I went to the breakfast area to tell Martin and Mark that Leah wasn't well. Then I went back to the room to give Leah some tea and make sure it was able to be entered by guys. Breakfast was a standard bread with different stuff to put on top of it, tea or coffee. We had our team meeting. Since Thursday was the day I taught, the rest of the conference was fairly free for me. After breakfast Martin stopped into our room to check up on Leah. A very funny conversation late, Martin had given Leah his instructions on how to take care of herself. (We all went away wondering if she'd actually follow said instructions)
Martin had arranged for Leah and I to go to the Community school with the German women who had been working there for 8 months. It was their last day at the school, so they were throwing them a party. Due to the fact Leah was ill, I went alone. By then Sabina (one of the German girls) and I had become friends. It was a real blessing to go see the beautiful children, and to not be the center of attention. I sat at the back of the class and took photos for Sabina. It was incredible to see the love that was out poured.
The children danced and sang, and at one point broke out crying. All the teachers honored the Germans. It was clear that through their teaching at the school they had made an impact. It was hard to watch Sabina cry... she really didn't want to leave Africa. They'd lived with the community for 8 months. Sabina's heart for Africa is similar to mine. :)
On my way back to the compound, I passed where Bahati and Clemintina and some of the other community families stay. Bahati was home and welcomed me into their compound. It was a blessing! I tried on one of her outfits, and we discovered that we are the same size. We'd decided that I would surprise everyone on Saturday by dressing in a more traditional African dress.
I got back to the compound and checked on Leah. I visited with her for a while and told her about the school. I'd missed tea, so I went in search of the small bananas they served for Leah. I found Maria who was delighted to help me, with her bright shining smile. She gave me a huge plate of bananas, which Leah and I sat and snacked on until I went for lunch.
That afternoon I finally got to attend a University Tool Box session. It was given by PM and was about giving our testimonies. We then broke into groups of three. I had an incredible chance to help the two guys I was working with articulate how God had worked in their lives. It was a really productive and good time.
I don't remember what we did for the second afternoon session. We may have just had time to get ready for that evenings entertainment. Each small group had to come up with either a poem, dance, song or drama for that evening. (My groups was pretty terrible.) Throughout the day there was continual checking on Leah and making sure she was drinking water.
That evening, while most people were at mass, I went for a walk through the large community garden. It was a peaceful time for me. It was good just to be out among the unfamiliar plants, walking on beautiful red earth. I found a large square pit, it was at least 7 feet deep. It was as though God was showing me a pallet of the reds He had used to create the African dirt. It was truly breath taking. It was good just to be.
Then dinner, more prep work. Then we all were ready for that evenings entertainment. It did not disappoint! Some of it, we westerners totally didn't understand. We taught a dance, us Westerners. On one level it was funny, on another, terrible. But most of the entertainment presented was an incredible look into Ugandan culture. During that nights team time we were all really tired. We had one more day until the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment