Tuesday, July 8th Wow! I could hardly sleep a wink knowing that there were 2 new, strange friends in the very room next to me. Strange? Yes, strange to us and I am sure we are very strange to them. Dennis moved spent quite a bit of time with them before bed to make sure that they were comfortable and we went ahead and kept Mercy home from the boarding school so that they could spend the first night together. My heart leaps and breaks all at the same time. I am so excited that the three siblings are sleeping in the same room tonight for the first time in......well, we dont know how long. Evans slept on the streets or wherever he could find refuge and Erumbi slept at the neighbors house, while of course Mercy was at school. Even on break or holiday, Mercy did not return home. She stayed with the sponsor, Isaiah, at his house. My heart breaks, well, for the same reason. That this is the first night (and only night until we can get the other 2 enrolled in school officially) that they have slept in the same room in who knows when. This simply isnt the way that is supposed to be. Siblings are part of a family and a family is to be together. This was one of the things that ripped my heart out of my chest when we were in their village. The father was too inebriated to know or even care that his kids were hurting so bad. Erumbi just wanted to be with her sister!! Is that too much to ask? We were up very late last night and quite frankly, I could not shut it down very similar to the feeling I have when I am at home. Uggg.... But this morning was different, for the first time in 10 days, we had no early appointments at the Beyond Uganda office or home visits to be at before lunch. Ben was leading a Pastors conference, Capulan went to the office with the interns, but the rest of us were encouraged to take the morning at home. Having been gone from home for 12 days now, the laundry was stacking up. Jennifer, from the office, volunteered to come to the house to do laundry for us so we would have clean clothes. Most of us planned on this from the beginning so we could pack less. She did a few loads for us last week, but this is the important loads as this will carry us through until we get back home to the modern American convenience of electric washers. Jennifer washed the clothes in buckets and placed them on the line for a mere 10,000 schillings ($4.00) per load and she said that we only had 2 loads for all of us? Really? No doubt she will be surprised when she realizes that she is being paid more than what she asked for. This morning is quiet around the house, well as quiet as it can be with that darn rooster. Going to bed at 1: ish and awakened by the vile animal at 3:11 is just wrong. I can tell you, that rooster has no idea how close it has come to having the feathers plucked right from its back side. Dinner I am telling you, if it happens again!! So we were lazy this morning and a great morning to be that way. It is beautiful outside with a breeze and several degrees cooler today in advance of the afternoon rain that is expected? That would be nice as we havent seen it since we arrived and just to rinse the dust off of things would be nice. We also have another nice surprise-we have water in the spicket this morning! This will be very helpful as we can use this water for wash and refill the barrels without having to go to the well. Last wash day, bath barrels were completely empty when we got back home from the day. So tonight, when we come in, we will have laundry done and full barrels which will save someone a few hours. I moved my chair near the spicket and typed this morning while the jerry cans filled. I even helped wring out a few articles of clothing and hung some on the line until she made me quit. Oh yeah, I had another idea and I have to say, it was a good one!! Blue buckets are bath buckets and I caught one out of the corner of my eye. I filled it up and sat it in the sun so it could warm up. Today, I would have a hot shower, or at least lukewarm. If they dont watch, I might even have a 2 bucket shower since we have plenty of water and extra time. As if this morning couldnt get any better, I smell banana bread again!!! WOW! 2 new kids at the house this morning, warm(er) water for the shower, clean clothes tonight, and warm breakfast. I also placed a Mt. Dew in the small dorm size refrigerator last night before bed, so I am sipping it this morning like a Ella Beth on a sippy cup full of milk. The relaxing pace this morning is welcomed, but even better, it allows us to get to know and spend time with the 2 children that we rescued from their village yesterday. Or did we take them? Did we do the right thing? I received my answer when Evans walked out of his room this morning. He walked near where I was sitting near the spicket on his way to the latreen. When he came out, he walked straight up to me and gave me a fist bump. Not much? Maybe to you...but to me, this is the same fist bump that I have done with all of my own kids and I taught him last night. He remembered. Top, bottom, front, and a swoosh motion over your right should similar to a baseball umpire calling a batter out at home plate. Immediately after, the biggest grin I have seen from him yet appeared on his face. Aunt Night had already prepared his plate so he quickly pounced on the jack fruit like a lion. To wash it down, he had fresh pineapple, rice, and beans left from last night. I believe my buddy was still hungry and had some catching up to do. Soon I heard chatter from the kitchen so I knew that the banana bread was finished. I went in and got a piece out of the pan, cut in 1/2 and walked back outside. I offered a piece to Evans and of course, he smiled, quickly took it and woofed it down. Mine was very warm to the touch and I cautioned him but either he didnt understand or simply didnt care. He finished his before I did mine. I might, just may have gone back in and swiped another piece for my new little buddy. Thank goodness we didnt run out of the banana bread today like we did the first time Elizabeth made it, or someone would have been in trouble (and it probably would not have been him). :-) Fred fired up the bus to deliver us to the office around 12. He proceeded through the brick gate after the large iron gate was rolled open. He had just made it through the gate when we stopped. Something didnt feel right. We had left Evans and Erumbi at home with Aunt Night. However, when we rolled past the corner of the house, I could see Evans sitting on the curb, bottom lip in the sandy dirt. Man he can pout and I think that he knows it gets straight to my heart...Instantly, Kelsey hoped off the bus and went to gather up the kids. Aunt Night spruced them up and we were off, and yes, it felt much better now. The afternoon would be filled with home visits for part of the team and more administrative meetings for me as we work with the locals to figure out their business practices and train them on ours. Somewhere between the African way and the American way is where we will end up I am sure. But for know, there is much work to be done. This ministry began in 2011 you see, and it has taken 3 years to get use to each other, to trust each other and to be able to communicate EFFECTIVELY with each other. I performed an audit of every record that Juma, the financial administrator, had on hand and WOW, I was impressed down to the last schilling. Our meeting was rudely interrupted by Allie and some of the others from our team. What in the world was all of that racket about? We could hardly hear and we were sitting in the same room. With the door shut, it was hard to know what was going on, only the loud ruckus coming through the window. We opened the door to a monsoon! It was raining? It really does that around here? We had had several false alarms around the house over the last week. The girls so badly wanted to take a rain shower each night when it threatened to rain, but never had the chance. Today, mid day, at the office, with all the locals around, they decided to be like little kids and run through and play in the rain. It was a sweet sound and an even better sight to see as they played so hard. Of course, the Ugandans thought once again that the Americans had lost their ever loving minds!! But it didnt matter, they continued on dancing, singing and playing in the rain. The locals crowded around the many doors to the offices that opened off the flooded courtyard to watch the Americans do some sort of rain dance. Even though they tried, the attempt at explaining what a rain dance was, fell on deaf or non-understanding ears. The locals actually think that if are out in the rain for a long period of time, that you will get malaria. So needless to say, they were horrified to see our team acting in this manner. But for the next hour and a half or so, our team didnt care. Let the kids (of all ages) be kids! This evening was not exciting or even pleasant for me-the last trip to the school where our sponsored children are. I do not like good byes in general, especially in this situation. Hard to believe that our time is winding down and now we have to leave Mercy, which makes us sad. After a brief song and time of appreciation, a massive game of tag broke out amongst the team and kids. No electronic games or even toys needed, just a good ole game of run and tag and scream and cheer and dodge the tag. Fun times had by all. Well almost all. Evans began to pull away and have a hard time. I grabbed a translator and asked what was wrong with him. He never would answer no matter how much we pried. Was it that he missed home? Was it that he was sad that he wasnt in school and part of this group yet? We decided after some deliberation, that it was probably more from the stand point that he didnt know how to have fun. He had grown up so fast, so hard, so sly, so efficiently to survive, that I am not sure he knew or remembered to have fun. He stood the rest of the team near us and just watched quietly. He would smile as occasionally a kid would run by and tag him. Something else happened not far from me that I noticed. Anthony, one of our oldest boys, was running in flip flops while playing tag. I am not sure if the damage was down during the game or if it was done prior too, but both flip flops were broken. The soles were cracked nearly in half and the plastic pieces that go between the toes and to the sides to hold your feet in the flip flops were torn. It is a wander that the shoes could be used at all. It was only because Max pointed this out that I even noticed it. I also noticed Max tearing up. Not again!! I dont think I can handle another day of crying because Max is crying because his heart is breaking. Dad, can we go to the market as soon as we leave here? I want to but Anthony some new shoes with my souvenir money. And of course, you know exactly where we went..... My prayer when we left was that God would show us something, anything, but that he would just move. The song kept coming to my mind, break our hearts, for what breaks yours. Through getting the kids yesterday from the village and taking the parental responsibilities from the father, to simply a pair of flip flops for a 16 year old boy; our hearts have been breaking for what breaks his. This is an even larger answer to prayer in my own life as through circumstances in my own life, I have become somewhat hard hearted the last couple of years. I used to become emotional at the drop of a hat, but then nothing. Now after this past week or two, that emotional thing, that tugging, that goose bumps when the Watoto choir sings, ITS BACK! Thank you Lord for not giving up on me.....
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 12:12:02 +0000
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