served at about 1am est. Then on our next plane we were served a large lunch at about 9am est. My stomach was so confused, but it is doing much better today!
Prayer requests:
Pray that our bodies adjust to the new time zone.
Pray for us as we meet the other American students today as well as our Ugandans roommates and many others.
In general, pray for the many new things our eyes will see today and for adjustments to go smooth into this new culture.

Much love,
Jessica