Livin Large

Food in Uganda is so affordable! We went to lunch the other day and I ordered a meal for 4,000 shillings which consisted of chicken, rice, matoke, and a sweet potato. It was enough to feed at least 2 people and the crazy part is…4,000 shillings is only $2! There is no way you could ever get a meal of this size in America for $2. For the amount of food on my plate it could have easily cost $15 in the states….crazy. I feel like I’m living large.

Fruit fruit we all scream for fruit!

Every day at Smile we feed the children posho, and for lunch they eat rice but on this particular day they were getting a treat. We were in the office eating lunch and all of a sudden we heard the children screaming and shouting for joy, we looked out the door and saw Pastor Ruth’s car. She had come to visit and she brought a special gift for the children. She opened her trunk and it was filled with bananas. They were so excited they couldn’t contain themselves. We got all the children lined up in rows while seated so that Pastor Ruth could take a photo to send to the ones who had donated the bananas to her. They were so excited to receive a banana. What child in the states jumps up and down for a banana? None that I know of. It was such a humbling experience and it makes me never want to take such a thing as a banana for granted again. I was so happy for the children, their joy extended onto me and we had a great time. It took them no time to eat the bananas but they enjoyed every minute of it. As the kids finished eating they were tossing their peels up to the tray in the front and here was little Marook still standing with a banana in her hand while she helped her baby sister Lamore eat her banana. After Lamore finished Marook gave her the other banana as well. Lamore needs the nourishment but for this young girl to be the care giver of her sister and give up of her own treat for her baby sister was the best moment of my day. I keep trying to figure out how I am helping here because every day I am helped. Something as simple as Marook giving up her banana shows how selfless she can be. That also ties into the sermon of today in church about giving God our first fruits. I have been reminded to keep a heart like Marook and give selflessly just as Pastor Ruth and her donors gave of their fruit selflessly. God is good.

Milky Water

Water…….oh beautiful clear water. Every day we have to boil our water to make sure that all the bacteria is killed and from there we pour it into our water bottles because they have a filter in it that protects us from getting any diseases. In America I took for granted water. I knew in my mind…”Oh Courtney conserve the water, people in Africa have to work hard to get it” but now being here it takes on a whole new meaning. I still live in a house here in Tororo, where I can go to the sink and get water. I’m blessed. The children here wake up anywhere between 5 and 6 am to go to the nearest burr hole so that they can pump water into jugs for their families. They put way more work into it than our 5 minute boil on the stove. I’m sitting here trying to find more to write but I’m speechless. There is nothing I can say right now that even compares to the work that these children do. They amaze me more and more every day.