Kevin

After an ordinary day of changing pampers, wiping noses and attempting to divide my attention evenly among the 25 toddlers I walked past the isolation room. Usually the sights in there are pretty bad. Pre-mature babies, malnourished children all struggling to survive. But this time it was worse. I don't know why the sight of a real starving child struck me so much considering those pictures are advertised and circulated on the media so frequently. This however, was a gamer changer. 

Everything from the way his eyes rolled backwards from lack of strength to his hallow cheeks hit me hard. I watched as he tried to lift his hand to scratch an itch on his neck - that could fit inside the hole made with your index finger and thumb. I can't tell if I was disturbed in regards to how skinny and neglected he looked, or that someone had done this to him. I admit I instantly felt furious and despondent that their are such cruel people on this earth. But after hearing such a remarkable talk by Jeffrey R. Holland in this previous General Conference, I considered the mother/father of this little spirit. Perhaps they too had hallow cheeks and rib-shown stomachs. Perhaps Kevin's mom was holding on as long as she could, starving herself to keep her baby, but finally realized it was an act of cruelty and made the toughest decision to drop him at the gate of the orphanage. You just never know the stories you'll come across here. That's why you have to keep an open mind and not judge people on first impressions. I'm so grateful I saw little Kevin on arrival. It has certainly left an imprint on my heart and a memory in my mind. 
I think we can all try a little harder to make this world a better place. We enjoy the affluence of life in such a leisure loving world. But just pause for a moment and think about others who aren't as fortunate as you. I'm not referring strictly to the children of Uganda, but more the people that cross our paths that we have the ability to help, and yet we don't. Serving is a gift not only to others, but to yourself. Make time for some meaningful service this week. I promise you it'll pay off. 
And if you're thinking, "What good is this little act of service?" you need to listen/read this incredible talk. 

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/are-we-not-all-beggars?lang=eng

(And on a small side note...)
12.1% of children aged 2-5 are overweight. 16% of children under 5 are underweight in Uganda. Somethings wrong with this picture. 

1 Year In Uganda

As I think back to this exact day one year ago that I stepped off the claustrophobic plane and onto the Uganda pavement I was pathetic. Freaking out about the taxis swerving into the road, the boda's pushing in your mirrors so they can pass and of course all the black people. I remember as we drove from the airport we got pulled over by a traffic police. He began threatening Corey he was going to take him to jail, confiscate our car and take his license. I was in the back shaking. Literally. My knees were trembling and I was whispering to Corey to just pay the stupid money in fear that he legitimately would be taken to prison. Now I'm the one threatening the traffic police telling him if he asks for a bribe I'm sending him to jail! (Actually we've got the twist of things now and have made fake drivers license!) 

An entire year I've survived the pure craziness of living in a country who's land mass is 8,801,000 million sq. km smaller than Canada but magically is crammed with 2.2 million more people! It's wonderful, trust me. So much rubbish in the ditches and cars on the road, with a lot of physical touch which is just beautiful (being sarcastic here). One thing I will never adopt in this culture is how comfortable they are touching each other! Holding hands, grabbing arms, shaking hands. Even after a year I still find it super awkward when I'm talking to someone and they're just holding my hand the entire time. Somethings you can't change! 

I've thought many times whether this journey has really been worth my time. Obviously I've missed a lot of opportunities I would've had if back home - making memories with friends, getting a job and all the glory of that first world. But weighing out what I could've done and what I have done, there is no comparison. The experiences of Uganda and living aboard in general exceeds everything I would've learnt and done this past year in Canada. I will admit I'm a little drained somedays, just wishing I could blend in, be equal, be normal. The staring gets old real fast, the yelling, the whistles, the kissing imitations and clapping are just another part of my life. And though I've lived with it for a year it is something I will never enjoy. But depending on my mood I usually just do up my window or I'll stick my head out the window and flip at them. (I've learned the useful Lugandan works. Such as "Tokikola!" aka "What are you looking at!" Works like a charm. 

Obviously I can't name every experience that's happen in the whole 365 days, nor can I recall every small detail of my life here. Instead I'm going to highlight five of my favourite things about life here. 

1. The Kids. Back home kids are so isolated from society for their own protection. They walk hand in hand with parents, never go out alone and are taught not to talk to strangers - which is good. But here all those safety precautions are dismissed and the kids run wild and free! Adults can be pretty boring sometimes with such a serious outlook on life. But when you're walking to the Bakery and pass a group of toddlers building sandcastles in the dirt laughing their heads off over absolutely nothing and can have a quick conversation with them it brightens your day and reminds you to just enjoy life and not stress. 
2. No Pressure. From this I don't just mean living an easy-going life. But rather on a more personal scale. Back home there is an enormous pressure on looking, acting and basically appearing perfect all the time. Especially for teenage girls. I hated the burden of doing things I really didn't enjoy because that's what everyone else did! I didn't realize the heavy strain I had on my shoulders in regards to 'fitting in.' I thought I was living a life separate from everyone else back home because my confidence level is fairly elevated. But once I removed myself from the scene of that life I could actually hear the voices inside my own head! I just enjoy waking up and having the ability to decide what I'm going to do and wear without any interferences from opinions of others. I love the freedom from that load of expectations we have for people in our world...with or without noticing it! 
3. Free Time. Back home I got enough time to pursue my passions in music and writing as well as spending my afternoons at the barn and my mornings doing schoolwork. But since moving to the most laid back country on this universe - which has it's pros and cons, I've realized how insanely we're rushed! And usually for no reason! We create a lot of 'stuff' and stress in our lives without even knowing it. But here everything is so chill. I completed the First Unit of English 12 in one week but for a puzzling reason it took me a month back home. I accomplish a lot more but I still feel I have spare time to just watch the sunset or stroll the neighbourhood. I know it'll feel like I'm running a marathon when I go grocery shopping back home! Not looking forward to that accelerated speed we constantly are geared in! 
4. Opportunities. Sure I fart a lot about the lack of entertainment and activities Uganda provides, but then again there are more things to get involved in here than there was back home. And you know that whatever you do here in Uganda will really make a difference. If I wake up feeling like being pessimistic one day I just go to the orphanage and there's the cure. In a year I've had the opportunity to rescue three dogs - though we've only kept one that we rescued from birth because the males were a little too aggressive. I've also had the opportunity to share my musical talents at a young teen pregnancy centre as well as Sanyu Babies Home on countless occasions. (And of course church meetings). I've gotten to visit Watoto and see some of the amazing work they're doing there, and have spent the entire year working at Sanyu's which has been an outstanding experience. I've heard a lot of stories, seen a lot of mud huts and learnt a lot about the culture of Uganda. Also in the process of learning a traditional Ugandan instrument, learning Lugandan, driving a clutch boda and a standard car. Plus when you move across the world with nothing but family for company it forces you to stretch your comfort zone and try to make friends with people from all over the world - mostly Europeans at Sanyus and other mzungus we bump into. 
5. Last but certainly not least, the lesson of charity. I'm happy. So content and gratified with where I am and what I'm doing. Somedays I'm tired and not in the mood of giving giving giving  - which is required every single day. But the majority of days I wake up with a smile for service. You see your neighbours weaving baskets from dawn 'til dusk and decide to take their two little boys to the shop for a treat. You carefully scan the sellers at the market to find the most tattered and battered so they won't go hungry tonight. You stop to have a conversation with a group of kids walking home from school which they'll probably record in their journals tonight. You buy an expired pancake at the store to feed the hungry stray dog or carry some biscuits as you walk to give to all the cute toddlers wandering around. 

Life here is so normal it's not to think of something that might be interesting to those of you back home! I search my mind constantly for new stories to share or cool experiences I've had, but now they're blending together in the category of normal, leaving less of a mark on my mind and just getting lost in the pile of memories that linger in my brain! 
And my apologies for not blogging lately! I suppose my paragraph above explains the reasons well enough but I promise I will get going again! I like my posts to have pictures attached by with limited internet I'll wait weeks before the chance to upload, hence why I often don't! This time I made an exception of no picture :) 

Cheers

50 Facts About Uganda

1. There are no Lions
2. There are no Elephants
3. There are camels - used for meat and walked around for charged pictures.
4. There are monkey's. Like crows and deer back home - Don't have a picnic in a monkey infested zone. They will steal your food, plates, utensils etc!
5. English is the national language but only a few can say more than, "How are you?" "I'm fine." Lugandan is what they really speak.
6. They have two season. Dry and Wet. And yes in Winter - August, it does actually get cold! (That's only if you've gone from 30+ to 18 degrees.)
7. Everyone will stare at you!
8. It's rude to look people directly in the eye when talking.
9. Everyone speaks quietly.
10. You kneel on the floor when greeting your superior - yes kids, kneel to your parents when serving them juice!
11. Get used to eating with your hands...
12. It takes about 5 hours for an African to walk a mile.
13. Don't take offense if while talking to someone they just begin walking away. 
14. They don't say goodbye when hanging up the phone. 
15. There's 100 new boda (motorcycle) drivers each day.
16. Privacy doesn't exist. 
17. They ALWAYS touch you when talking - holding your arm, hand etc. Doesn't matter how long I live here I will never become accustomed to walking and suddenly someone grabbing my hand. 
18. EVERYONE is terrified of dogs. 
19. 1 in 100 Africans know how to swim - but some have invented a water dance to stay afloat...very interesting.
20. On arrival you'll think you've gone 100 years back in time with cracking eggs with a spoon, peeling potato's with a knife, cooking on a fire, side-saddling on a motorbike, wearing dresses and collar shirts, driving bikes from Downton Abbey and basically everything else. 
21. If you're invited for lunch at 2pm you always arrive at 3pm because you won't be leaving until around 6pm. 
22. You can bribe the police with 50cents to not get a ticket. But you should just keep driving when they pull you over, or just photocopy your license, so when they threaten to keep it you can just drive away. 
23. There are no rules. 
24.  Borrowing doesn't exist. You just "lend" something to someone knowing you'll never see it again. 
25. Everyone can do everything - or so they say :) 
26. All the ladies hair here is wigs, save a few who get their real hair professionally done
27. A child's version of Scrabble is $100. 
28. A HotWheel is $30.00
29. It's not a dessert. It's actually very lush and green in the village. 
30. Traffic in Kampala is horrendous. 
31. The kids in school learn about cars in Denmark...not sure how useful that is to them...
32. Everybody has a cell-phone
33. Aside from the Gorilla's Uganda doesn't have too many amazing tourists sites to see. 
34. Everyone sings 
35. Their dancing would be rated R back home but here it's just the norm. 
36. The average age is 15. 
37. 1 in 5 woman still die of Childbirth. 
38. The streets are completely deserted when it rains. (When it rains...it rains.)
39.  Eyebrows say as much as words. 
40. Ugandans shuffle, not walk. 
41. The whole country has the same diet - Rice, Irish Potato's, Matoke, Fish Sauce, Posho and Beans. 
42. Instead of shaking your hand people just touch it gently. (Unless they're LDS and have adapted the firm missionary shake.)
43. They still cane in schools 
44. Witchcraft is alive and well
45. As long as you have commonsense and local friends Uganda is a safe place. 
46. The girls only want white men and the boys only want white girls...hence why nobody gets married! 
47. Power outages are a weekly occurrence. 
48. Emma is a boys name.
49. They can't pronounce L because in Lugandan it's an R. 
50. They have Nutella.

Christlike Love

I had the opportunity to go to Wakisa, a temporary home for young expectant mothers. We walked in during their classes and all the girls moved their chairs into a circle and gave us the seats at the front (So awkward) We introduce ourselves and then say, "We brought you Mangos!" They all cheered, it was pretty cute. I was thinking this was kinda cool, but then the girls began introducing themselves, telling me their name, age and how far along they are in their pregnancy. Suddenly it went from being a 'cool' experience, to the hardest in my life. The majority were my age. As I sat watching these 20 girls stand I was really touche. I felt guilty for complaining about how 'hard' my life in Uganda has sometimes been, seeing these girls the same age as myself having to carry a burden that I can't even comprehend! 
I brought my guitar and Emma and I decided to sing "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus to them. It started out with just us singing and was pretty great, the lyrics were just perfect. But then we decided to teach them the chorus. Words fail to describe the serene spirit that washed over that room when we all sang the chorus, it was like angels singing from heaven, no joke. Maybe it was just me because I tend to feel more emotions with music, but all I can say is that was definitely one of my favourite moments in Uganda. I realized the power music has. The language barrier is lifted, because music doesn't need words to speak. All our differences fled as we sang together, united through some feeling I'm incapable of describing. 
Right afterwards we went to Sanyus, but I just couldn't get my mind off what I'd just experienced. My Mom and Sister didn't talk much about our experience there afterwards, and I don't think they were as effected as myself. I think being younger and seeing the challenges girl so alike me are facing was just a really hard concept to accept. But that's where Christlike love comes in. 
It's so easy to love people here - aside from the guys, it's really easy to hate them :) But my heart has never been so full with love since moving to Uganda. For instance, newborn babies have a tendency to look rather strange and deformed - partly because they're basically a bag of jello waiting to take shape. So I sometimes hold these new babies at Sanyus and just think, "Wow. That face!" But one little girl arrived, from Wakisa. Her Mom was 12 years old with some mental illness and had been raped by a 42 year old man - you can see why it's hard to love men here when they're as vial as this. Anyways, Hope is her baby. She was recommended to Sanyus because obviously her Mom couldn't take care of her. She's a month premature and extremely small! So I went into the Isolation room to hold her. My first thought was, "Now you're not very cute are you?" But then as I held for another moment my thoughts completely changed. My heart was exploding with love for this little girl, and as I rocked her in my arms the reality this girl is going to grow up in sunk deep into me. Here she is just days old and already she's alone. There is no one here to kiss her forehead, to hold her when she cries, to sing her a lullaby, to take a million pictures of her and put them in photo albums. She doesn't have anyone...and she's only days old. It's insane how touching these random moments can be. But I can say in full confidence that I know understand what Christlike love really is. It's loving someone unconditional, despite what they're going through or who they are. When I saw those girls at Wakisa I instantly loved them. I don't look at people and judge them as quick as before. No, I just love them. I've learned it's important to love everyone despite their backgrounds. But more importantly, after playing that song at Wakisa I realized how AWESOME it feels to do what you love for the people you love. To use your passion and talents to benefit the lives of others. And that's exactly what I'm doing. And perhaps that's the reason I've stayed here for so long. Not because everyday is an epic adventure, but because when I'm serving these people I get as feeling I've never known anywhere else. 

 

Good Times In Africa

Lately I've been posting a buttload about service & my time volunteering at Sanyus - partly because it consumes most of my time & energy here in Uganda. But there shall be none of that in this post...JUST FUN! 

We've been here 6 months, and boy have they been some of the craziest and hardest months of my entire life!! 
We've had some pre amazing experiences, but I'll just highlight a few...

Boda boda driving is my favourite thing in all Uganda. My Dad took me up to an open field with dirt paths and massive potholes. He showed me the ropes and then I was off! (And may I mention it's a clutch...) It was great fun. Zipping up and down, dodging potholes and getting the strangest looks from the locals!! Awesome. 

We also were just fingertips away from getting a pet monkey, Rue. But unforunately the day before we went to pick him up he choked on bubblegum and died...obviously we weren't supposed to get a monkey...

Liam and I have invented a way to occupy ourselves when home alone...attaching an old tire to a piece of rope...and me pulling him 'round the lawn. You know you've been in Africa too long when...

Africa is full of crazy things. You'll get random text messages from friends saying "Just got hit by a taxi on Entebbe road, but no I'm not dead." Or "Got beaten up by a gang of thieves last night, but I'll surivive." There's just always stuff happening! Our friend hit a cow in his landrover, flipping over four times and completely crushed this tank of a car, but he's still alive! Never a dull moment in Africa. 

The sunsets are so amazing though. Such vibrant colours and a beautiful silhouettes of palm trees and flying birds. It's amazing, truly my favourite part of the day!! I'm sure the sunrise is beautiful too, but I'm never up early enough to see it :) 

Life is a dream though. You wake up to tropical birds and a fresh plate of fruit. You study with rays of sunlight flooding in your room, and can do whatever you want...because there is no agendas or clocks to interrupt you. It's beautiful. And sometimes annoying :) 


We all are enjoying our time here, and just the quality time we're getting to spend together - which sometimes is a little much, but we make it work. We're meeting some amazing people, and seeing some amazing sights. I love Africa. 

Cheers
Savannah

 

The Power Of A Picture

 

Little Jerry!

 Yesterday one of the sweetest little boys at the Babies Home, got adopted. As excited and happy as we all were for him, it'd be impossible to not feel a tad bit sad as his heart melting smile and sweet laugh will truly be missed! 

The day before he left, one of the staff members was holding and cuddling him her entire shift. I call her "Jeremiahs Grandma" because they were inseparable! She always made a special effort to say hello to him as she passed the class, or give him a kiss goodnight. I admire her for that.

As we walked into class today, I noticed we had brought  his picture we were planning to put up on the wall! My Mom leaned over to me as I held his picture and said "Go give that to his Grandma." So I walked down the hall, and found her sitting with another staff member. When I handed her the picture and said "This is for you" her face completely lit up! She was so shocked, surprised and excited! It was very touching. She kept saying "Thank you, thank you!" and embracing me in massive hugs!! She hugged and kissed the picture, and then would stand up and hug me again while saying "Thank you!" 

She then walked around showing the picture to everyone and saying "Jeremiah! My son!"

I ended up passing her again that day, and found her sitting under a cabana just starring at the picture. It was very touching to see how much a simple picture that probably would've ended up buried under a pile of papers. Instead though, it will be cherished and persevered forever. 

I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a lump in my throat. It took a lot of self-control to not burst into tears. 

Cheers, 
Savannah

A Different Perspective

All my life I've only had one perspective, and that was my own. Formed and created inside my perfect little world, that now seems like fairy-tale land compared to the reality 80% of the world lives in.
For the past couple of days I have been completely and utterly confused and lost, as suddenly my whole world has capsized when I opened my eyes, and allowed the emotions that have been swelling within me for months to escape. 

I'm the kind of person who wants to live a happy meaningful life, and until now I believed I could fulfill that by living an ordinary life. For instance, I've always had a dream of doing a biking trip with my iPod, because when I combine nature and music, it makes me feel in heaven. So I thought I'd bike the UK when I got a little older. I also have been looking forward to getting my L, start being more independent, and simply enjoying my youthful years, which includes Chick-Flick movie nights, shopping at the mall and so forth. 

Now however, I'm not so certain. All I see when I look at that list is a self-centered life. Working to earn money...for myself. Biking because it makes ME feel good. Me me me, that's all I thought about. Now there's the child with burn marks from extensive abuse, the baby who was abandoned on the side of the road. Outside of the orphanage there's the teenager who awakes at 5am to study, before heading to school at 7am, where they then study until 7pm, walk home by 9pm, and study until midnight. After all their hard work, what are their rewards? Nothing. They still can't find jobs and make a living. Yet they work harder than I ever had in my life. There's the older brother caring for his four younger siblings, skipping meals to pay their school fees.
Now there is someone other than me. There's a life I never even knew existed. There's a life with value, with purpose much greater than Friday Night Pizza. I see a life that expands beyond me, and my wants and needs. 
I don't have all the answers to my endless questions, but I do know this. I am ready to give up everything and dedicate myself to serve these people. To give them the opportunities that come daily to me, but are once in a lifetime to them. I want to make OTHERS feel joy, and I know through doing this I will accomplish my goal in life. I will be happy, successful and live a life of worth. 

Cheers 
Savannah