11 Days and Counting

Well, it's officially count down time. I cannot believe it is almost time for me to leave America and head out to Uganda. After all that has happened this semester, I can barely believe that I am finally going to actually make it to Africa. I am so excited but so scared at the same time. I feel completely unprepared even with all the training, but I don't really think that I can fully be prepared for this summer until I actually get there and start working. I really am so excited and so unbelievably grateful to all those who donated and helped to make this possible. I cannot wait to meet the people I will be working with for the next three months. I will be writing from Uganda and updating this blog as frequently as I can. The internet in Uganda is not reliable and secure but hopefully I will be able to update it semi-regularly. In our village of Lugazi there is an internet cafe just a block or so down the street from our house where I will be able to send emails and update this blog. It will be interesting to learn to live without the things that we take for granted in America. This will be a huge blessing in my life and I can't wait to share the things I learn from this experience.

A introduction to HELP-International

Here is the official DVD put out by HELP-International. Anyone who is wondering who HELP is will get a good feel by watching this short video and a good understanding of a few of the projects we will be doing even though there are quite a few more we will be doing this summer once we get in country.

A taste of my upcoming summer

Here is a video put together from last years team. They were located in the same village that I will be in which is Lugazi, a small sugarcane village. Near the beginning of the video you will see a house with a gate around it, that is the house my team and I will be living in. Here is just a little taste of what my summer will be like, I can't wait!

Just copy and paste this link, there maybe a way to actually put this video on my page, but I'm new to the world of blogging and I haven't figured it out yet. If you know how, let me know :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwWJNTw8Klk

It's been a bumpy road . . .

It's been an interesting juggling act trying to get ready for Uganda this summer, keeping up with school, and dealing with some medical problems that have come up recently. Over the past few weeks I have had a few medical scares that made getting ready for this summer a very rocky roller coaster. At times I thought that I would not be able to go, other days I was told that I could. It was really difficult for me to not know what was going on, to never have a sure answer from my doctors. But then I remembered the most important thing. I had already received my answer months ago. When I originally contemplated going to serve the people of Uganda I prayed about going and my answer was a very firm "Yes." My parents received the same confirmation. Through the tough times of the past few weeks it has been a faith building experience for me to rely on my answer to prayer rather than the 'arm of flesh' or simply the unreliable answers of medical doctors, which in my case were changing every day.
Every day my desire to be with the people of Uganda grows and grows and my faith in what we are going to be doing strengthens. I already have developed such a love for these wonderful children of God, I cannot wait to actually meet them face to face and serve them for three months. Originally the trip was to be four months, but these medical circumstances have changed that and it has been shortened to three. But that just strengthens my desire and drive to make those three months count and work as hard as possible to accomplish as much good as possible while there.
The main goal of HELP International is to empower the people so that when we leave they are able to continue doing on their own the things we taught them. I know this will be an amazing experience for myself personally, but even more than that, I hope that I can at least help in the life of someone in need in Uganda and be of service to one of God's beloved children in need.

The Training Begins

Oli Otya! (Hello!)
This past Saturday marks the first day of training. I went through 9 (long, but interesting) hours of training. The first set was Program Planning and Implementation and the second was Orphanage and Recreational Therapy Training. I learned quite a few things that really got me excited, some that got be nervous, and some that really just touched my heart. The school that I will most likely be working in in Lugazi, Uganda houses over 900 children, orphans, AIDs victims, and disabled individuals of any age. This was a situation I was not prepared for and am glad that I learned about before I got in country. Hearing the stories of some of the children there was so touching and broke my heart.

We aren't able to really plan our projects until we get in country. Once we get to Uganda we will spend the first week going into the villages of Lugazi and other surrounding villages and doing problem assesments and just talking to the people as well as our partners there in an attempt to find out what we can best do to help the people in the short 4 months that we are there. While that 4 months seems like a long time to us, it is not long enough. I hope that we will be able to a great work there that will really help the people be more independent and that what we do is what the people really want, not just what we think they need. That is exactly why we really get to TALK to the people and have them help us with the projects and work side by side.

The rest of this month is full of training sessions and meetings in attempts to prepare for the trip of a lifetime. Along with all of that I still have to balance school and attempt to mantain a semi-normal life. We'll see how that goes. But I can't wait for the chance to be with the people of Uganda.

Mweraba! (Goodbye!)

Preping for the Biggest Trip of My Life

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.