Comparison?

This is Kansu (a widow) with her family

I took a walk this morning. I haven't done that in a while. I think living in Africa year after year has got me thinking today that there really is no comparison with it here. I tried to picture myself in Africa on my walk. I even tried to imagine Humprey (one of the orphans I met) walking with me. What would he think?

As I walked down my subdivision street, I looked at the clean streets and space between the houses and thought, "Not a speck of garbage! Where does it all go? And who cleans this?" I also glanced over at the small lake we have and realized that no one was collecting water or washing in it. "What a waste of water! Shouldn't someone be using it?" My mind can't conceive of the endless supply. Then the most amazing sight of all was a water sprinkler system coming out of the ground and spraying clean water on the grass. Rain coming from the ground? I know my African friends would be astonished. It isn't for cooking or cleaning, it is for grass? Who cares if the grass suffers when children are dying for a sip of something wet?

It frustrates me that I can not communicate the level of suffering in Africa to Americans. There is no way for me to compare it to our lives. Every turn of the corner for them represents disease, death or danger; walking to school, drinking water, mosquitoes, marriage, etc. Nothing is without potential consequences, especially for women and children who have less protection.

I am so blessed to live here. But I would be remiss to think that the world doesn't need to share my blessings. It has become my life's work to share the burden of the women and children of Africa. But I can not do it without the willing generosity of others. This week I sent out 120 families to donors and I want to say THANK YOU for your dedication to transforming the world one family at a time. You are my heroes. Even without seeing it with your own eyes, you care so deeply that you are moved to action. My heart is full knowing that even without the exact words to communicate it, the burden is shared by you!

Cissy UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!

BEFORE

AFTER!!!!
Almost done...

Today we received the above photo emailed to us by Idah our new Ugandan Director. What an amazing highlight of our day! Cissy's house is almost ready for her to move in, and thanks to several of Cissy's new friends, she will move in to a beautiful new home... with a finished latrine!
Thank you friends of Cissy. You have blessed a very special widow, and brought her hope and love once again. Special thanks to Fred and the team at Youth Revival for introducing us to Cissy and organizing this project.

Almost ready!

Well, I am sitting here at 11:00 pm working. I am not crying everyday anymore and I am starting to experience some semblance of normalcy. Tonight I walked around my neighborhood and marveled at the clean streets, lack of bugs and my own safety. It is starting to sink in that I am not in Africa anymore. There really is so little here to compare to my life to there.

Nate was telling me today that he wished he was back there, "Except for the food!" He told me he loves the way people treat him in Africa. He feels special and cared for. It's true, I miss that as well. It isn't that people don't love me here.... it is just different. People depend on eachother in Africa for everything. There is no way to survive without family and friends. It grows on you when you are there, and you feel like you are one of the family.

Speaking of family, we are getting ready for sponsorships... family photos are being sent to us in another day or two. We can't wait to get started! These families are so desperate... If you want to sponsor a family or find out more about it, please contact our Sponsorship Administrator at jaimie.white@globalfamilyrescue.org We will make sure to send you a needy orphan or widowed family.

Re-entry

We got home 2 days ago and I am still sick. It is 5:00 am and my throat is in too much pain to sleep. I think I will go to the doctor today.

I am having a hard time adjusting to how wealthy everything is here. From the size of the tomatoes to the painted walls, it all spells money. I can’t believe how much we are blessed. I forgot how everything here is so huge… stores, burritos, cars. It is excessive. I don’t know how to make sense of the fact that being born here means I will never go hungry. At the same time that I embrace home, I am also feeling detached. It is a privilege that I have running water, but I am affluent to have clean running water. It is a privilege to be an educated woman, but I am also an educated woman who can influence a country through my words and actions… that is affluence.

Can I fully grasp my lessings? Can I fully understand how lucky my daughters are to grow up here and have the ability to choose their own destiny as I do? I am stunned by my blessings and I am frustrated by them as well. What if I was born in Uganda without hope of education, orphaned by AIDS, caring for my children by selling myself for food, eating one vegetable a day? Could I survive? Would you?

I can’t believe that I can sit in my house without a mosquito chewing on me… it feels so strange to not be slapping at my ankles constantly. And I feel amazed that I only have to wait 2 hours to go to a doctor that will cure me almost instantly. I am not worried about contracting malaria, elephantitis, leprosy, syphilis, or typhoid. I also have lots of food in my pantry and electricity to cook it. I am overwhelmed in gratitude and at the same time heart sick for the world. It is all part of re-entry; crying and decreased appetite. I am experiencing reverse culture shock again this year. I wonder how long it will take to adjust.

I can’t wait to attend church on Sunday. I have missed it so much. My friends from Community Christian Church put food in my refrigerator before I came home. They also left cards and little gifts for me. Home is not just a place, it is relationships. Thank you everyone for the wonderful welcome.

Friends in London!

I can smell the trees outside. I breathe in and gulp down the fresh air of Nightingale Lane outside the flat. It reminds me of my home in Chicago with a little bit of fresh cut grass and dirt stuck to the bricks outside. It is home to me, the smell and the bed I sit on now. I have open windows with no screens and no flying bugs to pester me. The sound of silence is deafening; No traffic or people, no buzzing, or loud prayers, no generators, not even crickets. It should seem a shock but it is more like heaven to me.

Our friend Julia from the U.K. invited us to meet some friends of hers from church during our long layover. They are absolutely divine! Ben and I are staying at James and Tanya’s house in which a “feast” took place earlier. We ate so much food! We met, Joseph (from Uganda), and Nicky and Andrew (from South Africa) as well as James (a good friend of Julia’s). Even Tanya is from Zimbabwe. It was a wonderfully cultural night and we were welcomed so kindly here. We took a walk to the nearest commons (park) too. It was a perfect evening for me. Friends, beautiful weather, a park, my family…. who can ask for more?

Nathan had a fever when he arrived but it seemed to disappear when two neighbor boys invited him and Mike to play cricket. And Amber and I laid in the soft green lawn while Hope watched Avatar on television. But when the food arrived, we were all stuffing our faces! We had the most delicious cheese you have ever tasted. But we also tried some new cookies called “Hob Knobs” (FANTASTIC). We ate hot dogs, salad with fresh tomatoes, corn on the cob with fresh butter and sea salt, cheese, bread and honey and even ice cream. I think I gained 5 pounds!

I want to personally say “THANK YOU” to our friends. You have made my homecoming so warm and I will never forget your hospitality! The tears I shed today were grateful tears. Thank you friends!!

This precious girl is Christina. She has a severe burn on her foot that is 3 days old. She cooks for her family and spilled the pan accidentally. They are using local medicine for it which is basically ashes from a tree.

Here is Christina with a new dress! She is so happy.

Hope gave Christina her sparkle shoes. She is trying one on her good foot.

Here is Mike with his favorite friend Joseph. I believe these are Angi Abbott's gym shoes! They were a little big, but he was SO thrilled to have them! Mike also gave him his hat.

Mike is giving Joseph a toy. We love you Joseph!

10 hours and counting...

This is so funny, I am sitting in Kampala right now listening to my teenage daughter and my husband arguing over hanging out with teenage boys… no matter where we are in the world, I guess this is bound to happen. How strange that my mind is focusing on AIDS treatments and community projects one minute and then managing sibling rivalry and sickness in our own family the next. It feels surreal to be a world crisis worker one minute and then mom the next.

Yesterday was our last opportunity to be in the field. Next door there is a slum that we have visited often. Our family feels strongly attached to one boy named Joseph. He is just precious. His smile is so catching. Anyway, Michael wanted to give some clothes and things to him and we decided to take some of the items the team left to the families there as well. I am attaching some great photos. I love that in this scenario I was able to mold myself into both worker and mother at the same time.

The children have learned so much about outreach and culture. It has enriched them… even tonight Nate made us stop on the road home when he saw a poor woman and her baby sitting on the street. He said, “Dad, stop! We have to do something for that lady. She is all alone without a husband. Can we help her please?” Ben pulled over and gave her some of our “going home” money, but he asked Nate to approach her himself with the gift. He gave it to her so sweetly. I wish you could have seen it. She was so happy and so was I. My son was is the hero I have always wanted to be. Actually, all of my children are. Amber has turned into the most wonderfully hospitable lady… Nathan is quietly on task and turning into the man I hoped he would be… Mike is unbelievably generous and in touch with the people… and Hope is so attached to our new friends here that she has cried for hours today.

I think, even with a fever and throat infection (which I thankfully when to the doctor for today!), I am actually figuring out how to be both a full time citizen of the world and mother extraordinaire! I am so grateful tonight. Grateful for medicine that is available and I can afford, grateful for my job and the ability to GIVE, grateful for my beautiful children and husband (who keeps me going), grateful for friends and so much more. I am so blessed!