After a late night of using the currently-working sporadic internet, we arose early. I was excited about going back to the kids house to visit with them. These kids are absolutely adorable. They are so loving, kind and happy! In spite of the circumstances in which they live, they are so happy. It’s amazing! Who wouldn’t want to be around such delightful people?
Happy Orphans
Happy Orphans
Before I went, I had African coffee, amazing scrambled eggs with tiny diced veggies, yellow colored “raisen” or fruit bread, fresh pineapple and fresh squeezed passion fruit juice. Phil told me this juice was sqeezed by hand and forced through a strainer by the ladies Susan hired to cook for us. I passed through the kitchen and seen one pushing something through a mesh wire, but had no clue what was going on. Their ways of cooking are very simple. Everything is killed, cut, squeezed and cooked fresh. Can you say yum! I wish I could serve you this awesome African tea.
After breakfast Jacque was antsy to go see Fiona, and to take Mariko to the orphanage. We played a little soccer in the missionary house yard, then left to the kids house. Mike and Kenny went with us while the rest of the team worked at the missionary house. We said goodbye to Mariko from the kids house. She had to get back to work in Kampala.
Caning on the Farm
We stayed a hour or two longer. until Phil and the rest of the team came to get us in the van and take us to the farm. The kids had planted maize and potatoes on their farm, spending days clearing the land and planting it by hand only to have the termites eat up all the maize. There wasn’t enough money to pay for pesticides to keep the termites away. The termite mounds were huge and taller than me.
Susan Caning Mike on the Farm
As we walked the property line, Mike volunteered to have Susan cane him like she does when disciplining the children. She tapped him at first and Mike said, “Do it like you normally do.” “Caning” is done with a stick or cane about 3/4′s to one inch in diameter and it’s used to whop the tail end of the disobedient while they lay on the ground. Susan obliged and whacked Mike good. It stung him well and frightened me good. I wouldn’t cross Susan for nothing!
After everyone laughed quite nervously at Mike’s reaction to his stinging back side, we picked bananas, dug sweet potatoes and cleaned up Susan’s grandmother’s grave (it was her grandmother’s land given to use for the orphans). We carried the produce back to the van and the family at the nearby house fed us lunch. Susan had given them the goods to cook for us. We were escorted into the house where benches lined the walls. We sat and the family brought water for us to wash our hands and placed food on other benches in front of us. Then they left the room for us to eat together without them.
- Dining on the Farm
Honoring Mama
I finished eating before the others and sat visiting with them when a woman brought me a baby to hold. I think it must be customary for the oldest female visitor to be given the youngest baby to oo and ah over. It’s sort of funny that I’d be given the baby. I’m not typically one to take up babies when I see them, and Jacque, on the other hand, wanted to hold them.
Honored by Holding Baby
After lunch we were taken outside to lay on grass mats under the trees. While many of the team napped, I watched the women noticing my hair. I pulled the pony tail down and let them touch my mzungu (I bought a t-shirt that had muzungu spelled mzungu) hair. It was so pleasant outside. I asked Susan if anyone ever slept out under the stars at night. (Remember there isn’t any air-conditioning in the houses). She said, “Never.” When pressed she said it is very dangerous to be outside at night. Thieves, drunkards and murderers and such will hurt you. I noticed that even though we were on Susan’s family’s land she locked the doors of the vans. Nothing is safe, even with family.
After a while we drove back to the missionary house, part of the team worked on beds and stuff at the house and the rest of us walked to the kid’s house to set up more solar lights. After being at the orphanage for a while, darkness was closing in and we needed to leave. The lights weren’t finished and I had a terrible time getting the guys to quit work to get back home. Once we left. I felt terribly unsafe, remembering what Susan told me. The bars were already playing music and lit up with flashing lights. I was very nervous. When we got back I thought Susan was going to cane all of us.
Fear, Tired and Blindside
As a group of people on mission get tired, the opportunity for disgruntled attitudes and behavior increases. Our team was nearing weariness. All of us, although testy, gave grace in all situations and didn’t give in to selfish type of reactions. Personally, I was on the brink of blowing and needed a break. What better break than a movie.
The power went out again. James and I came up with the idea of telling stories using a narrator (Chuck), and child actors behind a sheet with flashlights to make silhouettes. We told of David and Goliath, and the story of Job. The kids laughed, but not near as loud as they clapped when the power came back on.
*****
A ruckus took place at the gate of the mission house. Someone was lurking and peeping which in this culture is usually done by thieves and such. Moses, Susan, Phil and other local leaders took the man and called the police. Our team knew something was going on, but were told to keep working with the kids and act like nothing was wrong. After the night was over, Phil told us the gravity of the situation. This is why we weren’t supposed to tell people in the community where we were staying or who we were with. I felt like Lot’s visitor in Sodom and Gomorra.
*****
We settled into the private back courtyard for the viewing. I don’t know who chose the movie. I watching the kids watch “The Blindside” with Sandra Bullock. Try watching that movie with a bunch of dark, skinned African orphans. It sure changes the perspective, especially since before Big Mike moved in with Sandra, he had so much more than the orphans here have. I watched the kids laugh at the short mzungu little brother. They were enjoying the movie. Due to time, Phil stopped the movie in the middle of it and planned on finishing it the next night.
A side note to the evening, another 10 or 12 year old orphan girl took Fiona and kept her occupied away from Jacque the whole night. Later we talked with Phil about it and he said he’d talk with the girl to make sure jealousy wasn’t creeping in. These kids were creeping into our hearts and we wouldn’t want jealousy to have any room.
More pictures are uploaded on Facebook. Check them out.
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Please comment below. I’d love to hear how you deal with the challenges that come your way when you are tired and things aren’t going the way you desire. Would the fear of caning keep you doing right?
This post is part of the Living and Working on Mission Blog Series and you can read more about our trip in the previous Uganda posts. If you enjoyed it you may also like the Insights into Ministry & Leadership Series, the Spiritual Journey’s Gentle Nudges Series or the otherBlog Series.
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