I Missed my first day…uh oh…probably because it wasn’t a very eventful day, imagine that. I spent a lot of time typing things up for the Sanctuary, and praying. What am I supposed to do for these boys? I’ve been reading a book recently called “The Power of a Whisper” by Bill Hybels. It talks about hearing God and having the guts to respond. I know to some of you this may sound a bit hokey but I felt God telling me to “Love on them”. Obvious yes, but right now I am feeling like there are about a million things that I can and should be doing for these boys. There is peace in knowing that, for now, loving on them is what I need to do. Of course this doesn’t mean I should stop meeting with people, and moving forward in my research of what steps that should follow, but for now, I need to love on them. To show them that I am trustworthy, that I am not going to step into their lives and then step out again. I am here for the long haul, whether that means I am here in Uganda, or back in Canada.
So I guess that is eventful enough. That night we spent a couple of hours with the boys and then I took Henry out for his long awaited (since July) birthday supper! This included potato skins (this pic is for you Michelle!), chicken wings and a burger for Henry.
Friday was a bit more eventful. I spent the morning at the boy’s school. FIRST though, I called my boda driver at about 7:05 am, and he told me that he was on his way. After about 10 minutes I called him again to make sure that he had understood what I was asking and where I was, he told me that he had been at home, but he was almost to me. Another 15 minutes go by, and he arrives. Lol. From what I can tell he was at home and apparently his bike wouldn’t start so he had to find one to borrow and then he came to get me. Now, just to help you understand, if I walked out of my gate and followed the road for about 5 minutes in either direction there would be at least 3 bodas waiting to drive me, BUT instead of telling me that he was far away and that his bike didn’t work, he came. (Mind you it WAS 30 minutes late, and rather an inconvenience, but this is how it works in Uganda.)
I must say that when I arrived at school though, I was glad that I hadn’t come any early. The Head Mistress was getting kids who came late to clean up garbage from the yards, and didn’t have time to talk to me. I had went there on Wednesday to plan my coming in, but no one had passed the message on to her, and she seemed hesitant to let me in. She told me that I needed to wait until the lady I had talked to was there, and until then I could just wander around…thanks! Let’s see if I can set the scene for you, over 1000 students, probably about 15 teachers, all black, and me. Now I don’t know what it is about mzungu’s, but apparently we are funny because all the children look at you and smile/laugh/point you out their friends.
So, I wandered around for a bit, and then decided to wait near the office. Eventually a teacher came and talked to me, and was very willing to answer a lot of the questions that I had. I found out that she was Johnson’s teacher and I really appreciated her taking me under her wing. She decided to take me to some of the younger classes, and every time that I entered a room all the kids would stand up a chant a 'welcome visitor' song for me. I felt bad that I kept interrupting the teachers while they were trying to teach but they didn’t seem put off by it.
There was one teacher named Suzanne who I really hit it off with. She was the preschool teacher, and I spent some time singing and dancing (or atleast trying to) with kids. At 9 am there was an assembly for the whole school. Again, it was hard to ‘fit in’ with the rest of the people, but I did get a chance to see the boys. Probably the best part of the assembly was Ambrose. He is part of the dancing/singing group, and they did 2 songs at the start. He whole time he kept finding me in the crowd (the one time it’s actually good to be the only white) and smiling. It was fun to watch him participate in something that he loves to do.
After the assembly I finally got to go to the office and officially be signed in. They served me African tea and a muffin, as well as freshly roasted g-nuts. Yum! Then I got to go to the boys class! First I went to Patrick, Michael and Ambrose’s class. Unfortunately for me they were just doing a writing assignment, and the teacher wasn’t actually in there, so I just got to say hi to the class. I noticed that Mike wasn’t in the class, (he is in the same grade as these boys) and found out he is in a different class. We went off to find him, but when we did, he did not seem happy to have me there. He wouldn’t even acknowledge me. At first I thought that he was embarrassed to have me there, but later I found out that at school he if very shy, and it is only at home that he is more open. Anyways, this class too did not have a teacher in it, and they were working on an assignment, so I left and went to hear a social studies lesson. The topic, Prison and Prisoners, they discussed what type of people go to prison, and were very open about everything. I guess it is better to be open and upfront about all of these things instead of smoothing them over.
I had lunch with all of the teachers, and then found the boys again and sat with them while we enjoyed rice, posho and beans. I should say Mike DID acknowledge me for about 5 seconds to ask for my water bottle. The boys went back to class and decided that I had enough of school for one day.
That night I went with Henry to the boy’s home, and there was a graduation party next store and we were also invited. Woot! :) The food was fantastic, and after learning the graduates name and giving her my congratulations I felt less guilty about eating from their feast. Wait, big moment, Alex taught me how to eat with my hands!!! Yes, it is as unsanitary as it sounds, but this is what they do, and the point of me being here is to learn the culture, so eating with my hands it is (atleast for now!).
I had a pretty big and serious discussion with Jacob and Steven (the boys who are about to write their exams so that they can get into highschool). We were discussing what they think the best thing is to do regarding their schooling. I was trying to help them understand some of our thoughts, and they were telling me theirs. We called Henry in and talked some more, and at the end of it all I was left feeling completely inadequate in helping them. Who am I? What do I think that I can actually do for them? How are we supposed to know what the right decision is? How do we raise boys to have a future, and yet make sure that they are still maintaining their culture? I left feeling very discouraged, although thankful that we were able to have such an open conversation about it.
After some thinking I realized that I know God has called me here, and even if I feel like I don’t have the knowledge or abilities to know what to do, He does. I may have a love for these boys, and a desire to make things better for them, but my love and desire pales in comparison to God’s. These are His boys, and He wants so much more for them. I need to be open to Him, and allow Him to use me however He sees fit. Trust God.
*thumbs up!
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