I LOVE UGANDA

Well, Uganda has been full of breathtaking experiences.
Its been hard to find time to sit at a computer and write a quick update, and at this point there is just soooo much that has been happening that Ill only be able to give a quick glimpse into life here.
We arrived in Entebbe and were picked up by our friend Edward, a local Ugandan and ‘pop star’/worship singer. We got to see his house and a little bit of Kampala before taking the drive to Lira. Lira is about 150 miles away from Kampala but the drive takes about 6 hours one way because of the poor conditions of the roads, most of them being dirt. A 6 hour car ride on top of two ten hour plane rides, most of which was spent sleepless left us dazed and tired, but we pressed on. I think within the first few hours of being in Uganda I got bit by a couple mosquitos, a gnarly spider, ate some sort of cinnamon roll that hopefully was cleanish, had some delicious tiny bananas, as well as some sort of cooked banana we bought on the side of the road. These are all things you are supposed to try and avoid, but the truth is, in order to avoid everything you are warned about in the states, I would have to live in a balloon. Life is definitely different here, its more risky, even if the nationals act like its no big deal. But I love it.
Uganda is beautiful. I cant explain in full, but the country is so green and lush and pretty, and everything has real character. I see everything as being old, but not in the sense of walking through Europe and seeing a building built by the Roman empire, but in the sense of surveying a land that has been here forever.
Everyone I have met has been so friendly, and the kids are magical. This place fills up my soul. All the village kids see me and yell ‘muno’ which means white man. They love to wave, and everyone seems so thrilled to see someone like me, its humbling and strange.
In the first few days of being in Lira I went to a hospital, a prison, and a baby home for babies that have no parents. All experiences have rocked my world. In the hospital there is so much brokenness, some of the saddest and most gut wrenching skin diseases I have ever seen, as well as so many aids patients, and the hundreds of bicycle accidents. A simple bicycle accident… maybe a broken arm or twisted ankle with a few scratches, becomes life threatening here. Most of the people have poor health to begin with, and when a scratch turns into an infection and the person is HIV+ it can turn into a completely debilitating situation. We prayed for everyone we had time to. God is definitely at work here, one man with AIDS who was paralyzed from the waist down from an infection that I met, named Augustine, ended up getting out of the hospital and I saw him at church the next Sunday, his first time coming. I quickly learned the Africans love to make us muno’s speak publicly and have been put on the spot plenty of times.
The babies home was a place I so looked forward to go to, and because I love babies so much, made my heart so joyful to be there. But confronted with the reality that there are about 25 babies, and 3 nuns that take care of them all, and knowing none of these babies have parents, while listening to the nuns tell us that not too many of them actually make it out of the home literally broke my heart. It is good that there are people doing what they can for these babies though, and that in itself is a blessing. I got to hold and bathe many of the babies, as well as help feed them. I got peed on twice… which the nuns told me was a blessing.
Ill save many of the stories of brokenness I have witnessed, as well as the level of extreme poverty I have witnessed because they are jut so hard to recount, and you never quite get used to them, though they are everywhere.
At the COTN childrens home that we are staying at there was initially a lot of uncomfortablilty on my end with not knowing exactly how to interact with the kids, and second guessing myself especially when it is so difficult to communicate at first. However, any uneasy feelings I had have turned into so much joy now that I am ‘in it’ over here and loving being with the kids. There is one boy, Arnold, who was one of the first to kind of let me in to his world, and we would go at draw in the ground, and then the next thing you know there are 20 kids drawing around me and I am going around giving them ‘marks’ for completion after I give them something to draw or spell. Gahhh there is just so much to talk about if I could. It really is amazing here.
I left the children’s home yesterday and was brought to tears. Saying goodbye to the children and staff that I have so deeply connected with and have had such a massive impact on my life, all within two weeks was very very hard. A few of the kids I connected with, Unis, Anna, and Isaac in particular are people that I will never forget, and will be sure to stay in contact with them in one way or another. Also leaving Prosasco, the child the sponsor was so uniquely heart breaking.
God is at work in this place, and I have been so spiritually fed and filled while here.
I love telling people about Alisa because they all remember her and they all miss and love her. It is something we have in common and has helped me build relationships with many of the staff and kids.
I have already made so many great memories with the kids here and the interns and Andrew, and there is a weird paradox of time in my head, where I know we haven’t been here long… but I feel like I have been here way longer than I have. I am writing from Sipi Falls, Uganda, a beautiful place where we are taking a couple of days to debrief and rest before ‘phase two’ begins in Malawi.
Sorry I haven’t been able to post more updates, the brevity and broadness of this update can not even begin to communicate how amazing, and life changing this trip has been so far. Thank you for your continued prayers.

-Kyle