I have just recently been accepted to the Uganda team for HELP International and I can't wait for May 6th to arrive! I will fly out and after traveling for about 24 hours I will arrive in Uganda where I will start my volunteer work for the next 4 months. What I'm heading into, I'm not exactly sure but I cannot wait to find out. I will be doing various activities such as working in the orphanages there, building adobe stoves and gardens, teaching health awareness and anything else that the people need. We really are there for what ever they tell us they need at the time. For right now it's been an experience trying to balance school, finishing my job, and getting ready to head out to Africa. I have been trying to learn about the country, what immunizations I need and how to get a passport! (Can you believe I have never been out of the country and now my first time is to Africa, and I'm going alone!) Sometimes I stop and wonder what I am doing. And then I remember. I'm going to serve some of God's most innocent and suffering children, and I can't wait to get out to serve them. I have been looking at the pictures of where I'll be living, the people there, and the places I will get to see, and I am already filled with such a love for this place. I can't even begin to imagine how much I will love them and Uganda when I actually get to meet them, and see it, in person. For now, the prep is taking up so much time, but I know it will be worth it! Even all 10 (or more...yikes) vaccinations are going to be worth it...even though I will probably be saying something very different when I come home from the Health Department the day I get them. But words cannot express the deep gratitude I feel that I am blessed enough to be able to have this opportunity to go to Uganda and meet, work with, and serve the people there. The blessings in my life never cease to amaze me, and this is one more example of God's hand in my life.
