Day 25 - Can it be?

Instead of going through the daily grind of what went on today, I’m going to express some feelings.

Africa is amazing, the people are a amazing, this experience is amazing. However, as with anything we endeavor that takes time, money, and effort given by our own free will and choice, there are consequences. Now, I don’t want the word “consequence” to be taken out of context or seen as a necessarily negative thing. A consequence is simply a result or effect of an action or condition. I have been able to make many comparisons between this experience and my mission. As incredible as the mission was and as much as I learned and experienced, it was HARD. I’ve never done anything so hard as the mission; at times it was unbearable. This experience is similar though I haven’t come across any “unbearable” moments just yet, unless of course we count my EXTREME stomach ache that I had last Monday and Tuesday that gave me cramps like never before.

Africa truly is amazing. It is the most beautiful country I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying a lot. I thought Hawaii was beautiful, and it is, but Uganda beats it. The Nile was like paradise, I could possibly live there 1 week out of the year... every year... on a houseboat.

The people here are amazing. But just like any place on earth there are people that aren’t so happy, that aren’t so nice and friendly. The people that we have been working with thus far however have been just incredible. There has been so much love and acceptance from these people and it has been so great to be received so warmly. It’s nice to know that these people respect that we are here and are willing to work along side us to accomplish theirs and our goals. It’s when you encounter people that all they can think of is the fact that they think we have money and wonder what we can do for them, that’s when problems set in and it makes it hard to work with them. Luckily these are not the people we are working alongside; it would never work.

This experience has been amazing so far. I’ve never done anything like this in my life and it has really opened my eyes. You can never really understand what it’s like to be in a 3rd world country until you’ve gone. You can’t know what these people are truly experiencing until you work along side them, eat along side them, and sleep along side them. If anybody has heard about “mud huts” that people live in, it’s true, not a myth. The sight here can be stunning, although once you’ve been here for a while it’s less of a surprise and more of an awareness. We live in a house that is incredibly nice for this area and I feel so blessed to have what I have. We take for granted so many things, it’s ridiculous.

Let me go through a typical day of a women here in Lugazi. She most likely has anywhere between 4 and 8 children - the birth rate here is outrageous. She gets up around 6:00am and begins sweeping around the house. Breakfast is being prepared simultaneously, if there IS breakfast. The kids generally get up around the same time and begin their daily chores. When they are not in school they have chores around the house and they are quite disciplined. Kids wash dishes, clothes, walkways, floors, babies, etc. They are trained from very young to contribute to the family. Father’s are usually at work all day trying to provide for the family. If there isn’t a father, the mother TRIES to work, in which case she may have to put her kids in an orphanage if she cannot afford to survive them. The mother is continuously cooking and cleaning throughout the day, she stays home and just watches outside as people go by. Her life is nothing but caring for her kids and her home, she has NO life other than that. I try to imagine myself being a kid in that situation and I can’t even begin to comprehend what that would be like. The kids just play around the house all day if they don’t have any chores or can’t afford to go to school.

To be quite honest, I can’t even begin to compare our lives. They are just different and that’s the way it is. I think about the way these people are living and my initial reaction is to think that they are so bad off and that they are suffering terribly and life is miserable. And while this may be true for some, many have at least enough money to provide food which is all they are worried about, as well as a roof over their heads. If they have a mud hut with a good roof then they are good to go, they’re kept safe from the rain. If the kids can go outside and play with friends and kick balls around and make wire cars that they push around, they are happy. Life is different here and should NOT be compared with our own. These people truly are happy, it’s just the way they have been brought up so they don’t know any different. Could their lives be improved? Of course. Is it imperative for their survival that we try to make their lives like our own? No. For their happiness? Most definitely not. I’ve had to drop my thoughts of “so much needs to change.” Those aren’t the right thoughts because that’s not what NEEDS to happen. It is impossible to enter a community and in 3 months change it’s entire infrastructure; not going to happen! The BEST thing that we can do is support them in what they already have going and do small things to improve their living conditions. We don’t have the means or the ability to build homes for people, but we do have the skills and knowledge to build them an Adobe Stove which not only conserves firewood and heats three pots at once, but removes the smoke from the home which will dramatically reduce respiratory problems. The lesson remains that material things do not bring happiness. These people really don’t have much but they are happy, especially when the muzungus walk through their village.

These are my thoughts of the day, more later.