amari [love]

If I had a glass of champagne I’d make the most sincere toast to American Freedom. I miss your strange ways my land. I appreciate your strive for equality and your lack of Malarial infused mosquitoes. The stars will be my fireworks tonight [I hope, it’s been cloudy].

Dad: I hope you ignite some giants.

Uncle Rob: Happy Birthday.

Joey: I have been telling everyone, including Ugandans, that you made the Simi High soccer team.

There is something extremely emotional about seeing a six-year old wash his old laundry, a five year old make a mposha [staple food in Uganda, made from ground corn and water] spoon out of wood with a dull knife, babies carrying babies, young ones shelling ground nuts, and orphans forming families with other orphans. I admire these children in a way that I cannot yet describe.

This morning we ventured to the children’s home after breakfast and helped them with their chores described above. I watched in awe. They laugh and talk when they do these tasks, giving one hundred percent of their effort. Shelling ground nuts [equivalent to peanuts] was such a joy. They are roasted after shelling, and taste fantastic. The little boys mopped the whole house happily. All who have ever complained about chores, feel ashamed [myself included].

I have had two children come up to me on two different occasions with burning hot bodies. Each time no one knew they were sick. Joseph, who I have felt drawn to due to his name, laid down on my lap and stated to cry. I immediately got up and got some ice and he just dumped it on his head. He was later taken to the clinic for Malaria medication. Today I found Lucky in her bed sweating like crazy. I got to take her to the clinic. There were many women with babies outside waiting to be seen. It seems that they use injections over pills, and that there are three injections to cure Malaria. I frequently see children with IV bases in their hands, as the nurses leave them in until all injections are complete. Very different than American health care practices.

Mom: we need to rebuild Ugandan health care.

Changing subjects…

Uganda is in great need of psychiatric counseling. COTN has developed a program called “Two Angels”. Its purpose is to alleviate post-traumatic stress syndrome [PTSD]. “Two Angels” is a story of two children that are forced to become child soldiers. The story goes through many traumatic experiences that child soldiers face when under the rule of the LRA. The two angels are with these two children throughout the story, watching over them and guiding them. Obviously they do not save them completely from the atrocities of war but the emphasis that they are always there is very important. Many of these children feel like they are completely abandoned. They are not only orphaned, but also extremely disoriented within society upon return to their villages. The children being counseled are asked questions that go along with the story. Unraveling their experiences is crucial for any sort of healing to being. PTSD is a very serious disorder. It plagues people’s thoughts and causes great dysfunction. At the end of the week-long counseling program, the children face the “glass wall”. The best way to deal with PTSD is to relive the traumatic experiences and then end them peacefully. The children are encouraged to imagine the experience that is severely haunting them. These haunting experiences usually deal with forced killing or sabotage from the LRA. They then are told to ask for forgiveness to the individual they hurt or they are told to tell the LRA to leave them alone. If the counseling is successful, their haunting will be diminished. This can bring great peace to many children, although it obviously is just a small step in a hundred mile long healing process.

My team will begin this counseling program next week. I have already heard a few stories of the children in the COTN home. A beautiful ten-year old girl was crying Thursday night so I took her by the hand and sat with her for an hour trying to cease her tears. The language barrier makes things difficult as well as the internalization of pain within each child. She finally told me that the demons came and took her into the bush and killed her mom. She said she was sad because she grew close to one of the individuals on the other team who was leaving. I felt that the best thing to do in this situation was to just hold her on the couch. She cried many tears and told her it was okay to be sad sometimes, that we all get sad, and that we do not have to pretend to be strong.

We have finally put together a schedule for the next few weeks. We will be tutoring, working in schools as aides, engaging in village ministry, leading bible studies, helping around the villages near our compound, and whatever else Africa throws at us.

Excitement!

God Bless America…If I had a glass of champagne I’d make the most sincere toast to American Freedom. I miss your strange ways my land. I appreciate your strive for equality and your lack of Malarial infused mosquitoes. The stars will be my fireworks tonight [I hope, it’s been cloudy].

Dad: I hope you ignite some giants.

Uncle Rob: Happy Birthday.

Joey: I have been telling everyone, including Ugandans, that you made the Simi High soccer team.

There is something extremely emotional about seeing a six-year old wash his old laundry, a five year old make a mposha [staple food in Uganda, made from ground corn and water] spoon out of wood with a dull knife, babies carrying babies, young ones shelling ground nuts, and orphans forming families with other orphans. I admire these children in a way that I cannot yet describe.

This morning we ventured to the children’s home after breakfast and helped them with their chores described above. I watched in awe. They laugh and talk when they do these tasks, giving one hundred percent of their effort. Shelling ground nuts [equivalent to peanuts] was such a joy. They are roasted after shelling, and taste fantastic. The little boys mopped the whole house happily. All who have ever complained about chores, feel ashamed [myself included].

I have had two children come up to me on two different occasions with burning hot bodies. Each time no one knew they were sick. Joseph, who I have felt drawn to due to his name, laid down on my lap and stated to cry. I immediately got up and got some ice and he just dumped it on his head. He was later taken to the clinic for Malaria medication. Today I found Lucky in her bed sweating like crazy. I got to take her to the clinic. There were many women with babies outside waiting to be seen. It seems that they use injections over pills, and that there are three injections to cure Malaria. I frequently see children with IV bases in their hands, as the nurses leave them in until all injections are complete. Very different than American health care practices.

Mom: we need to rebuild Ugandan health care.

Changing subjects…

Uganda is in great need of psychiatric counseling. COTN has developed a program called “Two Angels”. Its purpose is to alleviate post-traumatic stress syndrome [PTSD]. “Two Angels” is a story of two children that are forced to become child soldiers. The story goes through many traumatic experiences that child soldiers face when under the rule of the LRA. The two angels are with these two children throughout the story, watching over them and guiding them. Obviously they do not save them completely from the atrocities of war but the emphasis that they are always there is very important. Many of these children feel like they are completely abandoned. They are not only orphaned, but also extremely disoriented within society upon return to their villages. The children being counseled are asked questions that go along with the story. Unraveling their experiences is crucial for any sort of healing to being. PTSD is a very serious disorder. It plagues people’s thoughts and causes great dysfunction. At the end of the week-long counseling program, the children face the “glass wall”. The best way to deal with PTSD is to relive the traumatic experiences and then end them peacefully. The children are encouraged to imagine the experience that is severely haunting them. These haunting experiences usually deal with forced killing or sabotage from the LRA. They then are told to ask for forgiveness to the individual they hurt or they are told to tell the LRA to leave them alone. If the counseling is successful, their haunting will be diminished. This can bring great peace to many children, although it obviously is just a small step in a hundred mile long healing process.

My team will begin this counseling program next week. I have already heard a few stories of the children in the COTN home. A beautiful ten-year old girl was crying Thursday night so I took her by the hand and sat with her for an hour trying to cease her tears. The language barrier makes things difficult as well as the internalization of pain within each child. She finally told me that the demons came and took her into the bush and killed her mom. She said she was sad because she grew close to one of the individuals on the other team who was leaving. I felt that the best thing to do in this situation was to just hold her on the couch. She cried many tears and told her it was okay to be sad sometimes, that we all get sad, and that we do not have to pretend to be strong.

We have finally put together a schedule for the next few weeks. We will be tutoring, working in schools as aides, engaging in village ministry, leading bible studies, helping around the villages near our compound, and whatever else Africa throws at us.

Excitement!

God Bless America…