Patty Groot, Director of Servant Ministries, writes a lovely piece about the journey to Uganda and their first day. Youll want to read every word! Its Saturday evening at 11:10 pm and this is the first time Ive had a few minutes to write. We had a wonderful flight with only a few minor glitches. KLM did a marvelous job taking care of us but, unfortunately, lost Chucks and Rajas luggage somewhere in route. We are currently making due by switching out clothing, doing some wash and praying that the bags will show up soon. The most unfortunate piece for the missing luggage is that one of the bags contained a water filtration unit that was to be installed this week. We are all praying that the bags show up before Wednesday so that we can leave clean water behind for the villages. When we began planning this trip, over a year ago, we knew that it would be a trip where all involved might be stretched. We are only able to travel to Uganda every 4 - 5 years so when we are here we aim to make an impact. On Tuesday, two days before leaving Louisville, we had 16 confirmed members of our team. When we left on Thursday we were down to 14. Two of our dentists were unable to make the trip. One, Erin, found out that she was expecting a baby and was unable to start the anti-malaria medication that is required. Another dentist, Dan, broke 6 of his ribs 2 days before our departure. We miss them dearly but know that they are right where they belong. TRAVELS We left Louisville Thursday morning. During a 30 hour period we traveled to New York, Amsterdam, Rwanda and then to Entebbe. I met two wonderful women along the way who helped me prepare for this journey. The first was named Betsy. Betsy is an emergency room nurse in Montana and a wonderful Christian woman who has an unusual peace about her. She told me that she was also traveling to Uganda to work in a hospital. She had been saving for several years to take this trip. Not only had she been saving money but she had also saved 7 weeks of vacation time. When I asked her what she was going to do she said she wasnt quite sure yet. She knew that she would be serving mothers and children with AIDS in a hospital somewhere in Uganda. She knew that the hospital didnt have running water, but that was about it. She was putting her trust in a doctor, that she had met once, in finding her a place to sleep and food to eat. She taught me so much about what it really means to serve. She knew that she had been blessed with gifts and talents and was determined to use them for the glory of God. The rest she was truly leaving up to God. The second person I met was a young lady named Jasmine. Jasmine and I spent over 10 hours on the flight from Amsterdam to Rwanda and then on to Entebbe. Jasmine was traveling back home to Uganda to see her family for the first time in two years. She had won a visa in the lottery and moved to Boston where she works as a Home Health Aid. She keeps only what she needs of her paycheck to survive and sends the rest home to support her father and 3 siblings. Her eyes just sparkled when she talked about the time she was going to spend with her family. She was only 23 years old, but in my mind, she was one of the most loving and unselfish people I have ever met. DAY 1 Today was our fist experience in seeing our surroundings in the daylight. One-half the team began teaching lessons with the dental students at the clinic while the other half went shopping. I was on the shopping team and had quite an adventure. The traffic is like nothing I have ever seen. There are so many people and so many of them are riding motorcycles! There dont seem to be any lanes for the traffic and I believe we encountered 1 stop light the entire day. Bus as scary as all that was, I never once saw an example of road rage. Everyone was ok with others cutting them off. They seemed to do some kind of dance where they all came together almost touching, but not quite. It was one of the most beautiful, yet alarming things I have ever witnessed. Bob encountered a little boy about 3 years old in a hardware store. The little boy walked up to him and took his hand. He carefully examined the back of his hand and then turned it over so that Bobs palm was up. The little boy began to use his hand to scrub Bobs. It seemed that he was trying to scrub the color off Bob. I saw only 4 other white people the entire day and I wonder if this was the first time that little boy had ever encountered a person of our color. Being white, we stick out like a sore thumb. We got lots of smiles and extra attention when entering the stores. But with that came the attention of beggars, also. More times than I care to count young women with infants would walk up to our van windows and ask for money or food in their Lugandan language. There was a time when Joy was eating a granola bar and a woman walked up to the window. Joy leaned over and gave her the granola as they exchanged smiles. I cant imagine what it would be like to be standing in the middle of the road, holding an infant, begging for anything anyone was willing to share with you. You just dont experience anything like it in the States. We saw many disabled people sitting on street corners do the same thing. One lady walked up to a group of us as we were getting in the van. I have never seen a person, alive, that was so thin. She was missing all her front teeth and was dressed in rags. We wonder if she was one of the unfortunate ones dying from AIDS. The studies will tell you that it wont be too long until the AIDS epidemic in Uganda will reach over 50% of the population. But as distressing as all that was, there was hope. Uganda is filled with gentle people who go out of their way to be kind to strangers and to each other. I know that there is crime, but today I didnt see it. I saw curious faces, I saw the poor and marginalized reaching out for help and I also saw a place where people are happy with what we would call a meager existence. I saw kids running in muddy fields and holding hands as they skipped across garbage covered lots. I heard giggles galore. I saw God here. I saw a place where there is poverty and sickness but it seems to be the norm here and with that comes a refreshing attitude. These people, for the most part, are very satisfied with what they have. They dont seem to compare themselves to one and other. The kids dont know about television and are thrilled to have a contest to see who can throw a stick the furthest. They are grateful to have firewood with which to cook their food. Those who have just enough to survive or those who have more than they know what to do with...I no longer struggle to see who is more blessed. I am already falling in love with this place!
Posted on: Sun, 09 Feb 2014 13:48:46 +0000
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