Archive for July, 2010
July 18th, 2010. Published under Fun Stuff, Life in Uganda, Students. No Comments.
Check out this video from Pros for Africa. These guys came out in March of this year and we spent a good part of a week with them. This video features several shots of our students dancing, singing, playing football, drilling wells etc. There might be a quick shot of me in there too.. All the kids in blue uniforms are from Restore!!
Birthdays
July 13th, 2010. Published under Uncategorized. 1 Comment.
No matter how long I’m here, I’m still amazed at the joy people get out of the simple things in life, the things I have taken for granted most of my life.
Last night I went with my good friend Robinah to one of the youth homes for a birthday party. One of the girls was turning 17 and we wanted to go and make her feel special and celebrate with them. We had a simple meal of matooke (plantains), rice and beans and then birthday cake we had brought. The cake was a surprise, so when the girls saw us walk in with it they celebrated like you thought they had won the lottery. They were jumping, screaming and hugging everyone because they had a cake. Later in the night Robinah gave the birthday girl a few simple gifts (a plastic alarm clock and a coffee mug). When she opened her present and saw the clock and mug, she smiled brighter and wrapped Robinah in a huge hug with more joy than I’ve ever shown for the hundreds of presents I’ve had in my life.
I sat there observing the inexplicable joy these kids experienced through something I considered so small, a cake and a few small presents. I’ve received and given gifts amounting to probably 100 times the “worth” of her gifts, and yet never received or given with as much love as I experienced last night.
I write all this with the conviction of comparing mac books vs. mac book pros for several hours, preparing to make a purchase I won’t value half as much as she valued her coffee mug…