On A Scale Of One To Ten..

Before I came to Uganda we had a Seminary lesson about hardships and were asked to rate ourselves on a scale of one to ten how hard we thought our lives were. The older kids put themselves at about a 5-6 because most of them had school and work to worry about, plus the extra expenses that arrive when you drive a car and go out with friends. Most the people my age put themselves in the 3-4 sections because we still rely on our parents to provide all our needs, leaving school as the only thing we really have to worry about. Yes there were those who placed themselves in the 7-8 sections because they battled with things like personal confidence or being accepted by peers. And lastly our teacher placed himself in the 9-10 sections because he has to raise a family while providing the necessities of life all at once.  At the time as I evaluated the ratings they seemed fair and everything looked in place. Now my perspective has changed completely. I don’t want to use the word disgusted because it’s pretty strong, but that’s the only word that comes to mind when I look back at the things I fussed over compared to the things these KIDS have to encounter on a daily bases! I’ve realized two things since I’ve been here.

1.    Having leisure time is a luxury very few people have. There’s this twelve year old boy Isaac who leaves for school ridiculously early…like 5am and doesn’t return until after dark because he has to walk. His parents obviously want him to go to a good school but can’t afford to board him there. We only saw him on the weekends and even then he always had his little brother Jonathan – one year old with him. Here’s a kid who gets two days off and when he is home he’s babysitting his younger brother. Did I ever see him off playing with the neighborhood boys? Nope. Did I ever see him get frustrated with Jonathan when he interrupted a conversation with crying? Nope. And not only does he have his education and brother to worry about it, he lives in a half finished house with several other families. So the next time you feel like complaining about being busy or stressed and not having anytime for facebook, or sick of babysitting your siblings or sharing a room think of Isaac. Think of the trials he encounters daily and yet his attitude is as golden as the sun!

2.    The things we consider trials could be blessing to those over here. I like working because I love seeing the numbers in my bank account get higher and higher but there are some days I forget why I’m going to work and all of a sudden what used to be a blessing becomes a burden! How easily we are swayed! So yes I had to get up early, yes I had to sacrifice “play time” with work, but the things these kids are willing to do for money is crazy! And then I got thinking about my education…wow. These kids scratch their pockets to find enough for school fees and here I am with unlimited access to knowledge! They are so teachable because they are so eager to learn! I suppose we don’t recognize these things until they disappear!

Well that concludes this post 

Cheers

Savannah