life's unfair?

In the last 2 weeks a lot of stuff has happened, and it’s got me thinking how much we say life’s unfair, but is it???

In the 2 weeks 2 newborn babies arrived Stephen and Blessing, they were both less than 1 day old when they arrived at Amecet and both lost their mothers shortly after birth- now that not fair. This however meant that for a week now I have had the privilege of holding feeding and changing newborn babies, not something you get to do on an everyday basis. In a couple of months hopefully these babies will go back to other family member who are willing to love and care for them.

2 Tuesdays ago I took a trip into the middle of know where to see a girl who used to live at Amecet. We had to make a 2 hr journey part of which was along a dug up mud track and the cars wheels on the left were on ground at least 50cm higher than the right! The journey was bumpy and exhausting because there isn’t the development of proper roads, now that doesn’t seem fair. However Naome who we visited is doing well she is enjoying school and getting a good education and was super excited by our visit and the gifts we were able to take her!

A week ago Catherine was adopted, she had been at Amecet for a couple of months after she was almost killed due to the neglect and abuse of her family, she was starved and poisoned. Now that sure isn’t fair.  She now has a home with a family who love her very very much it was a happy to see her go however I will miss her little face!

I did my second night shift, it was busy lots of the children had fevers or weren’t drinking well so by morning I was exhausted. Now what’s not fair, the fact that I’m tired or that the children are sick? What is exciting though is that I got the (somewhat scary) task of deciding to give a child medicine and hearing the peace as they slept the rest of the night!

The girls here have been asking me lots about England recently and what it’s like, they want to her all about the machines we have that they believe we use for everything (well we almost do) and they love hearing about family life and out houses. Then I compare what I left to what I’ve come too, the fact that my bedroom is bigger than houses that I’ve seen, now how is that fair?

And these past few days? Well I’ve been sick, I got malaria and it sucked, I vomited and had a fever, I had injections that mad me feel I was being stabbed again every step I took. I thought I was better and realised how much I’d missed being with the kids, so I let Rose sleep on my hand (so clearly I had to lie on the floor with her) and Rafael climbed all over my back- a bit like a massage! And then mu stomach got worse and I ache and I’m back in bed. Now this doesn’t seem fair!

But because I’ve been lying in bed I’ve had time to reflect and think about it, and yes it does seem like life is unfair, the world is unfair and it’s all just this big mess. But unfairness creates these wonderful opportunities and lessons to learn. We view unfairness as negative but instead grasp the opportunity to make a difference and see the joy that can result when we step into try and make sense of even the tiniest part of that mess!

To Act or To Respond???

How many times have you heard the phrase, treat others as you would like to be treated? It is taught in schools, part of guidelines at clubs, workplaces and even acknowledged in meetings. This command from Luke 6:31 is not only expected in a Christian environment, it is a expectation of worldly living. It is often heard alongside turn the other cheek.

We are taught not to hit back, not to retaliate. You are taught not to steal because that is wrong and hurts someone else, you don’t take without asking because it is rude, if a hungry person begs you for money you give so you don’t feel guilty, you wouldn’t break the law because you don’t want to go to prison on pay fines, if you are walking through a door you hold it open for the person behind you, why? Because you don’t want to be seen a disrespectful.

All the above statements are about avoiding something, you don’t want to be seen and rude or disrespectful, you don’t want to hurt others and you for sure don’t want to get arrested. All of the above actions have consequences that you are responding to and so you treat others how you would like to be treated so that you avoid those consequences. You turn the other cheek as a response to being hit, you are nice to someone who has hurt you after they have acted to make a point, yes as a response to their actions.

But is what God is asking us to do is this statement all about responding or making a point? Luke  6:31 in the message version says, “Ask yourself what you want people to do and then do it for them”

This isn’t about turning the cheek in a situation or avoiding those consequences. Instead it’s about spontaneous unprompted Acts of Kindness. Let me give you an example, it’s a cold day and someone walks into the common room/staff room drenched and upset because they just got dumped, now you are likely to stop and make them and drink and give them a hug or a manly pat on the back- you respond to that situation, that’s normal and I’m certainly not saying that it’s not right. But how often do you just make a cup of tea for the person who is having a joyfully happy morning and walks into the room right after you. How often do you make dinner for your housemate, not because they need it but just because?

If I think about what I would like someone to do for me, I would love to open my bedroom door one day and find a bar or chocolate just sitting there, but would I ever think to randomly leave a bar of chocolate outside someone else’s door? Truthfully, until now, no. But God isn’t just asking us to respond to people in a loving way he’s asking to do that Act of Kindness just because. And if you feel like in doing those actions you would be a big flashing sign saying “hey be nice to me back”, do something you can’t be paid back for- pay for the car behind you at the toll or leave a bottle of nail varnish in the restroom. Why? Well wouldn’t you like someone to do that for you?

Acts of Kindness are about taking action and last time I checked God didn’t ask us to just sit back and respond to the world, he called us to make a statement, be an example and take action!!

week 1 at Amecet

So the first week of my new adventure has begun, I am now living in the town if Soroti (still in Uganda) and working at Amecet n'ainapakin (shelter of peace), Amecet is a children’s home primarily for HIV affected and infected children. There are currently about 20 children ranging from just a few weeks old to about 14 years. In the last 10 years of Amecet over 400 children have come through the doors. Amecet takes in those who need a safe place, medical attention and care. Often the aim is to restore children so they can be returned to their families or villages, although where that is no possible, the children are either adopted out or stay on a longer term basis.

My life in Soroti started after a very bumpy 6 hour journey, I am staying in Amecet’s staff house, there are currently 18 staff that work here. My first shift was last Sunday, I was working an A shift which is from 7am-3pm. The morning shift consists of Bathing, changing and feeding the Babies, the playing out of the veranda with the 1-2 year olds, the older children go off to school. The babies have to be regularly fed and changed so as you can imagine in the past week I have learned how to fold, change and clean cloth dypers, I have changed 45 nappies in the past week and fed 14 bottles, without killing anyone!!! (good start)

The second shift is the B shift, this is from 1pm-9pm and the routine is similar, meal times are crazy but so much fun and after eating the children gather around an African drum for a time of worship, with much dancing which is so much fun! I spent some time with the older children during my b shifts this week, and had great fun jumping on the trampoline with Christine 2. (Where more than one child had the same name they are numbered)

We saw the first rain in a long long time this week and the kids were loving it!! All out on the veranda with their hands out in the rain, excitement really was in the air!

The great thing about working with children you don’t ever have to grow up, you get to play and do all those things you’re meant to but never really grow out of, and it’s perfectly acceptable to dance round like an idiot!!

Friday is my day off so I went over to the sports fields for a walk, I watched some football games (boys and girls) saw the Ugandan version of the walk of witness and almost got charged at by a bull (I was generally scared for my life)

Unfortunately my Saturday morning shift started with some rather upsetting news that baby Jabeth dies during the night,  he was only 6 weeks old, he wasn’t sick and it’s all a bit of a mystery however we know that he is safe in heaven now. Jabeth was wrapped up in the way they do here then he was put into a coffin which was carried out by some of the older children (precious) and then he was returned to his village for burial. The power was out (maybe in sympathy) and some of the children were very frightened by it, as you can imagine when a perfectly healthy baby dies how much that scares a HIV infected child! So your prayer are so much needed for here right now.

Tonight I work my first night shift, 7pm-8am, I have no idea how I am going to stay awake but it’s all part of the adventure!

If you want to know more about life at Amecet you can check out the Amecet blog:

http://amecet-soroti.blogspot.com/

March!

So I gather I haven’t written about what I’ve been up to for a while now! March was a good month and my 7^th full month in Uganda. I continued to work in the pre-school almost every morning.

On the 8^th of march for international women’s day the females of the base took a trip out. We went to the kingfisher resort for the day and spent the day in and around the pool, it was so much fun teaching some of the African’s how to swim and playing with the young children who came so that their mothers could have a break! We shared a wonderful bring and share lunch which included pasta salad, amazing rice dishes, chapatti, mandazi’s and lots of yummy fruit!

The new DTS continued with their learning and we continued to get to know them more and show them around Jinja, we took a trip to the source of the Nile. I’m not going to lie there isn’t much to see except some bubbling water however it is something pretty crazy to say I’ve seen and I now want to go to the mouth of the Nile! It was a really fun day that we spent relaxing and laughing, it’s fun days like that which allow me to feel that not only am I serving here in Uganda but I am so blessed to have all these amazing tourist/cultural adventures as well!

Our ‘Big Sister’ Naomi surprised us when she returned from a medical visit back in England, me and Becca flew out of our chairs when she appeared at the dining table on Sunday evening, and she was just in time to celebrate her birthday which we did by a ‘surprise’ bonfire which was a great evening and we saw some great African and Tongan dancing around the fire!

I was sick a few times during March which was not fun, but I am very grateful for some amazing room mates and my lovely mama Jeanine who always made sure I was doing okay!

I had 3 lessons during March to teach the VTS (vocational training school) ballet which was very fun, they might not be pro’s and I think they thought I was trying to kill them but we did enjoy the time and it was a great opportunity for me to share some more western culture rather than the normal tribal dancing!

Pre-school continued to inspire and challenge me, I got to continue to teach song time and by the end of the month the kids had a whole load of new song and actions that we loved to sing every day! I also taught the Bible  section of the kids day a couple of times which is an challenging for me as the children to struggle to listen to me talk for a long period because of understanding my accent, however I love being able to see the children learn and grow. I successfully completed the task for hand writing the letters A-Z in all of the children’s books, the letters were all written out 8 times with 3 words for the kids to copy. I also had to draw lines into the books- it was a beyond time consuming task, however I see it was one of the best ways of serving however boring it means that the teachers can get on and teach and the children sit around so much less that’s what allows me to go on, knowing that it makes a difference.

The end of March saw me preparing of my move up to Soroti. My last few days of pre-school were sad and I just sat and cuddled the kids who were climbing all over me! We had some great song times and danced around singing loudly without a care in the world. I just loved being able to be so care free with the kids, showing them about the simple joys in life! I certainly will miss them and the teachers who I had a lovely meal with my last day there- Ugandan’s sure do know how to bless people!

I was sent on my way to Soroti with some wonderful prayers and blessings from the Hopeland community and the YFG’ers who I had a lovely last meeting with (which include juice and cake) I’m going to miss my friends, room mates and family from Jinja so so much, but I am excited for this next adventure that you will start to hear about very soon...