Happy Independence Day! (Better late than never, right?) Margaret’s birthday is the same as America’s, so it was a good day for celebration. We brought decorations and party favors for our house and the kids. They love America so they were more than willing to help us celebrate, especially with the sparklers. Fire may have not been the best idea for 100+ orphans, but we live and learn. No one died or was severely burned…the outcome of a successful day.

We had a second annual RG Missionary Tough Mudder. The Ugandans think its funny that we “warm up” for the day by excercising; thus, they thought it was hysterical that we were purposefully getting dirty while “warming up”. It was a blast! Who knew carrying water jugs on your head through the mud would be so hard? We went to the spa to clean all the dirt out of every crevice imaginable– just kidding! There is an outdoor shower that sometimes has lukewarm water that’s been heated by the sun during the day – an African spa.

The majority of the rest of the day we spent hanging out and playing with the kids. My host house taught me how to make roasted maize; essentially, feed corn they roast and eat for a snack. We play cards, sing songs, dance and laugh. I love this bonding time with the kids. They are so smart, creative, giving, and simply beautiful souls. Compared to us, they are materially poor, but in many ways, the simplicity of their lives feels so much richer. The love they give to each other and the visitors is abundant. They think we are coming to bless them, but really, it’s the other way around.

I played in my first professional soccer game – Missionaries vs. the First Eleven (the best 11 kids at RG, no matter the age, 10 boys and 1 girl). I preferred to warm the bench, but the missionary population is limited. It was 90 minutes on what felt like a hundred acre field. The missionaries ran and ran and had nothing to show for it except a pity goal when we tackled their goalie…fair? I think so. The next day was worse than the beat down we had received; a lot of ibuprofen and biofreeze happened. The First Eleven graciously offered a rematch after letting us have a few needed practices first…how sweet!

Church is always and awesome experience. Our team was selfishly grateful that the church has been somewhat Americanized, so the service was only 3 hours. We had a guest preacher from another mission group who preached on the story of Elijah. It’s amazing how ALL of the children, young and old, are focused and enthused about everything in the service. They sing and dance their little hearts out and listen intently to the sermon. Amazing!

We took the afternoon to bond as a team at a place called Chobe.  It’s a beautiful safari resort that sits right on the Nile. On the way, we lost a part on the car so we tied it back on with a back pack string, and we proceeded onward at an average speed of probably 8 mph. It was a wonderful way to spend the sabbath. A buffet lunch, 3 story pool, ice cream and bonding – all while hanging out with the hippos, baboons, warthogs, and crocs, naturally. Traveling home through tsetse fly infested wetlands never ends well. We attacked the flys with hands, shoes, heads, shirts, or whatever was available. Blood and guts EVERYWHERE. Killing what felt like millions, but probably didn’t even phase the fly population. If this tells you anything, the comment of the night was, “Is this whatI the civil war felt like?!” (Fun fact about Chobe: when the LRA was here demolishing the north, the took over Chobe, held all the workers hostage, and camped out at the resort for awhile until it was time to move on. Devastating and surreal to be there.)

Spent several more days in the clinic: taking care of sick children, helping with ultrasounds, organizing meds, working in the pharmacy, babysitting, deep cleaning, and safely disposing of all the sharps into the latrine, of course.

Bruce turns the big 6-0! (He bought himself a boda boda to leave here after we are gone, ha!) We went into the farmer’s market in Karuma to buy supplies and groceries for a fish fry. RG fishermen caught several Nile perch and tilapia for us, and we had a huge celebratory feast with several Muzungus and Ugandans. There was also a bonfire that all the children got to stay up late for, AND they each got one soda. They hardly ever get anything sweet, so they were stoked and uncontrollably hyper! One of the older kids DJ’ed, and we had an evening of singing and dancing by the fire. The kids are so talented, much more so than the missionaries, but we all had a blast!

A few of us got invited into a worker’s home for supper one evening. This is an incredible man named Ronald, who oversees all of the RG staff who work as laborers – farm hands, mechanics, janitors, etc. He took us on a half hour boda ride even further into the bush than we already are. His huts sit on about a one acre plot, where he has all of his crops and a little start up pig farm. Everything was bought and built by himself and his wife. He took us on a walk through his little village (their version of a neighborhood), where he talked all about the life in a village. Such an interesting and humbling experience, as he stopped to greet all of his neighbors along the way. It was apparent that he was a very well-respected presence and seemingly the unofficial head of the village. When we returned back to his hut, his wife had prepared a large dinner for us. We met his two adorable little sons, Aaron and Innocent, who greeted us before they went to bed. Innocent was so tired that he could hardly walk, and he fell asleep in my arms as he was giving me a hug 🙂 After dinner, wwe shared passion fruit juice while Ronald told us his story: at the age of 10, his father died and four years later, his mother died too. His older brother had a mental breakdown and went crazy, so Ronald was left to support himself at the age of 14. While on the run from the LRA, he managed to work enough for school fees and put himself through school. Somehow he finally managed to get a sponsor for his schooling. Come to find out, when he met his sponsor years later, the lady happened to be an aunt he never knew existed. How great is our God?! Eventually, he finished school but his aunt had died so he couldn’t go to university. Ronald then started working for a church and eventually made his way to RG. He is such a strong Christian and an incredible witness for this country and community. I feel incredibly blessed to have met him and been welcomed into his home.

As always, thank you for reading and sharing in my adventures and the Lord’s beautiful work. Stay tuned for my many career changes that are yet to come 🙂

Love,
Auntie Banana