Get on the Banana Boat

Greetings from Uganda, and maybe Brussels or NYC…

This morning started early, in the dark. Deb was getting ready across the road. Michaela was still sleeping so Deb considerately continued without turning on the light. As she was smoothing on her lotion she thought to herself, “Why won’t this lotion rub in?” Feeling the bottle of lotion, she realizes that she has actually been putting her hair gel all over her legs. Hahahahaha.

After eating breakfast, we quickly set out for our shopping day. We visited not one, not two, but THREE Banana Boat stores. At the National Theater, which is like a ring of small shops, many souvenirs and gifts were purchased. Most of the shopping happened before a late lunch back at the Stevenson’s. A few brave souls ventured out for even more shopping. Can you guess who went and who stayed? While even our dearest Jimothy (Michaela’s nickname for Jim) made a few purchases, one shopper takes the cake! Angie! If you are friend or family of Angie, you are one lucky person! If you do not know Angie and your traveling friend didn’t bring you a good gift, we can probably arrange something from Angie’s up and coming African boutique. The after-lunch group went to a fancy mall. There was a really cool shop with some fun t-shirts etc. My favorite t-shirt showed an artsy style motorcycle with the definition of boda boda:

 (bo-da), n., pl. –as. 1 a rapid but risky mode of transport: he dodged traffic on a boda 2 a menace to all drivers and pedestrians 3 the fastest way to get from point A to point B, if you make it.

Kelsey wanted to share that today she experienced a lot of sweat, a lot of yawning, and a lot of eating.

After all shopping was complete (so we thought), we returned home and shopped some more from the TAPP closet. There was then a bit of a mass rush around the house as people showered, packed, lugged bags down stairs, weighed luggage, grabbed a bite to eat. We lined up on the stairs for a group photo when it was realized Caleb was missing. After a 10-minute search, he was located on the porch about 30 feet from us the whole time. Tim snapped approximately 800 shots of us making sure each photo we were not prepared for.

The two departure groups hugged each other and said our goodbyes. As a member left behind for an additional day, it was really hard to see the other group pull away. Not only am I anxious to get home, but we have lived an exciting, difficult, busy, slow, joyful, and unique 24/7 together for 17 days. There is an incomplete feeling in the house. Where is all the stuff? Where are all the people? There is an empty bed in my room. I’m the sole member of the late night crew. Who will stay up unreasonably late with me? In addition, not only did we say goodbye to our teammates, but we also are saying goodbye to some of the staff members that we probably won’t see tomorrow. It’s not all sad though. Deb left behind some ice cream, and now we are playing Skip-Bo.

One task left behind for our little group was to take the list of needs and funds left from the church project money to divide up as best we were able. I insist that a theme of this trip has been loaves and fish. Many times I have noticed how we didn’t run out of something we didn’t really have that much of. We never ran out of Twizzlers. During the Jja Jja party, we never ran out of pipe cleaners for the tissue paper flowers. Each time we were out and needed a gift, toy, activity – anything, we had it. Some of that is definitely attributed to Sue who was the bag master. She spent so much time organizing and reorganizing bags for Jja Jja visits, TAPP visits, Kupona, and so on. But even Sue said today how surprising it was the items we had left over. We had a table full of a variety of books and items that we were able to leave for the Stevenson’s to fill other needs. So, thank you church for your generosity in donating items and financially supporting this trip. We were able to have enough shillings to cover ALL of the needs listed from our visits. We left money for 2 sewing machines at TAPP. This is amazing because these machines will allow additional students to participate in the tailoring program – gaining a valuable skill in order to earn an income. It will also continue to help more people for years to come. We were able to pay back rent owed for several of the single mothers who have been injured, hospitalized, and living in slums with overpriced rent. We also left supply money for the leather shop and school fees for a few families. Education is invaluable. When we sat down to start allocating money, we were prioritizing, hoping that we could help as many as we could. Loaves and fish. We will meet with Edrin tomorrow after church to go through everything.

Tomorrow by this time, the first group will be home and the second will be on the way. Greg, Caleb, Emily, Laura, and Kelsey will attend church at Kasubi, meet with Edrin, have lunch, come back to the house and get prepared to leave. I’m not sure if there will be material and/or time for a blog entry. I’m sure there will be at least one follow up after we have all returned home safely.

I know this doesn’t follow the timeline of the day, but this seems like a perfect ending. After breakfast while we were all at the table, we did our devotions that had been postponed from the night before. Michaela and Greg led reading Psalm 30, emphasizing joy and leaning on the Lord in the midst of trouble. The group members were invited to share the moments in the trip where they witnessed or experienced joy. It was a wonderful time of sharing and reminiscing. Since it was the last devotion time, Tim wanted to share his thanks for us being here. Often short term mission trips can be viewed in a negative light. There can be an attitude that you are going to a place less fortunate to somehow fix what’s broken. The way Tim expressed his opinion was so eloquent. He said, “You are not a band-aid. You are a vitamin. You don’t heal us, you add to. Add strength and encouragement. You being here is meaningful. Meaningful seems so puny as a word. It’s important.” He also talked about how missionaries are ambassadors. We too are ambassadors. We represent who sent us here in Uganda, and we represent what we have seen when we return.

In case this is the last – thank you for following our blog and for supporting our trip. Your prayers have been felt and are deeply appreciated. We are anxious to greet you all in person!

Kale (ka-leigh).

Uganda Team 2018