Day 1 of Missionary work - Aug 11

I arrived at the Entebbe airport at 9pm and was met by smiling EAC Ugandan volunteers - Edith, Diana, Rita, and Ivan. They were full of giddiness and questions. Edith was a little upset about me not responding the last time she emailed me....I told her I was in a frantic packing mode and I am just not great at communication in general. I really need to improve. On the other hand, I told her about the tent and sleeping bag I brought with me and she informed me that she didn't mean to send that email to me and I didn't need those items....ha! Well, I don't really like trail mix anyhow.

After 1.5 hrs in the van, we arrived at the house in the village of Ntinda within the district of Kampala. The EAC house is located in a relatively wealthy area of Kampala- there is a grocery store nearby and modern conveniences close by. The house has running water (though not hot water) and electricity most of the time. The look of the town is not far from other 3rd world villages I have seen in Costa Rica, Peru and Mexico...except there are just many more people and more poverty.

I quickly was introduced to all the muzungus ("white people" - derived from a contraction meaning ones who move around --referring to European traders in the 18th century) in the house...there are about 11 other foreign volunteers. The house is dominated by women. 2 Emilys, Stephanie, Rachel, Amy, Anna, Helen, Courtney, Corinna, Tara. There is only 1 other male volunteer at the moment - my roommate William.

Ah...yes, the ages of the volunteers. I am the oldest by far. I am older than all the Ugandan volunteers too...only the director Wilson (who is not at the house) is older. In fact, when I was my roommate's age, he was 4. Yep, that's correct. He is one of the youngest volunteers they have ever had, so I do not feel bad. The average age seems to be 22---- most just graduated from college.

I love meeting new people. I love the double-take I get when I tell them how old I am....30 is just more shocking than 29 for some reason, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the last 2 months simply because I love to see every one's reaction.

The Ugandan members of EAC find my age and my life stage as a refreshing sign their ministry is touching others than just recent college grads and their parents. Benon (EAC volunteer) welcomed me and said he looks forward to my perspective on the ministry given my work experience. God definitely called me to this ministry for a reason ---not sure what that is just yet...but I think He will reveal it over the next 5 weeks.

Nationalities of volunteers- All are American at the moment, except for Amy ("Emmay" in her Irish accent) who is from Northern Ireland. The Americans are from multiple states.....Alaska, Pennsylvania, California, Michigan, Tennessee, etc.

After meeting everyone, I socialized for a bit in the common area, then retired and went to sleep in my room on the bottom bunk, covered with a mosquito net. My body is adjusting to the time switch, so I did wake multiple times throughout the night.

I ultimately awoke at 7:15am in the morning to the sound of a petting zoo - dogs, goats, roosters, and cows. After a cold shower, I walked outside and finally got my first good look at Kampala. Green hills covered by reddish-orange rooftops in the background....Ugandans pattern their roofs off the red clay that comprises the dirt roads which meander through the hills, so it appears the houses sprout up naturally from the landscape.

Weather - Kampala is located in a tropical climate, a few miles north of the equator, so the weather is about what I expected- though not as humid as Q or Houston and there has been a steady breeze, so I am actually relatively comfortable without air conditioning.

After a brief breakfast of "fried bread" and butter, we all gathered for Morning Devotion at 8am. Out came the drums and up came the voices. We sang and danced---all praising the Lord. Diana led the songs ...she has a beautiful voice and an ear to ear smile that pulls you in with every word. The songs are a mix of English and Luganda with simple lyrics set to a tribal rhythm. The songs are designed and performed to dance to....and there was dancing all around....just joyful - no judging, no shame. The way you dance at home when you hear a song you love that makes you move...just the Spirit flowing through each of us. I hope to get a video at some point and post it.

Worship in Q had similar passion, but a different feel. In this worship circle, much of the joy comes from watching others express their love for God ----and then reflecting the Spirit through you in your own way. Imagine a Christian tribal circle with drums and dancing but no fire ---> that is our morning worship.

After a prepared devotional by one of our team members, we loaded into the vans for a community outreach project - cleaning up wells in a village 1 hr away from Ntinda. Ivan (EAC employee) told me that the heart of Uganda is in the villages outside of town -- this is where you see a greater impact of the poverty as there are less modern conveniences around.

The village is home to one of our Ugandan volunteers Diana. We met her family who were welcoming and loving. There is no running water in this village; children fetch water from wells all day in big plastic jugs and then carry them up the hill on their heads.

The clean-up work consisted of clearing out the drainage channel of the well so the water would not get backed up and grow bacteria on the spout. Also, we cleared the area around the well, so "snakes will not hide in the area around the well" ---- sort of the nightmare scenario based on my dad's advice prior to the trip. Luckily, we cleaned up 2 wells for 3 hours and no one encountered any snakes! It was backbreaking work - we basically used hand "slashers" to trim the undergrowth around the well and then used hoes and shovels to dig the undergrowth out from the drainage area. I left exhuasted and blistered.


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The first well mid-cleanup.



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I was going for the He-Man pose....the girls were more of the samurai pose...I don't think they even know who He-Man is.

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No snakes...