A window into my world... snapshots

 Beautiful Breakfast!  Fruit here is so incredibly delicious!  I often eat pineapple and baby bananas with vanilla yogurt from breakfast.  The fruit is so flavorful, it's like a party in my mouth!

 Goodbye Carol!  This was my farewell time with Carol, drinking milkshakes together.  Apparently, I was the person who first introduced her to milkshakes.  She is now living far away in Mbale.  I hope to visit her soon, but I really miss her at the office and on our team!  She's a gem.

 "This is chapter one, let me consult chapter two"... Edmond "The King of Uno" got so many cards he had "2 chapters".  Game time/ hangouts are a great way to build out family of friends within Cornerstone.  Uno after dinner the other night provided some quality laughs!

 Make things pretty!  These are the pages of the internship binder. I couldn't resist making them colorful. 

 Lawrence typing up his S4/S6 Youth Camp Report!  Thank you so much Hannah for the computer!  Throughout their internship, the new kids get to learn to use the computer, and are required to type up their reports to improve their typing skills.  Once the computer can get on the internet, they also will be doing regular email writing.  It's great to see them learn to use more technology!  It will really help them to be a step ahead in life. 

 Johanna Time!  3 years running, and now a very great friendship.  Johanna and I met in Mbarara, and have seen each other each year in January, when she comes back to help with "Kisi Kids" at Yesu Ahuriire Community.  This year we connected in Kampala for a quick chat.  I'll be seeing a lot more of her this summer in Austria!

 Joshua Simeon!  The new little one... Sus and Peter had a new baby in Novemeber, just before I left for the states!  He is precious, I really enjoy going over to their house and holding him.

 We just finished Jumpstart 2013!  It was a seminar on gifting/skills/work environments.  Antony and his team did a good job.  Keep an eye out on the Cornerstone Veritas blog for more updates on this seminar and photos

 Food for the hungry team:  On Wednesday, I cooked up a classic American meal.  Spaghetti with garlic bread.  It was a hit!  We had our CV team, and some other guests join us for the meal.  Then a bunch of the boys (and Katherine from Germany) stayed around and played some epic uno.

 Food for the hungry team:  I love cooking for people!  It's really the best.  We had to get creative in how we served the sauce.  I think that coming together over food is just the best. :)  We had a great discussion about cultural differences within different tribes about whether or not you talk while you are eating! Each tribe has a different opinion (

 My new guitar is getting a lot use!  I wasn't expecting to carry it outside of my house, so I've been transporting it around in a cardboard box!  Ridiculous I know, I need to find a case.  It's been incredibly wonderful to have a guitar, I am so grateful Jenn!

The Real thing:  Fruit here is so amazing!  This was a watermelon growing outside our meeting room in Soroti, it was so good.  It fed the whole group it was so big, with no steroids. 

The morning mail:   When I travel, I often take the post bus... it is what it sounds like... a bus that delivers both mail and people to different destinations throughout Uganda.  Here they are packing the mail for different Eastern Uganda destinations. 

"Stop tickling me Auntie Noelle!" with lots of laughter... my favorite little 3 year old, T really brings me a lot of joy.  We read books together, sometimes I change the books to teach him about economics... we talk about school, draw pictures, eat food and watch Veggie tales together.  It's the perfect relationship.  :)

 Shoes!  I am so grateful to all of you who donated towards new shoes.  I was able to get 4 new pairs, and they are really helpful to have.  ...they are also really pretty! 

A total kitchen clean!  (this is my kitchen)... my housekeeper and I gutted the place in January to completely overhaul it!  There was so much random junk that had accumulated over the years of different people coming in and out.  It's so much more clean now.  Ah!  It'll be one year in my apartment in April, I love this place.

 "Tuesday Nights":  I've been attending a fellowship on Tuesday nights, where I play for our time of worship.  It's been really nice so far!  It's a fun crew of people. 

Great people, great times:  We (by we I mean I) sort of forgot the rules to Uno, and the instructions were incredibly unhelpful.  None the less we had a pretty awesome game, during which Frank "almost lost his job" because he mastered the art of inflicting Uno pain on this neighbors, including me!  The whole crew had a really great time together. 






A shout out to Dan Wolf for donating my new camera! None of these shots would be half as good without it. 

Visions of the future

I've been meeting some new expats recently.

Some of them are working in South Sudan, connect to Cornerstone by building us a leadership academy there.

Another few were just passers through, or random connections.

But the trend has been clear, new people, who all are whispering into my life.  I often think we don't listen, we... us... humans... we just live.  Or exist.  We rarely listen to what is happening in life around us.  Perhaps if we did, we would understand more deeply some of the answers to our deepest questions.

Anyways, not to jump off the deep end too fast, I've been noticing a trend.  Many of the people I've been meeting are Africa "returnees"... people who have done a 1-3 year stint some where in Africa, then went back to the States to get a degree, make money, get married, but who have now returned.  And they've returned in a big way.  They have come back with experience, funding, vision and a much deeper understanding of what they do.

This encourages me deeply.  I see myself.  I find solace and hope in these people.

Their lives speak of several things to me:  experience, understanding, expertise, education... but also community, knowing your needs and getting them, balance, grace, and drive.  They want to contribute and know that they can.  Their commitment inspires me, they are undaunted yet fully aware.

Some come back together.  And this gives me endless ideas, which fill me with joy.  Married, working in Africa.  Yes. 

Very few short termers come back, but those who do, should. 

I'm inspired, and through this given a vision, a hope, for what my late twenties/early thirties can look like.  A paid job, a real place, community, Africa, life changing work.

Of course, coming back means going first, but that's not a bridge we need to cross yet. 

Post 250!

I feel it is very appropriate that this should be my 250th post!  

Here is the link for the lastest Noelle in Africa newsletter!  I would really encourage you to check it out, it's pretty great!

"In Their Own Words: Portraits and Interviews"  

I hope this helps you to have more of an insight into the beautiful people I am here to serve. 

Thoughts from a Petrol Station

I stood there, at the petrol station, munching on a chapatti.  They are delicious.  These were especially good.  [Chapatti:  The Indian flat bread, now incredibly common and popular (easy to make) throughout Eastern Africa.]

Around me stood 3 young Ugandan men, and a young Ugandan woman.  They looks a little tired, the trip had been long and tiresome, the road a beast to travel over.   But they were happy to have some food after the journey.

We stood there.  Some eating chapattis, some sitting, some standing.  And a thought struck me.  We are an odd scene.  I have travelled all over Eastern Africa, and never, in almost 3 years here, have I seen a singular white person obviously surrounded by a group of Africans.  It was obvious, if you watched us for even a moment, that I was in charge of the group.  An odd scene in Uganda.

I remembered back, to another time when I had noticed the same thing.  It was when we were at the beach last year, for intern graduation.  It was me, and 6 wonderful Africans.  We watched the people around us.  A small group of white people, a small group of Africans.  Not mixing.  I made a comment to the people I was with, how rare it is to see a group of Africans with one white person.  It’s common to see a group of white people with one or two token Africans… their guides, or drivers, or hosts. 

My African counterparts agreed, they had never seen it.  The only time I have seen it is in our Cornerstone magazine.  There will be pictures of groups of African, and one white face… Tim or Eric, will pop up in a corner, or in the back.  My friend Antony as well, I see photos of him with large groups of Africans.   But otherwise… I have never seen it in real life.  It struck me again, standing at that petrol station in Masaka.  I am blessed.  I have a place with these great people. 

I’m not trying to make a big deal of “skin color”… it’s a weird thing to me.  But I think it is beautiful, somehow, to be truly with the Africans I serve.  To turn the tables, and I hope helps to break down walls.   

My interns call me Mama, and it warms my heart.  They learn money doesn’t come from me, but just love and direction.  I am proud of them, I am proud of what I do, of my team, my people, and the weird picture we make standing at a petrol station.

But that’s not the end of the petrol station.  We were literally just standing there.  The interns had no idea what was going on. I casually tried a few phone numbers, no one picked up their phones.  We ate our chapattis. 

I knew bodas were an option, but I had a feeling we should wait… just wait and see. 

Then I saw Fred.  But he didn’t see me.  He was filling his gas tank.  All the sudden, Stella was standing at my elbow.  “What are you doing here, Noelle?  Why are you just standing here?”  I laughed, and honestly answered “Oh, I  was just waiting to see what would happen”  Stella looked at me slightly confused.

“Are you headed to Delta?” I ask her.  “Yes, right now. This very moment” she answers “Let me go buy some things, then we can talk.”   I tell the interns that we’re going to walk across the parking lot to Fred’s car.  Finally he sees me, and gives me a beautiful smile and a hug.  We talk casually, and I introduce the new interns.  Stella comes back.

“Were you waiting for someone Noelle?”  … “No, not really, just waiting to see what would happen” I answered honestly.   “Can you take some of these young people with you?” 

They responded that they could.  Opening the trunk they easily packed all the luggage into the boot, and the 4 interns squeezed themselves in the back seat.  I smile. 

Found in Masaka, we just saved a lot of money and time.

“I’ll meet you there.  Let me grab a boda (motorcycle taxi).  See you there!”  I said as they drove away.

Stella, Fred and little Gaby.  (Number 2 soon!)

 

I don’t know how many times I’ve been to Masaka, or that petrol station.  I breathed.  I knew that something would happen, and it did.  I don’t know what the interns thought of the whole thing, the odds were weird, providential.  But I was glad they got to see how these things can work, how eating chapattis at a petrol station can bring unexpected (or somewhat expected) surprises.  

 I think for our interns, and the other young people at the Masaka Youth Camp, the 6 days spent together was an unexpected surprise in their lives.  It was a time to learn, to grow, to make friends, and to be given wisdom for the future.  It impacted their lives in a profound way, and gave many of them the tools they need to make positive, life changing choices for the future.  

You never know what lessons you can learn at a petrol station in Masaka.