experience the mission compound.

Now that I'm home in Canada, many have asked what my living conditions were like in Uganda.
I did not live in a mud house like the locals.
My kitchen was not outside with the small charcoal stoves.
I didn't have to pump my water, or bathe in a makeshift shower...

Here's a video tour of our house! You don't really see the entire mission compound, which covers a fair bit of land. But here's a glimpse of where we lived our daily lives as missionaries in Bundibugyo, Uganda!

...In fact, our house was very much furnished and a lot nicer than I thought, but it did come with its fair share of challenges & quirks:

• our toilet: we peed in the shower, we pooped in the "cho"-an outhouse with a 10-15 foot deep hole in our backyard that continuously self decomposes itself.
• our shower: we always took cold showers. The first 2 minutes were always unbearable and shrieking-ly cold, but we would always end up feeling refreshed, clean and in good spirits:)
• our fridge: contrary to our fridge in North America that runs 24/7 on electricity, our fridge in Uganda ran on kerosine. This means that it would stop working, our freezer would then defrost, our food would start to spoil, everything would start melting...until I refilled the tank and re-lit the flame at least once a week. Except this would be a complicated process of me lying on my stomach on the ground with dust/black chaff/kerosine oil all over me, trying to re-light the wick 10-20 times, burning myself on the wick, failing, then calling George the maintenance man to come and fix it for me. I didn't get it to work on my own until the week we left! The locals do not have refrigerators, none of the local Ugandans keep their foods longer than a day.  
• our stove: again, not run on electricity. Our mini stand-up oven & stove was hooked up to a propane tank. Sort of like your typical barbecue! So whenever we had to turn on the stove-top or heat up the oven, we would have to turn on the propane gas and light a match to it! Very exciting, as it always lit up to a firry phwumm!!
• our electricity: I think having electricity in the middle of Africa is a huge luxury already. But our world is moving forward, the power lines came into town about a year ago. However, at the mission compound, things work a little different. We lost power "on the grid" for 5 weeks. So we depended on solar power which worked great on sunny days! And in the day time, we always had enough power to charge phones/computers, but at night if our battery wasn't charged enough...we reverted to headlamps & candles!

Doing missionary work is slow & exhausting. Most of the time, you don't see results and become discouraged by it. But God draws us closer to Him when He brings us through the jostling, rocky, treacherous roads. And at the end of a tiring work day, it's our relationship & encounter with Him that matters.

We're in Philly!

I would like a Philly Cheese Steak please.

Once again, we're back where we started.
Except not at all, because we're no longer the same people who left Philly the first time. This afternoon, the other 13 interns from different parts of Europe and Kenya will be returning as we have dinner together. Tomorrow we will pray, share stories, and debrief before we head home!

Little adventures from the past:

Getting my hair braided for the first time!

Riding with Baguma Charles on a boda for field surveys

Eating Jackfruit communally one last time.

Milking Truffle the cow!

Leaving my Canadian mark;)

Bike Adventures:

Crossing a river with people bathing.

Amina, Richard, & Sarah:)

Biking away as kids chase after us.

Goodbyes.

Goodbyes are never easy. That’s why I like to say “see you later” instead.

Nkukubonna buke.

I remember Pastor Craig Pitts (from Glad Tidings Church, Sudbury) used to say, if you’re both believers in Christ, it’s never a goodbye, but a ‘see you later’ or ‘soon’ (in heaven, if not in this lifetime!).

Our girls: Amina, Me, Sarah, Grace, Annet

We had a goodbye party last Thursday with Ugandan food, an amazing slideshow (by Anna) of our trip’s highlights, and some of our closest & most precious Ugandan friends present. We sang songs the African way, played some games, and just enjoyed each other’s company.

Vincent, our beloved language teacher HAND-made Sarah & I sling-shots and banana-leaf footballs!

Sarah and I were both SHOWERED by gifts, cards, and handwritten love letters from all our Ugandan friends. It was definitely unexpected! I didn’t realize how deep of a relationship we had built with these people for two months, until our last days.

Saying goodbye to all the kids that show up at our doorstep DAILY for "shading" (in colouring books) and Tutex (nail polish, which they LOVE). Also, notice the stickers all over their faces (they love stickers!)

I guess I was selfish in thinking that my time here was short, and I have longer lasting friendships to return to in Canada, and that no one will really miss me when I leave. But we received the most unexpected gifts from people who greatly appreciated our time with them...and most of them anticipate our return someday. 

And in many ways, I have felt selfish for only giving these people 2 months of my time and then leaving. Will I ever return? 

My current calling is to finish Nursing School in the next couple years. And after my summer experience abroad, I’m still open to where He may call me overseas one day.

When David came to pick us up Saturday morning at 7:30 AM, the whole team rolled out of bed still in PJs to send us off. In a team of Americans, sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever see them again. Since they all live somewhat close together in the U.S., Sarah is planning to meet up with them whenever the team goes back to America. So they all said, “I’ll see you again sometime” to each other as they hugged. 

But when Amy Johnson gave me a hug, I just said, “well okay, I guess I’ll see you in heaven then”. 

But she laughs and says in return, with the slightest bit of hope in her eyes, “no, I think you’ll be back”.

Oh, the possibilities...of where He might lead me.

I’m kind of excited for the upcoming school year. 

The team & our recent visitors: Nathan & Sarah Elwood, Randy & Rachel (Anna's siblings)

A whole new world: Kampala

Yesterday, we entered a new world.

David, our most trusted driver (also the first Ugandan we met when we first landed 2 months ago), took us on a 9-hour journey from the bumpy, bone-rattling roads of Nyahuka, up the winding Ruwenzori Mountains, through the smooth paved roads of Fort Portal (though I can't dismiss the irritating speed bumps that seem to last for 1 km every time)...all the way to Kampala.
Our good friend Grace, whom we met in Bundi, also came with us because she received a last minute call for a job in Kampala!
We also stopped in Mubende for some muuchomo (barbecued meat on a skewer) and some roasted gonjas (a type of non-sweet banana). Quick funny story: the picture below is of the first time I had Muuchomo in Nyahuka, while Sarah was getting a Rolex (scrambled eggs rolled in a Chipati). At the time I asked Vincent, our language instructor, what kind of meat it was. He responds:
"it is beef.....from a goat". huh.

An example of Muuchomo (meat-kabobs, often goat meat). In Nyahuka.

Kampala is comparable to Hong Kong (minus the asians. Although there were a lot more asians, indians, and caucasians here than any other Ugandan city we've visted).

Here, we see women wearing trousers and skirts above the knee (how scandalous!) without lustful stares from men.

Posing with a giant Maribou Stork just sitting in a parking lot like a Canadian goose would!

We are staying at Emmaus guesthouse for two nights before we leave at 6:00 am tomorrow morning for Entebbe airport...and we're Philly-bound!

We went to Calvary Chapel Church this morning, and it was probably the most refreshing church service I have attended in Uganda. For once, I understood the praise & worship completely (as much as I love worshipping with the locals in Bundi and their traditional worship. It is sometimes nice to connect with something so familiar).
We explored many craft markets with Grace and her sister,  Hope, today.
We also went to Garden City mall and had lunch at their Food Court (where people come to you with their menus, trying to convince you to order from them, instead of you lining up at their storefront).
We also had grasshoppers today!!

Sarah and her first grasshopper!

I had a bit of a freak-out before I actually started enjoying them. Salty & Crunchy!

Our bag of grasshoppers. Delicious!

As we spend our last night in Uganda, I feel both excited to return home to a land of Canadians (I've been apart from Canadiens for way too long), yet, sorrow for leaving my Ugandan family, my Ugandan home. God has been so gracious the past 2 months. Your prayers have poured blessing after blessings into my Bundibugyo time.

Love. Love. Love.

Prayer requests

Thanks for being a warrior!

1. Chrissy Chipriano. Her plan was to serve in Bundi for 2 years. It was in all our plans to have her be the intern co-ordinator for Sarah & I, and work closely with us on the field. Unfortunately, shortly before our departure from North America to Uganda, she had to return to the U.S. for the removal of her thyroid due to thyroid cancer. We miss her dearly and have felt her absence throughout our hectic/chaotic internship without her organization. Please PRAY for her health right now as they have removed her thyroid, and her body is being forced to operate without a regulator of hormones. Soon, she will undergo treatment that will keep her body under control. Please PRAY for the days she’s waiting at home to be recovered, as we are expecting her to return to Bundibugyo sometime in October. PRAY that His glory will be revealed in all of this.
2. Amina, our new friend here in Bundi, was raised in a muslim family, but has been accepted into the Christ School Bundibugyo family and accepted Christ as her personal Saviour. She has been a Christian for some time but her mother did not know. She just recently notified her mother of her new life and her mother did not approve at all. In fact, we received a text msg from her saying that her mother disowned her and does not want her to return home anymore. Please pray for reconciliation and that there will be understanding between Amina and her mother. 
3. Staff at the Nyahuka Health Centre. Nurses, lab technicians, clinical officers, and all staff are government positions, which means they are being paid a set salary that pays regardless of their attendance. They are paid even if they don’t show up to work, or they are expected to work even if their paycheck has not arrived in 4 months (since we live in a remote area, it is uncertain if the paycheck will ever arrive). Because of this, we have staff who are unreliable, not kept accountable, and do not do their jobs. Pray for motivation and passion for people in the hearts of medical staff. We have an incredibly high rate of malnutrition and Sick Cell trait. They need the medical attention.
4. Please pray for Sarah and I as we travel from Bundibugyo to Kampala early Saturday morning, where we will spend 2 days before we travel to Entebbe, then to London where we will spend 1 hour and 5 minutes. Please pray that flights will be on time so we don’t miss our connecting flight to Philadelphia in the short layover. We will spend 2 days in Philadelphia where the rest of the interns join us from other parts of the world for a debrief. On Thursday, August 10^th, Lord willing, I hope to be home in Toronto and Sarah will be home in Greenville, South Carolina. Pray for safe and smooth travels!

Thanks for praying!

Bucket Calendar

With only 3 days left here in Bundi, our schedule has sure been jam-packed!
It's so packed that Sarah and I had to make a "Bucket Calendar" that scheduled in every little thing we were to do this week. I made fun of Sarah because from the looks of her calendar, it seemed like she had dementia due to every little detail she scheduled in (e.g. "get bananas out of freezer"), to the point where even bathroom breaks were marked in!

So for more stories and adventures where I have neglected to talk about, see also Jessica's blog @:
jessankney.wordpress.com

This morning at 7:00 AM prayer, I received a phone call from a friend in Canada! For the first time in 2 months of being here, I get a phone call from a friend on the other side of the world.
I LOVE YOU MWALI MURAY:)

HAHA.

So the pants/trouser joke is getting old. Too many white people who come through here have called their trousers, “pants” (i.e. Underwear). So some of the more modern Ugandan men/women here, who work with the mission, understand already. 

Except...it’s still not completely clear. 

Vincent, our beloved language helper and friend, speaks great English. We went on a hike one day, and I wore beach trousers that can be changed into capris by drawing up each side of the pant-legs and tying, except one side had come undone. So Vincent, who has tried to assimilate to our “American” English, says to me, “Olvie, you need to tie your panties!”. Baffled, Sarah and I stopped in our tracks. He said what?

Side note: oftentimes, in Ugandan English, they like to add an “e” sound at the end of a word. For example, candy/sweets is called “sweeties” here. Vincent wanted to speak our language of “pants” instead of “trousers”, except in this case, panties actually mean underwear. How confusing for a Ugandan!

The other inten & my partner, Sarah, whom I've been travelling with for the past 2 months and who has been in my personal space EVERY single day, has a blog @ http://www.sarahgbarton.blogspot.com/. Please read her blog too! She definitely has stories I've missed and a different perspective!