s t o r i e s

One month ago, I was on a plane over the Atlantic Ocean headed towards Africa- a place that seemed so foreign and strange and exciting. The other night, over dinner, Amanda asked me what my favorite things had been so far. The truth is, many things have been hard. So many times I have felt frustrated by the cultural differences- obstacles and walls that seem so high and wide and thick that I never thought I could overcome them. I haven't overcome them, necessarily, but maybe I have learned to see the beauty of them. Maybe I have learned that surrendering the desire to know everything brings freedom.

My favorite things? Hearing people's stories. Stories of struggle and success, wealth and extreme poverty, family and being an orphan, life and death. We named our counseling program “THRIVE: teaching, healing, restoring, inspiring and valuing everyone.” Yes, we know it’s cheesy. But the weight of those words is powerful and we have realized that they represent exactly what our hearts’ desires are for the people here. Taking time to listen to them and smiling at them. Telling them that it’s all going to be okay and that they are not alone. Some of them have never told their stories to anyone. I have felt so privileged to listen. 

Some of the staff after a training session.

Session 4: Compassion Fatigue

The Nile

Sweet Amanda and I on our boat cruise.

Our boat driver, Charles, with our dinner!

Sweet little boys on the river banks. The precious one on the left is malnourished....very sad and very real.

Jinja

Just a little preview.....

We stayed in a little cabin by the Nile River. We had bonfires every night. We went on a boat cruise on the river and bought our dinner from some local men who were fishing by the bank. Five dollars for a caught-that-day Tilapia. We watched the sky turn from blue to yellow to gray. We watched the women and children washing clothes on the bank. Everything was so dreamy and rustic and I feel sufficiently dirty and cleansed at the same time by our pseudo-camping, peaceful retreat on the most famous river in the world.


(my camera died, pictures later)

lately

gorgeous rainbow in masindi

some of the PMI staff after a counseling training

a woman making paper-beaded necklaces

why i love this photo

Children with skinned-knees, dancing and laughing in worn clothing. Oblivious to the fact that they are poor or desperate or sick.


When I see this picture it reminds me of pure joy. The purest form of joy comes from the simplest things. These children have no shoes. They wear the same clothing everyday. Some of them are orphans. Some of them may not have eaten that day. Some of them are HIV-positive. Some of them don't have fathers. Some of them live in the dirt. In this moment, though, they know nothing but joy. The freedom that comes with dancing and laughing. They all have this innate rhythm that I am so envious of. When I see this, it reminds me to appreciate the exact moment that I am in- something that can be hard for me. It reminds me that there is a God who loves bigger and better and beyond anything I could ever imagine.