Protected: do not arouse

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JETprt3: reflection on the journey so far 1 week down, 3 to go

i am day 13 in Uganda… and day 12 in K, or rather with the people who are here

there are lots lots lots of things that i wish i could write about but part of me feels like not doing it because perhaps then it would be me just ranting and whinging (which i don’t like) but then the other part of me would like to chronicle this bit of what i am experiencing becuase it is indeed quite unexpected. certainly something i did not even think possible when i thought about preparing to come over here.

but before i forget the bullet points of some of the things so far:
- today i assissted in delivering my first Ugandan baby C-section baby girl! very exciting!
- and i also assissted in a microsurgery on the hand! it was a terrible trauma incident… the guy got slashed with a hoe. i really had to pull on the whole “i am a professional” and not pass out at the injury
- christmas party in the schoolhall reminded me of one of the events i went to in my earlier teen years with Janet- like an Iban dinner party/church event. made me nostalgic somewhat.
- finished one week in paediatrics, well 4 days (friday was Christmas hence it was a break).. that was really interesting. i do with i could speak more of the language
- going for a walk nearby the guesthouse with L and S (and tonight is S’s last night before she leaves for Ireland)

So more or less my days have a set sort of routine..
i wake up and get ready for the day
breakfast at 0730 and chapel at 0800
breifing for the day bgins after that at about 0830- with allocations
then in the hospital for the day
lunch at 1430
dinner at 1930
L, S and I have fallen into the routine of watching a movie in the night and then just chilling so far.. however S is leaving soon so the venue which most of this happens will be gone.. hmm i don’t really know what will happen then

there is a LOT of time here for sitting around and chatting. and sometimes the chatting is a bit.. hmm because it really causes me to think or more bluntly put, perhaps i am very naive in my thoughts when i was preparing to come here.

a few of the things here are a bit odd. for example, the place which i am staying in is very Westernised. we hardly ever (not even once so far for me) get served African food.. instead dinner so far has been a lot of beans, potatoes, roast pork, pastas, rice, curried vegetables, etc. And it would also seem that the place we are staying a quite strictly ‘mizungus’ (foreigners), which makes it a bit isolated from the community in a way. i mean i still walk out and say hello to people and they always say “How are you?” even when the 3 of us went for a little walk (Which was like Tasek except that we had a lot of Goat poo to dodge and while walking we manage to gather a ‘fan club’ of followers.. one of the girls was quite cute she began to recite all the things she learnt at her school..and while we walked past the houses and the countless banana plantation and goat farms, people just YELLED “How are you?!” and “Give me money”- in a cheeky way but more on that later). Yeah, one of the people who has been here for a long while now made the comment on my first day in that it seemd like K was like a “little England”. hmm

the other thing that i noticed was that so far the people here are really looking to the mizungus to keep giving them things and they would keep demading more… at a child’s level, even at a young age they would demand “Give me money”; “give me sweets”. It’s very perplexing because on the one hand… it is not like they have nothingnothing. comparatively to the rest of the Ugandan/third world country communities, they do have some… and i also notice that they don’t really understand when it is a treat, as in it is a once-off “i want to bless you with this” and not a regular “you need to keep supplying me with it” kind. it is really odd and interesting because there have been times already where i would have to say no… as in not giving them money, and then i feel bad afterwards. it is very perplexing i am not quite sure if i know how to express it fully

and then there is also the community of mizungus… interacting with them- amongst whom are missionaries and professional Christian volunteers have shown me another aspect to mission work and field work as well as volunteering. and the whole concept of a mission organisation and the church and what that actually means in terms of managing finances adn running a hospital, school and other endeavours. the complexities of relationships- all supposedly “brothers and sisters in Christ”… it is too much for this post i reckon but i wanted to make a note lest i forget

at the moment i am trying to concentrate on keeping my heart soft still.. and letting God do what He wants for me in this elective experience although i don’t know clearly what that is yet (as a lot of the things i thought acutally didn’t end up being.. so yea) i need to remember that:
“our God is bigger
Our God is stronger
Our God is love
Our God is love”

can’t wait to be home. seriuosly.

JET prt2:first day at KisiiziHospital

so ive just finished my first day at the hospital. it was quite confusing. the day pretty much went like this:

0800- morning chapel
–> this was quite interesting, sang a song in Rukiga(did not understand a word of it), had a good message by SisterAnn about Christmas
–> there was also a time for WardPrayer, where members of the congregation went to the ward to pray for and with the patients
–> then it became like an announcement for everyone.. like an update of what is happening all around Kisiizi

about 0830-0900- Briefing for Clinicians and medical team in the StaffRoom with allocations

0900-1130- WardRounds
–> i ended up being with SisterAnn for the SpecialCareNursery ward round because i couldnt find the doctor in charge for the children’s ward round, although i did join them in the end

1130- tea break in the staff tea room

1200-1430- Outpatients department with Dr Pliers
–> that was interesting. we had to source out a wheelchair to trasport the child from OPD to Surgical WArd.. and he had the operation this afternoon (shall ask Lucinda about it)

1430-1500- lunch (which was suppose to be 1330- 1500, yes go figure super long lunch break)

1500- 1700- Dr Denise
–> i handed over the donated items to Dr Denise and then i just tagged along with her to see her patient in maternity and she also gave me a quick orientation to the some of the places.

1700- washed my shoes which was totally grubby from the weekend and ust settling in.. waiting for lucinda and shelley to let me know when they mgiht be doing the decorations. but yeah for now i might just do some reading.. and relax

Protected: JET part1: guarding one’s heart+the path less travelled

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JET (prev. GUT)

in the middle of getting ready to JET off to Uganda. it is an adventure already. 6 weeks or so more to go.

God, You are still faithful

Friends have been fantastic and sooo generous. I pray that things will go well and favor with the airlines so we can be of great assistance to the hospital there.

the smell of rain

for the past two nights there has been lightning flashes and thunderstorm with pelting rain….

im reminded of home

The Lost get found- Britt Nicole

Hello my friend
I remember when you were
So alive with your wide eyes
Then the light that you had in your heart was stolen
Now you say that it ain’t worth stayin’
You wanna run but you’re hesitatin’
I’m talkin’ to me

Don’t let your lights go down
Don’t let your fire burn out
‘Cause somewhere, somebody needs a reason to believe
Why don’t you rise up now?
Don’t be afraid to stand out
That’s how the lost get found
The lost get found

So when you get the chance
Are you gonna take it?
There’s a really big world at your fingertips
And you know you have the chance to change it
There’s a girl on the streets, she’s cryin’
There’s a man whose faith is dyin’
Love is calling you

Don’t let your lights go down
Don’t let your fire burn out
‘Cause somewhere, somebody needs a reason to believe
Why don’t you rise up now?
Don’t be afraid to stand out
That’s how the lost get found
The lost get found

Why do we go with the flow
Or take an easier road?
Why are we playin’ it safe?
Love came to show us the way
Love is a chance we should take
I’m movin’ out of the way

Don’t let your lights go down
Don’t let your fire burn out
‘Cause somewhere, somebody needs a reason to believe
(Stand out)
Don’t let your lights go down
Don’t let your fire burn out
(Stand out)
‘Cause somewhere, somebody needs a reason to believe
Why don’t you rise up now?
Don’t be afraid to stand out
That’s how the lost get found
The lost get found

So when you get the chance
Are you gonna take it?
There’s a really big world at your fingertips
And you know you have the chance to change it…

chickflick lessons

from the maidinmanhattan:

“we only serve people, we are not their servants. what we do does not define who we are… it is our choice, and what we make of it..” Lionel (some part paraphrased)

passing the baton

091009. A-night 2009.

handing over to the next blessed generation of Committee- all 9 of them plus the Trinity= 12, the number for perfect administration. i am excited!

the night was less emotional that i thought. nothing bad about that… just that i had imagined it differently… but perhaps knowing that i will be hanging around for the next year makes a difference. the latter will be greater. Amen

it feels… like how i perceived giving birth is like. watching the women ‘expel’ the baby which she has been carrying for 9 months (normally)… and having to trust that the baby will grow well, because ultimately the baby grows up to a child to an adolescent to an adult.. and s/he makes her/his own choices. once again medicine has come to be a good analogy-ist.

This song was a gift from the incoming comm to us:

“It’s been a long two years.
It’s time to smile we’ve made it this far just like you said.
Just like you said we would.
There are no more tears.
We’ve used them all so now we’ll rely on our laughter,
And the faith that pain gives joy.

I hope that you can see the strength that pulled us through
Is now passed on to me I need to wear it like you always do.
Like you always do.

This far from home,
It doesn’t feel as far when I know you’re doing well.
Distance is what you make it.
The distance is what you make it.

I hope that you can see the strength that pulled us through
Is now passed on to me I wear it like you always do.
I hope that you can see the strength that pulled us through
(I hope that you can see the strength that pulled us through)
Is now passed on to me I wear it like you always do.
(Is now passed on to me)
Like you always do.

I hope that you can see the strength that pulled us through
(I hope that you can see the strength that pulled us through)
Is now passed on to me I wear it like you always do.
(Is now passed on to me)
I hope that you can see the strength that pulled us through’
(I hope that you can see the strength that pulled us through)
Is now passed on to me I need to wear it like you always do.
(Is now passed on to me)
Like you always do.”- Copeland

therighteous takes it by force vs. belonging to littlechildren

“You are high and lifted up,
More than anything
All creation lifts you higher and higher
We shout this song of victory
We’d keep singing
In Jesus, there’s freedom”- planetshakers

the discernment. the leading of the HolySpirit

the belief, the OpenHeaven, the childlikefaith.

closing the chapter-091009

…. and a new beginning.