Sitting here processing through my week, well now a couple of weeks ago since I just kept putting posting this off haha :), I've realized something. Being here is hard, no doubt, but in a simplified version of just being. We're here living, eating, going to school--a somewhat normal life except in Africa. For me it's been a place of voluntarily stripping everything down, living simply, going back to the basics with God and being present to go through the process of life in relationship with Christ. Figuring out what life looks like, experimenting in how I'm responding to the gospel, to a Lord and Savior who is interactive, who, "in all things is working for the good of those who love him," (Romans 8:28). Going through sickness, injury, brokenness, and yet finding the goodness and love among the heartbreak.
I was at my practicum this week and for the last hour we got to just hang out with the kids on the center (most of whom are physically disabled--usually undergoing treatment for bone diseases, post-injection -paralysis which occurs from Malaria medicine and causes the foot to loose partial function, cerebral palsy among many other things, see other post below). Usually most of our time is spent observing casting, wound dressing, or physical therapy so this day was a special treat. However, we went out to the common area and did quite a bit of mutual staring. These kids don't know much English and some don't even speak Luganda, which I know VERY little, stress on the little. I'm sitting there watching these kids playing. One girl around 5, who had the most joy I've ever witnessed in little kid, is crawling around at the speed of light chasing a piece of plastic that came from who knows where with a cast on each of her legs due to club feet. Another very young girl who can barely reach the wheels on her wheelchair is wheeling all around--mostly in circles because she can only push one wheel at a time. I'm sitting there and this 2 or 3 year old is just standing there staring at me. She has cerebral palsy--however is one of the more mild cases at ACHERU so can stand holding onto something. Sitting here, I'm at a loss what to do. I've waved and beyond that I'm pretty stuck. So I hold out my hand and she grasps onto my pinky and ring finger and just continues to stare. So then I start swinging it back and forth and elicit a smile--relief floods me, I must be doing sometime at least a little right. I start swinging faster then slower and add some sound effects which was blowing through my lips while they're vibrating making sort of a burrrrrrb kind of sound. (It's really hard to explain.... haha) But at a moment when I stopped swinging she then tried to do it! It took a few tries for her to get her lips to vibrate but when she got it I was excited! And then she was excited and started to laugh :). This transitioned into a solid game of peek-a-boo intermixed with the new sound effect. In the middle of our game one of the other girls feel down and started to cry. I'd see other African moms just call the crying kids and give them some snuggles which seems to make most things better. So I say the African, "Sorry, sorry," and hold out my arms. Low and behold it works! She comes to me and holds out her arms to be picked up, so I scoop her up and place her on my lay and just hug her rubbing her head where she fell. Then another girl comes up and points to her lip to signify that the girl's lip was hurt too, so I rubbed that as well and we just sat there for a minute or two.
These two instances didn't really have any effect on me in the moment but looking back I realized the significance of those two moments. The second helped me realize what Father-God looks like when we're going through hard times, when we've fallen gotten hurt. He just scoops us up, and is just there. I'm no super star by any means (I've had my share of awkward blunders as well!) but I'm realizing that kids have the most grace, they're amazing examples of second changes, tenacity, and pure joy.
Allison, we are called to have childlike faith. In these instances you have described, these children have a faith, that whilst adults, we have lost. God calls us to return to that faith which is so innocent which ponders, asks questions, wonders, and imagines things in which at our adults lives have forgotten. Mzungus have been a blessing in Africa, in Uganda where you are, in Burundi where I was, and elsewhere, but we can also see that God is not only at work in our homes in the States, but also in the places we tend to least think of like that of African countries. May God be blessing you and showing you many new things there in Uganda!
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