Another Week in Bundibugyo

July 9th, 2007

Today was an exciting day in Bundibugyo. It was the dedication of the new pediatric and maternity ward at Nyahuka medical clinic. The ceremony lasted several hours and included lots of traditional dancing, Ugandan food, and Celine Dion music. Yeah, don’t ask. God answered our prayer in that it was a beautiful sunny day. The featured speaker at the ceremony was the US Ambassador to Uganda. He stopped by Christ School for a brief assembly in the morning, then spoke at the medical clinic. Aside from the excitement of talking to the ambassador over a coca cola and accompanying him at the airstrip (along with Ugandan guards armed with rocket propelled launders), I really enjoyed his message at the dedication. He said he wasn’t here representing the American government, but rather the American people. This was because a large part of the medical clinic and mission here is funded by churches, families and individuals that comprise the American people. He spoke of how each year the US government gives $500 million in aid to Uganda. For each dollar that is funded by our government, $3 is given by the American people to the nation of Uganda. This money is channeled to serve underprivileged people through various missions organizations, NGOs and non profits. He emphasized that the individual does make a difference. He spoke of how several years ago, three American university students went through Uganda in search of a story to capture on film. They produced a documentary that opened America’s eyes to the twenty year long war involving child soldiers in northern Uganda. That was the Invisible Children DVD. It’s because I viewed that DVD, that my eyes were opened to Uganda, missions opportunities, and overall just having a bigger view of the world, its people, problems, and my role in the midst of it all. I really enjoyed the ambassador’s message because it’s easy for us to sit back and feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the world’s problems. Because of this, we fall into the faulty mentality that the individual can’t make a difference. But that just isn’t true. Call me an idealist, but if one life is touched from just one dollar or one prayer or one short term missions trip, it’s worth it. Change is being brought about by individuals and small groups of people. Global poverty and hunger may continue to exist, but apathy isn’t the answer.

July 14th

The beginning of this week started off pretty rough in my classroom. The students were disrespectful to me on Monday. I left the classroom feeling very discouraged. We prayed about it a lot with the team here. Disciplining students is not one of my strong points. Especially here in Africa, when things are a bit more intimidating as a foreigner. Fortunately, my head teacher, Master Peter, was able to exchange words with them. I reinforced these words the next day in class. As soon as we threatened discipline (slashing the grass), they behaved like angels. I hope that my last week of school here can be marked by learning and good behavior and fun.

Towards the end of the week, I tried doing my first laboratory experiment with my classes. The experiment was a simple neutralization reaction, aiming to produce a soluble salt. They had never performed an experiment like this before, I believe they have only watched demonstrations. Although the reaction was simple, I was a bit fearful, given that we were working with a strong acid, and open flame, and the day before they had asked to make an atomic bomb. Also, the class size, with forty students is a bit daunting. I prayed a lot about how the lab would go, for safety, for good learning, for obedience. It went so well! It was great to hear cheers of excitement after the lab groups had successfully produced a salt. Everyone was so excited about learning, which is a contrast to their indifference expressions when we lecture in the classroom.

We only have about nine days left here in Bundibugyo. We leave here the 24th, spend 2 days in Kampala, then fly out. Some times I feel like these 2 months have gone so fast, other times so slow. Pray for good reflection and debriefing time as the team prepares to leave and go back to a very different world.

Love,

Andrea