It has been a while since I've written an update on my life in Uganda. That is largely because nothing "big" has happened, so I am not sure what to write about. But even though there is nothing big to report on, life continues and I am not sitting around doing nothing. So here are some reflection on my week.
This week has had many ups and downs. Friday was end of the term at EMI. That means is that we have finished the reports for the projects that we started in February and this group of interns departed over the weekend.
It is sad to see this group of interns leave. One of the interns, Alex, arrived in Uganda the same time I did. We lived together for the first two months. I have really enjoyed getting to know him over the past nine months. He has been my closest friend here so it is hard to see him go. We had been going to Doors Ministries together and leading a bible study there on Wednesday nights. I would go over to his place and talk with him one or two nights a week. He is a great guy and I am going to miss him. I have been sharing an office with Christine, another one of the interns. I have enjoyed getting to know her. We had a lot of laughs over the past few months and I enjoyed giving her a hard time. My office has been very quiet this week, a reminder that she is gone. I had the privilege of being Tom's mentor this term. I has been a great experience. It is not easy to say goodbye. But that is also a praise, that I have developed relationships that I am going to miss.
The internships at EMI are a big part of our ministry. Each of the interns that comes is assigned
a supervisor to oversee their office work and a mentor to meet with and
discuss how life is going. I was a mentor this past term. I definitely
did not feel prepared to do it. It sounds like a daunting thing to
mentor someone, especially someone who is only a few years younger than
me. I wasn't sure what I had to offer. But over the term I realized it
is not just about sharing wisdom and advice but about sharing life
together. We would get together and talk about how the week was going,
how things were back home, discuss the book we were reading, and pray
for each other. I enjoyed the time we spent talking each week, it was a
reminded that work (and life) is bigger than structural engineering or the plans for the day. As I
reflect on the experience I realize that sharing life with people who
are older and wiser than us is a great benefit. It is not something that
I have sought out much in my own life, but something that I realize is beneficial. Have you or do you have someone who mentors you? If not
is there someone who you can do that with?
My week at work has been different and quite frustrating at times. One of our staff is going to the US for the summer and her duties have been spread around the office. One of the things that I have been given it IT. Our internet was out of service for a week and a half because the line was vandalized. Our office called the provider about 50 times before we had a temporary solution for internet. It was frustrating to deal with. I have also been getting ready for the new interns that are arriving on Saturday. I have been organizing computers and phones for them. This week has been a reminder that I enjoy structural engineering.
I had a long skype call with a good friend from Canada that I haven't spoken to for a few months. We talked for three hours. It was great to catch up and share how life is going. Moving to a new country has been a great experience, but I have left behind all of my existing relationships. While I love the people around me in Uganda, it takes time to develop deep relationship. I am missing the close relationships I have left back in Canada.
I was starting to feel down about life and wondering why am I here. I was sad to say goodbye to some friends. I was not enjoying work. I was missing friends and family from home. I thinking about a friend who is going to be in the US for the next three months and another friend who is going to be in the US for the next five weeks. I was thinking about the new group of interns coming this weekend and the energy that it will require for me to invest in new relationships. But then I went to Doors last night. I usually go to their house on Wednesday night and lead a bible study with the boys. But the agenda las tnight was different. The leadership at the house wanted to spend some time encouraging each of the boys, letting them know how we see them and how God sees them. We spend the night singing songs together and sharing encouragement. It was awesome. It was a reminder of how amazing these boys are. These boys who used to live on the streets, stealing to eat, sniffing gas to dull the pain of life, wondering if they were going to get beaten by the police that day, but now they are full of life. They are compassionate, caring, thoughtful, selfless. They are growing into godly men. They are growing into leaders. It was a blessing for me to be able to speak truth into their lives and hear others do the same. It was a reminder of the power of Jesus to transform each of our lives. I was reminded of the privilege I have to be a part of it. I came into the night feeling drained, but left feeling full. I am so proud of these young men. I cannot describe how I feel.
It was one of the highlights of my time here in Uganda. A reminder of the investment I have made in the lives of people around me and the investment they have made in mine. God is great with his timing, last night was just what I needed. I woke up this morning full of joy and praise. I am so blessed.
Thank you for reading. It is a blessing to have so many people supporting and encouraging me. I would love to hear from each of you how life is going as I am not able to be there experiencing it with you.
Prayer Requests:
-It is a quick turnaround between terms. We have 10 new interns arriving on Saturday. Pray that we would receive them well and be open to investing in new relationships.
-I am missing friends back home. I am missing the friends that left Uganda this week. I am going to miss the two friends who left this week to visit the US. Sometime I want life to be easier, but then realize that my life is better now than when it was "easy".
-I am blessed to be friends with many godly women here in Uganda, but there is a lack of single men in the same situation as me. I am starting to realize this more.
-Pray for God to bring someone to mentor and guide me.
-I injured my knee playing soccer a couple of weeks ago and it is still to sore so I have been missing out of playing basketball and soccer which is disappointing.
-I am so thankful to God for the opportunity to be involved at Doors Ministries. It has been such a blessing in my life. Pray for them as they adjust to changes at their house and the start of a new term at their school. Pray that God would continue to provide for their needs, especially their urgent financial needs.
Blessings,
Matt
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Monday, May 5, 2014
The Full Bus Experience
I have been unsure of what to write as life has become more routine around here and there is no big news or big changes that have happened. So I as I try to put together some thoughts to share about the past few months, I will share about my Easter weekend.
Over the Easter weekend I went to Lake Bunyonyi in southwestern Uganda with Tom, one of the interns this term. We took a bus there and we got the whole Ugandan bus experience. The trip should take 7-8 hours so we thought we would try to leave in the morning to get there at a reasonable time. We woke up at 6:30 to get ready and left around 7 to catch a matatu into town. We arrived at the bus park just before 8 and found a bus going to Kabale, the town closest to the lake. The bus was about half full when we got on and some of the buses don't really have a set departure time but they wait until they are full to leave. But how long could it take to fill a bus. There were people getting on every so often and the bus was slowly filling. There are many vendors that enter the bus and try to sell you many different things, phone chargers, bread, plates of food, hair accessories, etc. I was not interested in buying anything, I just want to get going.
Then it started to rain. It wasn't raining hard by Ugandan standards. But a strange thing happens here when it starts to rain, everyone stops what they are doing, goes under some shelter and waits. It doesn't matter too much if you have an appointment or meeting, people stop and wait for the rain to finish. Normally it rains hard for a little while and then stops so people aren't waiting for the whole day. This is not a good thing when you are waiting for a bus to fill up so you can leave. So the rain delayed our departure as people stopped coming for a while. Finally 10:30 the bus began to leave. We drove a few feet and people outside started banging on the side of the bus as they were still loading cargo under the bus. So we waited for a little while longer and a few more people got on the bus. Finally at 11 we left the bus park. It was a long 3 hours waiting on the bus but we were on our way, or so we thought.
We drove out of the bus park and around the corner. We stopped at the gas station to put some air in the front tires. That was okay, it is good to have air in the tires. And how long could it take to put air in the tires. Half an hour, that is how long. I am not sure why it took that long, but it did. While we were waiting to get air in the tires there were people carrying cargo from the bus park to the gas station to put under the bus. So at 11:30 we left the gas station to really begin the trip.
Traffic was congested as it was the beginning of the holiday weekend and many people try to get out of the city to see family. We slowly made our way out and then stopped at another gas station. This time we were putting gas in the bus. While we were filling the tank, a boda (motorcycle taxi) came with some more cargo to put under the bus. Now we were ready to really begin the journey, a full tank of gas, the storage compartments full, even a few boxes in the aisle of the bus. So finally at noon, after 4 hours on the bus, we left Kampala.
We didn't get very far before we stopped again. This time it was the traffic police. I am not sure what it was about this bus, but it seems that every traffic cop stopped our bus. Most of the time they would walk up and talk to the driver, look at his paperwork and let us go. One of them entered the bus and sat down so that we could drop him at the police station ahead. We stopped in one of the towns along the way and picked up a few passengers. All of the seats were full so they sat in the aisle. Then we were stopped at one of the police checks. The policeman entered the bus and looked around. Then he said I have an announcement, anyone who is not in a seat get off the bus. So slowly the five people sitting in the aisle got off the bus, then we drove away. However we only went a little ways down the road, around the corner and pulled over for a 'short call', a bathroom break. In Uganda there aren't have nice service centers or rest stops along the road. So we just stopped on the side and people got out, went in the grass and got back on the bus. In the meantime the five passengers kicked off the bus caught up to us and got back on the bus.
We continued on our journey and things were finally going smoothly. We hadn't been stopped in a while are were making good time. Then the road got bumpy, or so it seemed. It felt like we were driving on the rumble strips on the side of the road. However the don't have rumble strips in Uganda. I looked out the window and saw chunks of rubber flying through the air. Thank God we didn't crash the bus. We pulled over and they told everyone to get off the bus. We looked at the back tires, and both tires on the left side had blown out. They proceeded to remove some of the luggage under the bus to get the spare tire and jack. Nothing was happening for a while. Then another bus from the same company came from the other direction and pulled over. They gave us their spare tire and jack, as we needed two new tires. So after waiting on the side of the road for 2 hours, they had finally changed the tires. However one of the spare tires was soft.
So we drove to the next town and stopped at the gas station. They looked at the tire and then we back onto the side of the road and they proceeded to remove the tire to fix it. Again everyone got off the bus to wait while they fixed the tire. After an hour they began to roll the tire back to the bus. They got half way to the bus and the tire began to hiss air. So they turned around to repair the tire again. After another half hour they tire was fixed and back on the bus. Then they looked at the other side and that tire was a little soft. So we pulled into the gas station and put air in the tire. By this time it was 8:30 and dark outside and we were not even half way to Kabale. We had not dropped any passengers off yet.
The remainder of the trip went smoothly. Once it got dark out, people decided they should start singing. So about three different groups of people were singing three different songs. The last 4 hours were uneventful. After sixteen and a half hours, we arrived in Kabale at 12:30 in the morning. We got more that we bargained for on this trip. We got the full bus experience and a good story to tell. In the end it was worth it, we had a great trip canoeing and hiking around the lake. Lake Bunyonyi is very beautiful. See the pictures below.
It was a good reminder that life doesn't always go the way we plan it. Our journey through life can take many different turns and delays from our plans. If we are too focused on the destination we will become frustrating with the journey. We learn many things through the journey of life if we pay attention to what God is doing around us today.
Thanks for reading about my exciting bus trip. I will post again soon to give an update of the other things that have been happening in my life lately.
God bless,
Matt
Over the Easter weekend I went to Lake Bunyonyi in southwestern Uganda with Tom, one of the interns this term. We took a bus there and we got the whole Ugandan bus experience. The trip should take 7-8 hours so we thought we would try to leave in the morning to get there at a reasonable time. We woke up at 6:30 to get ready and left around 7 to catch a matatu into town. We arrived at the bus park just before 8 and found a bus going to Kabale, the town closest to the lake. The bus was about half full when we got on and some of the buses don't really have a set departure time but they wait until they are full to leave. But how long could it take to fill a bus. There were people getting on every so often and the bus was slowly filling. There are many vendors that enter the bus and try to sell you many different things, phone chargers, bread, plates of food, hair accessories, etc. I was not interested in buying anything, I just want to get going.
Then it started to rain. It wasn't raining hard by Ugandan standards. But a strange thing happens here when it starts to rain, everyone stops what they are doing, goes under some shelter and waits. It doesn't matter too much if you have an appointment or meeting, people stop and wait for the rain to finish. Normally it rains hard for a little while and then stops so people aren't waiting for the whole day. This is not a good thing when you are waiting for a bus to fill up so you can leave. So the rain delayed our departure as people stopped coming for a while. Finally 10:30 the bus began to leave. We drove a few feet and people outside started banging on the side of the bus as they were still loading cargo under the bus. So we waited for a little while longer and a few more people got on the bus. Finally at 11 we left the bus park. It was a long 3 hours waiting on the bus but we were on our way, or so we thought.
We drove out of the bus park and around the corner. We stopped at the gas station to put some air in the front tires. That was okay, it is good to have air in the tires. And how long could it take to put air in the tires. Half an hour, that is how long. I am not sure why it took that long, but it did. While we were waiting to get air in the tires there were people carrying cargo from the bus park to the gas station to put under the bus. So at 11:30 we left the gas station to really begin the trip.
Traffic was congested as it was the beginning of the holiday weekend and many people try to get out of the city to see family. We slowly made our way out and then stopped at another gas station. This time we were putting gas in the bus. While we were filling the tank, a boda (motorcycle taxi) came with some more cargo to put under the bus. Now we were ready to really begin the journey, a full tank of gas, the storage compartments full, even a few boxes in the aisle of the bus. So finally at noon, after 4 hours on the bus, we left Kampala.
We didn't get very far before we stopped again. This time it was the traffic police. I am not sure what it was about this bus, but it seems that every traffic cop stopped our bus. Most of the time they would walk up and talk to the driver, look at his paperwork and let us go. One of them entered the bus and sat down so that we could drop him at the police station ahead. We stopped in one of the towns along the way and picked up a few passengers. All of the seats were full so they sat in the aisle. Then we were stopped at one of the police checks. The policeman entered the bus and looked around. Then he said I have an announcement, anyone who is not in a seat get off the bus. So slowly the five people sitting in the aisle got off the bus, then we drove away. However we only went a little ways down the road, around the corner and pulled over for a 'short call', a bathroom break. In Uganda there aren't have nice service centers or rest stops along the road. So we just stopped on the side and people got out, went in the grass and got back on the bus. In the meantime the five passengers kicked off the bus caught up to us and got back on the bus.
We continued on our journey and things were finally going smoothly. We hadn't been stopped in a while are were making good time. Then the road got bumpy, or so it seemed. It felt like we were driving on the rumble strips on the side of the road. However the don't have rumble strips in Uganda. I looked out the window and saw chunks of rubber flying through the air. Thank God we didn't crash the bus. We pulled over and they told everyone to get off the bus. We looked at the back tires, and both tires on the left side had blown out. They proceeded to remove some of the luggage under the bus to get the spare tire and jack. Nothing was happening for a while. Then another bus from the same company came from the other direction and pulled over. They gave us their spare tire and jack, as we needed two new tires. So after waiting on the side of the road for 2 hours, they had finally changed the tires. However one of the spare tires was soft.
So we drove to the next town and stopped at the gas station. They looked at the tire and then we back onto the side of the road and they proceeded to remove the tire to fix it. Again everyone got off the bus to wait while they fixed the tire. After an hour they began to roll the tire back to the bus. They got half way to the bus and the tire began to hiss air. So they turned around to repair the tire again. After another half hour they tire was fixed and back on the bus. Then they looked at the other side and that tire was a little soft. So we pulled into the gas station and put air in the tire. By this time it was 8:30 and dark outside and we were not even half way to Kabale. We had not dropped any passengers off yet.
The remainder of the trip went smoothly. Once it got dark out, people decided they should start singing. So about three different groups of people were singing three different songs. The last 4 hours were uneventful. After sixteen and a half hours, we arrived in Kabale at 12:30 in the morning. We got more that we bargained for on this trip. We got the full bus experience and a good story to tell. In the end it was worth it, we had a great trip canoeing and hiking around the lake. Lake Bunyonyi is very beautiful. See the pictures below.
It was a good reminder that life doesn't always go the way we plan it. Our journey through life can take many different turns and delays from our plans. If we are too focused on the destination we will become frustrating with the journey. We learn many things through the journey of life if we pay attention to what God is doing around us today.
Thanks for reading about my exciting bus trip. I will post again soon to give an update of the other things that have been happening in my life lately.
God bless,
Matt
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