How my life has changed

Christmas in Uganda

Christmas eve; and I am nowhere near any of my family.  I am sure each of my children are preparing for their own family traditions.  I think back to when each of my children were home, and all the effort I put into our family Christmas Eve traditions; in hopes to have the perfect Christmas.  I know some of my children have carried on some of those traditions I once thought were quite silly.  Opening new pajamas on Christmas eve, lighting a candle at the cemetery, and finding it still lit on Christmas day.  Those are just some of the things we did when my children were small; I hope some of which had a small impact on my children's lives.   This year I am spending my Christmas on the continent of Africa, in the city of Kampala, Uganda. This is a very different year for me.  In Uganda Christmas is not a huge commercialized event; gifts are often not even exchanged.  The focus is rather on time spent with the family, and a nice family meal.  They also spend time talking about the birth of our Savior, more so than what I have seen in a long time. 

Tonight in Uganda it is  VERY dark night. We have had no electricity for about 6 days.  In Uganda the Electricity is not something you can even rely on; It is very hit and miss, mostly miss.  As I sat down last night writing this under the light of only a small flashlight, I thought about what it must have been like on the night Jesus was born.

The children here are getting very excited for Christmas, they have been helping prepare the Christmas meal most of the day.  In Uganda a traditional Christmas meal consists of Motakee, rice, beans, greens, steamed beef with peanut sauce, and a fruit salad consisting of pineapple, bananas, and passion fruit.  For desert we had a coconut cake.  Most of the meal was the normal for everyday, with a few extra veggies added in, but the cake and the fruit, were extra special additions.  Now if you knew what they went through in order to cook a meal, you would have a better understanding of how much the meals here are appreciated.  By me anyway :)  There is no indoor stove, so they must cook on an outdoor cooking pot; which is nothing more than a small ceramic stove about the size of a large pan.  They put coals in it, and it cooks quite similar to a dutch oven.  So just think cooking all your meals like this every single day.  Once you finish with one meal, it's time to begin preparing the next one.

Okay now back to Christmas, I got a little off track there.    On Christmas morning I decided my Christmas gift to this family would be for me to prepare a traditional American breakfast.  Pancakes, hash browns, and bacon.  none of them had ever eaten an American pancake before.  They all really enjoyed their breakfast, and I was able to do a little teaching; hopefully they might be able to make pancakes themselves someday. 

Thinking about leaving Uganda next week leaves me a little saddened, but I know my time here is finished for now.  I hope I can continue to help project princess even from home; wherever that may be.  I have been taught so much since coming to Uganda; I thought I learned some life changing lessons when I went to Alaska, but that was nothing compared to what I have learned in Uganda.  My Alaska experience was only the tip of the iceberg.  In our lives we take all we have for granted; we just count on having everything we THINK we need everyday.  What would happen if one day you woke up to find yourself without anything.  I really mean NOTHING. The people here literally have nothing, so many live in either mud houses or very small homemade brick houses with tin roofs.  The homes usually have dirt floors, but some might be lucky to have a cement floor.  There is no indoor plumbing, no electricity, and no hot water usually.  Those are all luxuries for the rich; except of course electricity, which the rich don't even have most of the time.  In Alaska I learned about needs VS wants.  Living out in the wilderness made you think about what you really needed.  Usually after contemplating a 3 hour trip to town, I would decide I didn't need anything that bad.  Now in Uganda I have learned a very different lesson; and that is looking inward at all I have and being willing to sacrifice so others may have some of what I have. 

I could not begin to explain the degree of poverty here in Uganda.  For some of my time here I lived right in the middle of it, and at times I was frightened to death.  The people are so very humble for the most part, and are just trying to survive.  Early in my trip; I went to the city for errands, and came upon a large group of street children.  That was difficult to watch such small children with no one to care for them.  It was even more shocking to see 3 and 4 year olds begging for food, or money to survive. 

So how does an experience like this change you?  I will tell you the ways it changed me.  I had to do things I never thought for a moment I would need to do.  Doing all my laundry by hand, using a hole in the ground for a toilet, going without electricity, cooking all our meals outside on a fire pit, taking cold showers.  Now, almost a month later I get to go home to my life; and the people here continue to live there life.  And I can make different choices, I can choose to continue to allow God to direct my life in such a way, that I can be led to help those in need.  I may not think I have much to give, but I do.  I can go without a morning cup of coffee, so a child may have a meal at all.  I will never forget all I have seen here, not all bad; and definitely not all good.  I will say this has been the best Christmas I have had in a very long time.  Merry Christmas!