Yes, I do actually have school work to do here!

Last week was finals week! As most finals weeks are, last week was pretty pretty chaotic and stressful. I had two exams (ethics and politics) on Tuesday. Both exams were 3 hours each and included only essay questions. So I wrote essays for 6 hours Tuesday! My hand was seriously numb afterwards. But I rewarded myself with 2 chapattis so it was totally worth it :)After exams, I had final papers to write in my other classes. A heavy burden was lifted when I turned in my two portfolios! Here is a picture of our classroom where we spent a lot of time!

It feels weird to be finished with the semester...it really seems like it just started! But I guess time flies when you’re having fun :)

...Jinja...

A couple of weekends ago 3 of us got a private-hire to take us to Jinja for the day. There, we visited a 21-year-old girl from Nashville. For her privacy’s sake, I’ll call her Emily. Emily lives in Jinja and has become a mother to 14 orphaned/abandoned girls. We spent the day playing not just with her daughters, but with 100 of the local children! It was so much fun! Emily told us how she had come to adopt her daughters...and how that was not in her original plans at all! She told us how God had shown her His will for her life. Now she is a mother and loves living in Uganda...she never plans to ever live in America again. I have many great pictures but I will not post them on the internet.
The End

Easter with the Elephants!

Over the Easter weekend, 14 USP students went to Murchison Falls in northwestern Uganda on a safari! It was great fun and a nice break from schoolwork! We had a 4-day weekend (no school Friday or Monday!) so it was the best time to go. We left Thursday night and travelled to Kampala, where we stayed at Red Chile Rest Camp for the night...it was an interesting experience. We were in one big room with lots of other guests. It reminded me of a European hostel or something.

We left early the next morning on our bus to begin the 6 hr drive up to northern Uganda. We stopped halfway in a town called Misindi to eat lunch. After eating, we continued our way to Murchison Falls. We arrived and settled in to our tents for the weekend. We then walked down to the Nile River to walk around. We saw lots of warthogs on the way! We called them ‘Pumba’ from that point on...ya know, from the Lion King???

The next morning we left at 6:30 for the safari adventure! We took a ferry to the other side of the Nile. Somehow our group got on the ferry before our leader (His name was James), so we arrived on the other shore before him! I’ll tell you that we were warned the night before to not eat anything if we saw baboons around because they would come and harass us for our food! Well, it was early in the morning and I was hungry and hadn’t finished my breakfast so I took it along with me. That was the mistake. I was just standing there happily eating my chapatti when one of the girls in our group suddenly told me she saw a baboon and I better hide my food! But it was too late. I had seen the baboon and the baboon had seen me...with my food. So there he came. He began chasing me in circles as I was screaming and for some reason still eating!! One of the guides saw this happening and he yelled at me to give my food to the baboon! But I was NOT going to waste my chapatti on a baboon, so I dug in my bag and threw my banana at him instead. Whew...I was legitimately scared.

Anyways...the safari was great!! We saw antelope, warthogs, giraffes, elephants, and some of the most beautiful birds I have ever seen! I learned that Uganda has the most species of bird life in all of Africa...

Later that afternoon, we went on a boat ride down the Nile River to the waterfall. It was so beautiful! We rode on a double-decker boat, so we could sit on benches on the lower deck in the shade or walk around the top. We saw so many hippos and crocodiles! We also saw some elephants walking around the bank of the river...
The next day (Sunday) we hiked around the top of the falls. I was right at the edge and looked over...again, it was some of the most beautiful scenery! Because of the position of the sun when we were there around 9 am, rainbows were inside the waterfall! Thankfully, the even appeared in my pics! So at some point I will post them on facebook.

We returned back to Mukono Sunday night. I wish I had been able to spend Easter with my family here, but I got to hang out with them all day Monday! My sister Lilly and I went to a “Gospel Crusade” Monday night...that was pretty interesting. It was outside under a huge tent...the praise team was also a dance team. One thing I have noticed while being here is that Ugandans dance at EVERYTHING!! Weddings, church, Bible studies, Gospel crusades, school, etc.!

So that was my Easter weekend! I hope you all had a great Easter with your families! :)

"My chains are gone! I've been set free!"

Like Lipscomb, we have chapel (called community worship here) Tuesdays and Thursdays. It’s always led by a praise and worship team and some very talented musicians! Last Tuesday, the USP students were in charge of leading community worship for the entire student body! It was a great worship experience! Amanda R. led it and played guitar, Mary also played guitar, Sarah played the djembe (what I call a bongo drum), I played the keyboard, Nate played the drums, and the rest of the group sang as the choir. It was so much fun and the Ugandans really enjoyed, too!

This is me with the source of the Nile in the background.

*Jinja: The Source of the Nile River*

Hello again! This one may be long...

We went to Jinja 2 weekends ago. We stayed at an actual RESORT called Kingfisher. It was so beautiful!! Lake Victoria was behind the resort. That Friday night we talked with some American missionaries who have been in Uganda since 1998. They are prison missionaries; they serve 3 prisons, 2 adult prisons and 1 youth prison. They shared with us some incredible stories of how God changed the hearts of those whom we would call “the worst of the worst.”

Later that night, our group went swimming in the pool! The pool was huge and went under a bridge, which led to another pool that had a slide coming from yet another pool! It was so much fun! It was our first time swimming while in Uganda. After swimming, one of the girls played the guitar and we just sat around the pool singing worship songs.

The next day we went to a cafe in Jinja called ‘The Source Cafe.’ As you may know, Jinja is the source of the Nile River. Water begins flowing north from Lake Victoria to start the Nile River! The water takes about 4 months to finally reach the Mediterranean Sea.

After having lunch, some other missionaries took us on a tour of Jinja which was really interesting! We walked to see the ‘source of the Nile’ (where the water starts to flow) below us.
Later that afternoon, we took a boat ride in Lake Victoria. We rode past the shore, where we saw an otter and a cobra!! The boat driver threw a water bottle at it and it rose up and flared its head out (best description I can give, sorry!). It was really cool! We then rode over to the island where the river flows around. We got out and climbed around on some big rocks...then we walked around the tiny island. We got back in the boat and rode back to Kingfisher!

While we still had some free time, some of us went swimming again! It was loads of fun :) We even made up a synchronized swimming routine which was hilarious! The other guests at the resort even stopped what they were doing and watched us. We also sang while doing it! One of the girls videotaped it, so I have it on my computer!
Later that night, we went to eat at this really cool outdoor restaurant called 2 Friends. It was in the jungle, and was lit by tiki lamps, lanterns, and candles. We had some of the best pizza ever! As well as garlic bread, garlic naam (flatbread), milkshakes, chocolate cake...

It was a great weekend :)

I'll post a pic on here (if i can) or facebook!

Some insight to HIV...

AIDS is real. And it is everywhere. I must be honest; when I thought of Africa (before coming here), I thought of poverty and disease, particularly AIDS. Upon arriving in Uganda, I seemed to forget the prevalence of AIDS around me, as I began to adjust to a new home, university, and culture. I never saw anyone who ‘looked
sick.’

After a couple of weeks, a neighbor in our village was visiting us one Sunday after church. She had brought her one-year-old daughter with her. After an hour or so of small talk and getting to know each other, she told me she was HIV positive. I was a bit shocked, although I am not sure why. I guess I had forgotten that HIV was ‘real’; two weeks had already passed and I had yet to meet anyone with AIDS. She told me how she was dealing with the virus and that she had been counseled during pregnancy to take precautionary measures to ensure that her unborn baby would not contract the virus. Today, her daughter is a happy and healthy baby!

When we visited TASO (The AIDS Support Organization) a couple of weeks ago, we met with many individuals who were affected by HIV. Surprisingly, most of them appeared quite healthy. They shared their personal stories of how and when they contracted the virus and how it has affected (and continues to affect) them emotionally and psychologically. Hearing their stories of how it felt to be made fun of and discriminated against grabbed my heart. Listening to their feelings from a first-hand account made me realize the reality of HIV.

Later that night I talked with my host mom about HIV/AIDS. I told her how I was surprised that I had only met one person with HIV (excluding the people at TASO) while here. She looked at me and slowly shook her head. She told me she could tell me the names of several people, whom I had met, who I did not know were affected by HIV. My mom then went on to list off people whom I had befriended in the village who have AIDS. Neighbors, shopkeepers, friends, families.

She proceeded to tell me about Lilly’s parents. At the beginning of the semester, Lilly, my mom’s niece, came to live with us and attend a nearby secondary school. I had believed Lilly was with us primarily to attend school, but that night I was told she came to live with us because both of her parents were dying with AIDS. All I could think about was if I were in Lilly’s shoes, in the place of a 15-year-old girl whose parents were dying. I was I was so overwhelmed with this; I could not help but to start crying right there in our living room.

Both of these situations have opened up the true reality to me that AIDS is real and it is here, all around us. Most of the people whom I learned have AIDS look healthy. I admit that I have been making assumptions of people based on their outward appearances, assuming everyone I met was healthy; it is only when we engage ourselves with people that we learn more about them and more of who they really are. Living and engaging with others is how and when we begin to share our hurts and struggles together.