Settling In

So I have been here for over 7 weeks now! Time has definitely flown by, but the end still seems far away. I am knee deep in life here. I am struggling a little bit, but enjoying the challenge and joy of being abroad. There are so many big life questions that I am faced with here that it’s a bit overwhelming. I have studied the African worldview in comparison with the Western worldview which makes me question the way the West lives. Additionally, I question how I live in the U.S. Now, my main class is entering into a unit about poverty. So many questions arise about my identity as being a privileged white person. Which leads to many questions about faith and God’s place in the world and justice and blah blah blah. I question myself and my relationships here. All those great 20 year old questions of “Who the heck am I?” are plaguing my thoughts! But all in all it’s so good to grow, to be stretched, to learn more from a place and people so different from my usual surroundings. It’s in our human nature to run from the uncomfortable things, such as growth. So I don’t get too upset with myself when I think about how much I miss the comforts of home. It’s natural. I accept my human nature, pray to God to help me through, and then hop back into my life here. And life here is beautiful. 

 Again, it will be good to process so many of these things once I get back. At first, I wanted to soak up everything so much, but I realized I couldn’t take it all in. My spongy mind is being overloaded. So, I am resting in the fact that this trip will be with me for the rest of my life. I will continue to learn from my life here once I get back in the states and have conversations with all of you. How awesome is that? So, I am going to try to use my blog to share some silly stories about my life here. It’s too hard to process everything within the time span of 4 months. So I will retreat into the luxury of being present while I am here in Africa. It’s the best gift about this trip- all I have to do is be.

            This past weekend I went on a field trip to Luweero. My class visited a children’s center sponsored by Compassion. (ya know the ministry where you can sponsor a kid for like a dollar a day? Ya- that program. Let me tell you, sponsoring a child seriously goes a lonngggggg way here. Everyone should do it! I will explain more later of how and why this is a legit program) Anyways…. When we visited this program I was having a bit of a low moment. I was exhausted from traveling and feeling defeated by all the big life questions. But then I realized I could find joy and give help by just being. Sure I have practiced this concept before- duh. But it’s easier said than done though. My silent pray to God was just a simple “Help- I am defeated.”

Then a little girl came up to me and held my hand for the entire afternoon. Literally- the whole day. My thoughts about home, my identity as a white person, my questions about God, my thoughts on who the poor are, how to help the ‘poor’, and etc. escaped me. I just sat with a little girl all day. At times we engaged in games like Limbo or Little Sally Walker, but other times she just lay on my lap. I don’t know here name, and her English wasn’t all that great. So we sat in silence. She tickled my legs with grass, and I poked her sides to make her giggle. We played hand clapping games and she played with my white hands. Just as much as this girl needed me in this moment, I needed her just as much. It was a beautiful experience where I was pulled out of my own head and into life. My unnamed mission for the day was to love this girl with everything I had in the moment. I quickly realized I didn’t have anything, which made me a little sad at first. I wish I had brought candy, a ball, a new toy, a clean dress for her, or I wish I had the energy or intelligence to engage with her on a deeper level. The only thing I had to offer was presence and that was enough which brought me so much joy. And in the same way, her presence in my life for that moment was enough. How great is that? That’s all we both needed. So we sat in contentment with smiles and peace.

            Sometimes I am discourage to write in my blog because I can’t describe everything that is happening here and inside of me. A thought that runs through my head is “Context, context, context!” It’s impossible to explain life. So my new goal with this blog is to share detailed accounts of smaller situations I run into here! Next time I write I promise to share my practical stories about my life here, rather than trying to explore the complexities of life. That’s too exhausting! I hope you enjoyed hearing about my encounter with this little girl.

            Please continue praying for me! Another thing that I clearly see here is the power of prayer. It’s the only way to stay connected home, and it’s the best answer to some of the tough questions I am faced with. I rely and rest in the certainty I have that God is bigger, greater and stronger than anything on this earth. 

            Love and miss you all!

p.s. Please let me know how I can pray for you all! It’s a blessing and honor to pray for my family and friends. Just as I am accepting your love through prayer, let me love you through prayer as well, because that’s all I can do while I am away. Message me!

Just Life :)

Hey there everyone! I have missed you all so much. One big thing I am learning is how much I love, appreciate and value so many things I have back in the states. The biggest thing is my relationships. I miss you all.

But now is the time for me to fill you in on some of my adventures and my life here in Uganda. So, I am beginning to settle nicely into a school routine here. I lovvvvvve my classes. I have a nice variety between American students and profs, as well as Ugandan students and profs. All my classes are taught seminary style, which is beyond awesome. I read a ton and engage in class discussions. It’s the best and most refreshing learning. In my Ugandan politics class, I sit and drink American coffee in my professor’s house with 6 fellow Americans. How cool is that? Only papers and discussions! No notes, midterms or finals. Hope that gives ya an idea of my education over here!

Now for dorm life! I live in a giant hall of girls. It is similar to something you could find at a large U.S. university. In my room I share a very small space with two other American students. We have a communal hall bathroom. I have officially gotten use to cold showers, squatting to pee and carrying toilet paper into the bathroom with me at all times. I promise to post pics soon! Hahaha. I mean of the dorms- maybe not the bathroom specifics . Also, I am beginning to get use to hand washing my clothes…. My Ugandan peers definitely still laugh at all of us Americans while we wash…. I am pretty sure I just soak my clothes in water. They never really seem to be cleaner. With time I am sure I will get better! As for food, I literally eat rice and beans every day! Sometimes I mix it up with some g.nut sauce, which is a tasty peanut based topping that is a purple pink color. On occasion I eat matooke- the staple food of Uganda. A bland mash potato type thing…. Again, I will post pics soon! Oh and my favorite time of day is tea time! I get that twice daily J African tea is so delicious! 

Lastly, I just completed a two week home stay with a Ugandan family. I loved them. I slept at their ‘house’ for two weeks and came to school during the day. Now I am back in the dorms, but can definitely stay connected to them by continuing to come to family functions, church, etc. In my family, I have a mom who is a school teacher. I am going to go back to her school weekly to help children with their pronunciation and teach them silly games. My mom’s name is Faith and she is super spunky and fun. My dad is a tailor and makes school uniforms. He loves sharing the Ugandan culture with me and provided me with some amazing opportunities. I went to a wedding and a house warming party. I had the chance to wear a traditional Ugandan dress (a gomesi sp?). SO cool! He also provided me with some cool Ugandan foods I had never had like sugar cane, papaya, roasted bananas and so much more! I will fill you all in on the specifics of my family dynamics another time.

Hope this gives you all an idea of what I am doing here! I can’t wait to share more silly stories, the details of my life here and everything that I am learning!!!! Sorry for the brevity of my blogs and the lack of detail. I want to tell you all everrrything, but there is no way over the internet. Plus, it takes time to write it all and I want to fully be immersed in life here, but stay connected to you all. Ah difficult! But please continue sending me life updates, prayer requests, etc

Lastly- prayer requests! Please continue to pray that God is in all of my learning. I have been challenged so much in my faith, theology, worldview and spirituality. Pray that God would be working in all of that so that I could respond more clearly to the calling He has for my life. Pray that God would comfort me in times of uncertainty and that He would reveal Himself more clearly to me.

Love and miss you all!

Rwanda, Rwanda

So blogging is a little more difficult than I thought… First off, I am back in Uganda and settling into classes now. All is well.

There is so much information I want to share with you all, but it is so hard to find the time and more importantly the words to express to you everything I am learning. I desperately want to describe in depth what I learned in Rwanda. I think many of those stories will have to be shared once I am back in the States. I predict many coffee dates once I return. Just know that in all the stories I share with you, hold fast to the perspective Africa is so different than any preconceived notion you thought you knew about this place. I cannot wait to explain more about why I find this to be true. Perhaps through my blog some of you will see this, or once I get home to share more stories. 

            For now I will highlight each day of my 11 day trip.

            Day One- 14 hour bus trip. They appropriately call buses ‘coasters’ here. The countryside is beyond beautiful. 

           

            Day Two- The last Saturday of every month is a community workday. I had the opportunity to partake in this and work alongside fellow Rwandans. Best service experience of my life (ask me more about this adventure and why it was so good!)

            

 Day Three- I went to a rural Anglican church and experienced a warm welcoming. I learned on this day that people are not kind to me simply because I am white. Rather, my skin helps to show I am from a far away place, and people in Africa welcome all foreigners with a celebration. This made me feel more at peace in accepting their kindness. Also, it made their welcoming feel so authentic, genuine and deep. The value they saw in my runs deeper than my skin. (someday ask me about western influence in Africa, and our misconceptions about ethnicity)

         

            Day Four- On this day we visited Genocide Memorial Sites. We went to Nyamata, where hundreds of people were slaughtered in the church. I walked among the dead in mass tombs. 10,008 people are buried in these mass graves. Also, we visited the Kigali Memorial Site. Over 45,000 people are buried there. (Please ask for more stories, reactions about this day. It was intense)

           

            Day Five- This day’s theme was about Reconciliation. We heard stories from survivors of the genocide, as well as first hand testimonies from the people who participated in the killing. (PLEASE ask me someday about the power of forgiveness, this was by far the most life changing day)

      

            Day Six- We met with an American business man who is practicing the concept of social entrepreneurship. He used to be a very high up in corporate America, but recognized how it did not fulfill him or fulfill the life God had planned for him. So, he and several other Americans like him run a business consulting firm in Kigali. They are not a ministry or a NGO. Rwandan business men respect their company more for this, and therefore they have a larger positive affect on the community. (anyone planning on being a missionary/pastor/or entrepreneur- ask me about this adventure. This man offered an extraordinary view on missionary work and it’s affects on African society. In my opinion, he offered a better example of how to share Christ with people and he offered a way we can all live missionally.)

           

            Day 7- We traveled to southern Rwanda and stayed at Catholic guest house. I got to use my French and talk to little old nuns. How cool is that? (Someday ask me about that conversation hahahahaha)

            Day 8- Spent the day hanging with Rwandan students at an international university. Also, we visited a cultural museum. They danced for us! Don’t worry I have video.

         

            Day 9- We traveled back to Uganda to Bushara Island camp. I slept in a cottage on an island in the heart of Africa! How cool is that?!

Day 10- This part of our trip was more of a retreat/debrief to process the information we learned about. I woke up in the morning and ran around the island in my Chacos and watched the sun rise. Then, I canoed to a near by island, climbed to the top of it, blazed a trail down the side of it, and swam back to my own island. How stinking cool is that? I had a blasssssst that day.

Day 11- a very long bus ride back to campus……. I didn’t even count the hours…. J

            As you can tell, the information I am sharing with you is a bit scattered and sporadic. I seriously cannot wait for some of the conversations I will have with you all when I return. Mass-media communication does not to justice what I am learning here. I am learning soooo much and class hasn’t even started! Tuition money well spent. Haha.(sorry for the lack of pics... they take like 5 min each to upload....)

            Soon I will try to fill you all in about campus life here. I love you all and keep me posted on your lives.

On the Red Soil

I am officially in Africa, and it feels great! I have so much to tell you all and so little time. By the time I actually have the internet access to post this I will be leaving on a 10 day trip to Rwanda with no communication availability. Crazy. Where do I even start to explain Uganda?

            First off- the flight was easy… it was 15 hours from NYC to Johannesburg, then a 4 hour flight from SA to Entebbe. I was too excited to care that the flight was so long, and quite tired from my NY trip. So it was the perfect recipe for multiple series of naps. As I flew into South Africa I realized how it really isn’t that much different the States. I was expecting something different or special or some spectacular view. I don’t know, something like I should be able to see lions or elephants from the air. Or that it would be like that moment when Simba is raised up in front of the other animals in Lion King…..

Ok so I didn’t have those exact thoughts, but that perspective. That Africa would be soooo unique and remarkably different. But in reality… it’s not. In SA they definitely have suburbs, and a downtown area similar to a US city. Sure, SA is a lot more touristy and has a hugeeeee European influence. However, I realized how skewed my American view has made Africa. Before the trip I acknowledged this, but once I was flying over grassy agricultural fields, suburbia and cities with freeways it deeply sunk in. It sunk in how much God really made the earth so equal and limitless. Along with the people He put on this earth. Everything is very similar; people just get in the way of drawing lines to make us think we are all so different. There is so much we have in common. Sure- these are things or ideas I knew of before coming here…. But now there is an added emotional attachment to the thought because I am seeing the world and it’s people for myself. It’s awesome. Now don’t get me wrong, Africa is not the US by any means, it’s just that the first thing I noticed was how similar everything is. I guess that’s how my mind works. I hope throughout this blog and me sharing my experience you all can grab onto a similar perspective.

Now for Uganda specifically! We arrived in Entebbe around 7pm. At first, I was bummed that it was so dark and we wouldn’t be able to drive through the city and see everything. However, I was astonished by how much activity we could see in the darkness. The entire 2 hour drive from the airport to our campus there were people filling the streets! They were walking to and from these shanty slum like shops (not sure of the exact or culturally acceptable name for them… so far everything is just called the market) As we drove in our bus, we passed small groups of people ever 100 feet at least! When we got into Kampala the streets were even more crowded. Apparently, many of the people are walking home from work. They go out of the city and into their homes. Makes sense- the evening commute. It’s just later because they have to walk! (or take scary crazy botta- bottas motorcycle things, or taxis-those are really van buses) The evening commute is why many of the shops are open- so people can shop and talk on their way home. It’s like grabbing take-out or fast food or meeting a friend for an evening coffee. I wasn’t expecting to see so much activity at night. Some shops had electricity, but most were light up by candles. It was an awesome first experience of a whole new culture.

Lastly, our campus is beautiful! It has luscious green grass and deep red soil. It reminds me of camp in many ways because I walk in the dirt everywhere, all the windows are open in buildings and there is greenery everywhere. Our campus is significantly nicer than the places I could see coming into town. The campus is bigger than Jessups too! They have a track, basketball courts, tennis courts, volleyball courts, soccer fields, several libraries, multiple dorms, three story classroom buildings and so much more! Haha. However, these faculties are not ‘nice’ in American standards, but nonetheless they are there and more than functional. I can’t wait to start classes, and students fill all these places. Right now its pretty much just us silly Americans running around this giant campus, snapping pictures of monkeys and plantains.

 Oh, I am also thinking of joining the basketball team! How cool would that be? I figured it might be a good way to get plugged into community outside the US friends I have made. This morning I ran on the track, it was gorgeous out! And just a few minutes ago I met a soccer player who showed me the weight room- how cool!  I’ll let ya know how that all goes!

Well that’s all for now! I wish I could tell you all more, or write in more detail. There is just soooo much to tell. Soon, as I settle into the semester I hope to write more detailed accounts of everything I am experiencing with a little more rhetoric or flare. Haha.

Hope all is well in the States.

Love Always,

Liz

First Steps

Ahhh- less than a week away and my precious little toes will be covered in red Ugandan soil. What a trip. Who could have imagined that I’d be off to Africa? And I say what a trip, not only in regards to my literal travels, but this whole experience has been a bit of a mind trip as I have prepared to go abroad. God is shaping and stretching me drastically as He has been preparing me for whatever He will teach me while I am away.

Allowing God to write my story and provide adventures for me has been one of the most awesome things I have experienced in life. I will keep you posted on my adventures and the things I learn while I am there. I also hope to share what it has meant to me to allow God to write my story. Please feel free to share my blog with other people! And please email me or post here! (email: lbenton09@gmail.com) Even though I am unsure of my internet access and what not, I still want to be connected and read about what is going on in your lives.

So just to give you a heads up of my travel plans….

August 18^th @ 11:55 pm I leave for New York City. My mom, brother and I will spend the weekend there.

August 22^nd @ 8:15 my trip to Uganda begins!

August 26^th – September 4^th I will be in Rwanda visiting historical sites, genocide memorials and local churches.

September 4^th – December 10^th I will be in class! Sometime during this time period I will live in a rural home for two weeks! I’ll keep you posted on that adventure!

December 10^th- 13^th Debriefing period

December 15^th- I will be home!!! 

To finish off this blog is my prayer request.The power of prayer exceeds anything in this world, so know that I will be praying for those of you near and dear to me. And I humbly come before you all and ask the same of you- to pray relentlessly for my trip.

This prayer I heard a few years back, and over the year it has been intertwined into my life on so many different occasions that it only seems fit for my travels. Know this has been my prayer for most of you, my readers, during some trying times in life. It’s a tough prayer, but I feel it encompasses the Christian message beautifully. It’s from Kendall Payne’s song “Pray.”  

“I will pray for you now, for you have been my faithful friends
While the road we walk is difficult indeed
I couldn't not ask for more than what you've already been
Only that you would say these prayers for me
May your heart break enough that compassion enters in
May your strength all be spent upon the weak
All the castles and crowns you build and place upon your head
May they all fall, come crashing down around your feet
May you find every step to be harder than the last
So your character grows greater every stride
May your company be of human insignificance
May your weakness be your only source of pride
What you do unto others may it all be done to you
May you meet the One who made us
And see Him smile when life is through
May your blessings be many but not what you hoped they'd be
And when you look upon the broken
May mercy show you what you could not see
May you never be sure of any plans you desire
But you'd learn to trust the plan He has for you
May your passions be tried and tested in the holy fire
May you fight with all your life for what is true
I have prayed for you now all my dear and faithful friends
But what I wish is more than I could ever speak
As the way wanders on I'll long to see you once again
Until then, would you pray these prayers for me?
Oh, that you would pray for me”

Love Always…

Liz