Farewells.

So, as i'm sure many have guessed, blogging didn't really happen for me this semester. Things got so crazy here and our internet goes out for weeks at a time. Although if i'm being honest, I just hate being on the computer when there is so much happening. I'm sorry for those of you who were trying to keep up with my travels through this. I would love to get lunch with anyone who wants to hear anything about my trip, and I would love to here about your adventures these past months as well! I'll attempt to spit out one more blog post - be forewarned it is going to be a scramble of thoughts and an unorganized summary. Haha - maybe you all should just wait to get lunch with me. If you still want to hear my thoughts scrambled and scattered, read on, my friends. 

I have had an incredible opportunity to visit almost every corner of Africa. Kapchorwa, Mukono, Luwero, Jinja, Mbale, and Northern Uganda. I stayed in Kapchorwa for ten days with my host family there. I was their first American student, so that made for a crazy week for the family and myself. My brothers and sisters were terrified of me at first, but eventually they warmed up to me after much effort. Their favorite game the first few days was to run up to me and touch me and then run away as fast as they could - this would go on for quite sometime. Haha - I felt like quite the outsider. We lived in a place called Sipi in the Kapchorwa district. Sipi is truly incredible. It is famous for it's waterfalls and beautiful landscape. My mind was blown daily. It was like living inside a national geographic magazine. My host dad would take me on hikes in the mornings - really, really long hikes. One morning we'd been walking for three hours and a woman in the village we were in said something to me. I turned to my dad to ask what she had said, and he said he didn't know because she spoke a different language. I was not expecting that answer. My parents were farmers, so there was a lot of farming that went on during the day. My host mom was a BEAST. She did so much work and while I was dying during the day, she didn't even work up a sweat. I learned how to carry water on my head through little mountain paths. Even though it may have felt like my neck was breaking, the incredible view and walk usually took my mind off the pain pretty quickly. It was an incredible week, and an amazing opportunity to experience a different lifestyle here in Uganda. While living with a family in a completely foreign place is uncomfortable, awkward, and sometimes frustrating, it is also extremely humbling. It seems to connect the body of Christ a little more while we are still here on the old Earth. It's hard being completely helpless and dependent on other people, but it shouldn't be. I think we have learned to hate feeling clueless and helpless because we are told that defines us as incapable or inadequate. I desire to always be a learner, student, and explorer until I meet my Maker - even if that means feeling lost. 

I have had many opportunities to travel on the weekends. I went to Jinja with some friends to go white water rafting and bungee jumping. We also traveled to Northern Uganda, which is where a lot of the Kony war has taken place - we crossed a bridge that police still patrol because that was a popular attack point for Kony's soldier. There is a beautiful wildlife conservation there, and we had the opportunity to go on a safari. Two weekends ago I was in Luwero with some friends and Matt Chambers to break ground for the new hospital SafeWorld is building. It was really neat to be apart of something that has been so long awaiting by Matt and everyone at SafeWorld. I have been blessed with these opportunities as well as many others.

I have one more day in Mukono after today, and it is pretty surreal. This past week has been brutal. My personality seems to contradict itself. I love new things and experiences new places and meeting new people, but at the same time I hate leaving somewhere after investing. As I have started to feel apart of this community, it is hard to just get up and leave now. I could go on about the random things i'll miss: Marrion and I blasting top 20 in the evening, Mama Joyce's laugh (not to be cliche, but you haven't heard this woman's laugh - it's just the best), my shopkeeper friends in the markets, and the hospital. If I were to continue that list, it would go on for far to long and would probably cause anyone reading this to stop in short order. From leaving life at home to go to school, then to be in Philly for a semester, and then to come straight to Africa...it has been extremely exhausting if i'm honest. I wouldn't change anything about these past months though. While they may have been really hard, and stretched me more than I ever have been before, I can see how valuable my time here has been. It has also been filled with an incredible amount of joy. I'm forever grateful for Mama Joyce's hospitality, and for the rest of my Ugandan family's. It has been an honor to share life with them these past months. 

I will be traveling to Rwanda for 10 days to study the genocide, talk with survivors, and visit many of the mass graves. After reading a few books, and watching documentaries, I am beginning to understand how emotionally draining this time may be. Afterwards, I will be going to the base of Mt. Elgon, which is on the border of Uganda and Kenya, and will backpack up the mountain on a seven day trip. I won't have internet the next three weeks, but I cannot wait to see you all and exchange stories! 

Side note: My last blog post instead of writing Novocain, I wrote nicotine - pretty large difference. Haha - I'm surprised no one called me out/made fun of me for that, but I just wanted to clear that up incase there was any confusion. 

The other night Mama Joyce and I were discussing how it seems that parts of the bible contradict itself. For example, it seems pretty clear we are not to lie, but then the midwives were praised for lying to Pharaoh. I brought up the subject because I am wondering if it is okay for Christians to compromise things concerning beliefs in order to be present in government and politics - while, I'm beginning to think compromise can never be an option, I really loved what she said: "Maddy, it may have been okay for the midwives to lie in the situation. Think of it this way, there are people who can jump from one cliff to another without harm, but I know for sure I couldn't make most jumps of that kind. That's why I don't lie."

I'm going to dearly miss her simplicity, words, and heart.

"God made man simple; man's complex problems are of his own devising…" Ecclesiastes 7:29  

Typical week in Mukono.

This post was meant for a while ago, but out internet is not the most reliable. I couldn't upload it until I got back from Kapchorwa. Now that I am back, you guys can read this while I write about my trip there - Sorry for the confusion!

Things in the district of Mukono have been really great this past week. Mama Joyce has fully recovered from the gate falling on her back, I have mastered lighting the charcoal, and now that the break has officially ended our little house is back to its normal residents (Mama Joyce, Sarah, Joanna, and Mirriam).

I got the chance to meet up with Matt Chambers. He is the founder of SafeWorld (check out their website: http://www.iamsafeworld.org) and writes a pretty rad blog as well (http://ethoshift.com). SafeWorld has a lot of cool stuff going on in Uganda. They have a big project about to start in Nakaseke. The groundbreaking for their medical clinic is in March and I'm excited that I will have the chance to see it all go down - it sounds like it is going to be a party. 

Things I have found out about myself this week: Okay with blood and watching gory things in person - totally NOT okay with seeing blood n'at when there is a patient screaming in pain. In the theatre the other day, the doctor was doing a procedure called a hernia. This seems to pretty common procedure here - I have seen it a couple times now. My first experience with it went pretty badly. It was for a seven year old girl and as soon as Ronald, a nurse I work with, and I got her into the operation room she began to lose it. Kicking, screaming, crying and the whole shebang. While they got an IV in her, my job was to throw myself on top of her so that the nurse could do her thing. Thankfully, the anesthesia knocked the poor thing out pretty fast. The second time I saw this procedure was definitely worse than the first (especially for the patient). She was a middle aged woman and was really nice as we prepared her for the doctors. When the doctors came in, they injected nicotine into the area where the incision would be. I was waiting for this lady to go to sleep from the anesthesia, but to my surprise she never did and the doctor starting making the incision. Now, nicotine numbs the top of the skin and works for small things like that, at least that is to the best of my understanding. Dread filled me waiting for the patient to start to feel the pain because it had to be only a matter of time. As expected, she was not a happy camped throughout the hernia - understandably so. I really struggled watching the procedure while she was awake in pain. Ashamedly, I had to leave the room for a few minutes. I talked with my mom some time after to asked if they kept patients awake in the U.S. for that procedure and she replied no way. I'm curious if anesthesia is hard to come by here or if it was safer for the patient in that certain case. 

I also ventured into Kampala this weekend for the first time. I went with Sophia, the girl from Germany that I met in the hospital, and a few of her friends who are also working for the German Red Cross. I had to travel back and forth by myself and am pleased to say that no disasters occurred. The night before, my sisters and Mama Joyce were showing me what I should say in Lugandan to the drivers, and practicing how to pronounce the different names of villages. They really love teaching me Lugandan, but probably just because they like to laugh at my "first trys" of saying different things. Their taxis here are big vans that hold an unreal amount of people and are usually painted colorfully - so basically a clown car. A lady sitting next to me had a chicken in a grocery bag with its head sticking out towards me. Naturally, it was freaking out the whole time. Other than that and getting some funny looks, the taxi ride went very well. We visited a bunch of different markets, got lunch, and later on got the chance to visit my sister, Sarah, at her work.

I will be headed to rural Eastern Uganda for ten days to live with a family out there in a place called Kapchorwa. No electricity and no phone so I will be in touch when I get back to Mukono!

...As I said earlier, I am back and a blog is in the making. It was a wonderful trip. Hope all is well in Australia, Wisconsin, Beaver Falls, Pittsburgh, Philly, and all the other places where the people I love a ton are scattered. 

The Theatre.

It's a rainy morning here in the Mukono district of Uganda. It is technically the dry season right now, but Mama Joyce says none of the seasons behave themselves anymore. Rain is crazy here. We've been very packed in our little house this week - Jackie, Joanna, Sara, Mama Joyce, Daniel, Marrion, and me. Evenings are my favorite time of the day when everyone gets home. Last night we went outside and I started freaking about how beautiful the stars are here, which they thought was pretty strange. I guess they've always been there for them, never changing for the most part, just a part of it all. Mama Joyce showed me the constellations and what they called them in Lunganda because she didn't know the English translation. Daniel showed Sara and I dance moves to some Nigerian music. Later, we ate some Matooke and called it a night. That's what a typical night looks like here. It's really starting to feel like a home now.

So, last Friday in the "theatre" was insane, beautiful, and terrifying. I got there and started working with one of the older nurses there, Martha. She was giving babies vaccinations. Eventually, Dr. Dickson came to get me to go to the theatre. Now, I really do think he is a great guy but the most frustrating thing so far about working at the clinic has been the complete lack of communication. There is no warning about anything. He is just a super laid back, chill dude. Anyways, without another word we walk up to the operation room and he tells me to change into "theatre garb." As I am putting on all the clothes, someone gives me a pair large rubber boots, and that's probably when my heart started increasing from normal speed - why in the world would I need heavy duty rain boots in there? When I finish changing, naturally Dr. Dickson abandoned me, so I start walking into random rooms until I find what definitely has to be the operating room. There is a lady laying on the table, but she is facing away from me and laying on her side. Everyone is busy at work, and I'm just standing there trying to guess the procedure that I'm going to see. I'm thinking that Dr. Dickson is going to start me off with something mild - maybe just a small procedure for someone who has appendicitis. The doctors walk in the room and roll the woman onto her back - i'm surprised to see she is very pregnant. Not even wanted to consider what is about to happen, I lean over to a nurse I now know as Ronald, and ask what procedure is being done today. He takes his mouth coverings off and I can see he is about to burst into laughter, probably at the expression on my face, and then replies that they are doing a c-section today.

So once I decided that I wasn't going to run out of the room at full speed, I began to attempt to keep myself calm. I had heard so many horror stories of people passing out, and that was the last thing I wanted to do. To be completely honest with you all, after talking about Dr. Dickson about my medical career plans for my life, I felt I had to keep my "cred." Passing out during my first procedure would most definitely throw all that out the window. I'll spare the gory details, but I will say that I found out what the boots were for. Once they started the c-section, I realized I could watch without much trouble. I was shocked because I could hardly watch veterinarians operate on cats on Animal Planet (So why did I want to be a Nurse Practitioner? Good question - I have no answer for you). This is the explanation I came up with: once it was all in front of me - a real woman with another life inside her, all the "grossness" started to fade. It wasn't a gruesome hospital drama on TV, it was just real life. The patient had a healthy baby girl. I suspect she had a c-section because she had HIV, and it's another precaution you can take in attempts to not pass on the HIV virus.

Tonight our director, Mark, invited us over his house to watch the superbowl! We're all pretty pumped about it.. even though it'll start around 2:30 AM for us. Dang time zone nonsense. LET'S GO 49ers. (I would would root for anyone against the Ravens).

Much love to everyone back home!

Birthday Girl in the House.

Hey all!

Things are starting to feel a little bit more like a normal routine,  which has been nice. This weekend at the Serukenya's house was a crazy one. On Saturday, we all woke up early to scrub the house from the top to the bottom for Mama Joyce's 70th birthday party. But earlier that morning, Mama Joyce was trying to open a neighbor's gate, and it fell on top of her back. She was rushed to the hospital that morning after we got her back inside. Thankfully, there were no broken bones but unfortunately there was a lot of discomfort. After she got back, and my sisters went to work, I spent the rest of the afternoon with her. What was really incredible was how many people came to see her after they heard the news of her injury. I mean a TON of people. It was really neat to see how much people care for her. Although it isn't too hard to believe - Mama Joyce is an extremely easy person to fall in love with. She is quite the lady.

Usually my sister, Sarah, and I go to church together early on Sunday because there is an English service. For my mom's birthday though, the whole family went to the afternoon service together, and she wanted me to be there. I'm not going to lie, it was a brutal 3 and 1/2 hours of not understanding a word of Luganda. But it was really great to see how they did the service there - there were over 30 kids getting confirmed that week. Also, even though Mama Joyce's back must have been killing her, she never showed any sign of pain there at church or throughout the rest of the day. She's a trooper. I don't think I realized how many people were going to be at the party. They were not kidding about the attendance of 100+ people, and Sarah said they were actually expecting around 200. It was truly an incredible celebration. For one of the first times since I have been here, I really felt like I was at my family's party - it was a breath of fresh air. There are so many culture differences here and I have been trying to be so mindful, observant, and sensitive. Not to be cliche, but i've learned that laughing seems to bridge the gap of so many cultural misunderstandings/incidents. We have a couple classes for USP that have been focusing on how to be cultural aware and sensitive. I am very appreciative for them and without that information I would have been very, very lost for these first few weeks. With that being said, sometimes I found myself getting too caught up in the differences of our cultures - they are not that different from us. I have been amazed by the grace I have received through approaching situations with love and humility.

In other news, My first day at the Mukono health clinic was last Thursday. I met with the main doctor there, Dr. Dickson. He informed me that I would be working on Tuesdays and Fridays. On Tuesday there are a lot of HIV patients that come in for treatment, medicine, and testing - he informed me that it will be a good learning experience because so much goes on those days. On Friday, he wants me to observe him while he is in the Operating Room and help him with anything I am able to. Everyone here calls it the theatre, which took me a while to figure out. He told me that the only way I was going to learn was if I was in the "heat" of it. Which was exciting to here, but also a bit scary considering I have no real medical experience whatsoever. So, this morning was my first day. In the morning I went from patient to patient in the female, male, and pediatric wards with Dr. Dickson. He was deciding if each patient was ready to be discharged. We looked at things from wounds, malaria patients, chicken pox, and other miscellaneous sicknesses I did not understand. Afterwards he took me to where all the HIV patients were. He was correct, there were a lot. I was told that a few were there for testing, but most were already HIV positive and waiting for a check up to see what medicines they could receive. There is a girl from Germany named, Sophia, who has been working there for a few months. She has an internship with the red cross and is living in the village next to Mukono. We talked all afternoon while we worked, and I am SO thankful she was there to show me the ropes. Unfortunately for me, it was her last day working there, but we got to exchange numbers still because she'll be living in Uganda until the summer as well. I am still trying to understand HIV as a disease more fully. One major thing they focus on is trying to follow up with pregnant woman who test HIV positive because there are ways to prevent the child from being HIV positive as well. The big problem is that if the mother breast feeds, the baby is almost guaranteed to contract the disease. Formula is very expensive here and many woman cannot afford it. There are so many things I am learning, and still do not understand. As I do though, I will try my best to keep you all updated. The goal for the week is to not pass out on Friday in the theatre with Dr. Dickson.

Below are some photos of family from the party! Hope everyone is well. Thanks for all the support and feedback - it is appreciated so much.

&Since I don't have a Mama Joyce quote, I'll wrap this post up with one from Dr. Dickson - 

"I'm no theologian but after being a doctor for many years, I have found that spirituality and medicine are inseparable."

Cleaning with my sister, Susie, the day before the big party.

Sarah (sister) and Ethan (nephew).

Party Time.

My niece, Shalom.

Birthday Cake that they ordered for Mama Joyce.

My sister, Jackie.

My niece, Vivian,

&here is the birthday girl! 

Happy 70th Birthday, Mama Joyce!

"It sees the invisible and is able to do the impossible." - Rev. Cannon this past Sunday

Short, and rambling journal entry from last night: 

That moment when your mouth is on fire from eating Ugandan Ginger Snaps (apparently they don't mess around when it comes to ginger here), you're out of water, and locked out of your house. There are bolts on our main door, and no one from my family is home yet. I remember Mama Joyce and I having a conversation about the key to the house being hidden somewhere. We unfortunately and obviously never finished that conversation. I gave up searching for possible places where she would have hidden it with no luck. Now I'm just sitting here and watching. There are birds everywhere here - the kind i've only seen at the Aviary. A colorful bird just ran into a wall, and while recovering from the impact dropped his dinner: a lizard. The little guy climbed up the same wall with lightening speed to safety - lucky gecko. It really does sound like the tropical rainforest exhibits at the zoo here. The mornings and evenings are my favorite times of day here so far. It's not to hot or too cold, and there is usually a nice breeze. My heart is happy. 

After a while good old Francis came to help me out and let me in with his spare key - he is a close family friend here with a pretty hilarious son named Martin. Every night this week Susie (Mama Joyce's granddaughter, so technically niece) and I start making dinner as soon as I get home. We cook until everyone gets home around 9. Then dinner is usually served at 10. It's funny, I really thought I would probably lose weight with all the walking and allergy limitations, but considering we eat a ton of rice and potatoes and then go to bed, I think it is probably more likely we'll all gain weight. The Matooke (actual spelling) is hard to get used to - I think they have been noticing my struggle and gave me soy sauce last night...even though cooked raw banana and soy sauce sound like a pretty bad combo, it was surprisingly good. I love our dinner time conversation, and late night hangouts. The highlight of my night was watching Mama Joyce mock Usher "throwing money in the air" after watching one of his music videos. I laughed for a good ten minutes straight. Getting to know my sisters has been awesome. They all have such unique personalities and crack me up constantly.

I had my New Testament class today. I am the only American out of around 100 students, so it was a little intimidating but I talked to a lot of the students and my professor is really great. He kept interrupting the lecture to ask me questions about America's history, culture, etc. At one point in the class he was talking about how the Jews started intermarrying with Babylonians, and that these people were called Samaritans. To get this idea across he called up a few students, and told them that they represented the Jews. Then he called on me and asked me to come up to the front of the class as well. I was obviously representing the Babylonian in the demonstration. Everyone was laughing for quite a while over it.

Tomorrow is my first day working at the clinic - really hoping it goes well, and if I do have to give IV's, that I don't cause too many people pain. &Mama Joyce's birthday is this Sunday! We're having a big party because it is also Uganda's independence day. My sisters were saying there is going to be over 60 some people there, so it sounds like it is going to be quite the gathering. 

Farewell for now!

Also, Mama Joyce's quote of the day: "God is never too late, and He is never too early. He seems to know what's going on, so I never concern myself with worrying about unanswered prayers."

I pathetically and immediately thought of LOTR's -"A wizard is never too late, Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to." I wonder is she's ever read any J.R.R. Tolkien...

Above is a picture of the center of my house. The door straight ahead is the kitchen, and then to the left is the main part of the house.

Here is our yard. Not many people have walls around their yards - it seems to be a luxury here.

You can see part of the latrine, and the trees right there are banana trees. We use its big leaves to cook things and obviously use the banana's for Matooke!

Main door to the house.

The Kitchen and some Matooke in the pot almost ready to eat.

That big black tank is where we collect rain water. We use that water for cooking, bathing, and pretty much everything else.

Beautiful morning sunrise from walking to school this morning.

Where I sleep.

Both shots above are some from the village I live in. 

The Fam, UCU, and Other Miscellaneous Details.

So while i'm here in Mukono, Uganda, I will be living with a family as I said before. I wanted to give a description of my family. I have one parent and everyone calls her Mama Joyce. She is elderly and most of her kids have grown up now and moved away. One of her daughters is living with us right now, but after her holiday is over she will return to Zimbabwe, where she works and lives. In passing I met my other sisters Josephine and Rose. Also, I met Martin, my brother, who works for the Kabaka of Uganda (kabaka translates to king)!  Mama Joyce's granddaughter is staying here for a month or so as well - her name is Susan, and is a school teacher in Mukono. I have spent most of my time so far with Joanna and Sarah, who I share a room with. I think they are Mama Joyce's nieces, but I have still been calling them my sisters since I am unsure of their relation. Sarah is closest to my age. She just finished college and is now working in a shop in Mukono. Joanna is also working in town. I met Joanna's fiance  Jonathan, who was very funny. He had perfect english because he lived in London for a large part of his childhood. I'm sure I will be meeting more family because it seems that I have meet more people everyday. I'm excited for holidays to get to know my extended family better. They have a thanksgiving here during January with the family that I am looking forward to a lot.

When I get home from school, I usually help out with different chores like washing, cleaning, cooking, etc. Instead of running water they have a huge basin outside that collects all the rainwater. Then throughout the house we have smaller basins called jerrycans that we keep filled with water in the kitchen and washroom. Sarah has been showing me how to do everything from how to cook Mtoke (a staple food here) to how one takes a bucket shower. For showering, you take water from the jerrycan and put it in a bucket. You then can either splash while you wash or pour it in top of yourself. Our bathroom is outside in what they call a latrine, and it is simply a rectangular hole in the ground - Haha, both bathing and using the latrine are fairly simple concepts. We usually start prayers around nine, where we read a certain piece of scripture, talk about it together, sing hymns, and then pray together. It's beginning to be one of my favorite times of the night. I want to start carrying around a Mama Joyce Quote Book because that woman is just full of em'. During dinner there is a lot of talking and laughing, which is two of my favorite things to do. I am still getting used to the food - during prayers last night Mama Joyce prayed that I would start eating more because she was worried I was too small. Needless to say, I stuffed my face for Mama Joyce during dinner later on. They have a TV they turn on in the evenings and we'll watch a little bit of everything. The Ugandan Soap Opera's have definitely been the most interesting and entertaining. Also, the news here is not censored at all, which has been kind of shocking. They show gruesome beatings and different car crashes with no filters whatsoever. But the evenings at my new home have been wonderful and I cannot wait to get to know everyone's personalities better. I'm also anxious for their routine to become my routine as well. I think this weekend I will learn a lot more about different responsibilities and chores I will be doing.

UCU stands for Ugandan Christian University. That's the name of the university I will be taking classes at. My classes are Faith and Actions in Ugandan Context, Understanding the New Testament, Cross Cultural Missions Practicum Class, Spiritual Discipline, and East African History from 1800s to Independence. I have only had a few classes so far, but so far they have been really great. For our Practicum class there are multiple sites and organizations that we will need to contact in work with. Our primary site though, we choose from a list. I was discouraged because there was not a medical clinic listed, so I went to talk with the advisor here and she said that it was taken of the list for safety and interest reasons. All the study abroad students that come here are usually International Study, Social Work, or Religion majors. They haven't had a nursing major attend the program for a while. Since I am nursing major, she is going to let me work in Mukono, at a nearby clinic. I'm very thankful and really pumped for the opportunity.

Hope everyone is well back home. Much love!

PS -  Here are some pictures of the monkeys i've been watching. They are called Red Tailed Monkeys and are pretty common throughout Uganda.

Morning Walks

While I have not had much time to write yet, I am going to put a video up of my walk to school. I used a gropro, that Kenneth nicely lent to me, and attached it to my book bag. Two things to keep in mind: One, I am not running like a crazy person in this video - I just sped it up so you guys wouldn't have to watch for the whole 30 minutes of my walk. Two, the camera died about halfway there so this sadly is not my whole walk. But just wanted to let everyone see a little glimpse of things i'll see every morning for a while now.